Defense Ministerial of the Americas

The July 1995 Defense Ministerial of the Americas (DMA) in Williamsburg, Virginia gathered together civilian and military leaders of the Western Hemisphere for the first time. During three days of meetings, they discussed a broad range of security issues in an atmosphere of open dialogue and mutual confidence. The six "Williamsburg Principles" they established recognized that the preservation of democracy is the basis for mutual security and that armed forces should be subordinate to democratically elected leaders. This process was initiated to complement the Summit of the Americas Process, which began a year earlier in 1994.

Since Williamsburg, the DMA has met every two years in a different country. The 2^nd DMA met in October 1996 in Bariloche, Argentina; the 3^rd DMA in November 1998 in Cartagena, Colombia; the 4^th DMA in November 2000 in Manaus, Brazil; the 5^th DMA in November 2002 in Santiago, Chile; the 6^th DMA in December 2004 in Quito, Ecuador; the 7^th DMA in October 2006 in Managua, Nicaragua. Canada will offer host the 8^th DMA in 2008.

The Defense Ministerial is structured around a high level dialogue of Ministers, which is complemented by numerous working groups. Every DMA issues a political declaration that highlights particular issues.