Above: Francisco Alvarez de Soto and Jose Miguel Insulza (OAS Photo/Patricia Leiva)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Panamanian Deputy Foreign Minister Francisco Alvarez de Soto met Thursday with OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza for talks focused on human rights and development.

The discussions, which took place at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, included Panama’s offer to host the Seventh Summit of the Americas in 2015.

That issue will be ratified at the Sixth Summit in Cartagena, Colombia in April.

De Soto said the OAS had shown that it was “the hemispheric political forum for excellence that still remains valid and effective.”

Earlier this month, Insulza called on Panama’s indigenous groups to accept dialogue with the government, to “avoid maintaining a situation of tension.”

Regarding that situation, de Soto called for a “respectful dialogue to achieve reconciliation and peace.”

The two sides also discussed development and growth prospects, new mechanisms to proect human rights and Panama’s energy future.

Guillermo Cochez, Panama’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, was also at the meeting.