OAS Election Postponed for Pope's Funeral

05 April 2005

The 34-nation Organization of American States (OAS) has postponed choosing a new chief, saying many foreign ministers who had planned to attend the election session here in Washington are instead heading to Rome for the pope's funeral.

The OAS Permanent Council had scheduled an election to choose a new secretary general on Thursday, but the vote will now take place April 11.

The top candidates for the post are Mexico's conservative foreign secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez, Chile's socialist interior minister Jose Miguel Insulza and a pro-business former Salvadoran president with close ties to Washington - Francisco Flores.