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2/10/2005 
TOP JOB AT OAS IN HANDS OF CARIBBEAN 'KINGMAKERS'  
WASHINGTON -- It's seldom that Suriname or Grenada is at the centre of diplomatic power brokering, but that's exactly what's happening at the Organization of American States, where a heated campaign is under way to head the beleaguered international organization. "We are the kingmakers," boasts Henry Illes, ambassador to Washington for Suriname, the former Dutch colony of 500,000 on the northeastern hump of South America. The 34-member OAS -- Cuba is also part of the grouping but has been suspended since Fidel Castro took power more than four decades ago -- is in the middle of a three-way race for the job of secretary-general, pitting candidates from El Salvador, Mexico and Chile against each other. The contest was precipitated last fall with the abrupt departure of former Costa Rican president Miguel Angel Rodriguez, after disclosure that he had accepted bribes from a French telecommunications company before he became secretary-general. He had been in the OAS job for just two weeks. The race finds Canada, which is supporting Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez, on the opposite side of the fence from the United States, which is backing former Salvadoran president Francisco Flores. Aside from Mexico, Canada is the most important backer by far of Mr. Derbez. Washington says it's behind Mr. Flores because it's Central America's turn to land the job, but other factors are also at play. "Salvador is the only country from Latin America that still has troops on the ground in Iraq," said Michael Shifter, vice-president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. "He's the kind of leader the U.S. likes. He's seen as anti-Cuba and pro-free market." But Mr. Flores also has his enemies. "The Venezuelans hate him, [President] Hugo Chavez in particular," said Donald Mackay, executive-director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, an Ottawa think tank, noting that as El Salvador's president, Mr. Flores extended quick recognition to the leaders of the unsuccessful coup that tried to topple Mr. Chavez in 2002. The third man in the race and the one to beat is Chilean Interior Minister Jose Miguel Insulza, a former foreign minister, who can count on the votes of Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela along with his native Chile. But with 14 of the 34 votes in the hands of Caribbean countries, the ultimate decision still depends on Dominica, St. Vincent and St. Lucia, each of which has the same voting power as the United States or Brazil. With that in mind, the three candidates have been crisscrossing the Caribbean in the search for votes and plan to fly to Suriname next week to press the flesh at a summit of Caricom, the Caribbean regional group. "They're campaigning as if they're running for president," said Alex Sanchez, research fellow at the Council of the Hemisphere, a Washington think tank. Mr. Sanchez said that according to Mexican media reports, Mr. Derbez has been promising industrial and other goodies to the island states if they lean his way. "He promised cement, scholarships and wire." So far, most of the Caribbean countries have been playing coy. "We would like to think that each vote counts," said Denis Antoine, Grenada's ambassador to Washington, who noted that he still has not received word from his government on whom it's backing. Whoever wins will be inheriting an organization with major financial and political problems. The OAS annual budget has been frozen at $73-million (U.S.) for a decade, and members like Argentina remain way behind with their dues. The United States provides 60 per cent of the budget, and Canada, which only joined in 1990, chips in another 11 per cent, making it the second-largest contributor to the organization. With budgets frozen, the OAS has little cash left to do anything after paying the salaries of its 650 employees, most of them well-ensconced at the organization's headquarters here. One obvious place to cut would be the OAS's network of 31 "national offices," which operate as mini-embassies in every one of the OAS countries with the exception of Canada, the United States and Chile. Mr. Mackay said he likes to call the offices "the Caribbean retirement plan" for the OAS officials who manage to land the sinecure on lush tropical islands like Barbados. The offices cost the group $6-million a year, or almost 10 per cent of its budget. These missions are obvious targets for cost cutters but for many of the tiny Caribbean nations involved, closing the local OAS office would mean losing as much as one-quarter of their foreign diplomatic representation. So when the candidates come knocking for those valuable Caribbean votes, Mr. MacKay suggested, the first thing they're likely to promise is to protect the local OAS mission from closing. Reprinted from theglobeandmail.com
 

 


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TOP JOB AT OAS IN HANDS OF CARIBBEAN 'KINGMAKERS'