Roseau, November 28 (RHC)-- Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit took the Organization of American States' Secretary-General Luis Almagro to task for "leading a campaign" of incitement against the islands' ruling Labour Party, the premier affirmed in an exclusive interview with teleSUR’s Madelein Garcia Wednesday.

"They (OAS) are targeting certain member states.  Dominica is one such country that they’re targeting and my government is one such government that they are targeting.  So it is not about free and fair elections.  It is not about the electoral process.  They (OAS) have waited for this opportunity to implement this strategy, so it is something that has been in the making for three or four years," Skerrit stated.  

The premier believes that the main motivating factor behind, what he describes as the "OAS’ crusade to delegitimize his government," is a "punishment" for consistently voting against non-interference in the region, and more succinctly, against OAS resolutions on Venezuela.    

In 2017, Dominica was among three CARICOM member states that voted against a failed United States-backed resolution on Venezuela at the OAS General Assembly in Mexico.  Speaking on the sidelines of that meeting, the prime minister told teleSUR that Almagro should be fired and the OAS has lost its way.  A year later, the small Caribbean island of about 75,000 residents, was among only four OAS member countries that voted against a resolution to suspend Venezuela from the 34-member group.  

Fast-forward to the present day, and it turns out that Almagro has been very vocal about recent opposition-led protests in Dominica.  On November 19th, the OAS chief tweeted about his reservations about the holding of free and fair elections in Dominica, while endorsing and substantiating the opposition’s demands for electoral reform ahead of the December 6 polls, when 21 members of the House of Assembly will be chosen.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit also pointed out that there were similar attempts by the "foreign entities and interests" to do the same in the region, and more specifically, in Venezuela.   Calling it the "same script" the Dominican leader adds that the OAS’ mantra about 'free and fair elections’ has become a formal justification for undercutting democracy and toppling non-conforming governments to make way for U.S.-backed political parties to take power.