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MIAMI (AP) — The head of the Organization of American States is facing an internal investigation into allegations he carried on a consensual relationship with a staffer that may have violated the organization’s code of ethics, The Associated Press has learned.
News of the
probe into a relationship between Secretary General Luis Almagro and a
Mexican-born woman two decades his junior emerged as Almagro and delegates from
34 countries gathered in Peru’s capital this week for the OAS’ annual meeting.
But inside
the Washington-based peace and democracy-building organization, their
long-running romance has been an open secret, one that made some of its 600
employees feel uncomfortable and intimidated interacting with the boss’ alleged
paramour, according to a half-dozen individuals, including current and former
staffers as well as regional diplomats.
Secretary
General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro attends the opening
of 52nd General Assembly of the OAS in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. (AP
Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Secretary
General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro attends the opening
of the 52nd OAS General Assembly in Lima, Peru. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Two said
they saw the two kissing poolside at the OAS General Assembly in Medellin,
Colombia, in 2019. Another individual described them holding hands at a meeting
in his office in the summer of 2020. A former U.S. official said he was told by
the OAS chief that the relationship was what prompted his separation from his
second wife around the time of his re-election in 2020.
At issue are
OAS ethics guidelines that say staff members must not have intimate
relationships with colleagues in a way that interferes “with the performance of
their duties or to disadvantage others in the workplace.” It dictates that a
manager must back out of any supervisory role of the other individual or that benefits
the person in any way.
The
59-year-old Almagro declined repeated requests from the AP to comment. But an
OAS spokesman denied Almagro was ever the woman’s supervisor, saying that since
2019 she’s worked in the OAS’ Secretariat for Strengthening Democracy.
“Almagro
never took part in any decisions regarding this staff member’s interests within
the OAS,” spokesman Gonzalo Espariz said in a email.
U.S.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken addresses the 52nd OAS General Assembly in
Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
U.S.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken addresses the 52nd OAS General Assembly in
Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
However, in
several online bios as well as in photos with Almagro as recently as March,
some of them posted to the OAS’ social media accounts, the woman is described
as an “adviser” or sometimes “head adviser” to the secretary general.
After the AP
contacted the woman at her OAS email, her LinkedIn profile was modified to
reflect the she is no longer serving as an advisor to the organization. The OAS
press office said she has been on unpaid leave since June and didn’t say why.
The woman,
who is not being named at the request of the OAS and because the investigation
is ongoing, also declined to comment. But she was quoted at length about her
“very deep and very intense” connection with her boss in a biography of Almagro
published in late 2020 in his native Uruguay.
“I always
tell him. ’I am more intelligent because it took me no more than thirty-eight
years to get to know you, it took you about fifty-something,’” she told the
book’s authors.
In the
biography titled “Luis Almagro Doesn’t Ask For Forgiveness,” the OAS chief
demurred when asked about the younger staffer, instead citing a verse from
legendary Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario: “With graying hair I approach the rose
bushes in the garden.”
Almagro also
said “the female sex” had been a “very important engine” fueling his professional
ambitions over the years.
Revelations
of the investigation come less than two weeks after another U.S.-dominated
regional organization, the Inter-American Development Bank, fired its
president, former White House official Mauricio Claver-Carone, over similar
allegations of favoring a subordinate with whom he allegedly had an intimate
relationship.
Unlike at
the IDB, which hired an outside law firm to probe Claver-Carone’s relationship
with his chief of staff, the OAS appears to be handling the matter internally.
The OAS’
Inspector General told the AP that it decided to look into the matter after
receiving from Almagro on June 3 a loosely detailed anonymous complaint
alleging an intimate relationship with an unnamed staffer. As of the internal
watchdog’s latest activity report July 31, the matter was referenced only as
“Alleged Misconduct of Senior OAS Staff Member.”
Almagro was
elected to head the OAS with near-unanimous support in 2015 after serving as
foreign minister in Uruguay’s leftist government. And throughout his tenure
he’s faced questions about his leadership style.
From the
start, Almagro made common cause with the U.S. in opposing Cuba and Venezuela’s
socialist governments, once even mimicking President Donald J. Trump’s line
that he wouldn’t rule out using military force to remove Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro — a position rebuked even by conservative U.S. allies.
U.S.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, second from the left, waves as he stands
with the leaders and representatives of the countries of the Organisation of
American States during a group photo during the 52nd OAS General Assembly in
Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Leaders and
representatives of the countries of the Organization of American States during
the 52nd OAS General Assembly in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. (AP
Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Almagro also
played a key role in Bolivian President Evo Morales’ resignation in 2019
following a messy election that an OAS mission said was marred by fraud —
findings that were later questioned by U.S. academics.
At the OAS’
General Assembly in Lima this week, Almagro championed the creation of “safe
spaces” for women and girls in the Americas, sending out a tweet that pictured
him surrounded by two-dozen women.
“We must
remain steadfast,” it read, “in our commitment to dismantle the remnants of the
patriarchy which only seek to suffocate female talent, knowledge &
experience.”
Follow Goodman
on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman
Contact AP’s
global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.