General Assembly of the Organization of American States

XXXVIII Regular Meeting – Medellín, 2008.

The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The General Assembly came into being as a part of the restructuring of the OAS that took place following adoption of the Protocol of Buenos Aires (signed 27 February 1967; in force as of 12 March 1970), which contained extensive amendments to the Organization's Charter. Prior to these changes, the OAS's top body was the Inter-American Conference, which in turn was the successor to the International Conference of American States.

The Charter requires that the General Assembly convene once every year in a regular session. In special circumstances, and with the approval of two-thirds of the member states, the Permanent Council can convene special sessions.

The Organization's member states take turns hosting the General Assembly on a rotating basis. The states are represented at its sessions by their chosen delegates: generally, their ministers of foreign affairs, or their appointed deputies. Each state has one vote, and most matters – except for those for which the Charter or the General Assembly's own rules of procedure specifically require a two-thirds majority – are settled by a simple majority vote.

The General Assembly's powers include setting the OAS's general course and policies by means of resolutions and declarations; approving its budget and determining the contributions payable by the member states; approving the reports and previous year's actions of the OAS's specialized agencies; and electing members to serve on those agencies.

Regular sessions

Rank Host city Host country Date
1st San José  Costa Rica 14–23 April 1971
2nd Washington, D.C.  United States 11–21 April 1972
3rd Washington, D.C.  United States 4–15 April 1973
4th Atlanta  United States 19 April – 1 May 1974
5th Washington, D.C.  United States 8–19 May 1975
6th Santiago  Chile 4–18 June 1976
7th St. George's  Grenada 14–22 June 1977
8th Washington, D.C.  United States 21 June – 1 July 1978
9th La Paz  Bolivia 22–31 October 1979
10th Washington, D.C.  United States 19–26 November 1980
11th Castries  Saint Lucia 2–11 December 1981
12th Washington, D.C.  United States 15–21 December 1982
13th Washington, D.C.  United States 14–18 November 1983
14th Brasília  Brazil 12–17 November 1984
15th Cartagena  Colombia 5–9 December 1985
16th Guatemala City  Guatemala 11–15 November 1986
17th Washington, D.C.  United States 9–14 November 1987
18th San Salvador  El Salvador 14–19 November 1988
19th Washington, D.C.  United States 13–18 November 1989
20th Asunción  Paraguay 4–8 June 1990
21st Santiago  Chile 3–8 June 1991
22nd Nassau  Bahamas 18–23 May 1992
23rd Managua  Nicaragua 7–11 June 1993
24th Belém  Brazil 6–10 June 1994
25th Montrouis  Haiti 5–9 June 1995
26th Panama City  Panama 3–7 June 1996
27th Lima  Peru 1–5 June 1997
28th Caracas  Venezuela 1–3 June 1998
29th Guatemala City  Guatemala 6–8 June 1999
30th Windsor, Ontario  Canada 4–6 June 2000
31st San José  Costa Rica 3–5 June 2001
32nd Bridgetown  Barbados 2–4 June 2002
33rd Santiago  Chile 8–10 June 2003
34th Quito  Ecuador 6–8 June 2004
35th Fort Lauderdale  United States 5–7 June 2005
36th Santo Domingo  Dominican Republic 4–6 June 2006
37th Panama City  Panama 3–5 June 2007
38th Medellín  Colombia 1–3 June 2008
39th San Pedro Sula  Honduras 2–3 June 2009
40th Lima  Peru 6–8 June 2010
41st San Salvador  El Salvador 5–7 June 2011
42nd Cochabamba  Bolivia 3–5 June 2012
43rd La Antigua  Guatemala 4–6 June 2013
44th Asunción  Paraguay 3–5 June 2014
45th Washington, D.C.  United States 15–16 June 2015
46th Santo Domingo  Dominican Republic 13–15 June 2016
47th Cancún  Mexico 18–21 June 2017
48th Washington, D.C.  United States 4–5 June 2018
49th Medellín  Colombia 26–28 June 2019
50th Washington, D.C.  United States 20–21 October 2020
51st Guatemala City (Virtual)  Guatemala 10–12 November 2021
52nd Lima  Peru 5–7 October 2022
53rd Washington, D.C.  United States 21–23 June 2023

See also


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