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OAS Secretary General: “We Advocate for a Multilateralism Based on Dialogue, Conviction and Inclusion, and Not on Imposition”

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, said today that the institution he heads is promoting a new multilateralism that “is not the old interventionism disguised in different way but a multilateralism based on dialogue, conviction, and inclusion, and not on imposition.” He spoke on the main and related issues of the 40th OAS General Assembly, held in Lima, Peru, from June 6 to 8, during a conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

The Secretary General also said the High-Level Commission of the OAS that will study the current situation in Honduras, mandated by the General Assembly and which he will lead himself, is to be comprised of two members from South America, one from the United States, one from Canada, one from the Caribbean, and two from Central America, though he added that there would be no limit on the number of those from Central America wishing to participate. Furthermore, he said the first meeting of the Commission will be held today in Washington, DC.

Recognizing the difficulties the government and people of Honduras face since the country’s suspension from the regional organization, Secretary General Insulza advocated finding ways for negotiation and communication in order to open up this possibility. “Every country in the hemisphere should be in the OAS since we can better solve problems with countries being in the OAS than with them being suspended from the organization,” he said.

The topmost representative of the hemispheric organization also supported the return of President Zelaya to Honduras “with conditions that would not be humiliating for him,” and expressed his belief that alternative solutions can be found through dialogue and negotiation. “We cannot cut the Gordian knot categorically, we must negotiate openly, and this is certainly more complicated, but we must be patient,” he added.

The Secretary General explained that one of the principal lessons the OAS has learned, after the coup d’état that took place in the Central American country almost one year ago, is the importance of being able to react before crises break out. “As an organization, we have been successful in every case where we were able to act before the crisis broke out, and we have failed when the organization arrived after the crisis had already begun,” he stated. He also stressed the need for the organization to have greater capacity to act so as to intervene in countries where disruption of democracy can happen. “The resources the international organization currently relies on are insufficient for modifying the internal situation of member countries,” he said.


Other central themes the OAS will deal with under the new administration of the recently reelected Secretary General are those of security, human rights, and the strengthening of democratic systems, including the reconstruction process in Haiti. In this context, the Secretary General praised the efforts of the Haiti Reconstruction Commission, of which the OAS also is a part.

“We have high expectations of what this Commission can accomplish, and we are very happy it exists. Through it, we hope it will be possible to coordinate and program the flow of aid to Haiti in a more orderly way, so that the reconstruction process will be more viable and productive,” he said, recalling that the role of the OAS as part of this Commission will be focused on three main areas: support for the electoral process, the continuation of the civil registry program, and the development of a cadastre system he assured “is essential for the promotion of public investment.”

Other subjects discussed included free trade agreements between countries in the region, the relevance of the issue of immigration and its impact in the hemisphere, and the financing and restructuring of the OAS.

Photos of the event are available here.

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

Reference: E-244/10