USA / PERU – The high-level group appointed by the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to analyze the situation in Peru will arrive on Sunday to begin its work in the country.
The Group will remain in Peru until November 23. During the visit, the Group will meet with authorities from the executive, legislative and judicial branches; representatives of the government and the opposition; religious organizations and groups, business leaders, and civil society and unions, among others. The Group’s agenda is being planned based on the invitations and meeting requests received and with the purpose of listening to as many voices and points of view as possible. The high-level group regrets in advance that it is not able to accept all the meeting requests received.
The objective of the visit is to listen to as many voices as possible, in order to gather pertinent information with which to prepare a report that will later be presented to the Permanent Council at the Organization’s headquarters in Washington, DC. The high-level Group emphasized before its visit that its tasks emanate from the will expressed by all the OAS member states to support Peru in whatever Peru requires, with the utmost respect for the Constitution, sovereignty, rule of law, institutions and, above all, the Peruvian citizenry.
The members of the mission are:
• Santiago Cafiero, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina
• Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Immigration of Belize
• Arnaldo André, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica
• Juan Carlos Holguín, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador
• Mario Adolfo Búcaro, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala
• Julio César Arriola, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay
• Laura Gil, Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs of Colombia
• Eladio Loizaga, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, representative of the OAS General Secretariat and spokesperson for the Group
The Group was created after consultations carried out by the chair of the OAS Permanent Council, ambassador Marten Schalkwijk, in follow-up to the provisions of resolution CP/RES. 1208 approved by the Council on October 20. In the operative paragraphs of the resolution, the OAS Permanent Council resolves:
” 1. To express its solidarity and support for the democratically elected government of the Republic of Peru, as well as for preservation of the democratic political institutional process.
2. To call upon all actors to frame their actions with the respect for the rule of law, recognizing that Article 2 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter states that “the effective exercise of representative democracy is the basis for the rule of law and of the constitutional regimes of the member states of the Organization of American States”.
3. To express the willingness of the Organization of American States to give support and cooperation, at the request of the government of Peru, furthering efforts aimed at promoting dialogue and strengthening its democratic system of government.
4. To appoint a High-level Group, consisting of representatives of member states, and consistent with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, to visit Peru in order to analyze the situation and report to this Council.”
The special meeting of the Permanent Council was convened at the request of the government of Peru, and the resolution was approved by acclamation.
