Belize to lead Organization of American States

Belize’s Permanent Representative to the O.A.S., Patrick Andrews, has assumed the Chairmanship of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States.  The career banker-turned-ambassador received the gavel representing the council’s power from outgoing chairman Selwin Charles Hart of Barbados.  During his statement, Ambassador Andrews pledged that he would work to advance Sustainable Development for Economic Growth.  He also highlighted the importance of continuing to build on the four tenets of the O.A.S., those are: integral development, multidimensional security, human rights and democracy.  Among the key issues that the council will tackle in the months ahead are preparations for the Forty-seventh O.A.S. General Assembly to be held in Mexico in June, as well as the institutional development of the hemispheric institution.