A guest editorial written by personel of the Organization of American States

Nestor Mendez was elected to be the ninth Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) on March 18, 2015. He began serving his five-year term on July 13, 2015 with a commitment to work closely with the Secretary General and the member states to reinvigorate and modernize the institution. The Assistant Secretary General based his platform on five main thematic areas: improving regional inter-connectivity; fostering economic growth, addressing the impacts of climate change and natural disasters; promoting partnerships for development, and working to empower and respond to the needs of the youth across the hemisphere. Upon receiving the mandate from member states, he pledged his “unwavering commitment to seize the opportunity that is before us to work together to transform the OAS into the Organization that we want and that the people of the Americas deserve.” Prior to his election, Nestor Mendez was a career diplomat in the Foreign Service of Belize. He served as the Ambassador to the United States of America, Permanent Representative to the OAS, and NonResident High Commissioner to Canada. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Policy and Practice from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., a Graduate Level Certificate in Diplomatic Studies from Oxford University in Oxford, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University College of Belize in Belize City, Belize.

The role played by the Organization of American States (OAS) as midwife and matron for the promotion of a multidimensional approach to security in the Americas, has been substantially inspired by the effective advocacy of the small states of the Caribbean. Adopted fully in 2002, in the context of hemispheric security, amidst a broader process of conceptualizing global post-Cold War security relations, multidimensional security cooperation between the OAS and the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is first reviewed in this paper, in terms of its origins and outcomes, and then, explored for its opportunities and outlook. This analysis offers diverse perspectives: extra-regional, intra-regional and institutional/organizational. Extra-regional partners remain committed but concerned. In spite of significant milestone achievements, vulnerabilities, deficiencies, and incapacities persist intra-regionally, which require improved policy governance, strategic guidance, and, operational performance. Finally, the OAS needs to be more integrative and inclusive, in order to sustain the value and volume of its assistance to the CARICOM region amidst severe resource constraints.

The paper examines the authoritative body of international human rights jurisprudence and norms which have been developed as a result of the work of two OAS bodies: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court, (the Court) which collectively are known as the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS). It pays special attention to the IAHRS’s influential work on vulnerable groups in the hemisphere: indigenous peoples, children, afro-descendants, women, persons with disabilities and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) community, thereby contributing to the expansion of these rights to their fullest capacity. The IAHRS has helped the most vulnerable and marginalized to have a voice and to access rights, when their own states had failed them. Concrete, positive regime change through successful human rights advocacy and adjudication, for example, toppling dictatorships in the region, has also been attributed to the IACHR. While the IACHR and the Court are regional entities, they are acknowledged as framing important jurisprudential principles for adoption in the international sphere, thereby punching above their weight. It is suggested that the collective mission of the IAHRS to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere, in terms of scope, extensive reach and dynamism, has been surpassed. The paper concludes that in its over 70 years of existence, the IAHRS has made a significant contribution in ensuring that more persons have had access to rights in the Americas.

Mexico has a long-standing multilateral tradition. It has been a member of the Organization of American States (OAS) since its inception and has increased its involvement steadily which gained momentum during the last decade of the 20th century and that has persisted ever since. This policy paper briefly reviews the historical participation of Mexico in the OAS, as well as some of the country’s most recent contributions to the Organization, in the context of its 47th General Assembly. Finally, the paper highlights three traits of the OAS that make it particularly relevant for Mexico’s multilateral diplomacy and for the region as a whole.

The Western Hemisphere has experimented with various integration initiatives for almost two hundred years but these have been frustrated by several factors including territorial disputes, political instability, ideological conflicts and a huge trust deficit. The OAS was a US-led effort to integrate the hemisphere primarily as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism. Its failure to achieve that objective led to the United States engaging in overt and covert activities to effect regime changes or secure conformity leaving behind a legacy of hostility and mistrust that continues to outlive the end of the Cold War and pose formidable obstacles to integration possibilities. Yet, all is not lost. Democratic systems have become more deeply entrenched, the spectrum of economic philosophies has narrowed and globalization is challenging our separateness. Sharp differences remain but with visionary leadership and inclusive relationship-building, there is more to unite us than there is to divide us. That is the context in which the OAS must rediscover itself.

The Organization of American States (OAS) has provided a regional multilateral forum for its member states for almost 70 years. Since its inception in 1948 it has facilitated and steered several policies and proposals within the mandate of achieving peace and justice and defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its members. In the area of promoting democracy, the OAS has been the pioneer in observing elections in sovereign states. This paper traces the evolution of international election observation by the OAS from the earlier ad hoc missions in the 1960s throughout the Cold War entangled missions of the 1970s and 1980s. It shows how election observation has become a regularized feature of elections in the majority of OAS member states during the Twentyfirst Century. Finally, it explores some of the