The Interamerican Democratic Charter turned 21 years old and still has as its mission the ending of dictatorships

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) On 11 September of 2001, the countries of the Americas instituted at Lima-Peru the “foundational treaty” that consecrated “the right of Americas’ countries to have democracy and their governments to promote and defend it” and that “democracy is essential for the nations’ social, political, and economic development”. It is the Interamerican Democratic Charter that having turned 21 years of existence is under the conspiracy of dictatorships who, under the command of Cuba, hold power in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. The Charter is the instrument to end dictatorships and it only needs consistent leadership.

The last decade of the past century, all of Americas’ countries were democracies, except Cuba’s dictatorship who was agonizing in its so-called “special period” and -at that time- the decision of democracies was to wait out the result of this agony that was abruptly interrupted when Hugo Chavez ascended to the presidency of Venezuela in 1999 and saved the Cuban dictatorship thus starting the destabilization process of democracies through the expansion of 20th Century Castroism turned into Castrochavism in the 21st century.

In the Americas, the 21st century started with the renewed conspiracy of Cuba’s dictatorship who, under the shade of Bolivarian populism led by Chavez, by the year 2012 would end up controlling almost all of Latin America. The conditions for this conspiracy, along with the terrorist attacks against the United States on this same date, 11 September of 2001, created the perfect storm against democracy and motivated a drastic change of U.S. foreign policy that included the abandonment of the region.

The growth of 21st Century Socialism or Castrochavism included the control of the Organization of American States (OAS) who, during the ten years of Insulza’s management, completely ignored the mandate contained in the Interamerican Democratic Charter and the principles of the system in defense of human rights and freedom. The Interamerican Democratic Charter was neither adhered to, nor implemented by the OAS from 2005 to 2015, moreover it was annulled, misrepresented, and dismissed because a foundational instrument for the benefit of democracy is one of the principal obstacles for dictatorships.

Factual reality shows the Interamerican Democratic Charter has gone through four historical phases; 1. From its conception up to its signing from 1994 to 2001 from Miami, going through Quebec all the way up to Lima; 2. Its proclamation on 11 September of 2001 with the optimism of its initial implementation until the Castrochavist control of the OAS in 2005; 3. The deliberate disregard and sabotage of its mandates under Secretary Insulza’s dereliction from 2005 to 2015; 4. Its recovery and gradually progressive application of OAS’ mandates under Secretary Almagro’s management that starts with the case of Venezuela’s dictatorship.

The political and communicational strategy of Castrochavism while it controlled the OAS was to ignore the Charter and since 2015 is to discredit it with the message that it is not good for anything with an open conspiracy against the OAS and Secretary General Almagro. Intelligence and communications units of Cuba’s dictatorship, who leads this strategy, understand well that discrediting and devaluing the Charter’s contents enables them to better disguise the crimes against humanity and State terrorism they perpetrate in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua.

To prevent the full dissemination, understanding, and application of the Interamerican Democratic Charter, Castrochavism blocks OAS’ mechanisms using governments such as those from Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, and pressing – with a hint of bribing- many of the countries that were recruited through Petrocaribe’s oil concessions to control their votes. Dictatorships also maneuver with their departure from the OAS, as was attempted by Chavez with Venezuela and now by Ortega with Nicaragua and Cuba’s denial to participate in an institution to which it has been reintegrated.

The Interamerican Democratic Charter is the greatest enemy of dictatorships because it is the legal instrument that identifies, describes, and accuses them. Without the Charter Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua’s dictatorships would continue creating false narratives -such as claiming to be a revolution or liberal democracies. It is the Charter -as an obligatory law- along with its “essential components of democracy” that identifies those regimes who are violators of human rights, gatherers of all power, exterminators of freedom of the press, nullifiers of the rule of law, counterfeiters of the popular will, and perpetrators of more criminal acts as dictators.

The Charter can and must be improved but, just as it is, is the most suitable instrument to end dictatorships and only waits for consistent leadership to apply its mandates.

*Attorney & Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Translation from Spanish by Edgar L. Terrazas