José Miguel Insulza, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), believes democracy "is very valid in Venezuela," and claimed that sponsoring isolation of President Hugo Chávez' regime "is an alternative completely unfeasible from the juridical standpoint and very inconvenient from the political standpoint."

In an interview published on July 15 in Argentinean daily newspaper Clarín, Insulza conceded that the aftereffects of Chávez' government decision not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV are still "alive."

He described as "risky" the Venezuelan government move on RCTV, as it is construed as "a clear signal to the press in the region."

Insulza referred to the ties between Venezuela and Cuba: "When somebody says, and I do not intend to quote anyone here, 'Cuba and Venezuela', he purports to say that this is the recipe for catastrophe. What we should do is rescue Cuba, rather than giving Venezuela away, from the point of view of democracy."

According to Insulza, interventions in Latin American countries have resulted in nothing but harmful.

"There is no reason to believe, in 2007, that gathering with Cubans is some sort of sin. It is completely absurd," Insulza told Clarín.