• the organization of american states was founded in 1948 to promote collective security and co-operation among countries of the western hemisphere. in recent years it has become concerned with economic and social development in central and south america. the headquarters of the oas are in washington, dc. cuba was suspended in 1962. members of the oas are: antigua and barbuda, argentina, bahamas, barbados, belize, bolivia, brazil, canada, chile, colombia, costa rica, dominica, dominican republic, ecuador, el salvador, grenada, guatemala, guyana, haiti, honduras, jamaica, mexico, nicaragua, panama, paraguay, peru, st christopher and nevis, st lucia, st vincent and the grenadines, surinam, trinidad and tobago, united states of america, uruguay, and venezuela.
