Mujica Praises Unasur Quick Response on Venezuela

[Catherina]

Mujica Praises Unasur Quick Response on Venezuela
21 April 2013



Montevideo, Apr 21 (Prensa Latina) Uruguayan President Jose Mujica described as quick and intelligent the supportive response of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to the Venezuelan electoral process and to President Nicolas Maduro.

The pro tempore president of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) also noted that statements of such characteristics are unprecedented in Latin America, the La República newspaper published today.

Previously, in the best case scenario, the nations resorted to the Organization of American States where global agreements were barely managed, he said.

...

http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1334191&Itemid=11

[idwiyo]

1. K&R

[ocpagu]

2. The best thing that could have happened to Latin America...

... is managing to group themselves in alternative organizations and freeing themselves of OAS as a permanent forum.

Thanks for sharing the information about Mujica donating most of his salary to charity. It's refreshing.

[Judi Lynn]

5. One other South America President takes a smaller salary, too! Bolivia's Evo Morales!

From Wikipedia:

Morales' unorthodox behavior contrasts with the usual manners of dignitaries and other political leaders in Latin America. For example, on January 28, 2006 he cut his salary by 57% to $1,875 a month.[41][72] He is single and, before the election, he shared a flat with other MAS officers. Consequently, his older sister, Esther Morales Ayma, fulfills the role of First Lady. He has two children from different mothers, Eva Liz Morales Alvarado and Álvaro Morales Paredes; politician Juan del Granado is Eva Liz's godfather.[73] Morales is also an association football enthusiast and plays the game frequently, often with local teams.[74][75]

He also aroused much interest in his casual choice of dress after being pictured often in his striped jacket with world leaders during his world tour. Some speculated that he would wear it to the official inauguration, where he actually dressed in a white collared dress shirt without a necktie (itself unheard of in Latin America in modern times for a head of state at their own inauguration) and a black suit jacket that was not a part of a conventional suit or tuxedo. He never dresses formally in any type of business suit. The jacket he often wears (in Bolivian Spanish, a chompa) became his unofficial symbol and copies of it sold widely throughout Bolivia.[76] Some accounts described Morales's signature jacket as alpaca-wool; others reported that it was actually made of common acrylic, because native materials had become too expensive for most Bolivians and were sold mostly in the tourist trade.[77]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales

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During his first presidential campaign he stayed in a very small room, and dignitaries who wanted to speak with him had to walk up a lot of steps and stand around in a very cramped apartment in order to see him in person. It sounded as if a lot of them were warmly amused at his humble surroundings.

[David__77]

3. Latin American solidarity helped prevent a planned crisis.

And it delivered a powerful blow to the coup plotters.

[joshcryer]

4. The CNE made its decision a few hours before UNASUR voted on it.

UNASUR was going to vote to ask Venezuela to count the votes. So UNASUR directly pressured the Venezuelan government here. The "coup plotters" only asked for the votes to be counted.

If anything it put the chavistas in check and made them realize how stupid they were being. The longer they dragged out not counting the votes, the more destabilized the country would've become.

In that vein it was a "blow" to the opposition, but I suspect once the votes are counted, Capriles will concede (the CNE will ignore any irregularities found, if any). His options are up. His only hope was causing the chavistas to lose their collective shit and cause a breakdown in government (as it was looking they were about to two for 2 days there until they blinked).

[Judi Lynn]

6. Admirable. More power to UNASUR and growing Latin America unity. n/t