Organization of American States
Political · OAS
Although the founding charter was signed at Bogotá on 30 April 1948, it did not come into force until 13 December 1951. Membership is confined to independent states of the hemisphere that were United Nations members on 10 December 1985. Entry is an instrument of ratification deposited in Washington. A member leaves by written note, and the Charter stops applying two years after the General Secretariat receives it.
34 countries
- Antigua and BarbudaJoined 1981.
- ArgentinaJoined 1948.
- BahamasJoined 1982.
- BarbadosJoined 1967.
- BelizeJoined 1991.
- BoliviaJoined 1948.
- BrazilJoined 1948.
- CanadaJoined 1990.
- ChileJoined 1948.
- ColombiaJoined 1948.
- Costa RicaJoined 1948.
- CubaJoined 1948.
- DominicaJoined 1979.
- Dominican RepublicJoined 1948.
- EcuadorJoined 1948.
- El SalvadorJoined 1948.
- GrenadaJoined 1975.
- GuatemalaJoined 1948.
- GuyanaJoined 1991.
- HaitiJoined 1948.
- HondurasJoined 1948.
- JamaicaJoined 1969.
- MexicoJoined 1948.
- NicaraguaJoined 1948.
- PanamaJoined 1948.
- ParaguayJoined 1948.
- PeruJoined 1948.
- Saint Kitts and NevisJoined 1984.
- Saint LuciaJoined 1979.
- Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesJoined 1981.
- SurinameJoined 1977.
- Trinidad and TobagoJoined 1967.
- United StatesJoined 1948.
- UruguayJoined 1948.
Common questions
Questions about OAS
Which countries belong to the Organization of American States?
The states listed on this page, on the reading the catalogue applies, which takes membership from each country's own record. Every independent state of the Americas ratified the Charter at some point, the last of them Belize and Guyana on 8 January 1991. What moves the roster afterwards is denunciation under Article 143 rather than admission, because Article 8 closed the list of who may join.
Can a new country join the OAS?
Only from a list settled in 1985. Article 8 confines membership to independent states of the hemisphere that were United Nations members on 10 December 1985, and to the non-autonomous territories named in document AG/doc.1939/85 of 5 November 1985, once they become independent. An applicant on that list still needs a two-thirds recommendation of the Permanent Council and a two-thirds decision of the General Assembly.
Is Cuba a member of the OAS?
Cuba deposited its ratification of the Charter on 16 July 1952 and has never withdrawn it. Resolution VI, adopted at Punta del Este on 31 January 1962, excluded the government of Cuba from participation in the inter-American system, and the General Assembly resolved at San Pedro Sula on 3 June 2009 that Resolution VI ceases to have effect. The same resolution made any participation the result of a process of dialogue initiated at Cuba's request. Being party to the treaty and taking part in the Organization are two different things, and the catalogue keeps them apart.
How does a country leave the OAS?
By written notification to the General Secretariat, under Article 143. The Charter ceases to have effect for the denouncing state two years after the notification is received, and until then its obligations stand. Nicaragua's letter was received on 19 November 2021, and the depositary records the denunciation as entering into effect on 19 November 2023.
Has the OAS ever suspended a member?
Once. Honduras was suspended from the exercise of its right to participate by resolution AG/RES. 2 (XXXVII-E/09) on 4 July 2009, under Article 21 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, following the events of 28 June 2009. The Forty-first Special Session of the General Assembly lifted the suspension with immediate effect on 1 June 2011, under Article 22 of the same instrument. Suspension is from participation; it does not end membership of the treaty.
Does joining the OAS mean accepting the Inter-American Court of Human Rights?
No. The American Convention on Human Rights, adopted at San José on 22 November 1969 and in force since 18 July 1978, is a separate treaty with its own list of parties. Canada has never signed it, the United States signed on 1 June 1977 and has not ratified, and Trinidad and Tobago acceded on 28 May 1991 and denounced with effect from 26 May 1999.
Sources
- Charter of the Organization of American States (A-41): Signatories and Ratifications · Department of International Law, OAS, the treaty's own depositary. Adoption at Bogotá on 30 April 1948, entry into force on 13 December 1951, UN registration number 1609 of 16 January 1952, every signature and deposit date, the reservations of Guatemala and the United States, the declaration of Canada, and the notes recording the denunciations of Venezuela and Nicaragua.
- Charter of the Organization of American States, consolidated text · University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. Articles 6 and 7 on application and the two-thirds votes, Article 8 on who may join, Article 9 on suspension, Article 143 on denunciation, and the transitory Article 146.
- Protocol of Amendment to the Charter of the Organization of American States, Protocol of Cartagena de Indias · Signature at Cartagena de Indias on 5 December 1985 and entry into force on 16 November 1988, which is the amendment that rewrote Article 8.
- Inter-American Democratic Charter · Adopted at Lima on 11 September 2001. Article 21 on suspension by a two-thirds vote and Article 22 on lifting it.
- OAS General Assembly Resolution to Lift the Suspension of Honduras · Organization of American States, 1 June 2011. The text of the lifting resolution, and its recital of resolution AG/RES. 2 (XXXVII-E/09) adopted on 4 July 2009.
- Annual Report of the Secretary General 2009-2010 · Organization of American States. The operative text of AG/RES. 2438 (XXXIX-O/09) on Cuba, adopted at the thirty-ninth regular session held at San Pedro Sula from 2 to 4 June 2009.
- American Convention on Human Rights (B-32): Signatories and Ratifications · Department of International Law, OAS. Adoption at San José on 22 November 1969, entry into force on 18 July 1978, the states that never signed or never ratified, and Article 78 on denunciation with a year's notice.
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights: History · The Court's own account of the Convention's entry into force and of which states have accepted its contentious jurisdiction.
- First International Conference of American States · Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Washington conference of 2 October 1889 to 19 April 1890, the International Union of American Republics agreed on 14 April 1890, and the Commercial Bureau that became the Pan American Union in 1910.