-Todd tells OAS General Assembly
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, has called on OAS member states to strengthen the region’s collective security to maintain the region as a Zone of Peace.
The minister made the call while delivering remarks during the plenary of the Fifty-Fourth Regular Session of the General Assembly of the Organisation of American States (OAS) under the theme “Integration and Secu-rity for Sustainable Development in the Region,” a release from the Ministry of Foreign stated on Monday.
Todd told the Session that the OAS stands as the premier hemispheric institution developed to achieve “an order of peace and justice, promote solidarity, strengthen collaboration, and defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the independence of the American States.” As such, he stated that Guyana will continue to count on the support of the OAS as Guyana seeks to implement the December 1, 2023, Order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela, while awaiting the ruling of the Court on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award.
He also welcomed the pro-gress over recent months regarding the situation in Haiti and reaffirmed the solidarity and commitment of the Government and the people of Guyana with the Government and the people of Haiti.
Todd also touched on the current global flashpoints as well as the prevailing geopolitical flux which serve to exacerbate the overall impact of threats to regional security, and underscored the importance of countering these threats through concerted action and a regional commitment to enhanced cybersecurity capacity to effectively combat emerging threats. He put forth the proposition that “developing adequate resilience, response capability, and strengthening the region’s collective security must be a point of common cause for all member states in maintaining the region as a Zone of Peace.”
The Foreign Affairs Minister called on member states to remain optimistic as they work to forge an organisation “more grounded in collective aspirations as a hemispheric community, anchored in the principles and precepts of International Law, and more responsive to the imperative of a more secure, sustainable and resilient future for the peoples of the Americas.”
