English: MERCOSUR (orthographic projection) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Paraguay recently defended itself from another would-be lifetime dictator when it impeached and ousted a recently elected president who had immediately begun doing the same kind of things that ex-dictator and auto-coup leader Manuel Zelaya did in Honduras, so that they followed their own constitution and removed him from office formally.
Of course when a legislative body of government ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE followed their law and removed a president who did NOT follow their law, Hugo Chavez and his presidential cheerleaders called this a “coup”. When a country defends itself against a dictator’s coup, the “Left” so-called calls it a “coup”. Unless they are getting rid of a “right-wing” president who did the same thing like Fujimori did in Peru, to
the sound of much quiet cheering by Peruvians.
Chavez wanted Mercosur to kick the OAS out of the way so he could take over all Latin America more easily. I don’t know what he’s complaining about, Insulza, the Secretary General at OAS did all his bidding, after all, and always said there was nothing he could do about the Venezuelan government shutting down all voices of opposition (and he never spoke out against it either), and tried to help force Honduras to put the coup leader Zelaya back in power. In other words, he couldn’t interfere in the internal affairs of a fascist/socialist dictatorship but he could interfere with a genuine republic as is Honduras.
Note that Insulza got his start in the dictatorship of Salvador Allende in Chile who set the pattern for this. Allende ran the country like a fiefdom, ignored laws passed by the also elected representatives of the people in Congress, who finally passed a resolution demanding that the military forces intervene to stop him. They had no constitutionally prescribed solution at the time.
Paraguay demands respect from Mercosur, “if not leave us as we are” (meaning leave us out of your club of dictators, wolves in sheep’s clothing)— MercoPress:
http://en.mercopress.com/2013/05/27/paraguay-demands-respect-from-mercosur-if-not-leave-us-as-we-are
The Argentine ambassador to Uruguay, Dante Dovena, assured that authorities are “working intensely” in preparations for the next Mercosur summit scheduled to take place on June 28th in Montevideo. However news from Paraguay doesn’t indicate the same optimism and are demanding respect for ‘the country’s dignity and rule of the law”.
“Our ministry and Argentine delegation before the Mercosur are giving a boost to the first meeting of the regional bloc in which both Venezuela and Paraguay will be present for the first time,” he said. “We hope there are no inconveniences in order to reinstate Paraguay as a member country after what we went through and that Venezuela can be appointed in the Pro Tempore presidency of the organization without any inconveniences,” he explained.
“I believe these two matters are everybody’s goals,” he said.
Ambassador Dovena was the only Mercosur member representative at that level that attended Paraguay’s national independence day celebration (May 15) in Montevideo. Not even the Uruguayan foreign ministry sent a top ranking official to the reception, President Jose Mujica was represented by the ministry’s head of protocol.
The newly elected leader of Panama:
After Horacio Cartes’ victory in the last Paraguayan presidential elections, diplomats from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay said that “they agree to leave without effect the suspension called on the landlocked nation by Mercosur members after former president Fernando Lugo was impeached in June last year.”
However the Paraguayan government and president-elect Cartes have anticipated that Mercosur members “will have to work out how to find respect for the rule of the law in Paraguay”. Cartes added that “the dignity of Paraguay must come out in absolute integrity. If it is going to be blemished, let it remain as it is”
The message was a strong signal to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay that last June decided the suspension of Paraguay because of the removal, following political impeachment, of Fernando Lugo by the country’s Senate, and his replacement by President Federico Franco.
“They will have to find a way so that Paraguayan rule of the law is respected”, insisted Cartes.
Mercosur presidents did in effect congratulate president-elect Cartes on his victory and welcomed the return of Paraguay to the block, but the suspension still is pending and apparently, according to Brazilian sources, won’t be lifted until next August 15, when Franco steps down and is replaced by Cartes.
“We’re not going to return because of money. Paraguay will return with its dignity fully respected; forget about condoning or rebates on Venezuelan oil, what matters is the dignity of Paraguay, the country’s rule of the law must come out with absolute integrity”, insisted Cartes.
The president-elect said Venezuela is not the problem: “however let’s not forget that President Nicolas Maduro is persona non grata for our Lower House and the Senate rejected the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur”.
Cartes recalled that Paraguay is a founding member of Mercosur, and the charter of Asuncion, and according to those rules the incorporation of any country “must be approved unanimously by the founding members, a decision which in this case did not happen and has injured the dignity and rule of the law in Paraguay”
Related articles
- Paraguay demands respect from Mercosur, “if not leave us as we are” (en.mercopress.com)
- “Democracy in Paraguay is here to stay: Mercosur and Unasur have become irrelevant” (en.mercopress.com)
- Millionaire businessman wins Paraguay presidency (dailystar.com.lb)
- Horacio Cartes clinches Paraguay presidency (gulfnews.com)
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