On December 12th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized a briefing for 14 members of the Peruvian Army War College. The participants received a tour of the Historic Main Building by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations, and a comprehensive OAS briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations. Also attending and addressing the members was Minister Alejandro Riveros, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Peru to the OAS.

On November 28th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized a briefing for 54 members of the Chilean National War College ANEPE. The participants received a tour of the Historic Main Building by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations, and a comprehensive OAS briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations. Ambassador Pedro Oyarce, Permanent Representative of Chile to the OAS spoke on the role of the Mission of Chile as a member of the Organization and discussed the work and progress of the Organization. The briefing included Democracy issues with Pablo Gutiérrez, Chief of Staff, Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs; Human Rights with Mario Lopez, Senior Human Rights Specialist, Secretariat to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and Multidimensional Security with Julio Rosenblatt, Section Chief, Gangs from the Department of Public Security.

On November 8th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized an OAS briefing for 17 participants from the Phelps Stokes Fund on “International Strategies for Defense and Security”. The visitors received a tour of the Historic Main Building by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations and a comprehensive OAS briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations. James Mack, Officer in charge of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security and Executive Secretary, Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), gave a complete briefing on the specific units of his Department; Carol Fuller, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Committee against Terrorism, gave an articulate briefing on the creation of CICTE and stressed the importance of the work and programs being carried out by the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism.

On November 7th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized an OAS briefing for 20 Dutch United Nations Students from the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. The students received a tour of the Historic Main Building by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations and a comprehensive OAS briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations, and Magdalena Talamas, Chief, Public Relations.  Barbara Kotschwar, Chief, Foreign Trade Information Section, Department of Trade, Tourism and Competitiveness gave them an overview on SICE, the OAS Foreign Trade Information System website. The Netherlands is one of the principal donors of the Permanent Observer Countries to the Organization of American States.

On November 7^th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized a briefing for 46 members of the Guatemalan Command and General Staff College (CEDESNA). The participants received a tour of the Historic Main Building by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations, and a comprehensive OAS briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations. Mario Lopez, Senior Human Rights Specialist, Secretariat to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and Abraham Stein, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, (CICAD) gave an overview on their respective Departments. Ambassador Francisco Villagran de Leon, Ambassador Juan Leon Alvarado, and Counselor Otto Perez spoke about the importance of their work and accomplishments as Permanent Representatives from the Mission of Guatemala to the OAS

On October 24^th, the Institutional Relations Section provided a tour and an OAS overview by Aline Hommes, Specialist for 41 college students and 3 staff members from the Lutheran College Washington Semester.  The visit also included a walk through the underground tunnel painted by Uruguayan Artist Carlos Páez Vilaró and a visit to the Art Museum of the Americas.

On October 5th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized an OAS briefing for 12 Chinese Participants from the Center for the Study of Globalization at George Washington University. The participants received a tour of the Historic Main Building by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations and a comprehensive OAS briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations. The Briefing also included the specific areas of Social Development with Specialist Rosana Martinelli and information on Science and Technology by Specialist Maria Claudia Camacho. Dr. Michael Bergeron, Director of the Department of Education, Culture, Science and Technology finalized the briefing with information on his Department. The Permanent Representatives of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Cai Rungwo and Mr. Ping Huiwo also attended the briefing.  

On September 22nd, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized an OAS briefing for 25 delegates from the Uruguayan Army War College.  The participants received an OAS tour and a depth briefing by Jane Thery, Chief, Institutional Relations

On August 24th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized an OAS briefing for 59 delegates from the Dominican Republic Military Institute of Higher Studies. The participants received an OAS Overview briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations and included specialized briefings by Alexandra Barrantes, Specialist, Department for the Promotion of Governance and on Human Rights with Principal Specialist Mario Lopez. Mayerlyn Cordero, Minister Counselor of the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the OAS also participated in the briefing.

On August 18th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized an OAS briefing for Delphi International with a project entitled the "Role of the Media in U.S. Society" for eleven participants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The participants received a tour of the Historic Main Building by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations and a comprehensive OAS briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations. In addition, Freedom of the Press in Latin America was addressed by Ignacio Alvarez, Special Rapporteur for the Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.

On August 17th, the Institutional Relations Section organized a briefing that was requested by The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for their interns. They were given an OAS overview briefing by Irene Klinger, Director of the Department of External Relations. The visit also included a tour of the Historic OAS Main Building conducted by Aline Hommes, Specialist, Department of External Relations, an excursion through the underground painted tunnel with the theme “Roots of Peace” by Uruguayan Artist Carlos Páez Vilaró, and a visit to the Art Museum of the Americas.

On August 16th, the Institutional Relations Section of the Department of External Relations organized an OAS briefing for 56 delegates from the Dominican Republic Military Institute of Higher Studies. The participants received an OAS Overview briefing by Irene Klinger, Director, Department of External Relations and included specialized briefings by Alexandra Barrantes, Specialist, Department for the Promotion of Governance, Human Rights with Principal Specialist Ariel Dulitzky, Security Issues, Christopher Hernandez-Roy, Director, Department of Public Security and CICAD, Abraham Stein, Assistant Executive Secretary, Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission. Mayerlyn Cordero, Minister Counselor, Alternate Representative and Flavio Medina, Counselor, Alternate Representative, Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the OAS also gave their perspectives on their role as Permanent Representatives to the OAS.

On June 20th, the Institutional Relations section of the Department of External Relations organized a briefing requested by the American Council of Young Political Leaders for a delegation of 12 Congressional Representatives from Argentina and Uruguay. The participants received a briefing by Steven Griner, Sr. Specialist, who is in charge of the OAS Inter-American Forum on Political Parties.

On June 19th, the Institutional Relations Section organized a briefing that was requested by The Washington Center for Internships for 45 Junior and Senior College Students. They were given an OAS overview briefing by Aline Hommes, Specialist, External Relations and a specialized briefing by Richard Huber, Deputy Director of the Department of Sustainable Development and the Environment.

On June 14th, the Institutional Relations Section organized a briefing on the OAS that was requested by the Colombian War College. The group was headed by Major General Mario Correa and consisted of 37 members of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police. They were briefed by Jane Thery, Chief, Institutional Relations, an OAS overview and they also received specialized briefings by Maria Claudia Pulido, Senior Specialist, Human Rights; Kevin Newmeyer, Director of Programs and Principal Specialist of CICTE; and Bautista Logioco, Coordinator, OAS Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP/OEA)

On June 9th, the Institutional Relations Section organized a briefing on the OAS that was requested by Brigadier General José L. Lozano for 10 members of the Inter American Defense Board. They were briefed by Jane Thery, Chief, Institutional Relations, an OAS overview and they also received specialized briefings by Mario López, Senior Specialist, Human Rights; James Mack, Executive Secretary of CICAD; Steven Monblatt, Executive Secretary of CICTE; Luis Toro, Juridical Advisor, International Law; Alexandra Barrantes, Specialist in Governance; and Carl Case, Senior Specialist in Demining.

On May 15, the OAS Institutional Relations Section provided a briefing including an overview of the OAS by Jane Thery and a review of the OAS work on trade, competitiveness and tourism by Cesar Parga to representatives of The Times of India, the ZDF of Germany, the Foreign Service of the Philippines, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zambia, TV3 News of New Zealand, the Israeli Labor Party, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia, and the Indian Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh.