Panama is currently a member of the UN General Assembly (and most major UN agencies) and has served three terms in the UN Security Council. In November 2006 it was elected to serve a two year term on the Security Council, beginning January 1, 2007. It maintains membership in several international financial institutions, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
Panama is a member of the Organization of American States and was a founding member of the Rio Group. Although it was suspended from the Latin American Economic System — known informally both as the Group of Eight and the Rio Group — in 1988 due to its internal political system under Manuel Noriega, Panama was readmitted in September 1994 as an acknowledgment of its present democratic credentials.
Panama also is one of the founding members of the Union of Banana Exporting Countries and belongs to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. Panama is a member of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) as well as the Central American Integration System (SICA). Panama joined its six Central American neighbors at the 1994 Summit of the Americas in signing the Alliance for Sustainable Development known as the Conjunta Centroamerica-USA or CONCAUSA to promote sustainable economic development in the region.
Panama is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).
Famous quotes containing the words foreign and/or relations:
“the young men who watch us from the curbs:
They hold the glaze of wonder in their stare
Our crooked backs, hands fetid as old herbs,
The tallow eyes, wax face, the foreign hair!”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“When one walks, one is brought into touch first of all with the essential relations between one’s physical powers and the character of the country; one is compelled to see it as its natives do. Then every man one meets is an individual. One is no longer regarded by the whole population as an unapproachable and uninteresting animal to be cheated and robbed.”
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947)