Colombia seeks diplomatic and commercial relations with all countries, regardless of their ideologies or political or economic systems. For this reason, the Colombian economy is quite open, relying on international trade and following guidelines given by international law.
Ecuador and the United States maintained close ties based on mutual interests in maintaining democratic institutions; combating cannabis and cocaine; building trade, investment, and financial ties; cooperating in fostering Ecuador's economic development; and participating in inter-American organizations. Ties are further strengthened by the presence of an estimated 150,000-200,000 Ecuadorians living in the United States and by 24,000 U.S. citizens visiting Ecuador annually, and by approximately 15,000 U.S. citizens living in Ecuador.
The Organization of American States is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Galo Lincoln Plaza Lasso de la Vega was an Ecuadorian statesman who served as President of Ecuador from 1948 to 1952 and Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1968 to 1975. He is the son of former Ecuadorian President Leonidas Plaza.
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance is an agreement signed in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro among many countries of the Americas. The central principle contained in its articles is that an attack against one is to be considered an attack against them all; this was known as the "hemispheric defense" doctrine. Despite this, several members have breached the treaty on multiple occasions. The treaty was initially created in 1947 and came into force in 1948, in accordance with Article 22 of the treaty. The Bahamas was the most recent country to sign and ratify it in 1982.
José Miguel Insulza Salinas is a Chilean politician, lawyer, and academic serving as a senator for the Arica y Parinacota Region since 2018. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1999 and Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1999 to 2000 under president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, as Minister of the Interior from 2000 to 2005 under president Ricardo Lagos, and as Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 2005 to 2015.
Thomas Alfred Shannon Jr. is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018. In early 2017, Shannon served as acting United States Secretary of State until President Donald Trump's nominee, Rex Tillerson, was confirmed. He was also acting Deputy Secretary of State of the United States until the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee, John J. Sullivan.
Despite being a founding member of the Organization of American States (OAS), Cuba was effectively suspended from 31 January 1962 to 3 June 2009. Thus, for almost the entire time that the OAS has been operating, Cuba has been barred from sending representatives to the OAS and effectively had its membership suspended. It was not until 3 June 2009 that foreign ministers of OAS member countries assembled for the OAS's 39th General Assembly in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, passed a vote to lift Cuba's suspension from the OAS.
Kristie Anne Kenney is a former senior U.S. diplomat who served as the 32nd Counselor of the United States Department of State from 2016 to 2017. She is a recipient of the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award and held the nation's highest diplomatic rank of Career Ambassador in the United States Foreign Service. She served as the Department of State Transition Coordinator for the 2016–17 transition.
Adam Blackwell was a Canadian diplomat. He served as the Secretary of Multidimensional Security at the Organization of American States (OAS). He was Ambassador of Canada to the Dominican Republic from 2002 to 2005.
A career Foreign Service Officer, Paul E. Simons served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Chile from 2007 to 2010.
Michael P. Botticelli is an American public health official who served as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) from March 2014 until the end of President Obama's term. He was named acting director after the resignation of Gil Kerlikowske, and received confirmation from the United States Senate in February 2015. Prior to joining ONDCP, he worked in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Following completion of his service as ONDCP Director, he became the executive director of the Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine at the Boston Medical Center.
Jaime Aparicio Otero is the Bolivian Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States and was Bolivian Agent to the International Court of Justice, in the Hague, in the process against Chile related to the Silala waters. Ambassador Aparicio is a career diplomat, lawyer, journalist and a Washington-based legal and political advisor. He was also a political analyst working in international public and corporate affairs in Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, and Europe. He has a Law Degree from the Higher University of San Andrés of La Paz, the Bolivian Diplomatic Academy and the Institute d’Etudes Politiques commonly referred as Sciences Po de Paris.
The Secretariat for Multidimensional Security of the Organization of American States is a part of the General Secretariat, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. The Secretariat for Multidimensional Security has a mandate to promote cooperation between Organization's Member States, Inter-American and international organizations, as well as with entities such as the United Nations and its subsidiaries, in order to analyze, prevent, confront and respond to security threats.
The Organization of American States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013 is a bill that was introduced into the United States Senate during the 113th United States Congress. The Organization of American States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013 would state that it is U.S. policy to: (1) promote democracy, the rule of law, and human rights in the Western Hemisphere; and (2) support the practices and principles expressed in the Charter of the Organization of American States, the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and other fundamental instruments of democracy. S. 793 would then require the Secretary of State to develop a multiyear strategy to bolster the Organization of American States (OAS) and improve the OAS’s processes for managing its budget and personnel. The act would require the Secretary to provide quarterly briefings to the Congress on the progress of implementing that strategy.
Todd Crawford Chapman is an American career diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Brazil and the United States Ambassador to Ecuador.
Nestor Mendez is a Belizean diplomat and politician. He is currently the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States.
Krishna Raj Urs is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Peru from 2017 to 2020.
James F. Mack is an American diplomat who was Chargé d'affaires ad interim in Ecuador from January 1992 until November 1993 and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Guyana from September 1997 until April 2000., After he retired from the State Department the OAS, on September 15, 2004, named him Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD).
Francisco O. "Frank" Mora is an American academic who has served as the United States ambassador to the Organization of American States since January 2023.
