thumb|right|220px|[[XXXVIII Regular Meeting of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States|38th regular session – Medellín, 2008.]]
The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The General Assembly came into being as a part of the restructuring of the OAS that took place following adoption of the Protocol of Buenos Aires (signed 27 February 1967; in force as of 12 March 1970), which contained extensive amendments to the Organization's Charter. Prior to these changes, the OAS's top body was the Inter-American Conference, which in turn was the successor to the International Conference of American States.
The Charter requires that the General Assembly convene once every year in a regular session.
In special circumstances, and with the approval of two-thirds of the member states, the Permanent Council can convene special sessions.
The Organization's member states take turns hosting the General Assembly on a rotating basis.
The states are represented at its sessions by their chosen delegates: generally, their ministers of foreign affairs, or their appointed deputies. Each state has one vote, and most matters – except for those for which the Charter or the General Assembly's own rules of procedure specifically require a two-thirds majority – are settled by a simple majority vote.
The General Assembly's powers include setting the OAS's general course and policies by means of resolutions and declarations; approving its budget and determining the contributions payable by the member states; approving the reports and previous year's actions of the OAS's specialized agencies; and electing members to serve on those agencies.
Regular sessions
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Rank!!Host city!!Host country!! Date
|-
| 1st ||San José|| || 14–23 April 1971
|-
|2nd ||Washington, D.C.|| || 11–21 April 1972
|-
|3rd ||Washington, D.C.|| || 4–15 April 1973
|-
|4th ||Atlanta|||| 19 April – 1 May 1974
|-
|5th||Washington, D.C.|||| 8–19 May 1975
|-
|6th||Santiago|| || 4–18 June 1976
|-
|7th||St. George's|| || 14–22 June 1977
|-
|8th||Washington, D.C.|| || 21 June – 1 July 1978
|-
|9th ||La Paz|| || 22–31 October 1979
|-
|10th||Washington, D.C.|| || 19–26 November 1980
|-
|11th||Castries|| || 2–11 December 1981
|-
|12th||Washington, D.C.|| || 15–21 December 1982
|-
|13th||Washington, D.C.|| || 14–18 November 1983
|-
|14th ||Brasília|| || 12–17 November 1984
|-
|15th||Cartagena|| || 5–9 December 1985
|-
|16th||Guatemala City|| || 11–15 November 1986
|-
|17th||Washington, D.C.|| || 9–14 November 1987
|-
|18th||San Salvador|| || 14–19 November 1988
|-
|19th||Washington, D.C.|||| 13–18 November 1989
|-
|20th||Asunción|| || 4–8 June 1990
|-
|21st||Santiago|| || 3–8 June 1991
|-
|22nd||Nassau|| || 18–23 May 1992
|-
|23rd||Managua|| || 7–11 June 1993
|-
|24th||Belém || || 6–10 June 1994
|-
|25th||Montrouis|| || 5–9 June 1995
|-
|26th||Panama City|| || 3–7 June 1996
|-
|27th||Lima|| || 1–5 June 1997
|-
|28th||Caracas|| || 1–3 June 1998
|-
|29th||Guatemala City|| || 6–8 June 1999
|-
|30th||Windsor|| || 4–6 June 2000
|-
|31st||San José|| || 3–5 June 2001
|-
|32nd||Bridgetown|| || 2–4 June 2002
|-
|33rd||Santiago|| || 8–10 June 2003
|-
|34th||Quito|| || 6–8 June 2004
|-
|35th||Fort Lauderdale || || 5–7 June 2005
|-
|36th||Santo Domingo|| || 4–6 June 2006
|-
|37th||Panama City|| || 3–5 June 2007
|-
|38th||Medellín|| || 1–3 June 2008
|-
|39th||San Pedro Sula|| ||2–3 June 2009
|-
|40th||Lima|| || 6–8 June 2010
|-
|41st||San Salvador|| || 5–7 June 2011
|-
|42nd||Cochabamba|| || 3–5 June 2012
|-
|43rd||Antigua Guatemala|| || 4–6 June 2013
|-
|44th||Asunción|| || 3–5 June 2014
|-
|45th||Washington, D.C.|| || 15–16 June 2015
|-
|46th||Santo Domingo || || 13–15 June 2016
|-
|47th||Cancún || || 18–21 June 2017
|-
|48th||Washington, D.C. || || 4–5 June 2018
|-
|49th
|Medellín
|
|26–28 June 2019
|-
|50th
|Washington, D.C.
|
|20–21 October 2020
|-
|51st
|Guatemala City (Virtual)
|
|10–12 November 2021
|-
|52nd
|Lima
|
|5–7 October 2022
|-
|53rd
|Washington, D.C.
|
|21–23 June 2023
|-
|54th
|Asunción
|
|26–28 June 2024
|-
|55th
|St. John's
|
|25–27 June 2025
|}
See also
- Summit of the Americas
References
External links
- Regular Meetings of the General Assembly