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Analysis : OAS Revises Charter but Fails to Act on Main Issues

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Times Staff Writer

The major regional organization that links the United States to Latin America has failed again to respond to the principal concerns of the region: peace in Central America and financing for economic development.

Delegates from the 31 member countries of the Organization of American States on Thursday signed revisions of the organization’s charter that improve its role as a mediator in conflicts between members. But even those long-sought reforms will have limited impact.

Peacekeeping is the main role of the OAS, but it has not recently played that role in Central America. The OAS, a regional organization under the United Nations, was paralyzed during the United States’ invasion of Grenada in 1983. And it was divided during the Falkland Islands war between Argentina and Britain. The OAS’ last peacekeeping success came during the Honduras-El Salvador “football war” of 1969.

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The second major role of the OAS, created here in Colombia in 1948, is to promote regional cooperation, funded mainly by the United States, for economic development, cultural exchanges and technology transfer. But since the international debt crisis began in 1982, the OAS has not played a significant part as a forum in which both the United States and Latin America are represented.

OAS ‘Not Relevant’

“The OAS has simply not been relevant to the realities of the region,” said Dante Caputo, Argentina’s foreign minister.

Argentina and Colombia led the drive here for reforms, but the assembly proved timid and sidestepped proposals to establish sanctions for countries that systematically violate human rights or intervene in the affairs of other members.

The decline of the OAS is frequently attributed to the cumbersome, bureaucratic secretariat in Washington, where elderly diplomats, international jurists and a staff amassed over nearly four decades often seem far removed from the region’s political turmoil and social stresses.

But other observers of the OAS put the blame on the unwillingness of the member countries to assign political initiative to the OAS that could affect national interests or require subordination to regional principles. Many Latin American countries believe that the United States manipulates the OAS for its own interests in the region.

Powers Increased

The reforms, adopted after an exhausting all-night session at the convention center here, increased the powers of Secretary General Javier Baena Soares, a Brazilian diplomat, who is in the second year of a five-year term.

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After the charter reforms are ratified by two-thirds of the members, which could take several years, the secretary general will be able to bring issues, such as a threat to the peace, before the permanent council.

Under present rules, a member country must make the first move.

The council also will be able to provide peacekeeping services, which are now blocked by the lack of ratification of the Treaty for Peaceful Solutions. The United States and 20 other member countries have refused to sign the treaty.

But these small reforms did not generate great expectations for the OAS among the Latin American foreign ministers who came here to revitalize the organization. It was the unanimous view that the big issues will continue to be handled outside the OAS.

Efforts to bring about a Central American peace and security arrangement will continue through the so-called Contadora Group, made up of Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama. The ministers of these countries agreed here to maintain the mediation process, although Nicaragua has become increasingly critical of the Contadora process.

Debt Issue Excluded

The Latin American foreign debt issue remains almost entirely outside the OAS forum, even though Secretary of State George P. Shultz, addressing the assembly Monday, devoted almost his entire speech to economic matters.

Shultz told the Latin Americans, in an orthodox free-market lecture, that they could expect help on the debt only if they promote foreign investment, reduce the role of public enterprises in their economies and embrace free trade.

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For the major Latin American debtors, who owe a total of $380 billion, the forum for debt discussions is the Cartagena Group of 11 countries, which met here nearly two years ago and called for a “political” dialogue with the creditor governments.

The creditors have never accepted negotiations outside the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where the large, industrial countries have a voting majority.

The foreign ministers here, in private talks, made preparations for the next round of the Cartagena Group, which will meet in Montevideo, Uruguay, from Dec. 16 to 18.

The central issue in Montevideo will be the proposal made in September by Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III that offer debtors that cooperate with the International Monetary Fund and adopt free-market programs additional loans from commercial banks and development credit from the World Bank.

The general view of the foreign ministers, who will be joined by finance ministers from 11 countries in Montevideo, is that the Baker proposal offers insufficient funding, is too demanding in setting the terms for new borrowing and lacks a coordinating mechanism between debtors and creditors.

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