OLADE
was born in the context of the international energy crisis of the early
seventies, whose scope and repercussions were reviewed by the countries
of Latin America and the Caribbean. Lacking energy policies and faced
with the need to deal appropriately with this crisis, they began an
intense process of political mobilization that culminated on November
2, 1973 with the signing of the Lima Convention, the Constitution of
this Organization, which has been ratified by 26 countries of Latin America
and the Caribbean: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican
Republic, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
While
promoting the creation of OLADE, they took into account the need to establish
a cooperation mechanism among the countries of the Region to develop their
energy resources and jointly attend to matters relating to their efficient,
rational use, in order to contribute to the social and economic development
of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In
this context, OLADE was established as a cooperation, coordination and
advisory body, with its own legal status, to promote the integration, development,
conservation, rational use, and marketing of energy resources in the region,
and has contributed positively to energy policy making in its Member Countries.
The
Meeting of Ministers is the maximum authority of OLADE, and the Permanent
Secretariat is the Organization’s executive body, with its permanent
headquarters in the city of Quito, Ecuador.
Countries
from outside the geographic area of Latin America and the Caribbean are
allowed to participate as Participant Countries of OLADE. At April/04,
the People’s Republic of Algeria has joined as a Participating Country,
and discussions are ongoing with other countries in this vein.
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