The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Surinamese Albert Ramdin, reiterated on Thursday the organization's willingness to support the transition in Venezuela after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, and his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez succeeded him in the post. "We will support the transition and the country and people of Venezuela. We remain ready to help," Ramdin stated during a brief statement to journalists during his visit to Peru, where he noted that he would not make further comments on the situation in Venezuela and referred to the statements already issued in previous days. Ramdin, who is on an official visit to Lima, signed on Wednesday the agreement on privileges and immunities for the observation mission that the OAS will send to Peru to follow the elections, and on Thursday he met with the main state authorities. The top OAS official held meetings with the country's transitional president, right-wing congressman José Jerí; the president of Congress, the fujimorist Fernando Rospigliosi, and the electoral authorities. Jerí stated that Peru expects Venezuela to achieve, as soon as possible, the necessary political and economic stability for the full restoration of democracy and its institutions, following U.S. efforts aimed at rebuilding democratic institutions, as reported by the Presidency of Peru in a press release. In this regard, the head of state highlighted the recent release of Venezuelan and foreign political prisoners and expressed the expectation that this process will continue until its total completion. Likewise, he indicated that the current situation constitutes an opportunity to strengthen the role of the OAS as the main regional political forum, called upon to promote dialogue, concertation, and collective action, as well as to strengthen cooperation in the face of common challenges, including transnational organized crime and the humanitarian impacts of the migration crisis. The head of state also highlighted that Peru is promoting within the inter-American organism a stronger, more technical, more predictable, and legitimate system that protects human rights without ideological positioning. In line with this, he expressed the willingness to continue cooperating with the competent bodies — the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) — with a technical, legal, and depoliticized approach, according to the Presidency's press release.
