ABSTRACT
The Organization of American States (OAS) was created in the wake of World War II, but it was soon rendered impotent by the Cold War. Having partly reemerged from a long period of stagnation and political irrelevance, the OAS is engaged in a process of renewal to adapt itself to the new times of the post-Cold War era. The end of the Cold War has furthered the promotion and defense of democracy in the region by removing the ideological and strategic connotations attached to democracy for many years. In the name of democracy, the OAS also became involved in the internal crisis of the Dominican Republic, and later, as the Cold War eroded, it firmly favored the ouster of Anastasio Somoza's regime in Nicaragua. A new common agenda of relevant themes may already be perceived in the present work of the OAS, ranging from democracy promotion and human rights to the control of drug trafficking and environmental protection.
