(E-083/01)
April 11, 2001OAS PERMANENT COUNCIL MARKS PAN AMERICAN DAY
The Organization of American States today marked Pan American Day, with Permanent Council Chairman Ambassador Humberto de la Calle of Colombia calling for "a renewed commitment to the Organization, to the Hemisphere and to the future."
The Colombian envoy told his hemispheric colleagues, OAS observers and other guests at a protocolary session of the Permanent Council that the Organization has been "a very important vehicle that has facilitated and mediated the satisfactory resolution of conflicts," citing the instances of Grenada, Panama, Haiti and Peru. He insisted, however, that the Organization must be strengthened, equipped and provided with resources as well as the political representation needed to properly carry out its mission."
In his address, Argentina's Ambassador Raśl Ricardes called for policy reforms "to transform the OAS from being exclusively a forum of foreign ministries, to embrace participation by all segments of society." On the matter of hemispheric security, he said existing mechanisms and institutions needed revamping in order to address the challenges facing modern society. "The OAS of the future calls for a new construct in the area of security."
Barbados' Ambassador Michael King lauded the OAS and other inter-American institutions for their important work, saying they "represent the embodiment of our will." Ambassador King also said that "the smaller countries among us, minority groups in our societies, especially women, children and indigenous peoples, must be given the opportunity to realize their full potential." He urged his colleague diplomats: "Let us be mindful, then, that inclusion of all and exclusion of none must be the basis on which we move forward."
Joining the call for a strengthened OAS, El Salvador's Ambassador Margarita Escobar suggested that it be equipped to respond to the member states' demand for services in their quest to deal with the challenges of globalization and threats to governance. She argued that "the strengthening and restructuring of the OAS is an unfinished job that must sooner or later extend to the other inter-American institutions."
And, noting that all the countries of the Hemisphere are represented at the OAS, Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Luigi Einaudi cited the hemispheric body as the only organization
that explicitly includes the United States together with the rest of the states of the Americas." Ambassador Einaudi also saw a need for greater focus on issues related to confidence-building between and among countries, with more resources devoted to that purpose.
Ambassador Thomas Shannon, the Alternate Representative of the United States to the OAS, read a proclamation by President George W. Bush, celebrating Pan American Day and Pan American Week. In it, the President urged reflection on and renewal of "our common dedication to ensuring that the benefits of development are broadly shared." Turning to the upcoming Third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada, where here will join the rest of the Hemisphere's democratically-elected leaders, President Bush lamented that Cuba will be absent. "It is my sincere hope that our neighbor will soon rejoin the fraternity of democracies and that the Cuban people will again know freedom," he stated.
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