Page 163 - Argentina - Carter, Regan, and Bush VP

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E1 Salvador

The Secretary General was very pleased with his success in getting the
President of El Salvador to sign the mediation agreement with Honduras.
The border has been closed since 1969, and the economies of both countries
have suffered greatly as a result. He is hopeful that the appointment of
a Moderator will lead to a more lasting peace between the two countries,
lasting
OAS

Orfila was very frank in his assessment of the almost hopelessness of the
present OAS . He said he had tried to bring the staff level down to a mange-
able one, but that he couldn't fire anyone. When he tried, everybody
ganged up on him, and the U.S . remained silent. The Permanent Council
of Ambassadors to the OAS was also, in his opinion, a hopeless body. In
fact, he called it "a joke.11

"I need your help to change this place," Orfila said. Orfila would like
to see the OAS concentrate on peacekeeping, human rights, and political
issues. He thinks it would be desirable for the OAS to get out of the
economic and social field. He blamed the United States for the massive
structure that had been built up since the early years of the Alliance.
In 1961, there were only 300 staff people in the OAS; there are presently
1,500. He would like to cut the staff down to only the Secretariat, and
deal only with those issues which it could do well. He would like to do
away with the Permanent Council, and only have Latin American Ambassadors
to the U.S. attend occasional meetings. (Scheman later called me and
said that the Assistant Secretary of State would be the appropriate U.S.
delegate to these occasional sessions, rather than a Special Ambassador
to the OAS . )

Orfila expressed his frustration at trying to do these kinds of reforms
without any support. If only the United States gave him support, he said,
he could assure us a majority of the delegates and fundamental reforms
in staffing, in the organization of the OAS, and in the issues that it
addresses could then be taken. A good example he used was the designation
of Grenada as the site of the June General Assembly meeting. The Grenadan
Ambassador to the OAS forced the issue at the last OAS meeting in Santiago,
and no one raised any objections. The Peruvians seconded the motion,
and that was it. Grenada was the site.