More LatAm countries back Venezuela's decision to quit OAS

More Latin American countries on Friday threw their support behind Venezuela's decision to withdraw from the Organization of American States (OAS).

Member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) issued a statement saying they back Venezuela's "historic" move to renounce the hemispheric bloc for its biased stance towards the country's economic and political crises.

Exiting the OAS is "a sovereign and historic decision in defense of its independence," the group said.

The statement comes a day after ALBA member Cuba on Thursday endorsed Venezuela's decision and described the OAS as an "instrument of imperialist domination in the hemisphere."

Far from helping to promote integration or to peacefully resolve conflicts in the Americas, the Washington D.C.-based bloc "conspires and subverts governments genuinely and legitimately constituted with the backing of the people," Cuban government said.

Venezuela's decision follows repeated attempts by OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro to sanction its socialist government for allegedly violating democratic norms, and his open support for Venezuelan right-wing opposition groups.

ALBA gathers Venezuela and Cuba, as well as Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Grenada.

Venezuela on Thursday announced that it will make its withdrawal from the OAS official.

The move comes after OAS members voted on Wednesday to hold a meeting of foreign affairs ministers to debate Venezuela's political and economic crises, despite the country's objections. Endi