Organization of American States

The Organization of American States (OAS) was formed in 1948 to promote closer ties in economic, political and military matters, but not without a pledge to keep any and all communist subversive-type ideas out of the Americas.

The concept of closer hemispheric ties was first proposed by Simón Bolívar at the 1826 Congress of Panama.

There were several conferences between nations over the years for the purpose of creating a permanent organisation. However, it was not until 1948 that progress was finally made during a meeting in Bogotá, Columbia, which included George Marshall, the US secretary of state at the time.

The 35 members of the OAS today include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.