Media Center

Press Release

Jamaica Assumes Chairmanship of OAS Permanent Council

The Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the Organization of American States (OAS), Stephen Vasciannie, today assumed the Chair of the OAS Permanent Council, succeeding the Permanent Representative of Bolivia, Ambassador Diego Pary, who had served as interim Chair for the last two weeks. Ambassador Vasciannie will hold the position for the next three months.

The Jamaican diplomat said “It is indeed an honor for me to assume the position of Chairman of the Permanent Council of the OAS one day after presenting credentials as the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the OAS.” “The learning curve will be very steep,” he added, “but I am hopeful that I will take advantage of the opportunity to assist in the promotion of peace and security, rule of law, and all of the other core principles of the Organization of American States during my term of office.”

Ambassador Vasciannie noted that “this appointment comes at a propitious time for Jamaica. As some of you will know Jamaica, at the start of August, will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of its independence. As such, it’s a time for us to renew our commitment in the international arena even as we celebrate locally the achievements of the country.” “We look forward to serving with distinction,” he concluded, “and we hope to work with the members of the Secretariat and the representatives of all the countries of the OAS to ensure that we have peace and security in our region.”

The outgoing Chair, Ambassador Pary of Bolivia, noted that the Council had recently taken up two important topics: the situation in Paraguay and the mandates that emerged from the General Assembly of Cochabamba. They are both issues, he said, “that we will continue to discuss, we will continue to debate and surely we will arrive at good agreements under your leadership, Ambassador.” The Bolivian diplomat now assumes the Vice Chair of the Permanent Council.

Attending the ceremony, which took place in the Gallery of Heroes in the headquarters of the OAS in Washington, DC, was the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, the Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, and representatives of several missions of Member States.

The Statute of the Permanent Council establishes that the Chair is to be held successively by each of the Permanent Representatives, in alphabetical order as determined by each country’s name in Spanish, and the Vice Chair in the same manner, following reverse alphabetical order. Both positions have a term of three months.

A gallery of photos of the event will be available here.

The video of the event will be available here.

The audio of the event will be available here.

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

Reference: E-260/12