Results of OSI Cartagena Forum

OSI is very pleased to be able to report that its First Forum on Projects on Defense and Economic Security in the Wider Caribbean region was a great success. More than 150 representatives from Colombia, United States, countries in the region, three United Nations Agencies, and also from major European countries were in attendance, with major press coverage (both nationally and internationally)  The speakers included 14 members of the Congress of Colombia, six members of the United States Congress, Under Secretary for Homeland Security of the United States and many other distinguished representatives.

The Conference was held in Convento Santo Domingo, Cartagena de Indias, from 5 to 8 February and the representatives heard presentations of some 20 projects, some of them from the region, the rest dealing with the   experiences of other countries but replicable in Colombia and other countries of the region.
The Conference adopted the Cartagena Recommendations, compiled with the assistance of Dr. Stephen Lintner, of the World Bank, who was also the architect of previous documents  produced by OSI at its Tripoli and Corpus Christi Conferences. This document is posted on the web.

Following the conclusion of the Conference, OSI has received a number of proposals which it is considering at present. Some of them relate to work in other regions of the world, the others relate to continuation of the work in the Wider Caribbean and extension to the Pacific countries of Latin America. In order to complete this task, OSI is in process of reshuffling its membership on the international Board following recent elections in Barbados and Jamaica and also constitutional changes in some of the islands belonging to the Netherlands Antilles. The changes, including the new chair of the Caribbean region will be announced very shortly. The gist of the work will focus on concrete projects, especially those showcased at the Cartagena Forum. OSI is now also in discussions with the Mayor of Cartagena, Ms. Judith Pinedo, who took part in the inaugural part of the Conference, in order to join forces with her program on sustainable tourism .

As always in the past, OSI has lent its hand to the process of strengthening of peace and security in the region. The five members of the United States Congress, led by Congressman Solomon Ortiz, co-chair of the OSI Congressional Advisory Board, met with some 14 members of the Colombian Congress and held discussions on a series of bilateral issues of interest to the two countries. OSI was also most pleased to welcome again Congressman Curt Weldon, its founding member who played a prominent role at the Conference.

We wish to place our sincerest thanks to Congressman Solomon Ortiz and the members of the US Congress who have extended an invitation to OSI to play an active role in the Pacific, to Congressman Augusto Posada for his help to the President, Dr Sebek, in the organization of this event, to the Government of Jamaica and its Deputy Foreign Minister for an invitation to participate with Jamaica in a series of major meetings to be held on the island in the course of 2008 and 2008, to its friends in the Dominican Republic who have offered OSI a fully functional office for the region in Santo Domingo.

See photo gallery

Dr. Oscar Rueda, Dr. Viktor Sebek

On the occasion of the 18th Congress of Spanish Association of Travel Agents, held in Cartagena on 20 October 2007, Dr. Sebek discussed the OSI Cartagena Forum with Vice President of Colombia, Dr. Francisco Santos Calderon . Dr. Sebek also briefed Spanish Minister of Tourism, Ms. Amparo Fernández on contacts which OSI had already established with the Government of Spain.. Dr. Sebek subsequently held a meeting with Oscar Rueda, Vice Minister of Tourism in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia. Dr. Rueda attended OSI Corpus Christi Forum and will play a prominent part at the Cartagena Forum. One of the topics covered was cooperation between Colombian Government and OSI at the forthcoming XVII Assembly of the World Tourism Organization which will be held in Cartagena from 22 to 29 November 2007.

H.E. Fernando Araujo, Dr Viktor Sebek, Mr. Nestor Garrido

The then OSI President, Dr Viktor Sebek paid a courtesy visit to Colombian Foreign Minister, H.E. Fernando Araujo on 10 October. He briefed Mr. Araujo on the forthcoming OSI Cartagena Forum on Ocean Security in Wider Caribbean  and Latin America. Ms Karen Mendoza, head of Legislative Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Nestor Garrido, OSI Adviser on Colombian Affairs were  also in attendance. Minister Araujo and Dr. Sebek also discussed links between OSI and Colombian executive branch.

Senator Jairo Clopatofsky, Congressman Augusto Posada, Senator Manuel Enriquez, Senator Adriana Gutierrez, Ambassador Carolina Barco, Congressman Neil Abercrombie, Congressman Silvestre Reyes, Congressman Solomon Ortiz, Congressman Charles Gonzalez, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, Congressman Jeff Miller, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Mr. Sean Connaughton, Administrator, MARAD, Ambassador Mary Seet-Cheng, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, Admiral Jacques Lanxade, France and OSI

The Corpus Christi conference marked a milestone in the development of OSI. The conference, held between 10 and 12 February 2008, was attended by over 200 leading policy makers, military leaders, government officials, representatives of Intergovernmental agencies, academia and the private sector. As at its inaugural July 2005 Tripoli Conference on the Mediterranean, the main value of the conference consisted in debates amongst panelists and between panelists and the audience. As a result of these debates, at technical and ministerial segments, the Conference adopted Corpus Christi Findings and Recommendations. This document will guide the activities of OSI and its partner Governments, intergovernmental agencies and colleagues in the defense and private sector communities, as well as academia in its work in the Wider Caribbean. Consultations have already begun in earnest. OSI wishes to register its enormous debt of gratitude to the contribution made by its coordinator of the final output, Dr Stephen Lintner, Senior Technical Adviser of the World Bank.