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Secretary General Insulza: "International Cooperation Leads to Peace and Harmony between Nations"

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, highlighted the importance of cooperation between the United Nations (UN) and the world’s regional organizations, in an address to the Security Council in a debate on "Cooperation with Regional and Subregional Organizations" which was directed by the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández, who currently chairs the UN security body.

"There is no area in which cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations is more needed and valued than in the maintenance of peace and security," said Secretary General Insulza. "These objectives point to what is the essence of multilateralism: achieving peace and harmony among nations, within a framework of respect for the law and the creation of a secure environment for everyone," he added.

The leader of the hemispheric institution explained that the countries of the Americas and the OAS, "the oldest expression of multilateralism in the world, have always been guided by these principles and have contributed, from their own experiences and in the context of their own capabilities, to its global extension and validity."

The OAS has not deployed any military missions since 1966, said the Secretary General, based on an "implicit decision not to, with the understanding that one way to strengthen international institutions is to respect the precedence of the United Nations Security Council in this area." When military missions have been required, he explained, "the OAS has accompanied them in carrying out civilian tasks, or has deployed its own civilian missions, with special attention to the restoration of the democratic process," as in the cases of Haiti, El Salvador and Nicaragua, and most recently in the case of Colombia, with the Mission to Support the Peace Process, the Mission in the Belize-Guatemala Adjacency Zone and the Mission to Support the Dialogue between Ecuador and Colombia (2007-2009).

However, the Secretary General continued, in recent times a new threat to peace in the region has emerged, "based primarily on criminal violence" which originates essentially in drug trafficking. "In response to this," Insulza said, "we are reacting vigorously, testing our capacity for collective and cooperative action, not only in our region but also with the extra-regional bodies of the United Nations system."

In his address to the Council, the OAS leader emphasized that, in response to the new threats, the Organization "has extended its work to other areas, especially those that are related to drug trafficking, organized crime, trafficking in persons and arms and other crimes that have led to very high rates of violence in some countries of the region, despite the absence of armed conflict." "These issues have taken on a higher priority than the more traditional focus on external security, and our work with United Nations specialized agencies has been strengthened in these areas," he added.

In his conclusion, the OAS Secretary General thanked the Argentine President and Chair of the Council, Cristina Fernández for the initiative to hold a debate on the issue, and reiterated the readiness of his organization "to cooperate with this central organ of the international system in all areas of its work, among which those relating to the maintenance of peace and security and the peaceful settlement of disputes are fundamental."

During the debate, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon took the floor, as did the President of Argentina and Chair of the Security Council, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner; the Foreign Minister of Cuba (on behalf of CELAC) Bruno Rodriguez, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru (on behalf of UNASUR), Eda Rivas Franchini, representatives of the African Union and the League of Arab States, and the Foreign Ministers of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca; Brazil, Antonio de Aguiar Patriota; Chile, Alfredo Moreno; Colombia, María Holguín; Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño; Uruguay, Luis Almagro; and Venezuela, Elias Jaua; among others.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-296/13