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OAS Permanent Council Debates on the Strengthening and Preservation of Democratic Institutions

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today held the third dialogue on the strengthening of the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IDC), focused mainly on the document's fourth chapter on the strengthening and preservation of democratic institutions.

During the dialogue, the representatives of the member countries of the OAS debated the different interpretations of the elements contained in the six articles that make up said chapter, and which allude to the resources available when "situations arise in a member state that may affect the development of its democratic political institutional process or the legitimate exercise of power."

In this sense, article 17 of the charter states that “when the government of a member state considers that its democratic political institutional process or its legitimate exercise of power is at risk, it may request assistance from the Secretary General or the Permanent Council for the strengthening and preservation of its democratic system.”

In their interventions, the representatives referred to the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Charter, to be held in Valparaíso, Chile, on September 3 and 4, titled, "Hemispheric Commemoration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and Renewal of the Commitment of the Americas with Democracy," with the participation of Foreign Ministers and special guests from the region.

Among the issues debated during the today's session were measures that can be adopted inside the organization to prevent a break in the constitutional order; an emphasis on promoting education for democracy and democratic culture, and the risks and costs caused by the loss of the democratic order.

The Permanent Representatives commented on the need to define the criteria and situations that represent a threat to the democratic order in a country and advocated for the strengthening of the organization's capacity for action and early alert system through a permanent follow-up that allows for the identification of situations that can generate a political crisis.

Other suggestions to strengthen the Democratic Charter mentioned in the session include: the active participation of civil society through a fluid dialogue with different social groups that can help to promote the principles contained in the charter, and the definition of criteria to identify when the democratic constitutional order has been altered.

On this point, the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, addressed the importance of establishing what consists a grave alteration in the constitutional order, a phrase contained in the charter. "We are clear when a coup d'état is involved, but not in other situations," he said, citing examples such as massive fraud, the dissolution of a Congress or of a Supreme Court of Justice, among others, and advocated for defining if "other forms of altering the constitutional order will be considered" that are in his judgment "just as important, from a constitutive point of view, as a coup d'état."

The dialogues on the Inter-American Democratic Charter being held by the Permanent Council in different sessions respond to the mandate issued in Resolution 2555 during the 40th OAS General Assembly of 2010 in Lima. In its resolutive 14, the text instructed the Council to "."

Today's Council session condemned the massacre recently perpetrated in a casino in Monterrey, Mexico, in which 52 people died, and offered support to the Mexican authorities in their fight against organized crime. The President of the Permanent Council and Representative of Guatemala, Jorge Skinner-Klee, expressed his solidarity, particularly his "consternation for the massive criminal activity in that country."

The Council also welcomed Ambassador Joel Hernández, Permanent Representative of Mexico and paid homage to Ambassadors Virgilio Alcántara, Permanent Representative of Dominican Republic, and Joaquín Maza, Permanent Representative of El Salvador, who are ending their mandates.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-809/11