REPORT
Seminar on the 10th Anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IADC)
organised by the Office of the Organization of American States in Trinidad and Tobago (OASTT)
and the Institute of International Relations (IIR), The University of the West Indies (UWI),
St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
OASTT and the IIR collaborated to convene on June 17, 2011, at the IIR, a Seminar to mark the
10th Anniversary of the (IADC, mostly funded by the IIR, with a modest financial contribution
from the OAS Coordinating Office.
The Seminar was a public event directed at Government officials, the diplomatic community,
civil society, the media and university and secondary school students. It was webcast live, thanks
to a contribution from the OAS Department of International Affairs and the technical support of
the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM).
The Secretary for Political Affairs, Ambassador Víctor Rico, delivered the opening address. The
Opening Ceremony also featured a message from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and
Tobago, Dr. the Honourable Surujrattan Rambachan, delivered by His Excellency Edwin
Carrington, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to CARICOM.
The Seminar featured two panels (“The IADC and the Caribbean” and “Comparative Perspectives
on the IADC”) comprising a number of high-level panellists, who made stimulating presentations
on different aspects of the IADC and the relevance of the Democratic Charter to the Caribbean
region, in addition to bringing to bear some comparative perspectives from which lessons might
be drawn in efforts to apply and reinforce the IADC as a tool to promote and consolidate
democracy in the hemisphere.
The panels were followed by a Diplomatic Roundtable, comprising Ambassadors of OAS
Member States resident in Trinidad and Tobago, during which the representatives of Argentina,
Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the USA and Venezuela made presentations on their countries’
respective positions.
The Seminar was well attended, well received and generally considered to be a success, notable
for the willingness of panellists to make themselves available and the excellent spirit of
cooperation between OASTT and the IIR, in addition to the collaboration of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, the Missions of OAS Member States in Trinidad and
Tobago, the OAS General Secretariat, UWI, the Commander of the Trinidad and Tobago Army
and the ACM. As a spin-off from the Seminar, the OASTT Representative has been invited to coedit a Special Issue of the journal, Latin American Policy, focusing on the IADC, which will
feature, inter alia, contributions from the Secretary General and the Secretary for Political Affairs.
The programme of the event is attached.
OAS Trinidad and Tobago Office
November 23, 2011
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OAS OFFICE IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Seminar on the 10th Anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic Charter
Institute of International Relations, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine
June 17, 2011
Agenda
9:00 – 9:45
Opening Ceremony
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9:45 – 10:00
Chair: Prof. Timothy Shaw, Director, IIR
Welcome: Dr. Hamid Ghany, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, UWI-St. Augustine
Campus
Opening Address: Ambassador Víctor Rico, Secretary for Political Affairs, OAS
Feature Address: H.E. Edwin Carrington, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to
CARICOM, on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr.
the Hon. Surujrattan Rambachan
Coffee Break
10:00 – 12:00 Panel 1 – The Inter-American Democratic Charter and the Caribbean
Moderator: Dr. Riyad Insanally, OAS Representative, Trinidad & Tobago
Panellists (10-15 minutes each):
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Mr. Anselm Francis, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, IIR – “Legal Aspects of the
IDC”
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Ms. Lisa Vasciannie, Lecturer and PhD Candidate, International Relations,
Department of Government, Faculty of Social Sciences, UWI, Mona - “Election
Observation in the Caribbean: the Role of the OAS”
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Mr. Wesley Gibbings, President, Association of Caribbean Media Workers – “The
Role of the Media in supporting Democracy”
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Prof. Emeritus Vaughan Lewis, International Relations, UWI – “Reflections on
Democracy and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States”
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Prof. Anthony Bryan, Senior Research Fellow, IIR and Senior Associate, Americas
Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC –
“Democracy and Security in the Caribbean: Lessons from Central America”
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Mr. Daniel Erikson, Senior Advisor for Western Hemisphere Affairs, US Department
of State – “The Inter-American Democratic Charter: Challenges and Opportunities
for the Next Decade”
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Discussant: H.E. Edwin Carrington
Q&A Session
12:00 – 1:30
Lunch
1:30 – 3:30
Panel 2 – Comparative Perspectives on the Inter-American Democratic
Charter
Moderator: Dr. Michelle Scobie, Lecturer, IIR
Panellists (10-15 minutes each):
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Mr. Gerard Greene, Director, Bilateral Relations Division, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago – “Perspectives on the IDC”
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Ms. Laura West, Director, Multilateral Relations Division, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago – “Perspectives on the Commonwealth
Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration”
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Dr. Jessica Byron, Senior Lecturer, International Relations, Department of
Government, Faculty of Social Sciences, UWI, Mona – “Support for
Democracy in the Caribbean: a Comparison of the IDC and Democracy
Promotion within the EU-CARIFORUM Framework”
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Dr. Thomas Legler, Professor of International Relations, Universidad
Iberoamericana, Mexico City – “Lessons from the Honduran Crisis for the
IDC”
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Dr. Mark Kirton, Senior Lecturer, IIR – “The Constitutive Treaty of
UNASUR & the IDC: A Comparative Analysis”
Discussant: Ambassador Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary General, Foreign
and Community Relations, CARICOM Secretariat
Q&A Session
3:30 – 4:30
Diplomatic Roundtable
Moderator: Mr. Reginald Dumas, former Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to
the USA and Permanent Representative to the OAS
Participants: H.E. Patricio Pradel, Ambassador of Chile; H.E. Marcelo Salviolo,
Ambassador of Argentina; H.E. Karen McDonald, High Commissioner of
Canada; H.E. María Eugenia Marcano, Ambassador of Venezuela; H.E. Ricardo
Thompson Thompson, Ambassador of Costa Rica; Mr. Jeff Mazur, Chief of the
Political-Economic Section, Embassy of the United States of America.
4:30-4:45
Closing Remarks
Dr. Riyad Insanally
Prof. Timothy Shaw
5:00-7:00
Reception hosted by the IIR, the OAS Office in Trinidad and Tobago and
Col. Anthony Phillips-Spencer, Commander of the Army