Organization of American States (OAS); Spanish Organization of American states , Organization of des États américains , port Organização dos Estados Americanos ) is an international organization created on April 30, 1948 on 9- th Inter-American Conference in Bogota ( Colombia ) based on the Pan American Union , which has existed since 1889 .
| Organization of American States (OAS) | |
|---|---|
| Organization of American states (OAS) | |
 Emblem | |
 | |
| Membership | 35 member states |
| Headquarters |  Washington , USA |
| Type of organization | |
| official languages | Spanish, English, French, Portuguese |
| Base | |
| Established | |
The headquarters is located in Washington . Working languages are Spanish , English , French and Portuguese .
The highest bodies are the General Assembly, the Permanent Council, the Consultative Meeting of Foreign Ministers, and the General Secretariat.
Content
History
The Organization of American States is the oldest regional organization in the world, starting with the First International Conference of American States, held in Washington from October 1889 to April 1890. The meeting approved the creation of the International Union of American Republics, and set the stage for a network of positions and institutions that became known as the All-American System. The OAS was born in 1948 with the signing in Bogota, Colombia, of the Charter of the OAS, which entered into force in December 1951 [1] .
Countries that gained independence after 1948 were usually admitted to the OAS as they gained independence, with the exception of Canada , which joined the OAS only in 1990, and Guyana , adopted in 1991 (25 years after independence; like Canada, Guyana is a member Commonwealth of Nations ). Guyana is today the last country admitted to the OAS.
Until 1962, Cuba, as a member of the OAS, took part in its work, but after the transition of Cuba to the socialist path of development, the leadership of the OAS considered this incompatible with the collective security system of America and suspended the membership of the Cuban government in the organization; Cuba and the countries of the Soviet bloc found this decision illegal. In July 1964, the OAS ordered all its members to sever diplomatic relations with Cuba on charges of violating territorial integrity and democracy in Venezuela [2] . Although Mexico, Uruguay and Chile voted against this decision, and Bolivia abstained, only Mexico did not comply with it [2] .
In the 2000s, the Cuban leadership has repeatedly made proposals to reinstate OAS membership. The decision to suspend Cuba’s participation was annulled on 3 June 2009 [3] ; Cuba welcomed this gesture, but refused to return to the OAS [4] .
At the OAS General Assembly in April 1971, the Institute of OAS Permanent Observers was established; at the beginning of 2015, 70 states had this status, including Russia , Ukraine , Kazakhstan , Azerbaijan , Georgia and Armenia [5] .
On July 4, 2009, the government of Honduras , which came as a result of a military coup, announced the denunciation of the OAS charter and the immediate withdrawal of its country from this organization. Earlier, on July 2 , the leadership of the OAS demanded within 72 hours to return the power in the country to President Manuel Zelaya , threatening otherwise to expel Honduras from the organization [6] . On June 1, 2011 , after Zelaya and the incumbent president of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, entered into a national reconciliation agreement, Honduran’s membership in the OAS was reinstated [7] .
In the 21st century, the OAS’s positions were greatly shaken due to the emergence of new regional organizations uniting purely Latin American states without the participation of the United States, such as the Latin American and Caribbean Community (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
At the end of April 2017, the Secretary General of the OAS was handed a letter from the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro , that Venezuela would immediately leave this organization [8] .
Goals and Directions
The organization was created in order to achieve peace among its member states, as provided for in Article 1 of the Charter:
Maintain peace and justice, foster solidarity, strengthen cooperation and protect our sovereignty, our territorial integrity, and independence.
Today, the OAS unites 34 states of North and South America (except Cuba) and is the main political, legal and social force in the hemisphere.
The organization uses four directions for the effective implementation of its main goal, based on its basic principles: democracy, human rights, security and development.
General Assembly
The highest governing body in the OAS is the General Assembly. The OAS annually convenes a planned session of the assembly, in special cases, with the approval of two-thirds of the members of the organization, the Permanent Council may announce the meeting of an extraordinary session.
Sessions are convened in participating States, in turn. Countries are represented by elected delegates, usually foreign ministers or their deputies. Each Member State has one vote in the Assembly. Decisions on certain important issues defined by the rules of the assembly are taken by a two-thirds majority of the member states; in the majority of cases, a simple majority of votes is sufficient.
The powers of the General Assembly include determining the general policy through resolutions and declarations, approving the budget, determining the amounts of contributions from the participating states, listening to reports and reports of the special organs of the OAS for the past year and electing members to these institutions.
Member States
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Venezuela (issued April 27, 2019, but the National Assembly overturned Maduro’s decision [9] )
- Haiti
- Guyana
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Grenada
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Canada
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba (expelled on January 31, 1962, reinstated in June 2009 [10] , but refused to renew it)
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Salvador
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint lucia
- USA
- Suriname
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Uruguay
- Chile
- Ecuador
- Jamaica
Notes
- ↑ Who We Are . OAS. Date of treatment February 16, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 Kasatkina E. A. The Role of the Organization of American States in the US Anti-Cuban Policy in the 1960s - 1970s // Historical, Philosophical, Political and Legal Sciences, Cultural Studies and Art History. Questions of theory and practice. - 2012. - No. 9. - P. 73
- ↑ The OAS General Assembly announced the annulment of the 1962 resolution, according to which Cuba was expelled from the ranks of the organization . Xinhua News Agency . China International Radio (June 4, 2009). Date of treatment February 16, 2015.
- ↑ Declaration of the Revolutionary Government . Granma (June 8, 2009). Archived on June 19, 2004.
- ↑ Permanent Observers . OAS. Date of treatment February 16, 2015.
- ↑ The new authorities of Honduras announced the country's withdrawal from the Organization of American States . NEWSru.com (July 4, 2009). Date of treatment February 16, 2015.
- ↑ Honduras returned to the Organization of American States . " People's Daily " (June 3, 2011). Date of treatment February 16, 2015.
- ↑ Venezuela handed a letter to the Secretary General of the OAS on withdrawal from the organization
- ↑ The time required for Venezuela to leave the OAS coming to an end . RIA Novosti (20190427T0110 + 0300Z). Date of treatment April 28, 2019.
- ↑ Cuba rejoins the Organization of American States // Rossiyskaya Gazeta, June 4, 2009
Links
- Organization website (English) (Spanish) (French) (port)