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Secretary General Insulza: “The OAS Is Today More Relevant than Ever"

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, delivered remarks about the future and challenges of the Organization during an event held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, where he identified one of the principal strengths of the Organization to be its activities throughout the region and the recognition it has received as the central location of debate for the main problems of the region.

“That is not a simple thing to say when you have subregional organizations like the UNASUR and other similar ones that seemed to be the real places where Latin America was going to go to discuss its problems,” Insulza said, adding that “when everybody talks about so many initiatives that have appeared in the region, it continues to be evident the OAS is today more relevant than ever.”

Among the strengths of the hemispheric organization he heads, Secretary General Insulza highlighted its long history, which goes back more than one hundred years. “We are the oldest political organization of the world. Countries know exactly what the OAS stands for and that is why we keep our membership intact in spite of all the challenges.”

Nevertheless, the top OAS official also singled out some aspects with room for improvement. “We are probably too regional, too looking inwards, which means that nobody discusses global problems in the OAS,” he explained.

In his speech, the Secretary General recognized that Latin America and the Caribbean have not yet gained a relevant role at the global level, a situation with an impact on the Organization. “When people look at north-south relations or when they look at global problems the region is not there. That also affects the function of the organization which is essentially diverse,” he noted.

In response the various concerns about the relevance of the Organization in the current context, Insulza said the greatest challenge for the future is to maintain the presence of the OAS as a forum of debate, “and for that we have a very balanced activity to carry out between self-determination and non-intervention, and combine them with the democratic principles and with our desire to promote democracy collectively.”

As such, he emphasized the need to use dialogue and consensus to bridge divergent positions between the member countries and to collaborate with them to strengthen their democratic systems. “My impression is that we can achieve more by dialogue, by negotiation, and by cooperation than by force or coercion,” he concluded.

The Secretary General also pointed out three current big challenges in the region: poverty and inequity, the failure to deliver the benefits of democracy, and crime. “Despite of the fact that we are not a poor continent we are the most unequal continent in the world, and this creates the conditions for conflict and populism, and opens the way for arguments that democracy has not delivered,” he said.

Finally, the leader of the hemispheric organization said the role of the institution is to keep its member countries united and work with them. “The only way we can promote democracy and be relevant today is by keeping the unity of the organization,” he explained, adding that “international organizations in this world of sovereign states are not there to light the fires they are there to put them out.”

Representatives of academic and government entities as well as of think tanks, and regional analysts also participated in the event, which was organized jointly by the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Inter-American Dialogue, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Brookings Institute.

Photographs of the event will be posted here

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

Reference: E-169/10