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OAS Assistant Secretary General Discusses the Summit of Panama with the Government and Private Sector of Nicaragua

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, said in Managua that the Summit of the Americas in Panama presents a historic opportunity to relaunch hemispheric relations due to the presence of Cuba in the Inter-American dialogue for the first time in more than 50 years.

“For the Seventh Summit of Heads of State and Government in April in Panama there is optimism due to the presence of Cuba, but also concern because of the urgency of strengthening hemispheric multilateralism and promoting a positive agenda of social impact,” said Assistant Secretary General Ramdin.

During a keynote speech to representatives of the Nicaraguan private sector on 20 years of Summits and Perspectives for Panama, organized by the Chamber of Industries of Nicaragua, the senior OAS official said the peoples of the Americas have increasingly growing expectations of their leaders and want to see their commitment to the principal values of the Democratic Charter, with human rights and equality.

He added that “despite our differences, we have territorial stability, there are no violent conflicts between states and we have seen years of prosperity, in which millions of people have emerged from poverty and the middle class has grown in nearly all the countries.” However, he highlighted that there remains much to do to bring the benefits of democracy to the peoples of the Hemisphere and that doing so requires leaders who meet regularly with a spirit of tolerance.

This forum for dialogue has not been perfect nor has it achieved all its goals, recognized Assistant Secretary General Ramdin, but he added “there is no more powerful instrument than dialogue for resolving differences.”

Assistant Secretary General Ramdin also held meetings with the Foreign Minister of Nicaragua, Samuel Santos, with whom he discussed the importance of maintaining better understanding and friendly relations between nations to continue progressing toward the objectives of peace, democracy, and prosperity for the peoples of the Americas. They also highlighted the need to privilege dialogue in order to deal with current differences and conflicts before the Summit of Panama.

Assistant Secretary General Ramdin and Foreign Minister Santos also discussed the need for leaders to express their opinions in a constructive way on the positive agenda proposed by Panama for the Seventh Summit on the issues of health, education, energy, migration, security, the environment, citizen participation and democratic governance.

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

Reference: E-100/15