Potential Threat: The New OAS Concept of Hemispheric Security.

The declaration on security in the Americas, adopted by the OAS (Organization of American States) in October 2003, created a new concept of hemispheric security that broadens the traditional definition of national defense to incorporate new threats, including political, economic, social, health, and environmental concerns, to such an extent that almost any problem can now be considered a security threat. The implementation of this new concept may lead to greater "securitization" of the region's problems, defined …

…political, economic, social or environmental nature that, in principle, should not be part of an agenda of hemispheric security. 2. The declaration dilutes the historic difference between the concepts of defense and public (or citizen) security that has existed in the region until now by failing to distinguish traditional security threats from new threats. The armed forces play a central role in defense of the country, understood as the protection of the integrity of the States.