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Bolivian Foreign Minister to preside at XLII OAS General Assembly

  June 4, 2012

Bolivia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Choquehuanca, as host country representative, was elected today to preside over the forty-second regular session of the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly.

Mr. Choquehuanca’s election as President of the General Assembly took place at the first plenary session, held at the Hotel Regina de Tiquipaya, in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Nicolás Maduro, served as provisional president to formally begin the first plenary session. He was elected in keeping with the order of precedence set forth in the rules of procedure of the General Assembly. The Venezuelan Minister expressed confidence that the new President would provide “very productive” leadership of the sessions.

For his part, Minister Choquehuanca extended to the member state representatives a “welcome from the heart of the Americas,” wishing them “an enjoyable stay befitting the traditional hospitality of the Bolivian people.” He expressed appreciation for his election as President of this Assembly, noting “the important work we will be undertaking together.”

Minister Choquehuanca urged the delegates “to transcend our limited special interests as nations and peoples, as communities and individuals,” arguing that “there is still time for us to build confidence, responsibility, and solidarity at the hemispheric level.”

The first plenary session, in which OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza also participated, adopted the agenda for the two-day meeting and installed the General Committee, to be chaired by the Permanent Representative of Honduras to the hemispheric organization, Ambassador Leónidas Rosa Bautista, who is also the current Chair of the organization’s Permanent Council.

A gallery of photos of the event is 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-204/12