peter castle castle and Foreign Minister César Landa sent a document to the Organization of American States (OAS), where they requested that articles 17 and 18 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter “to preserve democratic institutions and the legitimate exercise of power.” For this reason, the OAS A special session of the Permanent Council will be held.
Let us remember that Article 17 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter indicates that: “When the government of a State considers that its democratic institutional political process or its legitimate exercise of power is at risk, it may resort to the Secretary General or the Permanent Council in order to request assistance for the strengthening and preservation of democratic institutions.”
What is the Inter-American Democratic Charter?
According to the OAS web portal, “it is the affirmation that democracy is and should be the form of government shared by the peoples of the Americas and that it constitutes a collective commitment to maintain and strengthen the democratic system in the region. Article 1 clearly establishes that ‘The peoples of the Americas have the right to democracy and their governments have the obligation to promote and defend it’”.
What is the purpose of the Democratic Charter?
The main purpose of this inter-American instrument is to strengthen and preserve the democratic institutions of the nations. The Charter defines the essential elements of democracy and its relation to integral development and how it should be defended when it is under threat. In addition, it promotes a democratic culture, as well as electoral observation missions.
What are the Democratic values of the Charter?
The Charter defines a set of essential values and rights, among which are:
- Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
- Periodic, free and fair elections
- Transparency, probity and respect for social rights
- Exercise of power based on the rule of law
- Plural system of political parties and organizations, separation and independence of public powers
- Elimination of all forms of discrimination
- Right and duty of all citizens to participate in decisions related to their own development
How could it be used by President Castillo?
Article 20 of the Charter mentions that “in the event that in a Member State there is an alteration of the constitutional order that seriously affects its democratic order, any member state or the secretary general may request the immediate convocation of the Permanent Council to make a collective assessment of the situation and adopt the decisions it deems appropriate.”so Castillo could go to this if he feels his government is threatened.
