Secretary of State Colin L. Powell traveled September 10-11 to Lima, Peru to attend a Special General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS).

This meeting of Foreign Ministers will adopt the Inter-American Democratic Charter, a major Summit of the Americas’ initiative that incorporates the Summit’s democracy clause into the OAS and the inter-American system.

The proposed Democratic Charter sets democracy as the only legitimate political system for OAS member states, links democracy and human rights, establishes preventive measures to assist democracies in crisis, and refines the OAS’s ability to address nascent and subtle threats to democracy in the region.

Secretary's Remarks
09/11/2001: Closing Remarks to the Organization of American States General Assembly
09/11/2001: Remarks at the Special General Assembly of the Organization of American States
09/11/2001: Statement at the Special General Assembly of the Organization of American States
09/10/2001: Designation of the AUC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization