UN's
Ban Ignores
CELAC Protest
of Post-Lugo
Paraguay,
Talks
Dialogue,
Haiti
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 23
-- Two days
after the UN
saw the
disputed
presidency of
Paraguay lead
to the suspension
of a meeting
of the
Caribbean and
Latin American
group CELAC,
as exclusively
reported
by Inner City
Press,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon met as
if nothing had
happened with
replacement
president Luis
Federico
Franco Gomez.
According to
the UN's
September 23
read-out, Ban
"expressed the
hope that the
months leading
to the 2013
elections
could be used
for dialogue
among all
political
actors to
address the
country's
challenges."
Back on
September 21,
the CELAC
meeting had
been scheduled
from 10-1 and
3-6 in
Conference
Room 5 of the
UN's North
Lawn building.
But an
attendee ran
out near 11 am
and
exclusively
told Inner
City Press
that the
meeting was
"suspended"
when a
representative
of
"post-Lugo,"
some say
"post-coup"
Paraguay came
in.
Paraguay
has
already been
suspended from
MERCOSUR, and
now the fight
has extended
to the UN in
New York.
Inner City
Press
confirmed and
tweeted it. A
few hours
later, the
afternoon
session of
CELAC was
listed as
"Canceled."
Inner
City Press
approached the
UN Permanent
Representative
of one of the
CELAC members
and asked
about the
meeting's
suspension.
"There
was no
meeting," he
said with a
smile. He
predicted,
"Maybe he
won't come in
the future, he
will be
absent, so
this does not
happen again."
But two days
later, Luis
Federico
Franco
Gomez.met with
Ban Ki-moon.
The read-out
also said Ban
"expressed
appreciation
for recent
advances to
protect and
promote gender
equality. The
Secretary-General
thanked for
Paraguay’s
commitment to
peacekeeping
operations and
for its
contribution
to Haiti."
, 
