OEA - Informe CP INF. 10759 25 de 2025

[image]OEA/Ser.G

CP/INF. 10759/25

20 November 2025

Original: Textual

INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY AMBASSADOR LEANDRO RIZZUTO,

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES

(Delivered during the regular meeting of the Permanent Council on November 19, 2025)

INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY AMBASSADOR LEANDRO RIZZUTO,

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES

(Delivered during the regular meeting of the Permanent Council on November 19, 2025)

Mr. Chair, Secretary General Ramdin, Assistant Secretary General Gil, distinguished ambassadors, alternate representatives, permanent observers, and members of the General Secretariat:

It is a profound honor to join you today as the Permanent Representative of the United States of America. I am deeply grateful to President Donald J. Trump for his confidence and to Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his leadership and his clear vision for a safer, stronger, and more prosperous Western Hemisphere. The United States enters this chapter with a simple conviction: results matter. President Trump has reaffirmed that America builds stronger partnerships when cooperation delivers real benefits for our citizens. And as Secretary Rubio has emphasized, security is the foundation of prosperity — without safety, nothing else can function.

From the founding of this Organization, the OAS has served as the forum where nations in our region come together to promote peace, defend sovereignty, uphold democracy, and protect the rule of law. Those principles remain vital. But the challenges we face today — border insecurity, criminal networks, democratic backsliding, instability in Haiti, illegitimate actors and regimes, and extra-hemispheric interference — require an OAS that is focused, modern, and accountable.

This institution was created to protect democracy, safeguard sovereignty, and build prosperity. Our citizens expect us to show that multilateral action can still deliver real results. Before entering public service, I spent my career in the private sector helping grow a business my grandfather and father founded — Conair Corporation. I began in the warehouse and ultimately led our global professional business units, operating in more than 125 countries, personally bringing to market over 1000 new products, and developing 25 U.S. patents. That experience taught me a simple truth: success comes from innovation, teamwork, and hard work That is the approach I will bring to our work here.

The United States will focus its engagement at the OAS on four priorities:

• Respecting and protecting sovereignty among our member nations; - Strengthening democratic institutions, including the integrity of the electoral processes; - Expanding trade, investment, and commercial partnerships across the Americas; and - Modernizing the OAS for efficiency, accountability, oversight and Results!

Every initiative we pursue and every dollar we spend must connect back to these goals.

A stable hemisphere begins with secure borders, lawful order, and strong institutions. Today, trafficking networks, organized crime, and illegal immigration undermine sovereignty, destabilize communities, and endanger our citizens. These threats cannot be met with rhetoric alone. They require coordination, intelligence-sharing, enforcement, responsible visa practices, and firm political will. The United States stands ready to work with all member states to strengthen these principles and, reinforce the sovereign right of nations to control their borders, and help ensure that immigration is lawful, orderly, and safe — not exploited by criminal organizations or authoritarian regimes.

We must also remain vigilant against malign extra-hemispheric actors who seek to undermine democratic institutions and reshape regional alignments. Security is not optional; it is the foundation of everything else we hope to build. No challenge illustrates this more clearly than Haiti.

The United States welcomes the Haitian-led pathway endorsed at the last OAS General Assembly and the UN Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 2793, which established the UN Support Office for Haiti and authorized the transition from the Multinational Security Support mission to the Gang Suppression Force. The OAS has a key role to play — strengthening institutions, coordinating assistance, supporting the Haitian National Police through the SECURE-Haiti platform, expanding humanitarian access, and helping lay the groundwork for elections. This work is grounded in human dignity, with particular attention to the protection of women, children, and members of vulnerable communities. Earlier this year, every member state here declared together: Haiti cannot wait. The United States agrees. The time for coordinated action is now.

But security alone is not enough. A prosperous hemisphere also requires strong commercial networks, resilient supply chains, and opportunities that allow people to build stable lives in their own countries.

One of my top priorities is to unlock the economic potential of this Organization by strengthening public–private collaboration. In the coming months, the United States intends to convene sector-focused engagements bringing together OAS ambassadors with U.S. and regional businesses — including in manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, technology, digital access, and agriculture.

I present to you today four words that I hope are proudly echoed throughout every nation in our hemisphere: “MADE IN THE AMERICAS.”

Just outside this very room also stands the bust of Henry Clay, one of the earliest American statesmen to advocate for closer economic ties across our hemisphere. Clay argued that a nation’s prosperity rests on the enterprise of its people and the strength of its commercial relationships. His vision helped shape the early Inter-American system — and it remains essential to our shared future. The United States strongly supports initiatives such as the Americas Business Dialogue, the Americas Competitiveness Exchange, and capacity building for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. When investment expands and innovation grows, pressures that drive illegal immigration diminish and economic stability strengthens.

The United States also supports the people of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba who continue to strive toward democratic governments that respect human dignity, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. OAS electoral observation missions remain among the most credible tools in the world for protecting the sovereign will of the people. We will continue to support them — and the broader democratic mandates of this Organization.

To remain effective, the OAS must also modernize. That means responsible resource management, eliminating duplication, aligning mandates with measurable outcomes, addressing deadlines for the payment of quotas, and improving performance across the board. Additionally, modernizing should include pursuing alternate sources of income to effectively address the needs of the organization and increase its financial stability. But modernization is not only internal. This Organization must also communicate its value more clearly — showing taxpayers and citizens how it advances security, prosperity, lawful governance, and regional stability.

Although the Tenth Summit of the Americas has been postponed, the United States remains engaged in the preparatory process. We will work with the Dominican Republic and all member states to ensure the Summit delivers concrete outcomes — especially on security, illegal immigration, commercial collaboration, and supply-chain resilience.

Colleagues, this Organization has deep roots — and an even more consequential future. Our very campus reflects that legacy: President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of this building, President William Taft planted the Peace Tree outside this room, and the multitude of Treaties were signed upstairs in the Hall of the Americas. Few institutions in our hemisphere carry this depth of history.

Its role matters now more than at any point in its two century-long history. The United States will engage constructively, candidly, and with purpose. We will work with every member state committed to sovereignty, human dignity, accountable governance, secure borders, and economic opportunity. Our goal is simple: to make the Americas — safer, stronger, and more prosperous.

Speaking also as a husband and the father of daughters, I want to recognize today’s agenda item on eliminating violence against women. This is a shared priority across our hemisphere, and it deserves our common commitment.

President Trump often reminds us that America succeeds when our partners succeed — and we build strength through results, not rhetoric. I end with what I hope to become our new focus made in the Americas.

Thank you very much.