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The Inter-American Defense Board was created in 1942 to study and recommend measures for the defense of the hemisphere during World War II. At present the Board plans the collective defense of the hemisphere. It conducts an academic program through the Inter-American Defense College.
Barbados became a member of the Inter-American Defense Board in May 1994. Suriname's application for membership was approved and it will become a member in early 1995.
The Board continued to cooperate with the Permanent Council's Special Committee on Hemispheric Security and, accordingly, participated in the Meeting of Experts held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March 1994. The Board also continued to take part in the examination of the alternatives for the legal relationship between the Board and the OAS.
Work continued on the humanitarian mine-clearing project in Central America, under OAS auspices. Once the supervision of the training and of the mine-clearing operations in Nicaragua had been completed, the Board presented work programs to Costa Rica and Honduras. The training course for instructors began in Honduras in October. Mine-clearing operations in that country will begin in early 1995, and later in the year in Costa Rica.
The Board now has a larger role in the field of natural disaster management. It served as coordinator of a sectoral meeting that the OAS and the United Nations held on this issue in Barbados. The Council of Delegates approved a United Nations recommendation to the effect that the Board coordinate the natural disaster management activities in the hemisphere. A data bank is being prepared on the military capability available for responding to natural disasters.
In June 1994, the Thirty-third Course of the Inter-American Defense College ended with the graduation of 63 students from 13 member countries. The Thirty-fourth Course began in August, with 49 civilian and military students from 13 member countries participating.