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OAS Permanent Council Received Report on Citizen Security in Ecuador and Celebrated 25th Anniversary of Canada as Member State

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today received the Minister of the Interior of Ecuador, José Serrano, who made a presentation on the progress and achievements in citizen security in his country, during a regular meeting in which the Council also celebrated the 25th anniversary of Canada as a member of the Organization.

In his words to the Council, Minister Serrano highlighted the achievements of the government of his country in improving citizen security. A few years ago, he said, “security was only for those who could pay for it. The police, justice, education, and health were a luxury or the crumbs of the dispossessed.” Minister Serrano said that situation changed with the inauguration of President Rafael Correa in 2007, and highlighted one of the Ecuadorean leader´s slogans: “people above capital; capital at the service of the people.”

“Today,” said the Minister from Ecuador, “people are above capital, and therefore security is no longer that of a failed state and of peddlers, rather it is the citizen security of everyone.” As part of the transformation in the security situation, the Minister emphasized the reforms carried out in the police force, in particular its “embedding in the neighborhoods and the communities, through the Community Police Units,” the increase in the wages of police who are today “the best paid police in Latin America,” and the use of high technology for the investigation and reporting of crime.

These efforts, explained the Minister of the Interior of Ecuador, have made it possible that, for the first time in 30 years, Ecuador has a homicide rate of 8.13 per 100 thousand inhabitants; is located within the four countries in which citizens have the most confidence in security in Latin America; has achieved record numbers of drug captures; and has achieved very high levels of trust by the citizenry in the government´s handling of security.

In his conclusion, Minister Serrano highlighted that, in his judgment, “the greatest challenge to citizen security of all the countries in the Americas is to consolidate a multilateral relationship that effectively allows us not only to share information, but to act in a preventative way with anti-crime intelligence, that allows us to be much more effective in the fight against the scourge of criminal violence.”

On another point of the agenda, the Council celebrated the 25th anniversary of Canada as a member of the OAS. The Chair of the Council and Permanent Representative of Suriname to the Organization, Niermala Badrising, said “since becoming a full member in 1990, Canada has made important contributions to the OAS relating to the four pillars of the Organization and in addressing common hemispheric issues and challenges.” The Chair of the Council added that Canada´s respect for democracy, the rule of law and human rights have contributed to the strengthening of the OAS.

For her part the Interim Representative of Canada to the OAS, Jennifer May Loten said “25 years of Canada´s OAS partnership have brought Canada to the Americas, and have brought the Americas to Canada.” In addition, she invited the representatives “to celebrate this anniversary throughout this year and to share in some key Canadian achievements at the OAS or through the OAS since 1990.” The Canadian diplomat highlighted that 2015 will be an important year for the hemisphere, with the Summit in the Americas to be hosted by Panama in April, and the General Assembly in Haiti in June, and for Canada´s engagement with the hemisphere, with events like the Pan Am and Parapan American Games in Toronto.

On behalf of the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, who is in Costa Rica attending the CELAC Summit, the Secretary for External Relations of the Organization, Alfonso Quiñonez, read the message of the Secretary General to the Foreign Minister of Canada, John Baird, on occasion of the anniversary. The message congratulates Canada and highlights that the country has been “at the forefront of the region´s efforts to meet its most important challenges such as strengthening democracy, protecting human rights, promoting integral development and improving security.” The message from the OAS leader concludes expressing his hope that “we can continue to count on Canada´s engagement to further enhance our cooperation on mutual priorities for the benefit of the citizens of the Americas.”

During the meeting the representatives of Chile, the United States, Peru, Mexico, Guyana, El Salvador, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Ecuador, Guatemala, Saint Lucia, Honduras and the Permanent Observer of France took the floor.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The full video of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-018/15