ABSTRACT
The General Secretariat performs the duties entrusted to it by the General Assembly, Meetings of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Councils. Civil society organizations are encouraged to participate in workshops and roundtables in advance of the OAS General Assembly to prepare proposals and recommendations to present to the member states. In August the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the OAS General Secretariat condemned ongoing blockades by anti-government protesters of trucks carrying medical supplies. The OAS has been an observer at meetings of the Lima Group, which was established in August 2017 by the foreign ministers of states in the region that are opposed to the actions of President Maduro, and aims to facilitate a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Venezuela. The promotion of hemispheric security is a fundamental purpose of the OAS. The OAS regular budget for 2021, approved by the General Assembly in October 2020, amounted to US $84.9m.
