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Iberoamerican summit moves to protect democracy
Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking nations wrapped up their annual meeting Saturday by adopting a provision threatening exclusion for any member country that doesn't abide by democratic process.
The 22-nation Iberoamerican conference said it was important for countries to respect the constitutional order.
"This is a major advance for us," the group's secretary general, Enrique Iglesias, said of the provision.
Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman added, "There is no Latin American forum in which you can be a member if you do not respect the democratic order."
Under the group's new provision, it would take unanimous approval to suspend a member nation for non-democratic actions, such as a coup removing an elected leader.
Ecuador, meanwhile, failed in its effort to include in the meeting's final declaration a criticism of the U.S. diplomatic cables that have been released by WikiLeaks.