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November 15, 2000

OAS MEETING EXAMINES THREATS TO HEMISPHERIC SECURITY

Delegations from members of the Organization of American States ended a special two-day meeting in Washington Wednesday, identifying drug trafficking, trans-border crime, illicit firearms trafficking and natural disasters among major threats to the hemisphere's security.

According to Bolivia's Ambassador Marcelo Ostria Trigo, who chairs the OAS Committee on Hemispheric Security, member states for too long viewed hemispheric security in narrow, internal terms. However, the approach has now shifted. "Any effort to define shared concepts of hemispheric security should take into consideration such fundamental OAS principles as peaceful coexistence, equality, sovereignty and, in particular, non-intervention," said Ostria Trigo.

OAS Secretary General César Gaviria insisted that any effective mechanism to bolster peace and security requires the support of all member states. The legitimate concerns of each should be properly addressed in the hemispheric context. He warned, however, that "simply drawing up a long list of threats to security is no solution but, rather, identifying suitable parameters and mechanisms to tackle those threats…" is essential.

Assembled to consider "New Approaches to Hemispheric Security," delegations agreed that existing legal provisions for hemispheric security needed reviewing, updating and even replacing. Among those instruments are the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) and the Pact of Bogota on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes.

The Inter-American Defense Board's role in the current hemispheric arrangement was also considered. They said the legal and institutional relationship between the Board and the OAS needs to be more clearly defined in order to devise a new and stronger security system. Defense Board Chairman Major General Carl Freeman also attended the meeting and answered questions from participants.

Delegates to the special meeting also heard a report on the recently-convened Fourth Conference of Ministers of Defense of the Americas, in Manaos, Brazil, and looked at possible ways to revitalize inter-American institutions engaged in the hemisphere's security.

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