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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
From left to right:
Nestor Mendez, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Belize to the OAS;
José Miguel Insulza, OAS Secretary General; and
Albert R. Ramdin, OAS Assistant Secretary General
Date: February 21, 2012
Place: Washington, DC
Credit: Patricia Leiva/OAS
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The
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, and the Permanent Representative of Belize to the
hemispheric organization, Ambassador Nestor Mendez, today signed an
agreement that establishes the conditions for the Electoral Observation
Mission (EOM) that will accompany the general and municipal elections in
the Central-American country on March 7.
The Secretary General
stressed that this is the first EOM the OAS will deploy in Belize, which
"follows the trend of the Caribbean countries to strengthen their
electoral systems through electoral observation." He further recalled
that 2012 is the fiftieth anniversary of the OAS Electoral Observation
Missions and was pleased to "celebrate this important anniversary
serving a democracy in the young and vibrant republic that is Belize.”
At
the ceremony, held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, Ambassador
Mendez explained that the signing of the agreement on the privileges and
immunities "is an important step in the formalization of the process
for the observation mission to take place,” and added that it is also “a
clear demonstration of Belize’s commitment to full participation in the
Inter-American System, and to the values that anchor such a system."
"Throughout
the Americas, indeed throughout the world, it is widely known that the
election observer missions of the OAS are a hallmark of this
institution, and that the presence of the missions has evolved into an
acceptable imprimatur of a free, fair, and transparent exercise of
democracy in the countries of the Americas," Ambassador Mendez affirmed.
The
Secretary General has appointed as Head of Mission in Belize Ambassador
Frank Almaguer, former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, and former OAS
Secretary for Administration and Finance, and he will lead the observer
group arriving in the country a week before the elections.
The
signing ceremony also was attended by the OAS Assistant Secretary
General, Albert Ramdin, and by officials from the Permanent Mission of
Belize to the OAS.
A gallery of photos of the event is available here.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com
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