Problems and Prospects of the Organization of American States: Perceptions of the Member States’ Leaders

In order to put the intractable problems and uncertain future the O.A.S. is facing in a more manageable perspective, the author, with the help of the Organization’s two successive Secretaries-General Alejandro Orfila and Joao Clemente Baena Soares, met with leading figures in all the Member States in and out of their governments. In this book these leaders shed much light on whether the O.A.S. should be disbanded or not, its general and specific problems, U.S. and Latin America, U.S. in the Organization, Member States’ bilateralism, and subregional approaches. And, there is a near unanimous consensus among them of the need for further reforming the Organization. Lastly, a need for baptizing an already-existing inter-American co-prosperity sphere programme by the Member States, is stressed. The Organization has to serve the programme as its main instrument for all the Americans everywhere in the Hemisphere.