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OAS and Spain Collaborate for a “Landmine-Free America”

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Permanent Mission of Spain to the hemispheric organization gathered today for an event titled, “Making the Americas Free of Landmines,” in which distinguished personalities expressed their commitment to strengthen their work to eliminate these lethal weapons.

In the presence of the Infanta Cristina of Spain, the Secretary General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza, thanked the Spanish Kingdom for their help in the development of the program, “Comprehensive Action Against Anti-personnel Mines (AICMA), which he called “one of the most important programs in this organization,” and thanks to which, “four of our member states are landmine-free."

Secretary General Insulza emphasized that with the work of the OAS and its donor community, “the clearing and destruction of over 180,000 mines has been accomplished, as well as the physical and sociological rehabilitation of over 1,250 people. Preventive messages have been issued in over 1,500 communities, reaching over one million people in affected areas.” Nevertheless, he added that “even though we have declared Central America free of anti-personnel landmines, one must always be vigilant, careful and pay much attention,” alerting that “there are mines in areas of past conflicts that no one has ever worried about finding, much less removing.”

The hemispheric leader thanked the governments of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the European Union, and “especially Spain, for the contributions it has made to the Organization in this task: we are satisfied with what we have achieved so far, but we assure you that the OAS will not rest until it achieves a mine-free Americas.”

Afterwards, the Permanent Observer of Spain to the Organization, Ambassador Javier Sancho, asserted that his country's commitment to this issue “is expressed through the strong financial support provided to the demining programs of the United Nations and the OAS,” and stressed that Spain has been for years “the most important outside contributor to the humanitarian demining work this Organization conducts.”

The Spanish diplomat also announced that on this matter, in the first trimester of 2011, Spain will offer a training course for military and civil specialists in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama, “that will take place at the International Demining Center of the Spanish Ministry of Defense in Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid, and in which the United States will participate financially.” "This project is a good example of what can be done from the inside and outside to keep supporting the initiatives of the OAS against mines,” he added.

The Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the OAS and the President of the Committee on Hemispheric Security, Ambassador Jorge Skinner-Klee, said the AICMA program “represents a challenge for us to continue extending the vision of a hemisphere free of anti-personal mines where all the American countries can make use of the program's mandate and coordinate their efforts in the fight to completely eradicate the threat these lethal weapons represent.”

Patrick Leahy, a United States Senator and an advocate of international campaigns against the use of landmines, recalled that his country is not part of the Convention of Ottawa, and congratulated the achievement of having a landmine-free Central America. “I thank the OAS, its Secretary General, and those from the Government of Spain in charge of the demining process, and many others, who have made this day possible. If we could achieve it in Central America, with the same perseverance and moral compromise, then we can achieve it anywhere,” he said.

Ken Rutherford, Co-Founder of the Landmine Survivors Network, said the OAS is an example of “what we could do to obtain a landmine-free world not only for us, but for the children of our children and future generations. Thank you very much to the organization for its work and its continuing leadership.”

At the end of the ceremony, in which strong images were shown of the human cost that anti-personal landmines reap, Moises Antonio Valle, a Nicaraguan soldier who lost a leg from the explosion of one such weapon, presented his testimony and thanked the OAS and cooperating countries “who help victims move forward.”

Musician Miguel Bose, an active collaborator in the fight to eradicate these explosives and founder of “Paz Sin Fronteras,” an organization that has coordinated large peace concerts in Havana and along the Colombia-Venezuela border, also was present at the event. Highlighting the results of the AICMA program, he said that “to this date they are very satisfactory” but added that “though there is no need to say it, let’s not put down our guard or our efforts because there is still a lot of work to be done.”

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

Reference: E-475/10