Media Center

Press Release

OAS and Chilean Interior Ministry Consolidate Cooperation on Public Security

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Minister of the Interior and Public Security of Chile, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, today signed a cooperation agreement to promote and coordinate joint initiatives on public security aimed at strengthening institutional capacities through technical assistance initiatives and the exchange of information and experiences.

The agreement includes collaboration in areas such as the prevention of crime and drug trafficking and abuse, combating terrorism, efforts to stop human and illicit arms trafficking, cyber security and prevention of money laundering. Moreover, it provides for the development of legal texts, model laws and legislative guides, as well as support in the development and implementation of police professionalization programs.

At the signing ceremony, held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, Secretary General Insulza welcomed the opportunity "to increase the activities that have been developed with Chile over time," and highlighted among them programs of social reintegration to reduce criminal relapse, efforts to promote civil registry in the Caribbean, training of security forces, immigration officers, prosecutors and judges, and Chile's role in the development of the Police Community of the Americas (AMERIPOL).

The head of the hemispheric organization noted that "the issue of crime is an area on which the organization has concentrated in recent years," especially public security, due to the increase in transnational crime and the generalized perception of this issue. "If we evaluate the surveys conducted in all the countries of the Americas, we find that people tend to view security as one of the major problems facing their country," he said.

For his part, Minister Hinzpeter stressed that, for his country, “the signing of a cooperation agreement with a multilateral international organization as prestigious and experienced as the OAS is very important," and added that it has an even greater relevance when its purpose is "to build relations and deepen the knowledge of a subject so relevant for the people of the Americas as citizen security."

"There isn’t a more noble and important purpose for government than to provide security and peace to the peoples of our countries. Unfortunately, our hemisphere has many challenges in public security, organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism in some cases," Minister Hinzpeter said, and commented that when it comes to fighting crime, Chile has a shared responsibility with the other countries of the Americas, and is ready to increase its collaboration.

The signing ceremony was also attended by the Permanent Representative of Chile to the OAS, Ambassador Dario Paya, the Chair of the Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Honduras to the OAS, Ambassador Leonidas Rosa, several Chilean deputies and other senior OAS officials.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The Video of the event is available here.

The Audio of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-181/12