Did you know...

…that September 11, 2016, marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic Charter? The Charter, which was signed in Lima, Peru, stems from a mandate of the Third Summit of the Americas where the leaders instructed their foreign ministers to prepare an Inter-American Democratic Charter “to reinforce OAS instruments for the active defense of representative democracy”. The Charter spells out what democracy entails, specifies how it should be defended when it is under threat and is an affirmation that democracy is and should be the common form of government for all countries of the Americas. It has the great merit of having been adopted by consensus, without reservation, or footnotes and is binding on all currently active OAS Member States.

Third Summit of the Americas - Canada

“Threats to democracy today take many forms. To enhance our ability to respond to these threats, we instruct our Foreign Ministers to prepare, in the framework of the next General Assembly of the OAS, an Inter-American Democratic Charter to reinforce OAS instruments for the active defense of representative democracy”.