Haiti Withdraws as Host of Next OAS General Assembly

Above: OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza (OAS Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti will not be hosting the Organization of American States’ XLV General Assembly. the regional body announced Friday.

The decision, announced by Haiti Foreign Minister Duly Brutus, was due to “financial and logistical constraints,” currently experienced by the government.

Discussions on the new site will be on the agenda of the next OAS Permanent Council meeting, the regional body said.

In a statement, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said the decision was “foreseen both in the OAS Charter and the rules of the General Assembly.”

That means that the assembly could be held at the OAS’ headquarters in Washington if another location is not chosen.

Brutus cited the “electoral process that the Government of the Republic has set in motion” as one of the reasons for the constraints.

Haiti was chosen as the host country at last year’s General Assembly in Paraguay.