... and Another in Grenada

In some ways it was more like a badly run block party than a diplomatic summit. When high officials from the 26-nation Organization of American States gathered in tiny Grenada last week for the annual Foreign Ministers' meeting, the chairs had been brought in from Canada, bilingual secretaries from Barbados, stationery from Chile, three cars from Japan and souvenir briefcases from Venezuela. Even the "conference hall" was imported: a white nylon geodesic dome from Florida's Cape Canaveral, where it had originally housed a space exhibit during last year's Bicentennial. St. George's, the sleepy capital of the OAS's poorest and smallest member (133 sq. mi., pop. 110,000), was so pressed for hotel space that most of the 1,600 delegates, OAS officials and newsmen had to double up or--in some cases--triple up in rooms that were often without running water.

Perhaps because of the forced togetherness, the conference was anything but chummy. The 25-nation* gathering divided bitterly on what turned out to be the only real issue of the meeting: human rights.

On one side were eleven OAS nations, which insisted persuasively that terrorism is at least as great a problem for the hemisphere as human rights. Declared Chilean Foreign Minister Patricio Carvajal: "The real cause of supposed repression of human rights is not poverty or economic hardship but subversion and terrorism sponsored by the Soviet Union. The problem of human rights and terrorism must be dealt with as one." Argentina's new Foreign Minister, Oscar Monies, insisted that governments have a "legitimate right of defense" against guerrilla terrorists. Among those vigorously backing these views were Nicaragua, Uruguay, Guatemala and El Salvador (all of which face problems with leftist guerrillas, in varying degrees) and the authoritarian regimes of Brazil and Paraguay.

Blunt Warning. Principal target of the anti-rights rhetoric was the Carter Administration. In a calm, reasoned reply, U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance admitted that terrorism was a serious problem; he noted that two Foreign Ministers were in fact missing from the conference because they were victims of attacks. El Salvador's Mauricio Borgonovo Pohl was murdered last month and Argentina's Cesar Guzzetti was seriously injured. But Vance stressed that "if terrorism and violence in the name of dissent cannot be condoned, neither can violence officially sanctioned. Respect for the rule of law will promote justice and remove the seeds of subversion."

In a blunt warning that those states disregarding human rights will pay a price, Vance declared that U.S. "cooperation in economic development [that is, aid and technology] must not be mocked by consistent patterns of gross violations of human rights." He called for an increase in the budget of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and urged all OAS members to grant the commission free access for on-the-spot investigations of suspected infractions. Vance, whose position was privately backed by Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica, continued his human rights argument in individual discussions with most of the Foreign Ministers. He apparently made no converts. "It's a dialogue of the deaf," said one observer. "No one is listening to the other."

Human rights so dominated the OAS conference that the Panama Canal issue was overshadowed for the first time in years. Most of the OAS members seem satisfied that Washington is sincere in trying to work out a new treaty with

Panama. "It's a foregone conclusion," said one Latin American diplomat. "The treaty [by which the U.S. will transfer sovereignty over the Canal Zone to Panama] is almost signed. Carter's desire to get a treaty has changed everything. The screaming is over."

Both Vance and Panama's Foreign Minister, Nicolas Gonaalez Revilla, agreed that significant progress has been made in the talks between their nations. Vance indicated that a draft treaty could be ready by summer's end, although the Panamanian warned that "negotiations have not been easy and will not be until the last moment." Both sides have agreed in principle that Panama will take full control of the Zone in the year 2000 and that shipping of all nations will be guaranteed passage through the ca nal. Progress has also been made in de fining the American role in the defense of the canal, but the two sides have not yet found the formula by which the U.S. will continue to administer the Zone for the next 23 years. The treaty, of course, would require approval by two-thirds of the Senate -- something that is less than certain. Vance admitted last week: "If we had to count the [Senate] votes today, it would be very close. And I'm not sure we'd have the votes."

Little Impact. Despite the eagerness of Grenada's Prime Minister, Sir Eric Gairy, to prolong the meeting for the sake of prestige and to keep his hotels filled in the offseason, most of the foreign ministers had packed up by week's end and headed home. Deputies were left in charge of their delegations. While some resolutions will undoubtedly be adopted, they will, as usual, have little impact. Complained one delegate: "Many countries seem to downgrade the OAS once these meetings are over. We spend a lot of time spinning wheels." U.S. delegates had little hope that the conference would agree to the basic reforms Washington wants: trimming the bloated OAS bureaucracy, assigning the hemisphere's ministates nonvoting status, changing the rules so that the U.S.. which provides 67% of the $72 million OAS budget, would pay no more than 49%. Thus the organization will remain, at least for another year, the loose club de caballeros (gentlemen's club) that it has been for most of its history since it first met in Washington, D.C., as the Pan American Conference in 1889.

* Cuba. a nonvoting member of the OAS. did not attend.

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