According to the Charter of the Organization of American States :

The Secretary General shall direct the General Secretariat, be the legal representative thereof, and [...] be responsible to the General Assembly for the proper fulfillment of the obligations and functions of the General Secretariat.

The Secretary General of the Organization shall be elected by the General Assembly for a five-year term and may not be reelected more than once or succeeded by a person of the same nationality. In the event that the office of Secretary General becomes vacant, the Assistant Secretary General shall assume his duties until the General Assembly shall elect a new Secretary General for a full term.

The Secretary General, or his representative, may participate with voice but without vote in all meetings of the Organization.

The Secretary General may bring to the attention of the General Assembly or the Permanent Council any matter which in his opinion might threaten the peace and security of the Hemisphere or the development of the Member States.

Secretaries General of the OAS

Period	Name	Country
1948 – 1954	Alberto Lleras Camargo	Colombia
1954 – 1955	Carlos Dávila Died while in office	Chile
1956 – 1968	José A. Mora	Uruguay
1968 – 1975	Galo Plaza	Ecuador
1975 – 1984	Alejandro Orfila	Argentina
1984 – 1994	João Clemente Baena Soares	Brazil
1994 – 2004	César Gaviria Re-elected to a second term at the 1999 General Assembly	Colombia
Sept. – October 2004	Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Resigned 15 October 2004	Costa Rica
October 2004 – 2005	Luigi R. Einaudi Acting Secretary General	United States

Assistant Secretaries General of the OAS

• William Manger (United States) (1948–1958)
• William Sanders (United States) (1958–1968)
• M. Rafael Urquía (El Salvador) (1968–1975)
• Jorge Luis Zelaya Coronado (Guatemala) (1975–1980)
• Val T. McComie (Barbados) (1980–1990)
• Christopher R. Thomas (Trinidad and Tobago) (1990–2000)
• Luigi R. Einaudi (United States) (2000–present)

See also

• Election of the OAS Secretary General, 2005