(Ronaldo Schemidt/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)Faced with growing criticism from its neighbors over a slide toward authoritarian rule, Venezuela announced Wednesday it will quit the Organization of American States, the hemisphere’s oldest regional alliance. The move comes after OAS member states voted Wednesday to convene an emergency meeting of their top diplomats to discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis and deadly political violence that have convulsed Venezuela all month. His concerns are backed by the Washington-based OAS’s largest member states: the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Colombia and several others. Opposition supporters attend a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas as police respond with tear gas. Caption The country’s political crisis intensified after its supreme court curbed the powers of the opposition-controlled legislature, then reversed the rulings days later.

Source: Washington Post April 26, 2017 19:51 UTC