Andrew Clem blog

Inter-American
Affairs



This section will include news on diplomatic events, summit meetings, etc. To see the names of the countries, roll the mouse over the appropriate part of the flag montage.

Organization of American States

The OAS was founded in 1948 after the signing of the Inter-American Treaty on Reciprocal Assistance, known as the "Rio Treaty" because the conference was held in Rio de Janeiro. It is the successor to the Pan-American Union, which evolved from a series of conferences beginning in 1889.

Inter-American Development Bank

The IADB .

Pan-American Health Organization

Pan-American Health Organization

MERCOSUR / MERCOSUL

MERCOSUR: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela; maybe Chile???

North American Free Trade Association

NAFTA: United States, Canada, Mexico

Andean Group

Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia; (formerly Chile and Venezuela)

North American Free Trade Association

CAFTA: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica

Critiques of Pan-Americanism

Harrison, The Pan-American Dream (199?).


Major multilateral summit meetings

Year Place Participants Issues, results
Aug 1973 ? Andean Pact summit. denounces U.S. unilateral coercion such as selling mineral reserves
Sep 1973 Ven At 10th Conf. Amer. Army Cmdrs Merc. Jar. questions Rio Pact; redef. security
Feb 1974 ? Chilean, Argentine, Bolivian, & Uruguayan guerrillas form front. ?
Mar 1974 Ecuador 9th Meeting of Interam. Soc. & Econ. Council,. denounce Hickenlooper amend
Oct 1974 Arg. Sec. Intl. Econ. Rel. says Arg. will join Andean Pact by Dec. 31; Bol. favors, Ven. no.
Nov 1974 ? After an Andean Pact session,. Chile decree in compliance w/ Dec. 24 ex. in special cases
Jul 1975 Costa Rica OAS Conf. in approves reform of Rio Pact: "ideolog. pluralism, coll. econ. sec."
Jul 1975 OAS Perm. Council. approves resol. freeing members of Rio Pact to recognize Cuban govt
Aug 1975 After Ven. Pres. Perez proposes Ch.-Bol.-Peru summit, Chile offers to mediate Ven.-Col.*
Sep 1975 Chile Andean Pact meeting on. arms limitation opens in, but no major agrmts. are reached
Oct 1975 Lima Meeting of armed forces cmdrs. of Bol., Chile, & Peru opens in;. arms limit, Bol. isol
Oct 1975 11th Conf. of Amer. Armies in Uruguay; Mex & Cuba absent. Theme: commie aggr & subv
May 1976 Air Force cmdrs. of Arg, Bol, Uru, Para, & ES meet Mor. Berm. prior to annual conf. in Panama.
May 1976 Lat. Am. Intergov. Mtg. on Tech. Coop. in Lima; de la Flor criticizes old notion of tech. asst.
Jan 1977 Chile severs all ties with Andean Pact common market when it revokes inv. and tariff rules
Aug 1977 Chile formally withdraws from Andean Devel. Corp. at request of Andean Pact members.
Sep 1977 Five presidents of Andean Pact sign joint decl. in Peru emb.: balance common & spec. interests.
Jul 1978 Amazon Pact signed in Brasilia by Bol, Brz, Col, Ec, Guy, Peru, Sur, & Ven.; harmonious devel.
Oct 1979 OAS Gen. Ass. in La Paz; Pres. Arze triumphs in resolution on Bol. sea access; Chile rejects it.
Oct 1979 Bol, Col, Ec, Peru, & Ven sign treaty creating Andean Parliament, affirm democ.; Ec. complains.
Nov 1979 Andean For. Mins. express worry over interruption of const. process & human rights in Bolivia.
Nov 1979 Col, Ec, Peru, & Ven. form Andean Pact For. Min. Council to coord. joint for. pol. & prom. integ.
Nov 1979 Andean For. Mins. praise Bolivia's courage & democ. after Natusch is ousted; new pres. Gueiler.
Nov 1979 U.S. & Andean Pact sign "memorandum of understanding" for perm. consult. mechanism.
Feb 1980 Andean Pact announces 75% tariff cut on mutual trade, condemns Guat. Army attack on Sp. emb.
Apr 1980 Andean For. Mins. meet in Lima to express solidarity with Peru & delegate sol. of problem to it.
Jul 1980 Pres. Belaˆ†nde, Turbay (Col), Herrera (Ven), & rep. of Roldˆ„s (Ec) jointly condemn Bolivia coup.
Sep 1980 Charter of Riobamba (Ec.): Pres. of Col, Ec, Ven, & 2nd VP Alva; human rights, no dictators!
Apr 1981 Diverging for. pols. harm Andean Pact; Ec. will boycott mtgs. to protest Peru; Roldˆ„s for. pol. confusion reflects dom. fragility; M-19 rebels handed over to Col., amb. to Cuba recalled.
Jan 1982 Andean Pact meeting in Quito in Dec. was a disaster; 90-day "rethinking" all for nought.
Jun 1982 Increase in Panama Canal tolls will hurt exports of Peru, Col, Bol, Ec, & Chile.
Jan 1983 At 5th NAM Coord. Bur. mtg. in Managua, Cuba & Nic. abruptly put Ecuador complaint on agenda. Ecuador failed to get NAM mtg. to include border issue in final communiquˆ©.
Jul 1983 *5 presidents at Caracas Andean Pact summit; little done; protectionism hurt intrareg. trade.
Sep 1983 Lat. Am. "debtors club" meets in Caracas under OAS ausp. Sept. 5-9; not action-oriented.
Sep 1983 Lat. Am. "debtors club" meets in Caracas under OAS ausp. Sept. 5-9; not action-oriented.
Oct 1983 `Brazil For. Min. R. Saraiva Guerreiro says Brazil can't impose a border solution with Ecuador, notwithstanding Rio Protocol; urges econ. integration as key to peace.
Jul 1984 After Quito & Cartagena summits, Andean Pact finance officials discussed debt in Lima.
Jan 1986 5th Andean parl. met in La Paz mid-Dec., agreed to "conceptual revision" of Decn. 24, summit on debt & drugs.
Feb 1986 Meeting (in Caraballeda, Ven.) of Andean Pact Council failed to agree on trade & inv. coop.
Jun 1986 Andean Pact meeting in Lima in May, face-saving "adm. trade" exemptions ignore Decision 24.
Dec 1986 Andean Parl. meeting in Nov.; Julio Garret (Bol.) said the Pact is at risk; summit early 1987?
Jun 1987 *Chile rejected Bolivia's sea access proposal; dipl. ties "frozen"; Ch. Navy cmdr. Josˆ© Toribio Merino had said Bol. didn't need sea access; Bol. F.M. Bedregal called Ch. F.M. Jaime del Valle a "coward," then 3 Chile AF planes intruded into Bol., which ch
Sep 1987 Andean Pact repealed Decision 24, repl. by Decn. 220 in May, lets each country set inv. policy.
Jun 1989 *Pres. of Peru, Ec., Ven., & Col. sign Cartagena Manifesto, trying to save Andean Pact's Quito Protocol of May 1987; Paz Est. was repres. by For. Min. Valentˆ‚n Abecia due to election crisis.
Apr 1990 Ven. Pres. C.A. Pˆ©rez visits Wash. to promote his econ. agenda, criticizes OAS.
Jun 1990 *5 Andean pres. at Macchu Pichu summit (incl. Borja of Ec.!) agree to coord. econ., debt policy.
May 1992 *Andean Pact mtg. in Quito sched. for Apr. 29 is cancelled; Bol. For. Min. Maclean says auto-golpe "mortally wounded" Pact, others condemn Fujimori's special duties on Andean imports.
Sep 1992 Ind. Min. Camet at Andean Pact mtg. in Caracas mid July says Peruvians are not disintegrators.
Jun 1994 *Col, Ven, & Mex. (G-3) sign free trade deal; Andean Pact tentat. agrees to common ext. tariff; Peru accepts 5% & 10% levels but 15% & 20% levels remain at issue.
Nov 1995 IISS report: Col. leads mil. buildup in Andes; #2 is Ecuador, whose def. burden per cap.=2x Peru.
Oct 1996 Ven. agrees to joint Andean Pact negotiations with Mercosur; Col. is enthusiastic, Peru is aloof.
Apr 1997 *Peru calls for a 7-year period to phase in Andean Pact tariff; Fujimori wants 10% flat rate.
Apr 1997 *Fujimori says Peru will withdraw from Andean Pact; Bol. & Ec. persuade Col. & Ven. to give Peru 60 more days to agree to Andean Pact tariff rules.
1994 Miami, Florida First "Summit of the Americas"
in 1996 Bolivia meeting on sustainable development
in 1998 Chile
in 2001 Canada
July 2003 Rio Negro, Colombia The presidents of four of the five members of the Andean Group -- Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, joined by Brazil as a special invitee. President Toledo of Peru canceled his trip because of the political crisis at home. There was heavy security presence to deter terrorist acts by guerrillas who are active in this part of the country. They discussed how to increase trade flow with each other, as the region continues to struggle with the economic crisis.
June 2003 Santiago, Chile Foreign ministers of the Organization of American States met in. passing a vague resolution in support of strengthening democracy in the region. Colin Powell had asked for a strong resolution explicitly calling on Cuba to take steps toward democratization, but widespread anti-U.S. sentiment blocked his initiative. Nevertheless, OAS observers will travel to Cuba and Haiti in the near future. The OAS summit also issued a veiled warning to Venezuela.
May 2003 ??? in the Organization of American States. A resolution condemning Cuba for its harsh treatment of political dissidents failed to garner a majority of votes. The resolution was sponsored by Canada, Chile, and Uruguay, but the was opposed by anti-American governments such as Argentina and Brazil. Cuba has been excluded from the OAS since 1962.
April 2003 Moscow Foreign ministers from 19 Latin American nations met with President Vladimir Putin in, calling for a quick end to the war in Iraq. Peru's Foreign Minister Allan Wagner led the "Rio Group." Putin hailed growing coopeation between Russia and Latin America.
Jan 2004 Monterrey, Mexico emergency Summit of the Americas .
Nov 2005 Mar del Plata, Argentina Summit of the Americas .

Presidential visits to Latin America (incomplete)

Year President Countries Issues, results
1982 Reagan Colombia
Oct 1997 Clinton Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina.
Mar 1999 Clinton Guatemala. .
Aug 2000 Clinton Colombia .
Jan 2004 Bush Monterrey, Mexico emergency Summit of the Americas
Nov 2005 Bush Mar del Plata, Argentina Summit of the Americas
Mar 2007 Bush Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico ethanol trade, immigration
Nov. 2008 Bush Peru hosts APEC summit Declaration of Lima: social stress, globalization
Apr. 2009 Obama Visit to Mexico City (Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago)