OEA: gobiernos de Venezuela y Bahamas denuncian a EEUU por injerencia y espionaje
Venezuela denuncia ante la OEA injerencia de EEUU en asuntos internos del país
La injerencia de Estados Unidos (EEUU) en los asuntos internos de Venezuela, fue denunciada formalmente este miércoles por el ministro para Relaciones Exteriores, Elías Jaua, durante la 44ª Asamblea General de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), que se realiza en Asunción, Paraguay.
En su alocución, el canciller apuntó que EEUU apoya abiertamente a la derecha venezolana, que desde febrero de este año ejecuta acciones violentas con el fin de derrocar al presidente constitucional Nicolás Maduro, «en abierta violación de los principios de no intervención en los asuntos internos que postula esta organización».
Desde principios de este año, Venezuela ha enfrentado focalizadas acciones terroristas de grupos de ultraderecha que han dejado un saldo de 42 muertos, cientos de heridos y múltiples destrozos de instituciones públicas.
El Gobierno de EEUU ha manifestado públicamente su apoyo a la oposición venezolana e incluso en el Congreso de ese país se debate un proyecto de ley de sanciones hacia el país suramericano.
«Las iniciativas de leyes en el Congreso de Estados Unidos, que amenazan con sanciones violatorias del derecho internacional a nuestro país, serían un obstáculo para continuar el avance hacia el desarrollo integral y la inclusión social de nuestro pueblo, por lo cual las rechazamos y denunciamos formalmente en este foro regional», enfatizó Jaua, quien además expuso ante la OEA los significativos avances de la Revolución Bolivariana en materia de justicia social.
Recordó que durante los últimos 15 años en el país la inversión social supera los 550 millones de dólares, «cifra sin precedente en la historia de Venezuela, que representa más del 62,5% de los ingresos fiscales» y demuestra la política de una redistribución justa de la riqueza del país que posee las mayores reservas de petróleo del planeta.
En este sentido, el canciller resaltó que el avance de la justicia social en Venezuela requiere un clima necesario de estabilidad política y paz.
«Es por ello que el intento permanente de la derecha que se niega a reconocer las derrotas electorales y se oponen a una justa redistribución del ingreso nacional pretenden permanentemente generar violencia, sabotaje económico, planes de magnicidio, alentados y financiados desde sectores de los Estados Unidos», alertó.
Respeto a la soberanía
En nombre del Pueblo y Gobierno de Venezuela, Jaua agradeció nuevamente la declaración de solidaridad y apoyo expresada, en marzo pasado, por 29 países de la OEA -integrada por 35 naciones- que se pronunciaron a favor de la institucionalidad democrática venezolana y en respeto a la soberanía de Venezuela.
De esa manera, recordó que dicha posición del organismo fue ratificada este miércoles por el secretario general de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), José Miguel Insulza, quien hizo un llamado al apoyo al diálogo en Venezuela y destacó la necesidad de respetar la soberanía y la no injerencia en los asuntos internos del país.
El canciller venezolano también agradeció el papel de la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Unasur) -que agrupa los 12 países suramericanos- en el diálogo nacional entre el Gobierno y la oposición, promovido por el presidente Nicolás Maduro.
Asimismo, destacó el respaldo a Venezuela por parte del Movimiento de Países No Alineados (Mnoal), integrado por 120 países, reunidos recientemente en Argelia.
Bahamas raises NSA spy scandal at OAS summit
Published reports that the US National Security Agency (NSA) is secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation in The Bahamas were bought to the attention of Organization of American States (OAS) on Wednesday by Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell in his address to the 44th regular session of the General Assembly of the OAS currently being held in Asunción, Paraguay, from June 3 to 5, 2014.
“The Bahamas wishes to underscore the most worthy principles of this Organization, as expressed in the OAS Charter: that international law is the standard of conduct of States, the primacy of sovereignty, maintenance of territorial integrity, freedom from undue external intrusion and influence, safeguarding the rights of our citizens, and a reaffirmation of the importance of good faith for relations,” Mitchell told fellow delegates, adding that it is “this framework and mutual respect for these tenets which allows for a hemisphere to coexist peacefully and progress together and which helps to avoid moral double-mindedness and selective application of these principles, which can unnecessarily hinder harmony amongst states and in the multilateral sphere.”
Noting that delegates “will be aware of the challenge The Bahamas faces now where our citizens are questioning what these high ideals of territorial integrity, sovereignty and respect for the rule of law actually mean in practice,” Mitchell made direct reference to the alleged spying scandal.
“On 19th May, news reports across the globe reported that an action occurred which violated the rights of Bahamians and visitors to our shores to their privacy,” Mitchell said.
“Indeed The Bahamas is not the only country who has suffered this alleged activity. We have engaged at a bi-lateral level to determine the truth or accuracy of these reports, and continue to do so. Cooperation in international fora requires an interdependent context. Whether we are large or small, rich or powerful, we depend on each other,” he said.
Declaring that The Bahamas has also brought the matter to the attention of fellow CARICOM member states, Mitchell said it is already in the public domain and the public has called for an explanation.
“In order to avoid any misperceptions about our friendship, there should be an explanation,” The Bahamas foreign minister said. “There is a justifiable expectation that a full and frank explanation will be forthcoming; that the ideas and norms to which we all espouse will be supported. All of us are bound by the charter of this organization which speaks to the fundamental right of each of our citizens to the protection of their privacy.”
Mitchell told fellow delegates that it would not be right to dismiss the encroachment on the right to privacy as the way things are done in a modern world.
“For now and in this forum, it is sufficient to challenge those who espouse these high ideals to live up to the ethical standards which are touted throughout the world as the desired norm,” Mitchell said. “The truth must come out. We are sworn on behalf of our citizens to live up to the ideals which we set for ourselves.”
Mitchell said that should the need arise, The Bahamas “will endeavour to use the appropriate mechanism of the Organization to apprise member states of related developments.”
Reports that NSA was secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of cell phone conversation in The Bahamas were based on documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, which claimed that the surveillance was part of a top-secret system – code-named SOMALGET – that was implemented without the knowledge or consent of the Bahamian government.
NSA reportedly used access legally obtained in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to open a backdoor to the country’s cellular telephone network, enabling it to covertly record and store the “full-take audio” of every mobile call made to, from and within The Bahamas – and to replay those calls for up to a month.
In a statement prior to his departure for Paraguay, Mitchell foreshadowed at a press conference that he intended to bring the matter up at the OAS meeting, adding that the ministry of foreign affairs is gathering “all the pertinent information that we can about the history of this matter and the facts as we know it.”
“Following the OAS meeting and my return to the country, it is my expectation that I will be in position to brief Parliament by the time I am to speak on the Budget debate,” Mitchell said at his press conference.
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Bahamas-raises-NSA-spy-scandal-at-OAS-summit-21428.html
Ingraham spoke to the Embassy and called the Judges “INCOMPETENT”… Did he approve the tapping of Bahamian cellphones….??? PAPA IS QUIET ON THE ISSUE!
The government of the Bahamas has hired American lawyers to help with U.S. surveillance, after a report alleged that the National Security Agency was monitoring all the island nation’s calls.
A week after the report based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the Bahamas directed the law firm Hogan Lovells to advise and represent it on a range of government actions “that may affect or relate to [its] activities and interests… including but not limited to surveillance and privacy matters,” according to a federal disclosure document.
The inclusion of surveillance matters was a new issue for the law firm. Though it had represented the Bahamas since at least 2001, surveillance and privacy issues were not on its list of interests. In the past, the Bahamas had been more focused on trade and aviation issues with the U.S.
Last month, The Intercept reported on documents from Edward Snowden that showed that the NSA’s SOMALGET program allowed it to record the contents of every cellphone conversation in the country and keep those recordings up for a month.
The news seemed to be a dramatic escalation of the NSA’s activities.
The phone records collection program in the United States, for instance, merely collected “metadata,” or information about people’s calls like which numbers they dialed and when, not the actual content of their conversations.
According to the news outlet, which was founded by journalist Glenn Greenwald, the spy agency worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration to sneak into the Caribbean nation’s cell network without the host government’s knowledge. One document called the effort a “test bed” for the system.
The Intercept and The Washington Post reported that the program was also operational in another country, which WikiLeaks later alleged was Afghanistan.
http://bahamaspress.com/2014/06/04/breaking-news-bahamas-lawyers-up-to-deal-with-nsa-spying/
