The Ninth International Conference of American States, held in Bogotá between March and May 1948 and led by United States Secretary of State George Marshall, leads to a pledge by members to fight communism in the western hemisphere.

This event sees the birth of the Organization of American States, with the signature by 21 American countries of the Charter of the Organization of American States on 30 April 30, 1948 (it will come into effect in December 1951).

The meeting also adopts the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the world's first general human rights instrument.

The transition from the Pan American Union to OAS is smooth.

The Director General of the former, Alberto Lleras Camargo, beomes the Organization's first Secretary General.

The Dominicans are incensed that the Haitians have permitted the heirs and followers of former Dominican dictator Trujillo to use their country as a base for plotting subversive activities in the Dominican Republic, whereas the Haitians accuse the Dominicans of giving sanctuary to Haitian opponents of Duvalier.

In April 1963, former Haitian army officers reportedly try to kill Duvalier's children, and many of those accused take refuge in the embassies of Latin American countries in Port-au-Prince.

When Haitian police raid the Dominican embassy and hold captive 22 refugees, the Dominican Republic breaks off diplomatic relations and threatens to invade Haiti.

The Organization of American States mediates the dispute and eases the tension; Dominican troops, poised to invade, pulled back from the border; and many of the refugees receive safe conduct out of Haiti; roughly 500 others escape to the Dominican Republic.

In September 1963, hostilities erupt again between Haiti and

the Dominican Republic when both sides shell each other across the border.

The OAS again intervenes to make peace.

After a destructive civil war in the Dominican Republic in which the Organization of American States and the United Nations eventually intervene, a US-supported authoritarian regime is established under Joaquin Balaguer and the country’s economy comes under the control of Gulf & Western and other US corporations.

As economic hardships and worsening human rights abuses at home force thousands of Haitians to seek refuge in neighboring countries, the OAS and the UN mediate several agreements to restore democracy to Haiti.

The United States is preoccupied for the rest of President George Bush's term with the question of what to do with the thousands of Haitian boat people fleeing the country for American shores.

Tens of thousands of Haitians attempt to flee their country in small boats bound for the U.S. state of Florida, but the vast majority is returned to Haiti.