Despite OAS vote fiasco, regional pressure on Venezuela will grow

(Photo: Ariana Cubillos AP)

Despite the 34-country Organization of American States’ recent failure to pass a resolution demanding that Venezuela restore democratic rule, domestic and international pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro is likely to increase in coming weeks.

Don’t be fooled by Maduro’s temporary diplomatic victory at the June 19 OAS meeting in Cancún, Mexico, nor by Maduro’s apparent control of the armed forces following a confusing June 27 incident in which someone in a police helicopter apparently fired shots on Venezuela’s government-controlled Supreme Court.

Venezuela’s political crisis, which has already resulted in 77 deaths in street protests over the past three months, will keep heating up.

Maduro won a diplomatic battle at the OAS meeting thanks to the help of a handful of small Caribbean countries. Amazingly, they managed to defeat a resolution backed by 20 major countries — including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia — that demanded a restoration of democratic rule in Venezuela.

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