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OAS Secretary General to Travel to Paraguay to Gather Information on Recent Events

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza, will travel to Paraguay and other countries in the region to gather information on recent events in the South American country, which he will then present to the Permanent Council of the hemispheric organization.

In a special session of the Permanent Council, the Secretary General announced that he would head up an information gathering mission to Paraguay, on which the different regions of the hemisphere would be represented. He said he would interview the highest authorities of the three branches of government, as well as former President Fernando Lugo. The proposal for the trip was put forward by the Chair of the Permanent Council, Ambassador Leónidas Rosa Bautista.

“I consider it my duty to gather all the background so that this Permanent Council can take its decisions, and I also consider it my duty to hear the point of view of Paraguay and of other countries,” said the chief representative of the OAS, who will travel to the country in agreement with the powers conferred on him by the OAS Charter.

Insulza said he hopes to be able to report the results of his mission to the Permanent Council next week, including the position taken by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the Central American Integration System (SICA). At the CARICOM meeting the Secretary General will be accompanied by the OAS Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, and at the SICA meeting by Secretary of External Relations Ambassador Alfonso Quiñónez.

During the meeting of the Council, Secretary General Insulza said the objective of the organization in the crisis should be “to generate an atmosphere that allows this very beloved nation, a founding member of our organization, to act within it in complete normality, and that next year’s elections are carried out properly.”

During the meeting, the representatives of Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, Peru, the United States, Guatemala, Ecuador, Canada, El Salvador, Brazil, Bolivia, Jamaica, Uruguay, Suriname (representing CARICOM), Dominica, Colombia, Costa Rica (representing SICA), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Haiti, Panama, The Bahamas, and Paraguay all addressed the Council.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-234/12