Mark Schneider discusses OAS compromise: 'My sense is there were no major groundbreaking achievements, There was a lot of thrashing in the water to stay in the same place.''



Mark Schneider discusses OAS compromise: 'My sense is there were no major groundbreaking achievements, There was a lot of thrashing in the water to stay in the same place.''

OAS assembly set stage for future

The meeting in South Florida did not meet its expectations but may have laid groundwork for future progress, diplomats say.

BY PABLO BACHELET

pbachelet@herald.com

A high-level meeting of the Organization of American States in Fort Lauderdale fell short of becoming the historical marker in the defense of democracy that Washington had hoped for, diplomats say, but may have served to give the OAS some additional wiggle room for the future.

The OAS General Assembly, officially devoted to the issue of democracy, ended late Tuesday as diplomats from Canada, the United States, Brazil and Argentina wrangled over language on free trade in the final Declaration of Florida.

In the end, the declaration included the words ''trade without distortive effects'' -- a jab at U.S. agricultural subsidies.

That was just one example of the tumultuous give-and-take that marked the three-day assembly, with Venezuela finally accepting a role in the OAS for non-governmental groups -- a key U.S. aspiration -- but with enough caveats and limitations for Caracas to claim it thwarted a Bush administration effort to use such groups to evaluate countries where democracy is allegedly at risk, such as Venezuela.

These compromises let everyone go home happy, something that ''is actually positive,'' says Luigi Einaudi, the OAS' assistant secretary general, who retired during the assembly.

But in the end the real winner may be the OAS itself, strapped for cash and maligned for doing too little to stop elected governments in Latin America and the Caribbean from falling before the end of their terms.

[Excerpt]

SOME DISAGREE

Not everyone agrees that the patchwork compromise will really serve to bolster democracies.

''My sense is there were no major groundbreaking achievements,'' said Mark Schneider, with International Crisis Group, a private organization that advocates peaceful resolutions to conflicts. ``There was a lot of thrashing in the water to stay in the same place.''

When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

---

---

June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

---

June 5, 2005: Special Events Vote in the NPCA Election for new board before June 15 "American Taboo" author Phil Weiss in Maryland on June 18 "Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25 "Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

---

May 28, 2005: This Week's Top Stories The Coyne Column: Love and War in Afghanistan 28 May Sam Farr supports Coffee Growers in Colombia 28 May Elaine Chao wins Woman of Valor award 27 May Nebraska has strong ties with Afghanistan 27 May Arthur Orr to seek Alabama State Senate seat 26 May Murder of John Auffrey remembered in Liberia 26 May Bill Moyers says journalists should be filters for readers 26 May Linda Seyler spent two years in Thailand digging latrines 25 May Chris Shays blasts Bush on stem cell research 25 May George Wolfe to head Loudoun Academy of Science 25 May David Rudenstine heads Cardozo School of Law 24 May Mark Schneider says declaration is "pretty thin gruel" 24 May Robert Blackwill supports seat for India on Security Council 24 May Chris Matthews weighs Thomas Jefferson nomination 24 May Jim Knopf is expert on xeriscape gardening 23 May Mae Jemison receives honorary degree at Wilson 23 May Kenneth Proudfoot says dreams come true 22 May

---

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

Read the stories and leave your comments.