Tamara Suju, Executive Director, Calsa Institute presents 2021 Annual Report of the CASLA Institute on Crimes against Humanity in Venezuela at OAS headquarters in Washington D.C. March 11, 2022. (Juan Manuel Herrera/OAS)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
The Calsa Institute accused Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his government of engaging in crimes against humanity including alleged arbitrary killings and grisly cases of torture in clandestine torture centers. Tamara Suju, a lawyer and Executive Director, Calsa Institute presented the 2021 Annual Report of the CASLA Institute on Crimes against Humanity in Venezuela March 11 at the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington D.C. The event included the participation of the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro. Suju said the report details continued “systematic repression and torture, Cuban influence, and substantial changes in torture methods in Venezuela.” The CASLA Institute, based in Prague, Czech Republic, claims its goal is the promotion of human rights in Latin America.
Palabras de la Directora Ejecutiva del Instituto CASLA @TAMARA_SUJU en la presentación del Informe Anual 2021 del @caslainstitute sobre Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad en #Venezuela (3/4) pic.twitter.com/oPFujTePDW
— OEA (@OEA_oficial) March 11, 2022
Maduro Government Accused Sujú of Committing Destabilization acts in Venezuela
Tamara Suju, Exejutive Director, Calsa Institute with Luis Almagro, OAS Secretary General at OAS headquarters in Washington D.C. March 11 , 2022.
A graduate of Andrés Bello Catholic University, Sujú has been accused by Venezuelan government officials of committing destabilization acts and have pointed her out as the niece of General Oswaldo Sujú, allegedly involved in the 2002 Venezuelan coup d’état attempt against President Hugo Chavez. Nicolás Maduro, while being president of the National Assembly, declared that she “betrayed the fatherland”. In August 2014, Sujú requested political asylum in Prague after fearing “for her freedom and physical integrity”.
Tamara Suju, Exejutive Director, Calsa Institute (far right) with Luis Almagro, OAS Secretary General (center) and (left) Elliott Abrams, former Iran-Contra neo-conservative, in December 2019 at OAS headquarters in Washington D.C. Abrams was the Trump administration’s special envoy for Venezuela and participated in one of the Calsa Institute’s annual indictments of Maduro. (Credit: OAS)
Suji has connections with former Iran-Contra neo-conservative Elliott Abrams.
This is how a writer at The Intercept characterized then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s appointing Elliott Abrams as the so-called Special Envoy for Venezuela in January 2019:
“The choice of Abrams sends a clear message to Venezuela and the world: The Trump administration intends to brutalize Venezuela, while producing a stream of unctuous rhetoric about America’s love for democracy and human rights. Combining these two factors — the brutality and the unctuousness — is Abrams’s core competency.” -The Intercept.
Abrams, a foreign policy wonk for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, has a colorful past. Abrams is most infamous for being convicted of withholding information from Congress about the Iran–Contra affair while serving under Reagan. “Abrams gave a nod to the attempted Venezuelan coup under President George Bush, and has a conviction for misleading Congress over the infamous Iran-Contra affair.
Abrams’ appointment as point person in Venezuela no doubt shocked a lot of foreign policy veterans who are familiar with his hawkish, interventionist style of diplomacy. Critics say Abrams had his fingers in the infamous U.S. Invasion of Panama in 1989 and America’s questionable policies in Latin America that included backing “death squads” in the region.
ARGENTINA Foreign Minister Described OAS Head Luis Almagro as “Absolute Immoral”
General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro (Credit: OAS)
Last year, the Foreign Minister of Argentina, Felipe Solá, described as “absolute immoral” the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, and blamed him for the “coup”, which he says Evo Morales suffered in 2019, according to Spanish media reports.
( “He is an absolute immoral (…) who places himself at the orders of the strongest, at the orders of Donald Trump (then president of the United States), betrays all his political history and mandates,” he said about Almagro and his “contribution” to the “coup d’état” in Bolivia.”)
OAS rejects Argentina’s allegations of involvement in alleged coup in Bolivia
The OAS rejected Argentina’s allegations of having been involved in an alleged coup against ex-president Evo Morales.
In May 2020, Almagro was re-elected as Secretary General of the OAS in March to serve for the 2020-2025 period. The Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, DC (COHA) expressed its “deep concern” over the re-election of Almagro. Many critics maintain that the OAS became a tool of U.S. foreign influence, particularly with regard to Venezuela during the past years, under the leadership of Almagro, a former Uruguayan foreign minister, who became Secretary General of the Organization in 2015.
