Argentine-born Perina brings 30 years of experience working at senior levels of the Organization of American States to this insider’s account of the institution’s many strengths, multiple triumphs, and evident weaknesses…. Perina concludes with a detailed list of recommendations for returning the OAS to its former glory while correcting its errors. With the retreat of authoritarian rule in important countries such as Argentina, the time may be right for Perina’s well-informed proposals for how to reinvigorate inter-American diplomacy.

Foreign Affairs

This book is timely because the Member States and the Secretary General of the OAS have finally come around to face the unavoidable modernization of the Organization. The insider’s views and proposals presented here, sometimes radical, will greatly enrich the debate the OAS needs.

Hugo De Zela, Ambassador of Peru to the OAS (2010-2011) and Chief of Staff of the OAS General Secretariat (1989–1994, 2011–2015)

This is an important and highly topical book. It examines how the organization promotes and defends democracy among its member states, while pointing out the weaknesses and shortcomings that have constrained its initiatives. The book will be very useful to students, academics, diplomats and practitioners involved in the field of democracy promotion.

Eusebio Mujal-León, Georgetown University

Dr. Perina’s . . . revealing book provides keen insights about the OAS democracy promotion successes and shortcomings and into the challenges posed to the OAS by the recent erosion of democracy in Venezuela and other Latin American countries . . . Dr. Perina also expertly reviews the history of democracy in the hemisphere since Independence . . . the recent past.

Cynthia McClintock, George Washington University

Lucid analysis of the tensions that exist today at the OAS, between age-old principles of sovereignty and non-intervention and newer values for the collective defense of democracy . . .

Roberto Alvarez, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the OAS (2005–2008)

This is a fundamental book for all those concerned with democratic values and practices in Latin America . . . Dr. Perina draws upon a formidable experience at the OA to illustrate the current democratic deficit in Latin America.

Jaime Aparicio, Former OAS Executive Secretary of the Summits of the Americas