Foreign Affairs committee  The social challenges, security challenges, and economic and political challenges that we have in the northern triangle are quite unique. There are many institutions working to try to provide solutions and to eliminate the causes of most of the problems that exist in the northern triangle.

Foreign Affairs committee  The more countries we have in the convention, the better it is for implementation. This is a very serious question in the continent. There are risks further ahead with regard to arms control. For example, with the end of the conflict in Colombia, it's very important to keep tight control on those arms, those weapons.

Foreign Affairs committee  First of all, we don't compete with any other regional organization. What the OAS does is unique. Not UNASUR nor CELAC nor any other regional or sub-regional organization has the juridical tools that the organization has, the conventions, the charters. That is our biggest asset.

Foreign Affairs committee  But imagine this: for a country like Venezuela, the former permanent representative to the OAS was also the vice-minister for the western hemisphere and for the Americas. That shows the importance the organization has. It is a political forum whereby they have a possibility for dialogue with the United States and Canada, and that is valid for practically every other country.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. Yes, these are very tough times for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and very tough times for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Last year, with very short notice, we reported on their financial crisis, especially because of the very dramatic fall in voluntary contributions by different countries in and out of the commission.

Foreign Affairs committee  About Guatemala and CICIG, I think CICIG has made an incredible contribution in the fight against impunity and corruption in Guatemala. They have achieved a lot. They have questioned even those at the highest level and have been strengthening the possibilities for the investigation of the prosecutors and judges.

Foreign Affairs committee  During the years when I was minister of foreign affairs, the main thing I knew about the OAS, at the beginning, was that there existed a financial crisis in the organization. That lasted for five years, and when I was appointed secretary general, the financial crisis was still there.

Foreign Affairs committee  What we see in Venezuela is the complete deterioration of the political system. I have never seen a country fall down so completely as has Venezuela in the last year economically, socially, and politically. Venezuela is the country with the second-highest number of political prisoners in the continent.

Foreign Affairs committee  In 2009, a resolution to lift the suspension against Cuba and to give Cuba the initiative to start negotiations to join the organization was approved. Cuba never took this initiative and will not take it for a while. I think Cuba has a very positive agenda with all of the countries in the continent, but the problem is that this organization, from 1962 until now, has had a completely different pattern of political systems than have the Cubans, and that makes it very hard for the Cubans to internalize all the conventions and charters the organization has.

Foreign Affairs committee  Honourable Chair and members of the committee, thank you for having me here today. In the Americas, we have built a hemisphere on the foundation of a common vision of shared values we believe in, a vision of inclusiveness and multilateralism. The Organization of American States is the oldest regional organization in the world, tracing its origins back to 1889 and evolving along with the political, social, and economic development of countries throughout the region.