| | The U.S. and the Organization of American StatesThe U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) is headed by U.S. Permanent Representative Hector E. Morales. The OAS is the premier multilateral forum in the Western Hemisphere. Its 35 members are countries from North, South, and Central America, the Caribbean, and Canada. The charter of the OAS states that its basic objectives are to:
- strengthen peace and security;
- promote the effective exercise of representative democracy;
- ensure the peaceful settlement of disputes among members;
- provide for common action in the event of aggression;
- seek solutions to political, juridical, and economic problems that may arise;
- promote, by cooperative action, economic, social, educational, scientific, and cultural development; and
- limit conventional weapons so as to devote greater resources to economic and social development.
As a member of the OAS, the United States is committed to strengthening and working with the organization. This reflects the U.S. Government's determination to make optimal use of multilateral diplomacy to resolve regional problems and to engage its neighbors on topics of hemispheric concern.
Opportunities and Challenges in the Western Hemisphere: Perspectives from the United States Congress
Ambassador Morales and the U.S. Mission to the OAS hosted the 10th OAS Policy Roundtable in the Hall of the Americas at the OAS. U.S. Senators Mel Martinez and Robert Menendez participated in the event.
Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute's Second Annual Future Leaders Conference
Ambassador Morales addressed the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute's Second Annual Future Leaders Conference, on July 16, 2008. Remarks | Video
| | Highlights | Summit Promotes Security, Prosperity, Democracy
[T]hese summits have helped to reinforce the Americas' understanding that sustainable development requires a commitment to democratic governance, enfranchising all sectors of the population and eradicating the pernicious problem of corruption. These principles of democratic governance and fundamental freedoms are enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which unites the hemisphere's governments in a series of unprecedented obligations to defend these basic rights. Op-Ed
A Common Vision for Our Hemisphere
Deputy Secretary Negroponte: "60 years ago, the nations of the Americas adopt[ed] the OAS Charter and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. These two documents united our region in a commitment to human rights, social justice, and representative democracy. " Full Text
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