Organization of American
States Conference To Be
Held in Colombia
The Organization of
American States (OAS)
will be holding its 38th
general assembly on June
1-3 in Medellin,
Colombia, with the
participation of 94
government officials,
representatives from 34
member states and some
international
communities.
This year's assembly
will focus on youth and
the consciousness of
democracy.
The OAS, an organization
in the American region,
traces its origins to
the First International
Conference of American
States convened in
Washington on April 14,
1890, when delegates
from the United States
and 17 Latin American
countries created the
International Union of
American Republics and
its secretariat, the
Commercial Bureau of the
American Republics.
In 1948, the OAS charter
was adopted at the Ninth
International Conference
of American States in
Bogota and took effect
in December 1951.
The OAS brings together
the nations of the
Western Hemisphere to
strengthen cooperation
in democratic values,
defend common interests
and debate major issues
facing the region and
the world.
The OAS is the region's
principal multilateral
forum for strengthening
democracy, promoting
human rights, and
confronting shared
problems such as
poverty, terrorism,
illegal drugs and
corruption.
The regional bloc bases
its headquarters in
Washington and its
European office in
Geneva. It also has
offices in each member
state.
The OAS is made up of 35
member states: the
independent nations of
North, Central and South
America and the
Caribbean. The
government of Cuba, a
member state, has been
suspended from
participation since
1962. Thus only 34
countries participate
actively.
Sixty nations from other
parts of the world
participate as permanent
observers, which allows
them to closely follow
the issues that are
critical to the American
countries.
The top power organ of
the OAS is the general
assembly which is held
annually.
The general secretary is
elected by the assembly
with a term of five
years. The current
secretary is Jose Miguel
Insulza of Chile.
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