Organization of American States

The Organization of American States (, , , ), or the OAS or OEA, is an international organization that was founded on 30 April 1948 for the purposes of solidarity and co-operation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in the US capital, Washington, DC, the OAS has 35 members, which are independent states in the Americas. During the Cold War, the United States hoped the OAS would be a bulwark against the spread of communism. Since the 1990s, the organization has focused on election monitoring. The head of the OAS is the Secretary General; the incumbent is Uruguayan Luis Almagro. Provided by Wikipedia