Payá's “Conflicts of Interest” Generate Concerns

The U.S. recently nominated Cuban dissident Rosa María Payá to join the OAS’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The independent panel evaluating Payá and the other candidates concluded that she “generally meets the evaluation criteria.” But they also stated to have “specific concerns regarding her experience and potential conflicts of interest.”

Those conflicts of interests could stem from Cuba Decide, the organization she created, which is backed by groups bankrolled by the U.S. government. Payá has also been a vocal supporter of U.S. sanctions against Cuba, which have contributed to shortages in food, medicine and electricity on the island.

Cuban dissident Rosa María Payá and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio

The panel also noted Payá’s “demonstrated limited substantive knowledge of the norms, jurisprudence, or doctrine of international human rights law.”

But considering the U.S. history of arm-twisting OAS’s member states to do their bidding, Payá has a good chance of being voted into the IACHR despite the panel’s concerns.

On Tuesday, the State Department announced that Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will attend the OAS’s 55th regular session in St. John, Antigua and Barbuda, and “will meet with foreign counterparts and heads of delegation to advocate for the election of U.S. citizen Rosa María Payá.”

The U.S., which is the top funder of the OAS, may have even more leverage since the Trump administration proposed slashing its contributions to the organization by 75% in its congressional budget request.

The budget request includes $2.9 billion for a new America First Opportunity Fund (A1OF), which the State Department could spend at its discretion to “make America safer, stronger and more prosperous.” The OAS was not mentioned as a potential beneficiary of this funding, but contributions to the United Nations budget were given as an example of how some of these funds may be used.