On 30 April 1948, in Bogotá, the Ninth International Conference of American States adopts the Charter of the Organization of American States — the founding act of the OAS.

Twenty-one states sign the text, which enters into force in December 1951. Its purpose, under Article 1: an order of peace and justice, solidarity, collaboration and defence of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

The conference, led by US Secretary of State George Marshall, also adopted the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man — the world’s first general human-rights instrument. The Rio Treaty (1947) had already supplied the collective-security framework.

Official languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. Main organs: the General Assembly, Permanent Council, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The Charter has been amended over time (Buenos Aires, Cartagena, Managua, Washington). Canada joined in 1990; Cuba was suspended in 1962 (suspension lifted in 2009, without effective return).

The official text is on the OAS website. The Charter remains the constitution of the postwar inter-American system.

The OAS Charter of 30 April 1948 remains the act that turned the Pan American Union into the modern Organization of American States.

Image: Washington / Bogotá; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Organization of American States. Treaty text: Charter of the OAS (OAS).