OAS

OAS (Organization of American States) An international body consisting of most American and Caribbean states, founded on 30 April 1948 (with effect from 13 December 1951) to promote cooperation and consultation between its members. Cuba's membership was suspended in 1962. Canada did not join, but obtained observer status in 1972. The OAS suffered from ideological, structural, and economic differences between its diverse members. Thus, during the 1980s the USA opposed Argentina during the Falklands War, and won little acclaim from other members for its invasion of Grenada and Panama. Through smaller-scale trade agreements such as Mercosur, a number of Latin American members have striven to increase economic and political cooperation amongst themselves, in order to reduce the economic and political dominance of the USA. At the same time, from 1995 the OAS has striven to support the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas as an extension of NAFTA. This aim, however, was severely challenged by other aims such as the common fight on drugs and international money laundering, which exposed the economies of the main drug producing states, notably Colombia. Inter-American cooperation was also undermined by the economic crises in South America, notably in Venezuela and Argentina in 2001/2002 which increased yet further the economic differences on the continent.

http://www.oas.org

Latin American Integration Association; Central American Common Market; pan-Americanism