UNASUR to Establish a “Democracy Clause”

Comment

In the aftermath of the action by a mutinous section of the Ecuadorian police to topple President Rafael Correa from power on September 30, South American leaders that same evening hurriedly called an emergency summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Buenos Aires where they “strongly condemned the coup attempt”. ...

In the aftermath of the action by a mutinous section of the Ecuadorian police to topple President Rafael Correa from power on September 30, South American leaders that same evening hurriedly called an emergency summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Buenos Aires where they “strongly condemned the coup attempt“. They also proposed to establish a “democratic clause“ through a special protocol in the organisation’s constituent treaty at their next summit in Guyana on November 26. The special protocol will specify measures to be taken against countries whose political processes are not respected.

For UNASUR members, this is not in any way a new idea. A “democratic clause“ in the final declaration of the Summit of the Americas in 2000 led to the promulgation by the Organisation of American States (OAS) of the Inter-American Democratic Charter in September 2001. The coup in Honduras last year saw the Charter’s application, resulting in the suspension of that country from the hemispheric body. (All UNASUR members are also members of the OAS).

And as recently as July of this year, in a meeting with UNASUR’s secretary general, the late Nestor Kirchner, Chilean legislators called for the continental body to add a “democracy clause“ in its founding treaty. No doubt, they felt this would demonstrate UNASUR’s determination to place its full weight in ostracising any South American regime if ever it seizes power by non-constitutional means.

By the time the emergency UNASUR summit was convened by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Correa had already been rescued from his enforced detention. Nevertheless, the leaders discussed what transpired in Quito, and in the early hours of the following morning issued a statement which, in addition to proposing the establishment of the “democratic clause“, “strongly condemned the attempted coup and subsequent kidnapping of President Rafael Correa“ and “reaffirmed their strong commitment to the preservation of democratic institutions, rule of law, constitutional order, social peace and full respect for human rights – essential terms of the regional integration process.“

In addition, they reiterated their full support for the constitutional government in Ecuador and emphasised that they “will not tolerate, under any circumstances, any new challenge to institutional authority and attempt to overthrow the legitimately elected civilian authority, and they warn that if the constitutional order is broken, they will take concrete steps immediately, such as border closures, suspension of trade, air traffic and the provision of energy services and other supplies.“

Clearly, the “democracy clause“ will be aimed at preventing the occurrence of coups in South America and, undoubtedly, it will specify these concrete actions against any offending regime as specified in the Buenos Aires declaration.

The September 30 events received a high degree of attention from many South American political analysts. The Argentine political scientist Atilio Boron wrote that it was clear that the rapid response by UNASUR was more emphatic and forceful than the hemisphere’s efforts regarding the coup in Honduras last year, and was decisive in preventing the conspiracy from escalating into a full-fledged coup, which was the ultimate objective of the police riot in Quito. UNASUR’s quick reflexes, along with the Ecuadorian people’s defence of democracy as they poured out onto the streets, “discouraged“ the coup-mongers and upset their plans, he added


He explained that “the tendency toward coups d’etat is latent in Latin America, and if it doesn’t manifest itself, that’s because there is no correlation of forces allowing it to come to the surface.“

Considering this tendency, the temptation for coups can grow, and unless regional and international bodies demonstrate their intolerance for such action, coup-mongers will feel that that they can overthrow a government by creating a crisis situation, and then expect that the international community’s policies against the coup to be ineffective since they will eventually accept the de facto regime. UNASUR’s proposed “democratic clause“ and its related actions are definitely aimed at countering those anti-democratic forces that maintain this line of thought.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo, is preparing to take over the chairmanship of UNASUR at the end of November from President Correa. As part of this process, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino visited Georgetown to discuss the handing over of the rotating chairmanship and to coordinate the activities of UNASUR. On October 22, he met with Jagdeo who pointed out that “there are many other situations of conflicts across South America.“ With this sense of awareness, Guyana, while pushing an aggressive social and developmental agenda, will be expected in the new leadership role to play a very active part in working with its UNASUR partners to ensure that there is no disruption to the constitutional order in the hemisphere.

This content is protected by Copyright under the Trademark Certificate. It may be partially quoted, provided that the source is cited, its link is given and the name and title of the editor/author (if any) is mentioned exactly the same. When these conditions are fulfilled, there is no need for additional permission. However, if the content is to be used entirely, it is absolutely necessary to obtain written permission from TASAM.

Areas

Continents ( 5 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 480 ) Actiivities ( 219 )
Areas
TASAM Africa 0 150
TASAM Asia 0 241
TASAM Europe 0 44
TASAM Latin America & Carribea... 0 35
TASAM North America 0 10
Regions ( 4 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 181 ) Actiivities ( 54 )
Areas
TASAM Balkans 0 94
TASAM Middle East 0 64
TASAM Black Sea and Caucasus 0 16
TASAM Mediterranean 0 7
Identity Fields ( 2 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 176 ) Actiivities ( 75 )
Areas
TASAM Islamic World 0 147
TASAM Turkic World 0 29
TASAM Türkiye ( 1 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 230 ) Actiivities ( 60 )
Areas
TASAM Türkiye 0 230

Bu çalışma psikolojik sermayenin kavramsal bir analiziyle birlikte alt boyutları olan umut, öz yeterlilik, dayanıklılık ve iyimserliğin, kendisinden yaklaşık 810 yıl önce Anadolu’da Kayseri’de kurulmuş olan Ahilik Teşkilatı uygulamalarında var olup olmadığını incelemek maksadı ile yapılmıştır. Anaht...;

Thomas Hardy’nin 1874 de yayınlanan kitabını ve ilk olarak 1967 de Julie Christie, Allen Bates ve Peter Finch’in unutulmaz bir oyunuyla sinemaya aktarılan yorumunu hatırlayanlarınız elbette vardır. Hardy’nin kurgu karakteri Bathsheba Everdene, duygusal beklentilerle “çılgın kalabalıktan uzak” bir kı...;

Nil, 6.650 kilometre uzunluğuyla dünyanın en uzun nehridir ve Afrika kıtasının yaklaşık %10'unu kaplamaktadır. Nehir üç kaynaktan beslenmektedir: Mavi Nil (Blue Nil veya Arapça Al-Bahr Al-Azraq), Atbara (Arapça Nahr ʿAtbarah) ve Beyaz Nil (White Nile, Arapça Al-Bahr Al-Abyad). Mavi Nil’in ana kaynağ...;

Türkiye NATO (son dönemde ABD) ilişkileri on yıllardır her iki tarafça da sorgulanmaktadır. Özellikle Suriye iç savaşında ABD’nin takındığı tavır ve yaptığı uygulamalar (PKK/YPG’ye silah desteği vb.) ile akabinde yaşanan siyasi-hukuki krizlerin aşılamaması sonucunda Türkiye’de yaşanan finansal krizi...;

İstanbul 2019 Güvenlik Konferansı’nın ana temasının TASAM tarafından ‘’Yeni Dünya Ekonomisi ve Güvenlik Mimarisi’’ olarak belirlenmesi siyasi aktörlerin, düşünce kuruluşlarının ve bilim insanlarının küresel çerçevede ilgisini çekecek niteliktedir. 21.yüzyılın daha güvenli ve insanlığın yaşam şartlar...;

Yüzünüzü hangi yöne dönseniz savaş ve çatışma var. Genzimize dokunan barut ve kan kokusu, yüreğimizi yakan kayıpların acısı. Orta Doğu, Asya, Ukrayna, Latin Amerika ve Afrika’da hep insan, mekân, tarih ve çevre telefatı, hep aynı katliam, soykırım girişimleri veya iddiaları - "Dünya Silah Sanayiinde...;

Uluslararası kamuoyu tarafından da yakından takip edildiği üzere; Türkiye’nin Rusya’dan S-400 Hava Savunma Sistemi’ni satın alması, bir federal yasa olan CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act; Amerika'nın Düşmanlarına Karşı Yaptırım Yasasıyla Mücadele) Kanunu’nun 231. maddes...;

Dünyada hiçbir ülkenin şu sıralar bir “altın çağ” yaşadığı düşünülemez. Küçük büyük her ülkenin kendi içinde ve birbiri ile sorunları var. - Dimyat’a Pirince Giderken, Evdeki Bulgurdan Olmak da Var - “Birinci Dünya”Ülkesi Sorunlarından Öte ;