WASHINGTON, USA – The Organization of American States (OAS) agreed with the government of Brazil and its Superior Electoral Tribunal to send an Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) to the country´s November 15 municipal elections.
The secretary-general of the OAS, Luis Almagro, said it is “an honor for the Organization to sign this agreement, which will allow for the deployment of our second Electoral Observation Mission in Brazil.”
“Our missions are a guarantee of transparency, independence, professionalism and their objective is to strengthen democratic institutions in the Hemisphere,” added the OAS secretary-general.
For his part, the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the OAS, Fernando Simas, reaffirmed his country’s commitment “to the validity of democracy in the region.” “We will continue working with the OAS to advance these objectives that converge with the OAS Charter and our hemispheric commitments,” added the Brazilian diplomat.
Meanwhile, the minister of the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil, Luís Roberto Barroso, recalled that many suggestions that the OAS made in the observation of the 2018 general elections “are being implemented or are being considered.” “OAS electoral observation makes all the difference, because it is a form of international transparency throughout the process,” said the president of the TSE, who congratulated secretary-general Almagro for “his firm leadership of the OAS during difficult times in Latin America.”
The chief of the Electoral Observation Mission will be the former Uruguayan ambassador Agustín Espinosa. It will be the second time that the OAS has observed an election in Brazil, after the 2018 general elections.