# Organization of American States The Organization of American States is the principal multilateral body of the Western Hemisphere — 35 member states, founded in 1948, and headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its stated pillars are democracy, human rights, security, and development. Its most consequential organs are the **Inter-American Commission on Human Rights** and the associated Inter-American Court, which have documented and adjudicated abuses across the hemisphere for six decades, including during the era of US-backed military governments. **Secretary General: Albert Ramdin** of Suriname, elected in 2025 — the first Caribbean national in the post. The OAS has always carried an inherent asymmetry: a hemispheric body of 35 states, headquartered in the capital of the one that dominates the hemisphere, and funded roughly half by that state. Cuba's membership was suspended from 1962 to 2009; the organization was widely regarded through the Cold War as an instrument of US regional policy. ## The Defunding The United States has **not** formally withdrawn from the OAS, and the [[2026 International Organizations Withdrawal Memorandum]] did not direct withdrawal from it. What has happened instead is more consequential and less visible. | Measure | Status | |---|---| | US share of the OAS Regular Fund | **49.99%** | | US contribution, FY2024 | $90.3 million | | Assessed contributions paid, FY2025 | **~63%** | | Assessed contributions paid, as of 1 March 2026 | **~62%** | | **FY2027 budget request** | **$0** — assessed dues and voluntary contributions | | OAS projects suspended, January 2025 | 49 | | Programs terminated by January 2026 | 31, with $13.1M in unexecuted balances | | Staff separated | 50+ | The sequence: EO 14169 paused foreign assistance for 90 days in January 2025; [[Executive Order 14199]] ordered the review of international organizations in February 2025; in June 2025 the Deputy Secretary of State floated withdrawal absent results; in March 2026 the administration attacked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights directly. **Congress is in open conflict with the executive on this.** The FY2026 appropriations act contained $2.5 million for voluntary OAS contributions against the administration's zero-funding posture. FY2027 appropriations is the next decision point — a concrete fight this autumn. ## Why It Matters Here The OAS is the vault's clearest case of the **third mode**: neither exit nor procedural strangulation, but **defunding without withdrawal**. It is worth being precise about why this mode is distinct. Withdrawal is legible, dateable, and contestable — it generates a Federal Register notice, litigation questions, and a news cycle. See the [[2026 International Organizations Withdrawal Memorandum]]. Defunding produces none of that. There is no announcement, no effective date, no depositary notification. The United States remains a member in good standing, retains its vote, and simply pays 62% of a bill that constitutes half the organization's budget. The result is an institution that continues to exist while losing the capacity to do anything: 50 staff gone, 31 programs terminated, 49 projects suspended. Membership is retained; function is not. The [[UN General Assembly]] is experiencing a larger version of the same thing — US arrears at roughly 95% of all outstanding regular-budget dues, with the Secretary-General warning of imminent financial collapse. The OAS version is sharper only because the US share is so much larger: at 22% of the UN budget, non-payment is a crisis; at 50% of the OAS budget, it is closer to a decision about whether the organization exists. The specific target within the OAS is also legible. The March 2026 attack on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights places this alongside [[Executive Order 14203]] and the [[International Criminal Court]] — a consistent pattern of hostility to regional and international human-rights adjudication bodies, whatever their jurisdiction. ## See Also - [[2026 International Organizations Withdrawal Memorandum]] — the list the OAS is *not* on - [[Executive Order 14199]] — the review that started the process - [[UN General Assembly]] — the same arrears mechanic at larger scale - [[International Criminal Court]] · [[Executive Order 14203]] — the parallel campaign against human-rights adjudication - [[Mercosur]] — the hemisphere's trade architecture - [[US Treaty and Organization Withdrawal Timeline]] — the four modes