Introduction

Ambassador Carmen Lomellin alongside members of the United States delegation to the Organization of American States. (December 4, 2009)

United States Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States 

The U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) is headed by Ambassador Carmen Lomellin who was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as Permanent United States Representative on November 20, 2009.

The OAS is the premier multilateral forum in the Western Hemisphere. Its members are the 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.

Visit the site of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at: www.state.gov/p/wha/