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Council On Hemispheric Affairs
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Monitoring
Political, Economic and Diplomatic Issues Affecting the Western Hemisphere
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Memorandum to the Press 04.79
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Word Count: 2400
Friday, 29 October 2004
Who will be the next leader of the
Organization of American States?
• A battle has broken out in the race
for the next Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS)
after the recently elected Miguel Angel Rodríguez resigned from his post on
October 15. He stepped down as Secretary General after a scandal broke loose
four weeks ago involving a bribe he accepted while he was President of Costa
Rica.
• Whether a former head of state can lead the OAS is a contentious
issue, as some deem the traits demonstrated by Latin American presidents to be
undesirable for the OAS Secretariat. The OAS needs a man of stature who
possesses integrity, leadership and a keen understanding of the inner workings
of a large organization. That man is unquestionably the president of the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Enrique Iglesias.
• The U.S. Department of State should have investigated Rodriguez’s
presidency before endorsing him for the OAS post.
• This scandal has made the international community skeptical of the
OAS’ ability to promote democracy, integration and development in the Western Hemisphere.
The resignation of former Costa Rican President
Miguel Angel Rodríguez (President from 1998-2002) as Secretary General of the
OAS has pitched the regional organization into perhaps the greatest crisis of
its history. Less than three weeks after Rodríguez assumed his new post as OAS
chief, Costa Rican newspaper La Nación reported his
involvement in a mysterious transaction with his long-time protégé, José Antonio
Lobo Solera, and the French communications company
Alcatel. Rodriguez is accused of receiving part of a $2.2 million “prize” that
Lobo obtained from Alcatel when the latter served as head of the Instituto Costarricence de Electricidad (ICE). The accusations allege that the bribe
was paid to expedite the granting of a major cellular phone contract for Costa Rica. The disgraced Rodriguez formally stepped down from his
OAS post on October 15.
With Rodríguez currently under house arrest in San José, a new battle has started over who will succeed him.
Rumors are currently flying around the region concerning who the likely
contenders for the top post might be. Unfortunately, as has been the case in
the past (particularly in the election of César
Gaviria as Secretary General in 1994), the U.S. will play a disproportionately large role in choosing
the next leader of the OAS. The problem is that what is good for Washington’s self interests is rarely good for Latin America.
TO READ THE ENTIRE TEXT OF THIS PRESS RELEASE, CLICK HERE
This analysis was
prepared by Alex Sánchez, COHA Research Fellow.
October 29, 2004
The Council on Hemispheric
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