translated from Spanish: Luis Almagro is re-elected as Secretary General of the OAS

The current Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Uruguayan Luis Almagro, won the election on Friday, in which he faced former Ecuadorian chancellor María Fernanda Espinosa, and will remain at the head of the body for five years More.
Almagro received the support of 23 of the 34 active OAS members (Cuba is part of the entity, but has not participated since 1962), while 10 countries supported Espinosa and Dominica’s mission was absent from the session, held at headquarters in Washington.
In this way, Almagro overcame the 18-vote barrier he needed to take over re-election; but he did not receive the near-unanimous endorsement that won him as secretary general in 2015, when he won 33 of the 34 votes in a election in which he was the only candidate.
“First of all, my thanks to those who carried out my candidacy, those who palm-to-palm defended it, promoted it and fought it,” said the Uruguayan politician, whose proposal was promoted by the US, Brazil and Colombia.
Almagro, one of the toughest international voices against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, said he “will remain” the general secretary of all, not just those who elected him.
“I said this by paraphrasing a speech from more than 200 years ago, my authority emanates from you, as happens today,” Almagro stressed in a brief appearance in which he appeared in blue latex gloves for caution at the coronavirus.
ESPINOSA COULD NOT ATTEND THE SESSION
The secret vote took place at an extraordinary OAS General Assembly marked by controversy because a group of countries, including Mexico and 13 members of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), called for it to be postponed because of the virus.
During the session, the ambassadors were seen in latex gloves, separated at nearly two metres and disinfuting their hands with gel.
Espinosa was unable to be in the OAS room where the vote was held because the organization decided to limit assistance for the virus, an Eph efe was told by a source close to Ecuadorian politics.
His candidacy had been endorsed by Antigua and Barbuda and San Vicente and the Grenadines, two of the Caribbean countries closest to Maduro, and had managed to capture much of the votes of Caricom, as well as the support of Mexico and Argentina, ruled by the left.
However, Espinosa, a controversial figure within Ecuador, failed to gain the support of his government, which he announced would vote for Almagro.
MEXICO AND ARGENTINA VS. ALMAGRO
Immediately after Almagro’s victory was proclaimed, Mexico’s ambassador Luz Elena Baños and Argentina’s representative Graciela Curia called for the floor, and the representative of Argentina, Graciela Curia, who expressed concern about the polarization that, in her view, Almagro has promoted on the continent.
“Unfortunately, the organization has been paralyzed by its polarization, which has taken it away from a normal decision-making scenario, detracting from the capacity of interlocution and making it less relevant, making it a mere spectator of what happens without to provide effective solutions,” Curia said.
In his first term in the OAS, Almagro strongly supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized as interim president of Venezuela by 50 nations, but made no changes within the Miraflores Palace.
What it did achieve was for Venezuelan opponent Gustavo Tarre to take Venezuela’s seat in the OAS and participate as a full member.
THE U.S. MACHINERY. IN ALMAGRO’S FAVOR
During the campaign, US President Donald Trump’s government used all of its political machinery to pressure other countries and try to capture votes for Almagro, which he perceives as an ally to Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba.
In January, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech at the OAS to campaign for Almagro and then met jamaica with the chancellors of six Caribbean countries to ask them to back him up.
In addition, the White House publicly urged Peru’s ambassador to the U.S., Hugo de Zela, to withdraw his candidacy for the General Secretariat by considering that he was “dividing” the hemispheric bloc, as both competed for the support of a similar group of countries.
De Zela, who had proposed an institutional path for dialogue, announced on Monday that he was leaving the campaign, which has allowed Almagro to increase his advantage over Espinosa.
Almagro will conclude his first term as secretary general in May and then begin another five-year term, until 2025.

Original source in Spanish

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