12
e) the article in question makes compliance with the obligation to act conditional, i.e. “subject to
available resources” and precisely for this reason indicates the means to accomplish this, namely,
“by legislation or other appropriate means;” and
f)
under the provisions contemplated in that article, the States Parties to the Convention are
required, not to respect human rights or guarantee respect for these, 62 but rather to adopt
“measures, both internally and through international cooperation, especially those of an economic
and technical nature, with a view to achieving progressively […]the full realization of the rights
implicit in the economic, social, educational, scientific, and cultural standards set forth in the
Charter” of the OAS.
32.
Consequently, it is reasonable to affirm that, according to its literal meaning, Article 26 of the
Convention, on the one hand, does not offer various possibilities for its application, i.e. doubts as to
its meaning and scope and, on the other, does not establish any human right and, even less, one
that it can be enforced by the Court. Instead, it refers to obligations to act, not to produce results,
assumed by the States Parties to the Convention.
B. Subjective method
33.
In attempting to elucidate the will of the States Parties to the Convention regarding the
provision under discussion, it is necessary to refer to the context of the terms, as envisaged in the
Vienna Convention. To do so, we must refer to the system enshrined in the Convention, in which
Article 26 is inserted:
a) that system is comprised of the obligations and rights provided for, 63 the organs responsible for
ensuring respect for and compliance with these, respectively 64 and provisions concerning the
Convention;65
62
Footnote 6.
63
“Part I, “State Obligations and Rights Protected.”
64
“Part II, “Means of Protection.”
65
“Part III, “General and Transitory Provisions.”