President Danilo Medina called on the Organization of American States’ 46th General Assembly to redress a historic error by including a resolution apologizing for backing the military intervention during the 1965 Civil War in his opening speech at the National Theater on Monday, 13 June 2016. He said the organization owes a historic debt to the Dominican Republic.
President Medina told his audience: “My country suffered an invasion that was legitimized by one of the mechanisms of the OAS. This invasion aborted the democratic process that had begun with the election of our admired leader Juan Bosch as President of our country.”
He also expressed his concern about the situation in Venezuela. “We are concerned about the times the Venezuelan people are going through. We unreservedly support all initiatives for dialogue,” he said.
As reported in El Dia, Medina’s comments about Venezuela were unexpected because the OAS authorities have been insisting that the issue would not be on the General Assembly agenda.
In his 19-minute address, President Medina highlighted the importance of the meeting, saying that its attendees were under an obligation to renew commitments towards people’s development and to promote economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development. He said the assembly would be historic because of the final approval of two long-studied items, the Declaration of the Americas on Indigenous Peoples and the Inter-American Sustainable Development Program. He said that on the occasion of the imminent 70th anniversary of the OAS, rigorous institutional renewal is required in order to accomplish sustainable goals. Medina said that it is no longer enough to speak of the legality of the vote in a country, but that citizen legitimacy is also important and needs to be renewed on a daily basis. He said that countries could only recover public confidence in their governments by making governments more transparent and closer to the people.
The attending audience enjoyed the performance of a tropical music show, “La Tambora y America” (The Drum and the Americas) by singers Johnny Ventura, Miriam Cruz, Hector Acosta, Milly Quezada, Cristal Marie, Hector Anibal, Melymel, and dozens of dancers.
http://presidencia.gob.do/noticias/danilo-medina-encabeza-acto-inaugural-46-asamblea-general-ordinaria-de-la-oea-video
