OAS Chief: No Venezuela-FARC links

“There is no evidence” that the Venezuelan government sponsors Colombia’s FARC guerillas, according to the head of the Organization of American States (OAS). Jose Miguel Insulza (image) appeared before a House of Representatives meeting yesterday to discuss the recent diplomatic crisis between several South American countries.

Insulza’s remarks came during a “heated exchange” with Rep. Connie Mack; Mack has proposed to include Venezuela on a State Department list of countries that support terrorism. Other lawmakers were also very critical of Insulza and the OAS:

Indiana Representative Dan Burton questioned Ecuador's efforts at preventing Colombian rebels from entering its territory, but Insulza came to Quito's defense: "It's not so simple as saying, 'go get rid of them'"…

Insulza also defended the OAS from lawmakers' criticism it was ineffectual in the crisis.

"The OAS is no more than what its member countries want it to be," he said, paraphrasing the first OAS secretary general, Alberto Lleras Camargo.

Last month, the OAS passed a resolution rejecting Colombia’s incursion into Ecuador yet also called for member states to combat threats from “irregular groups.”

Image- PRESS TV

Sources- AFP, Bloomberg, the Latin Americanist, El Universal