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OAS Permanent Council Commemorates “The Discovery of America: Meeting of Two Worlds"

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) commemorated the "Discovery of America: Meeting of Two Worlds," in a protocolary session which celebrated the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage which joined the Americas with Europe and the rest of the world.

The Chair of the Council and Permanent Representative of Peru, Walter Alban, said the arrival of the Genoan navigator into American territory "was, without a doubt, one of the turning points in the history of mankind, which paved the way for the integration and mixing of Native American and Western culture."

The Peruvian diplomat said that nearly one billion people living in the Western Hemisphere "are largely the symbiosis of these two cultures, from the indigenous peoples of the Americas we have inherited the collective sense, the connection with nature, and the worldview that it comes from." "From the Western world,” he added, “we recognize aspects related to the notion of progress and the use of technology to take advantage of natural resources to benefit our peoples," and concluded that "only by taking account of both dimensions is it possible to understand our identity, and thus also understand our present and project our future.”

The Chief of Staff of the OAS Secretary General, Hugo de Zela, who spoke on behalf of the Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, said that the arrival of Columbus to Western Hemisphere was an event that allowed for the union of cultures that had hitherto been unknown to each other. "It was a transcendent moment in which there was amazement, bewilderment and pain, at the same time certain phenomena began to take root that, from a universal standpoint, meant the beginning of the modern era."

“Slowly our common history of absences and presences began to form itself, which eventually created an image of Americas that would forge our national and international identity. We were, perhaps, one of the first crucibles of history, we adopted Iberian languages​​, religion, customs and utopias, and joined them with our indigenous heritage and rich culture, creating new and diverse political, social and economic structures, on the basis of common principles that remain with us to this day," added Ambassador De Zela.

For his part, the Permanent Observer of Spain to the OAS, Ambassador Jorge Hevia, said October 12, 1492, is celebrated as the day that Europe, through Spain, came to know the Americas and the Americas came to know Europe. "When the Spanish and Portuguese arrived in the Americas they found indigenous peoples and did not isolate themselves from them, but mixed with them; they lived together, sometimes in conflict, with violence, sometimes in peace, and they established societies not exclusively European that were in constant contact with the people of the Americas, who modified and transformed them," said Ambassador Hevia quoting the Spanish writer and philosopher, Julian Marias.

Ambassador Hevia reaffirmed the interest of his country in the OAS, before which it has been a Permanent Observer since 1972, and highlighted that Spain is committed to multilateralism. "We believe in the transformative role that international organizations play in society today. In fact, our commitment to multilateralism is not mere rhetoric. Spain is the sixth greatest contributor to the United Nations system, and we are an important contributor to the OAS despite not being a member state," said the Spanish diplomat.

During the meeting, the representatives of El Salvador (on behalf of SICA), Trinidad and Tobago (on behalf of CARICOM), Uruguay (on behalf of LAIA), Canada, Bolivia and Dominica took the floor.

Minutes before the protocolary session, a wreath was laid before the statue of Isabel, Queen of Spain during the voyage of Columbus. The Chair of the Permanent Council, the Chief of Staff of Secretary General Insulza, and the Permanent Observer of Spain were responsible for depositing the wreath before the statue, located at the entrance to the OAS headquarters in Washington, DC.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

The audio of the event is available here.

The B-roll of the floral offeriing is available here.

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

Reference: E-384/13