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OAS Secretary General invites New Generations to Become “Agents of Change”

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza today spoke at the Graduate Commencement ceremony of the College of Charleston in North Carolina, where he encouraged the new generation of students to develop interest and ties in Latin America and the Caribbean and to become agents of change at the national and the international level.

In his address, Secretary General Insulza recalled that exactly 150 years ago, a special period of American history began in Charleston with the outbreak of the American Civil War, and affirmed that since then, “humanity has been a faithful witness to multiple events that have shaped and changed the world”.

“In less than a century, humanity has made more advances in our knowledge and our material progress than in the previous one thousand years. Today, most of the world lives much better, lives much longer, is able to fulfill more of its needs and has witnessed more prodigies than anyone could have dreamed,” he said. Secretary General Insulza also pointed out the fact that even with all the advances that the United States and the world have made, “human beings have not stopped fighting and killing each other, a large portion of mankind continues to be poor and the land we all share and live in deteriorates everyday more.“

In that sense, the leader of the hemispheric institution recognized that a lot remains to be done, in the United States and abroad, “so peace and democracy can flourish, human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected, security for all citizens can be guaranteed, and social, economic and sustainable development can be achieved by all the people and regions of the world.”

Recognizing some of the challenges that new generations will be facing, Secretary General Insulza also invited graduates to “stand for these common values and work together, wherever you are and whatever your place in society, to make them more viable and real in your communities, your country and the world.”

At the commencement ceremony, held at the Carolina First Arena, the leader of the regional institution also spoke about the OAS values, history and role. “The OAS has represented the unity of all the independent nations of the Americas for over one hundred and twenty years”, he said, and explained that “when we speak today about international relations, we speak every time less about hemispheric relations and more about conflict that occurs in other parts of the world”. The OAS official also referred to the fact that the Middle East or Central Asia seem to be closer to American concerns than the neighbors to the South. “While this is understandable, since these conflicts seem to pose more immediate danger for the security of the United States, developments in the neighborhood should never be neglected”, he affirmed.

Secretary General Insulza also took the opportunity to call upon the United States to “look towards the South, but not to look at it with apprehension because of negative reasons, that certainly exist, but with optimism and enthusiasm for the positive ones“, and highlighted some of the positive changes that have taken place in the region in recent years, including the good financial regulatory frameworks adopted in many countries, the expanded trade that is contributing to the region’s development, and the positive behavior of economies following the economic crisis.

The head of the OAS also reiterated the call for the United States to ratify the trade agreements with Colombia and Panama, and affirmed that “the Latin American and Caribbean region offers great potential for growth. The US exports more to Latin America and the Caribbean than to Europe, more to Chile than to Russia, and more to Colombia than to Indonesia. However, market shares are not static and the U.S. exports could be replaced by other countries with better access to those markets if the U.S. does not take the right steps”.

In closing his remarks, Secretary General Insulza recalled that the City of Charleston was for many years the gateway of the Eastern United States to Latin America and the Caribbean, and referred to the mutual influence between the City and the Caribbean region. Furthermore, he invited the College to have an international vocation, particularly towards the Americas,

“I hope that many of these students will develop interest in the region that lies to south and east of your borders”, he expressed, and added that “values, purposes and principles such as the preservation of peace, the promotion and consolidation of democracy, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the eradication of poverty and inequality should guide the actions of each and every Member State and its people, and inspire them to stand up for them.”

Finally, the OAS official encouraged a new leadership role of the graduates by inviting them “to speak out, to question, to get engaged, to actively participate, to be protagonists, to become agents of change here and abroad, to strive to be the best, and to use the knowledge you have acquired here.”

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

Reference: E-656/11