And while those are the hot button items coming out of the General Assembly - the business of the meeting was in full swing today with two legnthy working sessions - or as they are known, plenary sessions. Jules Vasquez is in Antigua and he has this report.
Jules Vasquez reporting
The third plenary session of the OAS started this morning at ten in the cavernous Plaza Del Atrio Room of the Hotel Santo Domingo. Belize was the last to make its intervention at 1:45pm.
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Belize Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Mr. Chairman sometimes I believe we tend to delude ourselves in this part of the world, if we believe that action taken by us will infact create a dent in this pernicious problem. By virtue of our very limited resources we cannot realistically do more than to devise strategies and means to adapt to the changes that drug trade is having on our societies and to take measures to mitigate against those damages. We have no power to deal with the root of the problem which is unquestionably the insatiable demand in the developed world. Frankly Mr. Chairman I do not believe that our failure to find a problem, our solution to this problem - derives from a deficiency in our collective mental and cerebral capacities. Rather, I think it is due in large measure to an absence of political will at this juncture in our history in the major capitals of our world."
Speaking with a scrum of media after the third plenary, Secretary General Insulza discussed the complex nature of a multi state initiative:
Jose Miguel Insulza, OAS Secretary General
"Naturally, we shouldn't hope for all the countries to take the exact same position on drugs because we have distinct problems. Some countries have the problem of trafficking, some violence"
A complex issue for 35 countries to discuss, and while the Foreign Ministers are deciding what to include in the resolution coming out of this summit, maybe the best that they'll be able to say is that they started the discussion which is a victory in itself.
Fernando Carrerra, Guatemalan Foreign Minister
"We have more clarity in language, more or less, to say that there is a continental consensus to debate the drug policy. And some will say, well what effect does that have? Well, it is very important because up until a little over one year ago, frankly, it was a taboo to speak of the drug policy beyond repeating what we had done and saying it was well done. I think that since one year ago, we have advanced."
A follow-up mechanism will likely be an extraordinary assembly planned for 2014 which, in this case means, see you soon.
The closing session for the 43rd General Assembly is being held at this hour.
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