Politics
José Miguel Insulza, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), said that he can not express an opinion on the approval of local and state laws in Venezuela because "these are legal issues raised by the Venezuelan government and approved by the courts. I can not say whether Venezuelan laws are good or not."

"What has happened here is simply that the government has passed laws that are deemed illegal by the opposition. These laws are enacted by the Executive Office and the National Assembly, and the Venezuelan courts have not repealed them," Insulza said upon leaving the meeting with Venezuelan opposition governors and Caracas' Metropolitan Mayor Antonio Ledezma in Washington.

Insulza said that the OAS "is not a supra-power; the OAS is an organization that respects the democracy of the countries (…) We are passing through a dangerous moment; people previously said that the OAS did not do anything to solve problems. Now, a lot of people think that the OAS can do everything. We can not solve conflicts for governments and national Congresses."

He said that the solution to the Venezuelan conflict is "that government and opposition leaders talk and discuss these problems to reach agreements."

Insulza said that some people have proposed in the Organization of American States that the hemispheric Executive and Legislative branches of power can resort to the use of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. "I do not know if in this case (Venezuela's situation) this can be done."

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Alicia De La Rosa
EL UNIVERSAL