Leonardo Blair, Staff Reporter 
JOSÉ MIGUEL Insulza, Chile's interior minister (vice-president), is confident that he will sweep most of the votes in the Organisation of American States (OAS) by June of this year in his bid to become the organisation's next secretary general.
He says he has already received the support of most of South America and is now on further rounds in Jamaica to drum up the friendly support of CARICOM's 14 votes.
"My candidacy is a candidacy of change," says Mr. Insulza. "Everybody agrees that the basic objectives of the OAS is the
promotion of democracy, development and security through cooperation of its members. The problem is how these goals are expressed," he tells The Gleaner.
Mr. Insulza, who boasts significant experience in foreign relations and consensus development, says dialogue and coming to consensus will be the backbone of his campaign. "The goals should be expressed in tasks based on what the people need. If you look at, for example security, security in Latin America and the Carib-bean has to do with natural catastrophes, the rise of crime and things like drug trafficking," he said.
And pointing to the role of the organisation in crisis management of member states, Mr. Insulza says he is not a believer in intervention. When dealing with political crises in countries such as Haiti and Venezuela he believes in, "mediation and facilitation. Not intervention."
"I don't intend to be a leader who imposes things. I am going to do things by consensus. I change my mind if I am convinced that the other party's arguments are better than mine," he says.
With that, hopefully, he says he will soon be working in his new role. "I think I have a good chance. I have the South American countries behind me and the CARICOM decision is decisive."
The organisation of American States (OAS) brings together the countries of the Western Hemi-sphere to strengthen cooperation and advance common interests. It is the region's premier forum for multilateral dialogue and concerted action.
At the core of the OAS mission is an unequivocal commitment to democracy, as expressed in the Inter-American Democratic Charter: "The peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it."
