Secretary General of the Organization of American States

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Secretary-General of the Organization of American States
Incumbent Luis Almagro since 26 May 2015 (2015-05-26)
Organization of American States
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Pan American Union Building
Seat	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nominator	Organization of American States
Appointer	General Assembly
Term length	5 years (renewable, traditionally limited to 2 terms)
Constituting instrument	Organization of American States
Inaugural holder	Alberto Lleras Camargo
Formation	1948; 74 years ago (1948)

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States is the highest position within the Organization of American States.

According to the Charter of the Organization of American States:

The Secretary General shall direct the General Secretariat, be the legal representative thereof, and [...] be responsible to the General Assembly for the proper fulfillment of the obligations and functions of the General Secretariat.

The Secretary General of the Organization shall be elected by the General Assembly for a five-year term and may not be reelected more than once or succeeded by a person of the same nationality. In the event that the office of Secretary General becomes vacant, the Assistant Secretary General shall assume his duties until the General Assembly shall elect a new Secretary General for a full term.

The Secretary General, or his representative, may participate with voice but without vote in all meetings of the Organization.

The Secretary General may bring to the attention of the General Assembly or the Permanent Council any matter which in his opinion might threaten the peace and security of the Hemisphere or the development of the Member States.

Secretaries General of the OAS[]

No.	Image	Name	Country	Term of Office
1		Alberto Lleras Camargo	Colombia	1948–1954
2		Carlos Dávila Died while in office	Chile	1954 – 19 October 1955
3		José Antonio Mora	Uruguay	1956–1968
4		Galo Plaza	Ecuador	1968–1975
5		Alejandro Orfila	Argentina	1975–1984
6		João Clemente Baena Soares	Brazil	1984–1994
7		César Gaviria Re-elected to a second term at the 1999 General Assembly	Colombia	15 September 1994 – 15 September 2004
8		Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Resigned	Costa Rica	15 September 2004 – 15 October 2004
–		Luigi R. Einaudi (acting)	United States	15 October 2004 – 26 May 2005
9		José Miguel Insulza Elected 2 May 2005 (see: OAS Secretary General election, 2005), re-elected on 24 March 2010	Chile	26 May 2005 – 26 May 2015
10		Luis Almagro	Uruguay	26 May 2015 - present

Assistant Secretaries General of the OAS[]

• (United States) (1948–1958)
• William Sanders (United States) (1958–1968)
• (El Salvador) (1968–1975)
• (Guatemala) (1975–1980)
• (Barbados) (1980–1990)
• (Trinidad and Tobago) (1990–2000)
• Luigi R. Einaudi (United States) (2000 – July 2005)
• Albert Ramdin (Suriname) (19 July 2005 – 2015)
• Nestor Mendez (Belize) (17 July 2015^[1] – present)

References[]