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OAS Secretary General pays first official visit to Bahamas
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| Published on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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Lindsay Thompson
NASSAU, Bahamas (BIS) -- Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, made an Official Visit to The Bahamas from October 15 to 16, 2009, to discuss matters relating to tourism and trade in the Americas.
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| OAS Secretary General, Jose Miguel Insulza made an Official Visit to The Bahamas from October 15 to 16, 2009. He is pictured (left) during a press conference at the Cabinet Office with Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brent Symonette. (BIS Photo/Kris Ingraham) |
It was his first official visit here. He met with Governor-General Arthur Hanna, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette; and Leader of the OppositionPerry Christie.
The Bahamas has endorsed Insulza’s candidacy for a second five-year term as OAS Secretary General. Elections are to be called by May 2010.
Ingraham spoke to the relationship between The Bahamas and the OAS and pledged support in a number of initiatives being undertaken by the 35-member body.
“We have had and continue to have an excellent relationship with the OAS,” he said. “We are pleased that some of our nationals were given opportunities to work at the OAS and many Bahamians have benefited from the scholarships, which you offer. We continue to play an active role.”
He said that The Bahamas “was happy” with the role the OAS is playing regarding reports of human rights violation in Honduras.
The Prime Minister also pledged The Bahamas’ support in the upcoming general elections in St Kitts and Nevis.
“We are happy with what you are doing with the Honduran situation and we accept that your support for the election process in St Kitts is going to be important,” said the Prime Minister.
“We are appreciative of your desire and attention to help with the supervision and monitoring of those elections.
“Also, we are delighted to publicly declare our support for your candidacy as secretary general in the OAS.”
Insulza, 66, a lawyer, was born in Chile. He was elected OAS Secretary General on May 2, 2005.
At a press conference at the Cabinet Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette said it was a pleasure to welcome Mr Insulza to The Bahamas, and was looking forward to continued cooperation during his next term.
Insulza thanked The Bahamas for its support, “especially during these very important moments” for the region.
“We have been discussing some of the issues pending in the region - crisis in some countries and upcoming elections in some others,” he said. “The Bahamas is a very important member of our organisation. We think there is a lot of space to do a lot of new things.”
He said The Bahamas plays an important role in the OAS, particularly in the area of strengthening democracy in the Americas.
At the OAS General Assembly this year in April in Trinidad and Tobago, member countries had already conducted “free and fair” elections in their respective countries, he noted
“We have achieved that and we want to keep it that way,” he said.
One of his goals for the second term is to review the agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean in areas of social and economic development, and public security.
There is also the matter of sustainable tourism in which The Bahamas can participate, he said.
“We have to do a lot more in the Caribbean,” he said. “We have to improve our communications very much. We have to make outreach much stronger.”
The OAS is the world’s oldest regional organisation. It came into being in 1958 with the signing in Bogotá Colombia, of the Charter of the OAS. It was established to achieve among its member states “an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and their independence.”
A 2009 resolution adopted by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Americas states that the participation of Cuba in the OAS will be the result of a process of dialogue initiated at the request of the Government of Cuba, and in accordance with the practices, purposes and principles of the OAS. | | | | Reads : 576 | | | |
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