General Assembly of the Organization of American States
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The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The General Assembly came into being as a part of the restructuring of the OAS that took place following adoption of the Protocol of Buenos Aires (signed 27 February 1967; in force as of 12 March 1970), which contained extensive amendments to the Organization's Charter. Prior to these changes, the OAS's top body was the Inter-American Conference, which in turn was the successor to the International Conference of American States.
The Charter requires that the General Assembly convene once every year in a regular session. In special circumstances, and with the approval of two-thirds of the member states, the Permanent Council can convene special sessions.
The Organization's member states take turns hosting the General Assembly on a rotating basis. The states are represented at its sessions by their chosen delegates: generally, their ministers of foreign affairs, or their appointed deputies. Each state has one vote, and most matters – except for those for which the Charter or the General Assembly's own rules of procedure specifically require a two-thirds majority – are settled by a simple majority vote.
The General Assembly's powers include setting the OAS's general course and policies by means of resolutions and declarations; approving its budget and determining the contributions payable by the member states; approving the reports and previous year's actions of the OAS's specialized agencies; and electing members to serve on those agencies.
| Annual Meeting | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | San José, Costa Rica | April 14 - 23, 1971 |
| 2nd | Washington, D.C., USA | April 11 - 21, 1972 |
| 3rd | Washington, D.C., USA | April 4 - 15, 1973 |
| 4th | Atlanta, Georgia, USA | April 19 - May 1, 1974 |
| 5th | Washington, D.C., USA | May 8 - 19, 1975 |
| 6th | Santiago, Chile | June 4 - 18, 1976 |
| 7th | St. George's, Grenada | June 14 - 22, 1977 |
| 8th | Washington, D.C., USA | June 21 - July 1, 1978 |
| 9th | La Paz, Bolivia | October 22 - 31, 1979 |
| 10th | Washington, D.C., USA | November 19 - 26, 1980 |
| 11th | Castries, Saint Lucia | December 2 - 11, 1981 |
| 12th | Washington, D.C., USA | December 15 - 21, 1982 |
| 13th | Washington, D.C., USA | November 14 - 18, 1983 |
| 14th | Brasília, Brazil | November 12 - 17, 1984 |
| 15th | Cartagena, Colombia | December 5 - 9, 1985 |
| 16th | Guatemala City, Guatemala | November 11 - 15, 1986 |
| 17th | Washington, D.C., USA | November 9 - 14, 1987 |
| 18th | San Salvador, El Salvador | November 14 - 19, 1988 |
| 19th | Washington, D.C., USA | November 13 - 18, 1989 |
| 20th | Asunción, Paraguay | June 4 - 8, 1990 |
| 21st | Santiago, Chile | June 3 - 8, 1991 |
| 22nd | Nassau, Bahamas | May 18 - 23, 1992 |
| 23rd | Managua, Nicaragua | June 7 -11, 1993 |
| 24th | Belém do Pará, Brazil | June 6 - 10, 1994 |
| 25th | Montrouis, Haiti | June 5 - 9, 1995 |
| 26th | Panama City, Panama | June 3 - 7, 1996 |
| 27th | Lima, Peru | June 1 - 5, 1997 |
| 28th | Caracas, Venezuela | June 1 - 3, 1998 |
| 29th | Guatemala City, Guatemala | June 6 - 8, 1999 |
| 30th | Windsor, Ontario, Canada | June 4 - 6, 2000 |
| 31st | San José, Costa Rica | June 3 - 5, 2001 |
| 32nd | Bridgetown, Barbados | June 2 - 4, 2002 |
| 33rd | Santiago, Chile | June 8 - 10, 2003 |
| 34th | Quito, Ecuador | June 6 - 8, 2004 |
| 35th | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA | June 5 - 7, 2005 |
| 36th | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | June 4 - 6, 2006 |
| 37th | Panama City, Panama (Planned) | June 3 - 5,2007 |
