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Secretary General of the Organization of American States

Position in international organization

Summary

Position in international organization

Field	Value
post	Secretary-General
body	the
Organization of American States
insigniacaption	Emblem of the Organization of American States
image	Albert Ramdin en octubre 2024.jpg
incumbent	Albert Ramdin
incumbentsince
department	Organization of American States
style	His Excellency
seat
Washington, D.C., U.S.
residence	Pan American Union Building
nominator	Organization of American States
appointer	General Assembly
termlength	5 years
termlength_qualified	(renewable, traditionally limited to 2 terms)
formation
constituting_instrument	Organization of American States
inaugural	Alberto Lleras Camargo

Organization of American States Washington, D.C., U.S.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States is the highest position within the Organization of American States.

Duties

According to the Charter of the Organization of American States:

The Secretary General shall direct the General Secretariat, be the legal representative thereof, and [...] be responsible to the [General Assembly of the Organization of American States
General Assembly]] for the proper fulfillment of the obligations and functions of the General Secretariat.

The Secretary General of the Organization shall be elected by the General Assembly for a five-year term and may not be reelected more than once or succeeded by a person of the same nationality. In the event that the office of Secretary General becomes vacant, the Assistant Secretary General shall assume his duties until the General Assembly shall elect a new Secretary General for a full term.

The Secretary General, or his representative, may participate with voice but without vote in all meetings of the Organization.

The Secretary General may bring to the attention of the General Assembly or the [Permanent Council any matter which in his opinion might threaten the peace and security of the Hemisphere or the development of the Member States.}}

Secretaries General of the OAS

No.	Image	Name	Country	Term of Office
1	[[File:Alberto Lleras Camargo, Presidente da Colômbia.tif	70px]]	Alberto Lleras Camargo	Colombia	30 April 1948 – 1 August 1954
2	[[File:Carlos Dávila Espinoza (1927).jpg	70px]]	Carlos Dávila
Died while in office	Chile	1 August 1954 – 19 October 1955
3	[[File:José Antonio Mora (cropped).jpg	70px]]	José Antonio Mora	Uruguay	1956–1968
4	[[File:Galo Lincoln Plaza Lasso de la Vega, Secretário-geral da Organização dos Estados Americanos..tif	70px]]	Galo Plaza	Ecuador	1968–1975
5	[[File:Alejandro Orfila (cropped) - NARA.jpg	70px]]	Alejandro Orfila	Argentina	1975–1984
6	[[File:João Clemente Baena Soares.png	70px]]	João Clemente Baena Soares	Brazil	1984–1994
7	[[File:César Gaviria 2011.jpg	70px]]	César Gaviria
Re-elected to a second term at the 1999 General Assembly	Colombia	15 September 1994 – 15 September 2004
8	[[File:MiguelAngelRodriguezEcheverria.jpg	70px]]	Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
Resigned	Costa Rica	15 September 2004 – 15 October 2004
–	[[File:Luigi R. Einaudi.jpg	70px]]	Luigi R. Einaudi (acting)	United States	15 October 2004 – 26 May 2005
9	[[File:José Miguel Insulza Salinas.jpg	70px]]	José Miguel Insulza
Elected 2 May 2005 (see: OAS Secretary General election, 2005),
re-elected on 24 March 2010	Chile	26 May 2005 – 26 May 2015
10	[[File:Luis Almagro.jpg	70px]]	Luis Almagro	Uruguay	26 May 2015 – 30 May 2025
11	[[File:Albert Ramdin en octubre 2024.jpg	70px]]	Albert Ramdin
Elected 10 March 2005 (see: 2025 OAS elections)	Suriname	30 May 2025 – present

Assistant Secretaries General of the OAS

The Charter specifies that:

The Assistant Secretary General shall be the Secretary of the Permanent Council. He shall serve as advisory officer to the Secretary General and shall act as his delegate in all matters that the Secretary General may entrust to him. During the temporary absence or disability of the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General shall perform his functions.

The Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General shall be of different nationalities.

No.	Image	Name	Country	Term of Office
1		William Manger	United States	1948–1958
2		William Sanders	United States	1958–1968
3		M. Rafael Urquía	El Salvador	1968–1975
4		Jorge Luis Zelaya Coronado	Guatemala	1975–1980
5		Val T. McComie	Barbados	1980–1990
6		Christopher R. Thomas	Trinidad and Tobago	1990–2000
7	[[File:Luigi R. Einaudi.jpg	frameless	105x105px]]	Luigi R. Einaudi	United States	2000 – July 2005
8	[[File:Albert Ramdin, 2014.jpg	frameless	114x114px]]	Albert Ramdin	Suriname	19 July 2005 – 2015
9	[[File:Nestor Mendez.jpg	frameless	117x117px]]	Nestor Mendez	Belize	17 July 2015 – present

References

OAS. (2009-08-01). "OAS - Organization of American States: Democracy for peace, security, and development".
"Charter of the Organization of American States". Organization of American States.
(August 2009). "Nestor Mendez Takes Office as OAS Assistant Secretary General".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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