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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
The
Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Organization of American
States (OAS), Joel Antonio Hernández García, today assumed the
Chairmanship of the Permanent Council of the hemispheric institution
during a ceremony held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, attended
by the Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, the Assistant Secretary
General, Albert Ramdin and representatives of other Member States.
The outgoing Chair and Permanent Representative of Jamaica,
Stephen Vasciannie, in passing the gavel that represents the authority
of the Council, highlighted the issues included in the Council's agenda
for the past three months, including the events in Paraguay and Ecuador
and the dialogue about the Inter-American human rights system and the
organization’s budget. "It's been an interesting but challenging time,
but we have confirmed that the OAS is a united body that is ready to
tackle its difficulties all with the interests of the hemisphere in
mind,” he said.
For his part, Ambassador Hernandez mentioned the main issues
that will be dealt with during his tenure. "We have great challenges
ahead of us, including the great challenge of making our organization
into the institution we want it to be in the twenty-first century and
the challenge of continuing to adapt our mandates to respond to the
great challenges we face in terms of democracy, human rights,
development and multidimensional security,” he said, and promised that
“we will do everything in our power to promote the Council's agenda in
the most efficient possible manner.”
The new Chair of the Permanent Council recognized the work done
by his predecessor and highlighted his “stewardship,” especially after
assuming the chairmanship just a few days after having taken his
position as his country’s ambassador to the organization. He also
thanked the members of the Council for the responsibility that has been
delegated to his country for the last three months, noting that it is
accepted "with great enthusiasm."
The Permanent Council’s statutes establish that the chairmanship
be exercised by each of the Permanent Representatives in turn,
following the alphabetic order in Spanish of the names of their
respective countries, and the office of Vice-Chair, by identical
standards, following reverse alphabetical order. For the next three
months, the Vice Chair of the Council will be in charge of the Permanent
Representative of Belize, Ambassador Nestor Mendez.
A gallery of photos of the event is available here.
The video of the event will be available here.
The audio of the event will be available here.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
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