By Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada on December 4, 2019
The results of Dominica’s general election are now in and the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) led by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit won an unprecedented fifth consecutive term by over 18%. This took place despite a blatant attempt to intervene in this progressive trend by the OAS. – Editorial
Luis Almagro has his hands stained with the blood of native peoples -aymaras, Quechuas, Guaraníes- murdered by the fascists after the coup d’état that took place in Bolivia with the active complicity of the OAS. But he is also guilty for the deaths, tortures and disappearances of Chilean, Colombian and Ecuadorian students and workers, all victims of a brutal repression that does not end and to which the inter-American body has not made a single complaint.
He ignores what’s going on and shakes those countries while he concocts other plans. He also wants to spill Caribbean blood. He dreams of repeating on the small island of Dominica his fascist “feat” in Bolivia.
Several weeks ago, some opposition groups from the island took to the streets in an uproar, demanding to modify the electoral rules that are in force there and to do so before the elections that are due to take place on December 6 and whose realization would be practically impossible if such a process were undertaken at this point.
Immediately, in public statements they received the support of Almagro, who also offered the OAS to advise and supervise the process that, according to him, was indispensable for democracy.
His shameless interference in matters that do not concern him was vigorously condemned before the Permanent Council of the Organization, by the head of diplomacy of Dominica and from the island Prime Minister Roosvelt Skerrit who said “The OAS and Luis Almagro wants to advise the opposition to destabilize the country” and rejected the OAS claim.
Solidarity throughout the Caribbean came right away and the territorial government promoted a compromise between the contending parties to prevent violence and ensure orderly and fair elections.
On November 27, at the invitation of the government of Dominica, an official Commonwealth delegation arrived in its capital to observe the entire process from now until the final evaluation is done after the vote concludes. The observer group is chaired by Ms. Zainab Bangura, former Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone and former UN Under-Secretary. She is accompanied by a group of eminent personalities including Assad Shoman, one of the founders and former foreign minister of Belize and other jurists and electoral experts from Uganda, Barbados, the United Kingdom, Kenya, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda and Malaysia. The names and backgrounds of all of them have since been published in the Caribbean media.
Such a group of notables could not be brought together by the discredited OAS. (By the way, does anyone know the identity of those who made up the mission that Almagro sent to Bolivia? Why don’t they still publish the report that the coup plotters used?)
While waiting for the events in Dominica, let’s remember the warning of Ralph Gonzalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: “The OAS and Luis Almagro are enemies of the continent’s democratic forces.”
Source: Por Esto, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau