I have spent a decade in the councils of the Organization of American States(OAS). I have watched governments come and go, seen some crises handled well and others handled badly, sat through more commemorative meetings than sessions discussing pressing issues, and occasionally had the satisfaction of watching this organisation do exactly what it was built to do: bring governments together to tackle problems that none of them could solve alone.

In that time, I have chaired the Permanent Council on three occasions, led OAS delegations to Haiti in 2016 and Guatemala in 2023 to help resolve political crises, and engaged closely with the questions of charter compliance raised by the withdrawal of Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Organization. It gives me a clear-eyed sense of what this institution is, what it could be, and what is genuinely at stake.

As member states gather in Panama for the 56th Regular Session of the General Assembly, from June 22 to 24, what follows is a reflection on all this.