MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

OAS calls on countries to declare arsenals

The Organization of American States called Monday on all countries of the Americas to publicly reveal their armaments.

Speaking in Nicaragua during the inauguration of the Defense Ministers of the Americas Seventh Conference, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said "all countries should make public their armaments thus avoiding speculations about an arms race in the region, which can lead to confusion".

In his speech Mr. Insulza also called on all country members that the conference should not separate the concepts of defense and security.

"What is important is to try to strengthen the union process in which the region's countries are involved in all fields, including defense and security which must not be separated", emphasized the Secretary General.

Mr. Insulza also underlined that defense policies must concentrate on the "risks which derive from the increase in crime in our cities, of the drug trade and organized crime, of the proliferation of gangs as well as other phenomena such as natural disasters".

"Our peoples expect the region to advance in a climate of peace, domestic harmony and regional and sub-regional integration"

Nicaraguan president Enrique Bolaños officially opened the Americas Defense Ministers Conference which will extend until next Thursday in the country's capital Managua.

With the exception of Cuba all countries from the three Americas are represented in the Conference which was last held in November 2004, in Quito, Ecuador.

Next Thursday the conference will conclude with a "Declaration of Managua" plus an "action plan" and an International Humanitarian De-mining Centre with headquarters in Managua.