Olade - Latin American Energy Organization

OLADE, arises from the search for a new equitable economic relationship between Latin American and Caribbean countries, in a regional context marked by large imbalances between the structure of energy consumption and the ability to satisfy it with local resources. At the beginning of the 1970s, during the oil price crisis, the energy authorities of Latin America and the Caribbean, as a result of two consultative meetings, valuing integration as an encouraging option for covering the energy needs of the region and a gradual solution to the large gaps in the trade balances of the oil importing countries, the establishment of a regional body dedicated to energy development was considered.

Aware of the need to coordinate actions for the development of energy resources and jointly address problems related to their efficient and rational use, the region’s energy ministers gathered in Lima, Peru to constitute an intergovernmental body aimed at promoting the use of energy resources as a factor of regional integration, reaffirming the importance of coordinating solidarity actions for their defense and preservation.

In this context, the plenipotentiaries designated by the founding Member States, on November 2, 1973, signed the Lima Agreement, an instrument that, at the forefront of its times, proposes, through the creation of a cooperation and advisory body, promoting energy integration based on solidarity of actions for the independent development of energy resources. In order to achieve these ends, the OLADE constitutive treaty proposes the promotion of effective national policies aimed at guaranteeing the rational use of energy resources, serving as a platform for the design and implementation of a regional energy policy that enables Member Countries to insert themselves as a block in the international scene. In this sense, the Lima Agreement includes among the objectives and functions of OLADE, the coordination of interstate negotiations aimed at ensuring the stable and sufficient supply of the energy necessary for the integral progress of nations, tending industrialization and the corresponding development and the complementation of the infrastructure and means of transport.

OLADE’s Executive Secretary is elected by the Meeting of Ministers of Energy of Latin America and the Caribbean (the highest governance body of the organization) for a period of three years, with the possibility of a single re-election for three more years. The procedure for convening, electing and taking office is governed by the provisions of the Lima Agreement, constituent treaty of the Organization, and in observance of the provisions established for this purpose in OLADE’s General Regulations.

To occupy the position of OLADE’s Executive Secretary, the candidate must have the official application of the Ministry of Energy of their country of origin, comply with the training and professional experience requirements established in the Lima Agreement, and obtain during the process of Election of the favorable vote of at least two thirds of the Member Countries attending and with the right to vote (OLADE has 27 Member States from Latin America and the Caribbean).

The Executive Secretary in the exercise of his powers established in the Lima Agreement, is in charge of the responsibilities concerning the exercise of the institutional representation of the Organization; directly and immediately manage and administer the Permanent Secretariat and guarantee compliance with the functions assigned to the OLADE executive body. To this end, he acts as Secretary of the Meeting of Ministers and of the Council of Experts, he also exercises the legal and institutional representation of the Organization.

In November 2016, the OLADE Meeting of Ministers elected the Uruguayan Alfonso Blanco Bonilla, Mechanical Industrial Engineer from the University of the Republic of Uruguay, Master in Administration and Business from the ORT University and Diploma in Economics from the University of the Republic Oriental del Uruguay, for the period 2017-2020. At the Meeting of Ministers, held in Lima in November 2019, Alfonso Blanco was reelected for a second term from January 2020 to January 2023.

The Lima Agreement includes among its powers: recommending policy alternatives to overcome disadvantageous situations that affect the Member States; examine and evaluate the results of the activities of the Permanent Secretariat; set the contributions of the Member States; approve and modify the Internal Regulations; appoint and remove the Executive Secretary; and to know, approve or deny the entry of new Members as well as the incorporation of Permanent Observers and Non-Full Members in to OLADE.

It exercises its authority by approving guidelines and mandates contained in Ministerial Decisions, which are executed by the Permanent Secretariat with the support and advise of the Council of Experts.

It is the advisory body in charge of providing technical support and assistance to the Meeting of Ministers and the Permanent Secretariat, in all matters related to the fulfillment of the objectives and functions of the Organization, in correspondence with the requests and needs of the Member States. .

It acts as a preparatory commission for the Meeting of Ministers and is in charge of carrying out studies and implementing activities entrusted to it by the highest governing body of OLADE. It is made up of Delegates appointed by the Member States.

It meets regularly twice a year, and extraordinarily according to the causes set forth in OLADE’s internal regulations.