Make the OAS Relevant

Last month, when even our key Latin American allies supported the creation of an alternative to the Organization of American States that included Cuba but excluded the United States and Canada, alarm bells went off in Washington—and rightfully so.

This was not your traditional statement of frustration with U.S. policy, but rather an indictment of the OAS—the institution charged with helping all countries in the hemisphere speak with a unified voice.

We agree that the OAS is an embattled institution. It has had its wins and its share of losses—as well as missed opportunities. However, as others have said about the United Nations, if it did not exist, it would have to be created. Our task is to make the OAS better, not irrelevant.

Our hemisphere, with few exceptions, is unified in its commitment to an enduring set of noble objectives—democracy, human rights, fairness, transparency and justice. Latin America today is home to some of the greatest democratic transition success stories of the last 50 years, and they reflect those values. But there is more work to be done. The ongoing abuses of the Castro regime, the erratic authoritarianism in Venezuela, the recent coup in Honduras and human-rights abuses in Colombia underscore that progress is not universal.

It is in the interests of the United States to have a strong and capable multilateral forum to help resolve disputes and build consensus around democratic values and initiatives that benefit all the people in the hemisphere. We need an OAS that is able to adhere to the practices, purposes and principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the OAS Charter.

The OAS has strengthened peace and security and promoted representative democracy and regional dispute resolution. It has championed election monitoring, contributed to economic development and served as a fair steward of the Inter-American Human Rights System. However, as OAS officials themselves acknowledged, there is room for improvement.

Last week, we introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate (S. 3087) that seeks to improve the OAS as an institution.

For too long, the organization has not received the sustained attention from member countries to guarantee its success—a serious flaw for an organization designed to be member-driven. Sadly, its culture of consensus has often been the breeding ground of the ideas that reflect the lowest common denominator, rather than the highest ambitions of diplomacy and cooperation. Too often it is seen as the pliable tool of inconsistent political agendas, and some critics even call it a grazing pasture for third-string diplomats.

This needs to change. Member states need to invest top-notch personnel in processes that bring out excellence. Governments, including the United States, should value the OAS as it was intended: a venue for working toward a shared hemispheric agenda. Achieving that worthy objective requires reform of the institution itself.

Our legislation works to focus the mission of the institution toward its natural areas of strength. The OAS needs to adopt and implement improved accounting standards, put in place results-based budgeting processes, and adhere to transparent and merit-based human-resource policies. Such reforms will also help U.S. agencies work more effectively with OAS members on pressing topics of mutual interest like energy, climate change, citizen security, economic development and trade.

The core of the OAS programs should concentrate on efforts to consolidate democracy, monitor elections and improve public security. However, such a focus does not preclude us from taking advantage of the OAS as a forum to discuss a broader agenda.

The long-term relevance and health of the OAS depends on the strength of its underlying processes—the transparency of its budget, personnel selection and priority-setting. Our effort to strengthen the OAS from the bottom up can only help enhance the quality and credibility of the organization's leadership as well.

If we invigorate the OAS, Latin American leaders will recognize its value as a hemispheric forum for cooperation and resist temptations to create yet another such forum. This is in our interests and in the interests of the entire hemisphere.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is a member of the committee and of the Subcommitee on the Western Hemisphere.