Posted on 10/08/2004 9:20:38 PM PDT by HAL9000
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - In a major embarrassment for the premier political institution of the Americas, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, resigned Friday, pressed by a corruption scandal in his native Costa Rica and just weeks after assuming his post.
In his resignation letter, Rodriguez said he didn't want to submit his family to the costs of a "long-distance defense" and wished to spare the OAS "a cruel and lengthy persecution of its Secretary General, not only in the judicial sphere but also in the media."
"With humility, pain and anguish, I ask you and the countries forgiveness for making you undergo this difficult moment and I hope that my decision allows the organization to focus all its attention on its duties," Rodriguez said in the letter, which was accepted by the OAS Permanent Council, the institution's top day-to-day governing body.
The resignation will take effect Oct. 15, one month after Rodriguez, who was the president of Costa Rica from 1998 to 2002, took over as secretary-general. He'd been unanimously elected in June by the 34 OAS member countries, during the general assembly in Quito, Ecuador, and his candidacy had been enthusiastically backed by the political establishment in Costa Rica.
An economist by training, Rodriguez launched an ambitious restructuring drive in the 115-year-old institution by eliminating 13 senior positions in an effort to trim $2 million from the institution's $78-million budget.
But support for Rodriguez faded quickly after allegations surfaced that he'd benefited from a $2 million bribe paid by French telecommunications supplier Alcatel to the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Costa Rica's state electricity firm.
Earlier this week, Abel Pacheco, Costa Rica's president, sent a letter to Rodriguez asking him to quit to face charges at home. Rodriguez, who denies any wrongdoing, on Monday told a group of South American ambassadors that he planned to stay on and that he should be given a chance to prove his innocence.
Most of the countries initially balked at the prospect of a secretary-general resigning so suddenly in the face of unproven corruption charges, but there were signs that support for Rodriguez was eroding. Argentina publicly demanded his resignation on Thursday, the first major South American nation to do so.
Still, few expected the announcement to come so soon. Rodriguez wasn't in Washington, and his office said he was touring Haiti and Grenada to assess hurricane damage to both nations.
"It was unexpected and difficult for Miguel Angel Rodriguez," Luigi Einaudi, the assistant secretary-general, told journalists. Einaudi, an American, will lead the OAS until member states set a new date for a general assembly to choose a replacement.
The OAS is scheduled to hold its regular annual general assembly in June in Fort Lauderdale, but OAS sources say that countries are reluctant to submit the organization to a long lame-duck period and will probably move to choose a replacement much sooner.
The resignation is triggering a spate of diplomatic activity to determine a new secretary. One name making the rounds was former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, although El Salvador said Rodriguez's replacement should come from Central America since Rodriguez hailed from the region. The country's president, Elias Antonio Saca, argued the case before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell during a meeting in Washington on Friday.
"President Saca makes a good case that Central America is deserving of having a strong candidate who was selected to be the next secretary-general," Powell told reporters. "Secretary-General Rodriguez was from Central America. But, of course, we all have to wait and see what other countries in the hemisphere believe. And we have to see what candidates come forward."
The former president of El Salvador, Francisco Flores, had toyed with the idea of running for the position before ceding to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez's resignation comes as the OAS battles a widespread public perception that it's little more than a debating forum for member countries.
But under the previous secretary-general, Cesar Gaviria, the OAS managed to raise its political profile by seeking to resolve political turmoil in the region by sending missions to hotspots, including Haiti, Venezuela and Colombia, where an OAS envoy is verifying the disarmament process of a major armed group there. The OAS was also pushing to forge a alliance to fight some of the region's biggest challenges, such as drug trafficking.
At the formal handover ceremony on Sept. 23 attended by eight heads of state and three prime ministers, Rodriguez had promised to strengthen democracy in the region and work to overcome poverty.
"I think it's an embarrassment to the institution and to Latin America," said Peter Hakim, with the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think tank. He expected countries to "let things simmer a little bit, let people digest what's happened" before choosing a successor to avoid making it seem as if "the institution is in panic."
AFP - International warrant for arrest against Rodriguez
Oh. Now I see why French & Co. come rushing to "help" Haiti.
BTTT!
OAS Bump .. urrrr.. Clank!
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