ABSTRACT
The Organisation of American States (OAS) has clattered down a twisting, mobile flight of steps from the lofty perch it once occupied at the apex of the inter-American system. Changes have occurred over time in the policies of members of the OAS and, consequently, in the scope and capabilities of the organisation, Some of these changes are described as functional secessions, and others as functional accretions. The formation of Economic Commission for Latin America was the first major step in a sustained drive towards Latin American economic integration that, by excluding the United States, could only be maintained by a functional secession from the OAS. A unanimous Latin America presented a set of economic resolutions including some of the ideas to the United States at the Inter-American Economic and Social Council meeting in 1972. In the field of technical assistance, the OAS demonstrates a spectacular accretion of functions in the past two decades.
