(E-085/01)
April 17, 2001
COLOMBIA IS CHAIR OF OAS PERMANENT COUNCIL
Ambassador Humberto de la Calle, Colombia's Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), formally assumed the chairmanship of the Organization's Permanent Council today, stressing the "very specific job" that lies ahead for hemispheric body in terms of the upcoming Third Summit of the Americas and in relation to mandates arising from it.
The Colombian envoy referred as well to the visit to the OAS by United States President George W. Bush, describing it as "a very important symbolic gesture for the Americas and for the Organization." With respect to the next OAS General Assembly session--to be held in San José, Costa Rica, June 3 to 5--he pledged that "we will work very hard and will continue to promote this Organization, which is the highest political forum [in the Western Hemisphere]."
The outgoing Council Chairman, Chile's Ambassador Esteban Tomic, touched on the role of the OAS and initiatives it could undertake to strengthen the Organization as a whole. "The three-month chairmanship, while meaningful in some ways, does limit the chairman but that does not preclude certain initiatives or actions during that period, to benefit the OAS," said Ambassador Tomic.
A former Vice President of Colombia (1996-1998), Ambassador de la Calle was Minister of the Interior from 1990 to 1992 and Ambassador to Spain from 2000 to 2001. He has also been a Supreme Court Judge, Director of the Colombian Elections Agency and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Caldas, where he obtained a doctorate in law and political sciences.
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