Secretary General of the Organization of American States - Definition and Overview

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

The Acephalous OAS of 2004

Following the October 2004 resignation of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Assistant Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi stepped into the breach as a temporary measure. It has not yet been decided whether the Organization will hold a special General Assembly to elect a new secretary general, or whether Einaudi will continue to serve as Acting Secretary General until the regular General Assembly slated to take place in Fort Lauderdale, USA, in June 2005. In the meantime, however, the names of several possible candidates for the job have emerged:

• Francisco Flores of El Salvador. A "joint Central American" candidate to replace Rodríguez (consensus was that it was Central America's "turn" to head the OAS). Although Flores – a former president of his country – initially appeared a promising choice, as the negotiations progressed Ricardo Maduro of Honduras said his country would be unable to support him, and no alternative consensus candidate emerged. The U.S. State Department wants a Central American ex-president, while Venezuela says it won't support another candidate from that region.
• Luis Ernesto Derbez, Foreign Minister of Mexico. President Vicente Fox officially launched his nomination on 7 December 2004. Derbez has the support of Belize.
• José Miguel Insulza, Chile's Interior Minister. His nomination was announced on December 9 2004, and made official four days later. Insulza has the support of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Canada.

Assistant Secretaries General of the OAS

• William Manger (United States) (1948-1958)
• William Sanders (United States) (1958-1968)
• M. Rafael Urquía (El Salvador) (1968-1975)
• Jorge Luis Zelaya Coronado (Guatemala) (1975-1980)
• Val T. McComie (Barbados) (1980-1990)
• Christopher R. Thomas (Trinidad and Tobago) (1990-2000)
• Luigi R. Einaudi (United States) (2000-present)