Media Center

Press Release

OAS Permanent Council Elects Committee Chairs for Next Year

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today set up next year’s committees and elected those who will chair them, during a regular meeting that also paid tribute to former President of Brazil Itamar Franco and the Argentine singer and songwriter Facundo Cabral, both of whom passed away recently.

The Committees were set up in the following way: elected by acclamation were Ambassador María Isabel Salvador, Permanent Representative of Ecuador, as Chair of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs (CAJP); Ambassador John E. Beale, Permanent Representative of Barbados, as Chair of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (CAAP); Ambassador Néstor Méndez, Permanent Representative of Belize, as Chair of the Committee on Hemispheric Security (CSH); and Ambassador Hugo de Zela, Permanent Representative of Peru, as Chair of the special Working Group on the strengthening of the Inter-American System of Human Rights.

Subsequently, and at the request of the Chair of the Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Guatemala, Jorge Skinner-Klee, a minute of silence was observed for Itamar Franco, President of Brazil between 1992 and 1995, who passed away on July 2 at the age of 81. Also, the Council approved a declaration to recognize former President Franco for “his leadership and brilliant political career as well as of his invaluable legacy in the strengthening of democratic principles.”

The text of the declaration is available here.

Furthermore, the Council expressed grief for the murder of the Argentine singer and songwriter Facundo Cabral, shot to death in Guatemala on July 9. “This deplorable act is mourned not only by the people and government of Argentina but by all of Latin America, which has lost an artist whose life was characterized by his music of reflection, social criticism and constant observation about the world,” Skinner-Klee said.

The Permanent Council also decided to soon continue with the dialogue on the effectiveness of the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the 10th anniversary of which is this year. On August 3, a debate will be held on chapters 2 and 3, and on August 31 chapters 4 and 5, so that a report on the discussion may be presented to the foreign ministers of the continent who are to meet in Valparaiso, Chile, on September 3 and 4 to commemorate the anniversary.

The Council also approved the provisional agenda of the 86th regular meeting of the Directing Council of the Inter-American Children’s Institute, a specialized body of the OAS, which will be held in Montevideo on September 29 and 30.

Today’s session was the first presided by Ambassador Skinner-Klee, who assumed his post on July 1st for the next three months. His predecessor, the Permanent Representative of Grenada, Gillian M.S. Bristol, was congratulated by the Council for her work in the previous three months.

At the same time, the body welcomed Ambassador Jorge Ramón Hernández Alcerro, Permanent Representative of Honduras, who in his first remarks said it was “an honor to have been named” for the post “at a time of particular interest for my country and the Organization.”

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-767/11