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NEW OAS PERMANENT COUNCIL CHAIRS CALLS FOR GREATER PRIORITY
TO CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUE ON HEMISPEHRIC AGENDA

Venezuela’s Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Jorge Valero, warning today of the dramatic effects of global climate change caused by “pollution levels not conducive to human life,” called for the issue of climate change and its consequences to be put at the center of the Inter-American agenda.

Ambassador Valero, who is also Venezuela’s Deputy Minister for North America and Multilateral Affairs, used his first presentation since becoming the OAS Permanent Council Chairman to urge the member state representatives to “more vigorously and more resolutely renew” their efforts concerning Resolution AG/RES. 2184 on “Natural Disaster Reduction, Risk Management, and Assistance in Natural and Other Disaster Situations,” adopted by the OAS General Assembly last year.

Secretary General José Miguel Insulza and Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin also participated at today’s Permanent Council session.

Valero linked climate change to poverty and development issues, stating that the poor in developing countries account for 96 per cent of deaths caused by natural disasters. He said “the poorest of the world’s poor, as well as the poor in rich countries, are the worst affected.” The Permanent Council Chairman further called on the OAS to use “every institutional power to ensure that the right to development becomes a reality, especially as this part of the world has the greatest inequality, as stated by several United Nations reports.”

Noting that poverty “devalues the human condition” and undermines the foundations of democracy and democratic institutions, the Chairman of the OAS’ second highest decision-making body cited injustice, inequality and discrimination as causes of instability in the Americas. He expressed the view that if democracy does not deliver social justice, it will collapse. “Our citizens are demanding a better quality of democracy,” said Valero, suggesting that true democracy fully guarantees all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Ambassador Valero asserted that while the Inter-American Democratic Charter addresses political and civil rights, the Social Charter of the Americas and its Plan of Action are one way of recognizing economic, social and cultural rights. He touched on the Venezuelan government’s proposal to host a Special Assembly to adopt the Social Charter and the Action Plan as soon as negotiations are concluded. Implementing these instruments requires providing the OAS with special resources beyond the Regular Fund, the Permanent Council Chairman said, indicating he intends to consult with all the member state delegations accordingly.
The Venezuelan diplomat said the OAS should declare Haiti “a top priority for hemispheric cooperation,” and should broaden the debate about Energy for Sustainable Development—the central theme of the next regular session of the General Assembly, to be held in Panama in June.

In one of the first acts of his Permanent Council chairmanship, Ambassador Valero made a special presentation to recognize the work of his predecessor, Ambassador María del Lujan Flores of Uruguay, who also updated the meeting with a report on her chairmanship of the hemispheric Council.

Reference: E-097/07