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.
| Regular Meeting | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | San José, Costa Rica | 14–23 April 1971 |
| 2nd | Washington, D.C., USA | 11–21 April 1972 |
| 3rd | Washington, D.C., USA | 4–15 April 1973 |
| 4th | Atlanta, Georgia, USA | 19 April – 1 May 1974 |
| 5th | Washington, D.C., USA | 8–19 May 1975 |
| 6th | Santiago, Chile | 4–18 June 1976 |
| 7th | St. George's, Grenada | 14–22 June 1977 |
| 8th | Washington, D.C., USA | 21 June – 1 July 1978 |
| 9th | La Paz, Bolivia | 22–31 October 1979 |
| 10th | Washington, D.C., USA | 19–26 November 1980 |
| 11th | Castries, Saint Lucia | 2–11 December 1981 |
| 12th | Washington, D.C., USA | 15–21 December 1982 |
| 13th | Washington, D.C., USA | 14–18 November 1983 |
| 14th | Brasília, Brazil | 12–17 November 1984 |
| 15th | Cartagena, Colombia | 5–9 December 1985 |
| 16th | Guatemala City, Guatemala | 11–15 November 1986 |
| 17th | Washington, D.C., USA | 9–14 November 1987 |
| 18th | San Salvador, El Salvador | 14–19 November 1988 |
| 19th | Washington, D.C., USA | 13–18 November 1989 |
| 20th | Asunción, Paraguay | 4–8 June 1990 |
| 21st | Santiago, Chile | 3–8 June 1991 |
| 22nd | Nassau, Bahamas | 18–23 May 1992 |
| 23rd | Managua, Nicaragua | 7–11 June 1993 |
| 24th | Belém do Pará, Brazil | 6–10 June 1994 |
| 25th | Montrouis, Haiti | 5–9 June 1995 |
| 26th | Panama City, Panama | 3–7 June 1996 |
| 27th | Lima, Peru | 1–5 June 1997 |
| 28th | Caracas, Venezuela | 1–3 June 1998 |
| 29th | Guatemala City, Guatemala | 6–8 June 1999 |
| 30th | Windsor, Ontario, Canada | 4–6 June 2000 |
| 31st | San José, Costa Rica | 3–5 June 2001 |
| 32nd | Bridgetown, Barbados | 2–4 June 2002 |
| 33rd | Santiago, Chile | 8–10 June 2003 |
| 34th | Quito, Ecuador | 6–8 June 2004 |
| 35th | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA | 5–7 June 2005 |
| 36th | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | 4–6 June 2006 |
| 37th | Panama City, Panama | 3–5 June 2007 |
| 38th | Medellin, Colombia | 1–3 June 2008 |
