A tale of two mesas: The OAS defense of democracy in Peru and Venezuela

Global Governance

Volumn 11, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 425-444

  Cooper, Andrew F ^a,b   Legler, Thomas ^c  

^a CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE INNOVATION   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO   (Canada)

^c MOUNT ALLISON UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Democracy; Dialogue roundtables; Intervention; Multilateralism; OAS

Indexed keywords

EID: 29544432553     PISSN: 10752846     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/19426720-01104003     Document Type: Review

References (38)

1. This article is the product of an equal coauthorship between the authors. It is based primarily on numerous interviews conducted with participants of the dialogue or mesa processes in Peru and Venezuela as well as with knowledgeable observers in those countries and in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa. We are extremely grateful to them for sharing their confidential insights with us. We would also like to extend special thanks to Canadian embassy staff in Washington, D.C., Lima, and Caracas. Financial support was provided through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Mount Allison University, and the Centre for International Governance Innovation/University of Waterloo.
2. On the collective defense of democracy in the Americas, see, for example, Thomas M. Franck, "The Emerging Right to Democratic Governance," American Journal of International Law 86, no. 1 (1992): 46-91;
3. Domingo E. Acevedo and Claudio M. Grossman, "The Organization of American States and the Protection of Democracy," in Tom Farer, ed., Beyond Sovereignty: Collectively Defending Democracy in the Americas (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), pp. 132-149;
4. and Andrew F. Cooper and Thomas Legler, "The OAS Democratic Solidarity Paradigm: Questions of Collective and National Leadership," Latin American Politics and Society (formerly Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs) 43, no. 1 (2001): 103-126.
5. See, for example, Maxwell A. Cameron and Philip Mauceri, eds., The Peruvian Labyrinth: Polity, Society, Economy (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997);
6. and Julio Cotler and Romeo Grompone, El Fujimorismo: Ascenso y caída de un régimen autoritario (Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2000).
7. On political pacts and democratization, see Terry Lynn Karl, "Dilemmas of Democratization in Latin America," Comparative Politics 23 (October 1990): 1-21;
8. Terry Lynn Karl, "Petroleum and Political Pacts: The Transition to Democracy in Venezuela," in Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead, eds., Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Latin America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986), pp. 196-219.
9. On the demise of the Punto Fijo system, see Jennifer L. McCoy and David J. Myers, eds., The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004);
10. Steve Ellner and Daniel Hellinger, eds., Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization, and Conflict (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2003);
11. and Jennifer McCoy, "Chávez and the End of Partyarchy in Venezuela," Journal of Democracy 10, no. 3 (July 1999): 64-77.
12. On the concept of new multilateralism, see Michael G. Schechter, ed., Innovation in Multilateralism (London: Macmillan, 1998).
13. In the inter-American context, see Andrew F. Cooper, "The Making of the Inter-American Democratic Charter: A Case of Complex Multilateralism," International Studies Perspectives 5, no. 1 (February 2004): 92-113.
14. Due to space limitations, we are unable to engage in a full discussion of the theoretical implications of the mesas for the study of democratic dialogues and third-party mediation within contemporary multilateralism. For such a treatment, see our forthcoming book, Intervention Without Intervening? The OAS Defense and Promotion of Democracy in Peru and Venezuela (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2006).
15. Following a series of critical press conferences, Stein withdrew the OAS electoral observation mission on the eve of the second round of the presidential election in May 2000 as an act of protest against irregularities in the electoral process. The Stein mission issued a bulletin for wide release in which it stated that "according to international standards, the Peruvian electoral process is far from being considered free and fair." Misión de Observación Electoral, Boletín No. 12, 25 May 2000, available online at www.upd.oas.org/EOM/Peru/Boletin%20No.12.htm.
16. See Síntesis Operativa de la Mesa de Negociación y Acuerdos (Operational synthesis of the forum for negotiation and agreements), Caracas, 7 November 2002.
17. Jimmy Carter, A Proposal to Restore Peace and Harmony in Venezuela, 22 January 2003, available online at www.cartercenter.org/printdoc.asp?docID= 1157&submenu=news.
18. Relations between the Carter Center and the Chávez government grew more strained during the lead-up process to the 15 August 2004 recall referendum.
19. Veronique Mandai, "OAS Peru Mission Endorsed," Windsor Star, 6 June 2000.
20. On the Fujimori-Montesinos relationship, see Carlos Iván Degregori, La década de la antipolítica: Auge y huida de Alberto Fujimori y Vladimiro Montesinos (The decade of antipolitics: The rise and fall of Alberto Fujimori and Vladimiro Montesinos) (Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2000).
21. At the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000, not contesting the results of the second-round presidential election and providing a commitment to forward-looking, long-term democracy promotion activities were the trade-offs that the OAS made in order to obtain the endorsement of the Peruvian government for a High-Level Mission to Peru. See Andrew F. Cooper and Thomas Legier, "The OAS in Peru: A Model for the Future?" Journal of Democracy 12, no. 4 (October 2001): 123-136.
22. On the Group of Friends of Venezuela, see Press Release: Group of Friends of the OAS Secretary General for Venezuela, E-020/03. 31 January 2003, available online at www.oas.org/library/mant_press/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E- 020/03;
23. "Group of Friends to Support Secretary General in His Facilitation Efforts in Venezuela," OAS News (January-February 2003), available online at www.oas.org/oasnews/2003/Jan_Feb/English/art7.html.
24. Declaración de principios por la paz y la democracia en Venezuela, 13 September 2002, available online at www.oas.org/library/mant_press/ press_release.asp?sCodigo=VEN;
25. Síntesis Operativa.
26. "Secretario general de la OEA informa sobre declaración de principios por la paz en Venezuela" (OAS secretary-general reports on the declaration of principles for peace in Venezuela), Press release C-203/02, 16 October 2002, available online at www.oas.org/library/mant_press/press_release. asp?sCodigo=C-203/02;
27. see also Síntesis Operativa.
28. Carter, A Proposal to Restore Peace and Harmony in Venezuela.
29. See the discussion in OAS General Assembly, Report on Facilitation Efforts of the Secretary General in Venezuela, OEA/Ser.PAG/doc.4231/03 add. 1, Santiago, Chile, 7 June 2003.
30. See Preliminary Agreement Between the Representatives of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Political and Social Groups Supporting It and the Coordinadora Democrática, presented to the media by Fernando Jaramillo, Caracas, 11 April 2003, available online at www.oas.org/OASpage/eng/Venezuela/Agreement-041103.htm.
31. See Agreement Between the Representatives of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Political and Social Groups Supporting It, and the Coordinadora Democrática and the Political and Civil Society Organizations Supporting It, Caracas, 23 May 2003, available online at www.oas.org/OASpage/eng/Venezuela/Agreement052303en.htm.
32. See the two mesa agreements: Declaración de Principios por la Paz y la Democracia en Venezuela (Declaration of Principles for Peace and Democracy in Venezuela), 13 September 2002, available online at www.oas.org/library/ mant_press/press_release.asp?sCodigo=VEN;
33. Declaración contra la Violencia, por la Paz y la Democracia (Declaration Against Violence and for Peace and Democracy), Caracas, 18 February 2003.
34. For a useful primer on the events leading up to the 15 August recall referendum, see International Crisis Group, Venezuela: Headed Toward Civil War? Latin America Briefing, 10 May 2004, available online at www.crisisweb.org// library/documents/latin_america/040510_venezuela_headed_toward_civil_war.pdf.
35. Jennifer McCoy, "The Referendum in Venezuela: One Act in an Unfinished Drama," Journal of Democracy 16, no. 1 (January 2005): 114.
36. See Laurence Whitehead, "The Imposition of Democracy: The Caribbean," in Laurence Whitehead, ed., The International Dimensions of Democratization: Europe and the Americas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 59-92.
37. On hard versus soft forms of intervention, see Fernando Tesón, "Changing Perceptions of Domestic Jurisdiction and Intervention," in Farer, Beyond Sovereignty, pp. 29-51.
38. Charles Sampford and Margaret Palmer, Strengthening Domestic Responses to the Erosion of Democracy and to Coups d'État (Washington, D.C.: Council on Foreign Relations, 2002), pp. 1-2, available online at www.cfr.org/pdf/ Dem_TF_Domestic.pdf.