| bidding farewell to the oas |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Tuesday, September 21 2004 |
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| Promoting democracy in the hemisphere, protecting the poor, standing up for human rights and encouraging free trade are not easy tasks for one man alone. But Cesar Gaviria took on these challenges when he agreed to lead the Organization of American States as its secretary-general 10 years ago. He now leaves the post, looking back with a combination of satisfaction and frustration.
The former Colombian president has got to be proud of what he accomplished, especially after the praise he received from many of the permanent members of the OAS during his farewell ceremony in early September. Shortly before stepping down, Gaviria said the achievements of the organization had exceeded his expectations. "We have been able to resolve many political and territorial crises without a rupture in democracy," he said.
However, Gaviria's sense of pride for a job well done must be tempered with disappointment at not being able to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela -- without a doubt, the major challenge of his tenure. As a matter of fact, it was "the biggest challenge of the OAS, since its inception," according to Gaviria himself. In an interview in Caracas during the recall referendum of President Hugo Chavez, Gaviria said to me, "Never have we had a problem of this magnitude, nor have we become so involved in an internal conflict such as this one."
That might explain why he not only invested his political capital in the Venezuelan crisis, but also his personal time. For two years, the OAS and the Carter Center tried to mediate the conflict there. Gaviria spent eight months living in the Venezuelan capital, trying to reconcile the irreconcilable differences between Chavez and the opposition.
"There were critical times in which great risks were taken," he said, referring to the general strikes against Chavez and the re-confirmation of the signatures that led to the referendum. Gaviria believes his presence helped to prevent more violence, given the tense situation the country was going through.
But his time and effort might not have paid off. The political solution he helped broker put him between a rock and a hard place. The opposition chastised him for ratifying Chavez's victory the day after the election. And when he finally questioned the fairness of the political process, it was Chavez himself who called Gaviria an ingrate, a liar and an opportunist. To make matters worse, the crisis continues, and the country is more polarized than ever.
In all fairness, that is not the fault of the secretary-general of the OAS. At this point, not even a higher authority could solve that conflict. But Gaviria doesn't have to worry about ungrateful political types; he has many other accomplishments to brag about. Among them: the creation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which expanded the criteria for a democratic society, qualifying poverty and corruption as threats to democracy. During his two terms, the OAS pushed for democratic reforms in Peru, it became more active in the war against terrorism and drug trafficking, and it helped Central America in humanitarian efforts. He also increased the role of the OAS in negotiating free-trade agreements.
Like the United Nations, the OAS is often criticized for being merely a symbolic institution, a sort of club for diplomats who are too diplomatic to take a hard-line approach in a difficult situation. Within those parameters, Gaviria tried to take on new responsibilities and expand the scope of the organization. As Canada's Ambassador Paul Durand pointed out, Gaviria helped the OAS "become a more relevant institution."
Perhaps he did. But that doesn't change the fact that Gaviria's successor, former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, will face the same challenges Gaviria faced a decade ago. Democracy is still threatened, as we've seen in Venezuela, poverty continues to affect the region, human-rights violations remain a problem, and protectionists in the United States still want to curtail free trade.
But those are no longer Gaviria's problems. As he bids farewell to the OAS, he will now become a senior research scholar at Columbia University in New York, and he promises to stay involved in his country's internal affairs. He plans to do some work in the private sector in his line of expertise -- solving political crises -- and he hopes to have time for one of his personal passions: art. But don't expect him to vacation in Venezuela anytime soon. |
