Pan-American conferences

Pan-American conferences, or Inter-American conferences, meetings of representatives of independent nations of the Western Hemisphere to discuss political, legal, military, economic, and social issues. The first such conference, organized largely through the efforts of Simón Bolívar, was held in Panama City in 1826. Further meetings were held throughout the 19th century. A conference in 1889 established the International Union of American Republics, later called the Pan American Union. Conferences organized by F.D. Roosevelt (1938–47) dealt with economic and defense issues. The Organization of American States (OAS), formed in 1948, added anticommunism to the agenda.

See also: Simón Bolívar; Organization of American States.