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OAS Permanent Council Commemorates the Encounter of Two Worlds with a Call to Build a Future of Prosperity in the Americas

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today held a protocolary session to celebrate the 519th anniversary of the "Discovery of America: Encounter of Two Worlds," with reflections by delegates who advocated to build a future of prosperity based on the ideals of the past and present of the region.

The event held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, was chaired by the Permanent Representative of Haiti, Ambassador Duly Brutus, who invited others to take the celebration as an opportunity to discuss the significant changes that have occurred since the discovery. "Our continent has become the birthplace of thinkers who participated in a relentless battle, inspired by the values ​​of the revolution," he said. "The arrival of the Spanish expedition in the Americas was the result of a human impulse that remains as valid today as it was 519 years ago: the search for a better future," he said, and noted that those ideals have been clearly reflected in the OAS Charter.

In his speech, the Representative of Haiti invited others to make of the celebration a day of reflection "that allows us to pause and examine our agendas and reaffirm our commitment to continue working to transform the Americas into a continent that offers prosperity, where a climate of justice and freedom reigns, and where freedom prevails regardless of color, race, clergy, culture, or level of economic development or education."

The Permanent Observer of Spain to the OAS, Javier Sancho, thanked the Permanent Council for the celebration of what is a historic date for the Spanish Kingdom, and said that this annual session of the Permanent Council “allows us to remember the good, and openly assume the bad things of a rich common past that began 519 years ago."

The Spanish diplomat recalled that his country "is conscious and aware of its past in the Americas," but above all, it wants to be present in the hemisphere's future. "Our institutional and permanent presence in this organization for many decades is precisely a response to that fact. Spain has no temporary interest in the OAS, we are not here by inertia," he noted, and stressed the" privileged "bilateral relationship his country has with “each and every one of the OAS Member States."

Ambassador Sancho further recalled that in 1972 Spain became the first Permanent Observer to the OAS, but added that this role "does not define” its relationship with OAS Member Countries. “We believe we are more than that: we are partners," he said. "The basis for cooperation in the 21st century has been established and its depth is strong. Spain and the Americas meet, discuss and evaluate their common past together," he concluded.

As part of the commemoration, before the Council’s session, a symbolic ceremony was held before the statue of Queen Isabella, located in front of the OAS Main Building.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-892/11