In a visit to Lima, Peru, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken both said he would increase efforts to combat inequality and racial injustice in OAS countries and criticized Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela for unjust imprisonment, electoral fraud and crimes against their citizens, "causing a humanitarian catastrophe." 

"We are seeing more and more leaders who undertake anti-democratic measures under the false justification that they have popular support," he said during the LII OAS General Assembly, in which he did not directly name any of them.

As an example of the anti-Democratic measures, Blinken cited the passing of legislation extending the terms of office of presidents and allowing the harassment of judges.

Blinken emphasized that the United States will work with its partners, both governments and civil society organizations, to denounce these abuses.

"I want to be very clear: this is not about choosing sides between left and right or progressives and conservatives, it is about committing ourselves to democracy ahead of ideologies and parties," he said during his speech.

Blinken, whose government has promised to relax sanctions against Caracas if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro returns to negotiations with the opposition, called on all countries to join the demand for free elections in Venezuela in 2024, as reported by Infobae.

Another points the Secretary of State touched upon during the assembly and that he found relevant in the South American region, is the close presidential election in Brazil, which goes to runoff at the end of this month. 

"We congratulate the people and institutions of Brazil for a successful first round of elections and support their free exercise of their right to choose their next leader," the official posted on his Twitter account after the elections.

Bliken also took the opportunity to congratulate the OAS for having expelled Russia as an observer member of the organization months ago, emphasizing that "it is crucial" that all countries condemn the "fraudulent referendums" on the annexation of four eastern Ukrainian provinces to Russia.