NYT
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 5 - The major nations of Latin America have told the United States that they cannot support an American plan to establish a permanent committee of the Organization of American States that would monitor the exercise of democracy in the hemisphere, Latin American diplomats said Sunday.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrived here on Sunday afternoon to serve as chairwoman of an O.A.S. meeting where the American plan is on the agenda, expressed frustration with their view, saying, "We have to have a discussion of how the organization can be effective if it does not have a mechanism that can help at times of crisis."
If the organization fails to approve the American proposal, it would be a significant diplomatic defeat for the United States - from a region that for decades has generally gone along with Washington's requests. The United States is negotiating with the other countries, though diplomats and officials said they made little progress on Sunday.
Last month, senior administration officials said they intended to push for approval of the proposed resolution during the foreign ministers' meeting here, which runs through Monday. But, perhaps anticipating that approval was far from certain, Ms. Rice said to reporters on her plane, "All of the answers are not going to come out of this meeting."
Several ambassadors of Latin American states said last month that they would be unlikely to support the measure because they saw it as a thinly veiled attack on Venezuela, which has been at odds with the United States for several years
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