COLOMBIA: Prez Santos Invitation Of "Super Judge" Baltazar Garzon Divides Nation.

GUARDIAN


Controversial Spanish judge Baltazar Garzon (above) was invited by President Juan Manuel Santos to consult on human rights issues.
Now, he is working there under the auspices of the OAS.
Whomever he works for, his famous presence is stirring even more controversy.
Conservatives especially see his presence as an infringement on national sovereignty.

OAS / HONDURAS/ NICARAGUA: New Cartagena Accord Will Allow Zelaya Return.

AP

     A deal has been negotiated that permits the return of ousted ex-President Manuel Zelaya (pictured) to Honduras... and its re-entry in the OAS.
     Called the Cartagena Accord, Zelaya is scheduled to sign it today in Managua.
     Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reportedly mediated the accord.
       It ends the crisis caused by a 2009 coup that sent Zelaya into exile and had the OAS  suspending Honduras.

COLOMBIA/ NICARAGUA/ COSTA RICA: Ortega's Accusations Are Baseless Says Colombian Minister.

C.REPORTS/
   Colombia's Minister of Defense Rodrigo Rivera won't dignify a recent accusation from Nicaragua's President Ortega that Colombia is conspiring with others to "seize" the Caribbean to support drug trafficking activities.
   Ortega accused Colombia of spearheading a campaign within the OAS along with Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Guatemala because they "have an interest in drug trafficking."
   Ortega has threatened to withdraw from the OAS and says he will take the border dispute with Costa Rica to the World Court.

NICARAGUA/ COSTA RICA:1ST UPDATE: Nico Army Will NOT Withdraw From Border Despite OAS Plea; Is Dredging A Test By Venezuela And Iran To Build Alternate To Panama Canal? Troop Removal Deadline Extended By 24 Hours.

GUARDIAN/
"We cannot invade our own territory," said Vice President Jaime Morales Carazo (pictured).
   With that statement, Carazo flatly rejected an OAS deadline to withdraw troops from a disputed border zone with Costa Rica,  despite conceding that it occupied the land only because Google Maps had incorrectly labeled it.
     Carazo still rejects Costa Rica's complaints because he states the land belongs to Nicaragua.
  Nicaragua does want bilateral talks to continue but Costa Rica does not.
     Some media are now reporting that the border incident is but a trail balloon to check resistance to a new canal.
     The Israeli website Haaretz claims its sources say the dispute is part of a plan by Venezuela, Iran and Nicaragua to create a "Nicaragua Canal" linking the Atlantic and Pacific to rival the Panama Canal. It also claims the U.S. is concerned and is working to foil it.

FOR ALTERNATE CANAL THEORY, SEE:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-venezuela-plan-to-build-rival-to-panama-canal-1.324173

UPDATE, 12 NOV: Costa Rica is giving Nicaragua 24 more hours to remove troops from Isla Calero area. There are reports that Nicaragua has actually added more troops. With excellent foto display not seen elsewhere, GO TO:
 http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/november/12/costarica10111201.htm

VENEZUELA/COLOMBIA:2NDUPDATE/ Chavez Cuts Ties With Bogota Over Rebel Haven Charges.

AP/2ND UPDATE/ 24 July/
  Venezuela ended diplomatic ties with Colombia over public accusations from Bogota that it was providing a safe haven to1,500 leftist guerrillas. Now President Chavez  warns that any attack could provoke war. "Imagine a war between Colombia and Venezuela. That would be something to cry over for a hundred years," Chavez said. "But you understand that if we are attacked, we aren't going to stay with our arms crossed."

The neighbors nearly went to war in 2008 over a Colombian military raid into Ecuador to destroy a cross-border rebel camp. At a OAS meeting last week, Colombian Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos displayed photos, videos, witness testimony and maps of what he said were rebel camps inside Venezuela and challenged Venezuelan officials to let independent observers visit them. Neither Chavez nor his OAS ambassador directly responded to the demand that Venezuela let people visit the alleged camps run by groups that the U.S. and European governments label terrorist organizations.

HONDURAS: Latin America Still Divided Over Coup.

NYTIMES/ MARC LACEY/
"...a year after one of the most unusual coups in Central American history played out in Honduras, it continues to divide Latin America and pose an unrelenting challenge to the Obama administration’s goals in the region. And despite months of crisis negotiations and halting compromises, the Honduran political standoff will still haunt a meeting of the Organization of American States that opens on Sunday in Peru."

OAS: Insuza Re-Elected By Acclamation.

MERCOPRESS/    Heavy lobbying by the U.S. was probably responsible for the re-election of Chile's Jose Miguel Insulza, 66,  as secretary general of the OAS for another five-year term. Insulza was the only candidate proffered and was elected by acclamation though Bolivia abstained and several nations reportedly said their support was conditional.

COLOMBIA: Election Results Delayed By Technical Glitches.

BBC/    A delay in declaring final election results because of technical glitches has candidates sniping at each other, especially from the opposition party. There were also election day accusations of vote-buying. OAS observers said they saw it in six of the 16 provinces they monitored.

VENEZUELA: Chavez Blasts OAS For Saying He Endangers Democracy.

GUARDIAN.UK/   President Hugo Chavez vowed that his nation will leave the OAS after it accused him of endangering democracy and intimidating opponents. Chavez called the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights a "mafia", and its leader "excrement".

OAS: Latin American Nations Create New Regional Bloc-The Rio Group.

MERCOPRESS/    An alternative to the OAS, called the Rio Group, was formalized at the recent summit in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The Rio Group will represent all the countries in the Americas including Cuba while excluding the United States and Canada. Colombia reportedly opposed the Group's creation.

The OAS: Peruvian Author Mario Vargas Llosa Calls It "Useless."

MERCO PRESS/

“If there is an organization in Latin America which is inefficient, useless and at times dangerous precisely because of its inefficiency, it’s the Organization of American States, OAS”, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa told a Chilean newspaper. “...It’s no use, it’s an organization that costs money, to which many resources and time are dedicated but it simply does not deliver, it’s useless”, he said in a wide-ranging interview that included criticism of Colombia's President Uribe desire for a third term and Hugo Chavez's quest to be a modern-day caudillo.

HONDURAS: Stalemate Drags On; U.S. Sends New Envoy.

NYTIMES/
The State Department sent Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly to Honduras to get both men to abide by the terms of an Oct. 30 agreement. It called for a coalition government to run the country while the Honduran congress decided on a vote. Meanwhile,the OAS head said he would NOT send observers to monitor the presidential election, scheduled for Nov. 29. And many of the OAS's 34 members said they would not recognize the election winner unless Mr. Zelaya was reinstated to complete his term.
Brasil’s ambassador said the situation seemed like a “badly written soap opera, with sinister characters played by the de facto regime, which history will judge.”

OAS Departs With No Agreement In Honduran Stand-Off.

LAHT.

The Organization of American States negotiating team ended a two-day stay in Honduras without reaching an accord to reinstate ousted President Mel Zelaya.

Clinton Won't Support Insulza's OAS Re-Election.

From the Miami Herald.

Latin America Forcefully urging US to change OAS policy vs Cuba

Obama is resisting an effort by some increasingly assertive Latin American nations to allow Cuba to return to the OAS... after a 47 year absence.

It may be a purely symbolic question... since Cuba shows no desire to return to the organization.
Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/28/AR2009052803766.html?hpid=topnews