Mr. Pastor has proposed a way out - deeper integration.

"It's time to move on," Mr. Pastor, who is 72, said earlier last week.

Mr. Pastor said there were often questions in developing countries about whether ostensibly independent election officials were taking sides.

"There's been an argument that says democracy is more than elections," Mr. Pastor said.

"It was early thinking to protect against any such possibility," Mr. Pastor said.

In a time of peace, with budgets already strained, that money would be better spent on social issues like education, Mr. Pastor said.

For Mr. Pastor, the lessons of history are different.

The original proposal by the developer was, in fact, for an office building, Mr. Pastor said.

"The hotel people will stop when they have enough business," Mr. Pastor said.

There was only one hitch, and Mr. Pastor points it out.