Organization of American States
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GA32E-02-02

June 3, 2002

OAS ASSEMBLY OPENS IN BARBADOS SPOTLIGHTING TERRORISM, POVERTY, ILLEGAL DRUGS AND DEMOCRACY 

Fighting terrorism, poverty and illegal drugs were among the top issues highlighted as Secretary General César Gaviria and Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur inaugurated the 32^nd regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States on Sunday evening.  The formal opening ceremony and reception took place at the Prime Minister’s residence, at Ilaro Court. 

 Mr. Gaviria identified mediation of internal political conflicts, human rights promotion, border conflict mediation, and advancing free trade among critical issues in which the hemispheric Organization has taken the lead.   

He told the hundreds of participants¾led by Foreign Ministers and other senior member state officials as well as observers and civil society representatives from the Americas¾about the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism that the Foreign Ministers here will consider and adopt, saying it offers a solid and comprehensive legal framework and emphasizes border and financial controls.   

Gaviria reported as well on OAS accomplishments and ongoing work on a variety of other priority matters, including the Inter-American Democratic Charter and special security concerns of small island states, stressing the need to adopt all the recommendations on disaster mitigation and prevention, global climate change and regional concerns about nuclear waste transshipment. He also detailed the ongoing Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and OAS efforts in Haiti to mediate the crisis stemming from the May 2000 elections and to investigate the December 17, 2001 violence.   

For his part, Prime Minister Arthur spoke about comprehensive anti-terrorism legislation the Barbados Parliament passed recently.  He said the anti-terrorism focus by the General Assembly¾which ends Tuesday¾was appropriate given the pall the September 11 terrorist attacks had cast across the entire Hemisphere.  He also emphasized the urgency of the region’s development agenda.   “More than 170 million souls in this Hemisphere live in poverty,” the Prime Minister stated, pointing also to HIV/AIDS, illegal arms, trans-national crime and ecological disasters as part of “the most severe threat to the stability of our societies.” 

Mr. Arthur also urged the Hemisphere’s leaders to provide the Organization with the resources it needs to carry out its enlarged mandates under the Summit of the Americas Action Plan, and offered special recognition to former OAS Assistant General Val T. McComie, of Barbados, who was in attendance. 

 

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