6-09-05, 12:25am

Havana, June 8 (AIN).- Bush administration attempts to isolate Venezuela were dealt a blow in Florida yesterday as the Organization of American States (OAS) refused to adopt the US proposal to 'monitor democracy' in Latin America.

The nightly Cuban radio and television program, The Round Table, was dedicated Tuesday to the turbulent situation in several Latin American countries and an analysis of the recently concluded meeting of the OAS.

Arleen Rodriguez of Tricontinental Magazine noted that the discord between Washington and its Latin American counterparts reflects the growing repudiation of what she called the aggressive and arrogant policies of the Bush administration.

The Cuban analysts cited reports of meetings held before and during the OAS Summit in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where top US officials met with Venezuelans involved in anti-Chavez activities bankrolled by the Bush administration. They also informed that the 35th OAS General Assembly concluded with a watered down final declaration that failed to put teeth into the Democratic Charter, which Washington had hoped would facilitate its stepped up intervention in the region.

Venezuelan vice Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez told the BBC that the move showed the OAS was no longer Washington's backyard.

The failure follows Washington's attempt last month to get its candidate -Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez- picked as leader of the organization. The US had to withdraw its candidate and accept Chilean Jose Miguel Insulza.

Journalist Marina Menendez referred to the fact that, just when the OAS meeting was taking place, the President of Bolivia, Carlos Mesa, submitted his resignation.

The commentator explained that Mesa's resignation comes amid widespread popular pressure demanding the nationalization of hydrocarbons and now includes the proclamation of a Constitutional Assembly.

Menendez indicated that the organizations fighting for change seek solutions that benefit the population, not merely to overthrow the President.

Bush administration official Roger Noriega stated his government's desire that the OAS closely monitor the situation in Bolivia, where on Wednesday the Congress meets to consider the resignation of the president.

The resignation of President Mesa is a lesson for Latin American leaders and politicians, declared Evo Morales, the leader of Bolivia's Movement to Socialism (MAS) in interviews with Prensa Latina news agency and the Round Table.

Bolivia's example is a lesson for countries in the region, because leaders and politicians are being made aware that they must respond to their people and NOT the Empire. All presidents whose primary loyalty is to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will end up resigning, said Morales.

Morales blamed neo-liberal forces in Bolivia for having put the country on the auction block, privatizing its natural resources and vital services while refusing to take into consideration the demands of citizens.

The leader of MAS emphasized that since May 16 the indigenous population in Bolivia has been demonstrating against the plunder, discrimination and oppression suffered for more than 500 years.

Evo Morales declared that the leaders of our nations should know by now that these demonstrations are the culmination of so many years of exploitation.

The farm leader said Mesa betrayed the indigenous movement, the very people that took him to power in October 2003, when another popular demonstration forced his predecessor Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to resign.

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