Miami.- A group of US congressmen assured this Wednesday that there are strong suspicions that the Secretary General of the Organization of American States may have committed irregularities in the exercise of his functions and urged the United States to immediately promote an exhaustive investigation. .
The request comes at a time when the leadership of the OAS is under intense scrutiny and the organization is preparing to receive a report of another external investigation that seeks to determine if Luis Almagro violated the code of ethical conduct by maintaining an intimate relationship with a junior employee, which The Associated Press was the first outlet to report.
The eight legislators from the progressive wing of the Democratic ruling party made the request to investigate Almagro in a two-page letter sent to the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the US ambassador to the OAS, Francisco Mora, to which AP had access.
They listed a series of “highly credible” public accusations about “far more egregious and damaging wrongdoing” than romance, which have already been reported and yet went uninvestigated. They assured that, if confirmed, they could be grounds for sanctioning or dismissing Almagro.
Among the accusations listed in the letter are alleged irregular agreements with a former president of Honduras, unsubstantiated accusations of alleged electoral fraud in Bolivia, and the dismissal of officials of the inter-American system.
“It is imperative that the administration immediately support investigations into these additional allegations,” the congressmen said. “Each of the alleged irregularities cited is extremely worrying and could, by itself, constitute sufficient grounds to sanction Mr. Almagro and remove him from office,” they said.
Among the signatories are legislators Henry “Hank” Johnson of Georgia; Susan Wild, from Pennsylvania; Cori Bush, from Missouri; Ihan Omar, from Minnesota; Jan Schakowsky, from Illinois; Ayanna Pressley, from Massachusetts; Rashida Tlaib, from Michigan, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, from the District of Columbia.
It is not clear if they invited fellow Republicans to sign the letter and did not get their support or if it was just an initiative of the Democrats.
The AP was the first to report last year that the OAS was investigating the affair between Almagro and his deputy, until then an open secret within the organization made up of 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere. The AP also reported last month that the secretary general made 34 business trips with that woman at least 20 years his junior.
Almagro admitted the relationship but assured that he did not violate any rules of the organization and that both he and his team took steps to ensure that all rules were followed. The secretary general did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment on the lawmakers’ letter and the allegations contained therein.
In the letter, the congressmen considered the ongoing investigation as a “constructive step” but “totally insufficient.”
The United States is the largest contributor to the coffers of the OAS, an organization created in 1948 to promote dialogue, cooperation, democracy, and human rights in the Americas. As such, lawmakers urged Ambassador Mora to use his voice and his vote to call for more independent investigations into Almagro.
Among the alleged irregularities that the congressmen included as the basis for the investigation request is an alleged “impunity pact” between Almagro and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, which was denounced by officials of the now-defunct Mission Against Corruption and Impunity of Honduras. , sponsored by the OAS.
They also mentioned that Almagro suggested that in 2019 there was electoral fraud in Bolivia, exacerbating the political crisis that led to the resignation of then-President Evo Morales and that, despite the fact that several studies discredited the accusations and an independent investigation was requested, the secretary general ignored.
In 2020, the letter noted, Almagro refused to renew the contract of the then executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Paulo Abrao, despite the fact that the commissioners had unanimously approved extending his contract. The secretary general cited complaints from workers to justify his decision, but an OAS administrative court ruled that Abrao had been unfairly dismissed and ordered the organization to pay him compensation for moral, professional and personal damages.
That same year, according to the letter, Almagro fired Steven Griner, director of the OAS Department of Sustainable Democracy and Special Missions, allegedly due to a complaint from an official of the then Donald Trump government. An OAS administrative tribunal ruled in favor of reinstating Griner, who had a 27-year career with the organization.
The report on the romance had to be delivered to the president of the OAS Permanent Council and to Almagro at the end of March, but the law firm conducting the investigation requested an extension until April 10. Once he receives it, Almagro will have 10 days to respond to the investigators, who must immediately present the report and the OAS leader’s response to the organization’s Permanent Council.
