Rosa María Payá, a Cuban human rights activist, was appointed a new member of the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a body linked to the Organization of American States (OAS), supported by President Donald Trump.
Given as defeated in the dispute due to a shell involving Brazil and other regional allies, the 36 -year -old candidate overcame these barriers after pressure from the United States, securing the vacancy.
In a statement after the vote, with a score of 20 votes favorable against 19 opposition to his appointment, Payá said: “My priority is to bring the commission closer [CIDH] of the victims, the most vulnerable, and to protect and defend democracy in the region. “
The double citizenship activist – Cuban and American – was nominated for the trump government in March.
Faced with the apparent defeat with the Latin American leftist lobby, such as President Lula da Silva, Gustavo Petro and Claudia Sheinbaum, his support gained momentum after comments from US State Department Under-Secretary Chris Landau, talking about President Trump’s position to review US participation in the OAS.
“As you may know, President Trump issued an executive order at the beginning of this government, instructing the Secretary of State (Marco Rubio) to revise all international organizations from which the US is members, within six months, to determine whether such affiliation meets the best interests and whether these organizations can be reformed. When completing this review, the secretary should report his conclusions to the president and recommend whether the US should withdraw from any of these organizations. It is in progress and, of course, the OAS is one of the organizations we are reviewing, ”said Landau.
The Undersecretary of State added that there is no certainty about what this revision of President Trump will mean to the OAS. “This is certainly something I am willing to argue at this meeting so that no one can say that it is a surprise,” he continued.
In the following hours before the vote, Landau held numerous meetings with members of the agency to strengthen Payá’s appointment, which generated a change of scenario favorable to the candidate.
The Cuban approached the United States in 2012 after the death of her father, Oswaldo Payá, opponent of the dictatorship of Raul Castro and founder of the Christian liberation movement. He led a popular movement in Cuba for the population to have the right to decide their political future.
He died in a car accident that was investigated as a murder for political reasons. In 2023, the IACHR concluded this version, informing that Oswaldo and activist Harold Ceper were killed by the Cuban dictatorship.
Since then, Rosa María Payá has been involved with human rights campaigns against the authoritarian regime. She founded the organization Cuba Decide And has worked in civil society organizations in Canada and Chile.
After the vote, she said that her work will be inspired by her father, who “gave life for the freedom of all Cubans and the right to seek happiness.”
Donald Trump’s government supported Payá to the IACHR due to its line approach to the regimes of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The OAS autonomous body is responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights on the American continent. CIDH is currently composed of seven independent members.
The Cuban dictatorship, now led by Miguel Diáz-Canel, classified Rosa María Payá as a “mercenary” on Friday after his election. According to the regime, she was elected to ICDH under “pressure and blackmail” from the United States.
“Multiple pressures and threats, including the claim that the United States would cut budgets for cooperation programs in the hemisphere, have narrowly led to the election of notorious mercenary Rosa María Payá Acevedo as a commissioner of the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights,” the Cuba Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
In an interview with EFE AgencyCuban said she sees four particularly serious human rights crises in the region: Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
In addition to Trump’s ally, a Bahamas candidate, Marion Bethel, was admitted to ICDH. A third vote will be held on July 11, with a candidate from Brazil, Fabio de Sá e Silva, and Mexico, José Luis Caballero Ochoa, in the dispute.
