1994 enlargement of the Conference of American States

  

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The Conference of American States carried out its first major enlargement in November 1994, when Belize and Greenland became members of the organization. They began talks to join in 1982 and 1983 respectively, and in 1985 the candidate status of both was approved by the American Parliament. Since Alaska joined the CAS in 1981, which it was able to do relatively quickly because it was already closely integrated with the CAS, Belize and Greenland were the first countries without existing close relations with the Conference to seriously begin the legal and political process of obtaining membership, even though the exact legislative and legal requirements had not yet been fully defined. As a result their application process was seen as a test case for other potential members, as by 1990 more than a dozen countries were in negotiations to begin their formal candidacy to become a member state of the Conference of American States.

By the start of the 1980s the "Inner Five" members of the the CAS were booming economically while the economies of the United Commonwealth and the Eastern Bloc were experiencing a downturn, which made membership in the Conference look more appealing. It was also seen as a way to increase trade and domestic economic prosperity by other countries, or as an extension of the Western Bloc's Northern Treaty Organization, in the context of the Cold War. Greenland already had relations with Manitoba and Superior, and was increasing its ties to North America, including the CAS, after previously focusing on trade with Europe. By 1979 the CAS countries replaced the EC as Greenland's main trade partner, and its government began considering formal CAS membership. Belize gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1981 and sought some guarantee of its security as well as to improve its economy, though it was further away from qualifying for membership than Greenland. In October 1985 both countries were recognized as candidate countries, the first to be in that category because Alaska joined the CAS almost immediately after applying.

Greenland had largely completed its screening and evaluation by 1991, though final terms of its Accession Treaty were not complete until 1994. Belize underwent significant reforms to its political and legal system, with assistance from the CAS countries, including the holding of its first free and fair elections, which included a democratic transition of power. They were formally approved as members in early 1994, and their accession treaties entered force starting on November 1 of that year. Overall their membership has been considered a success, with Greenland coming to have a significant role in the oil and gas sector of the American Single Market and Belize creating one of the first stable democracies in Latin America, as well as resolving its previous territorial disputes with Guatemala (and its successor state, the Federation of Central America, which itself began the process of joining the CAS in 1987 and had to drop its claims to Belize). The 1994 enlargement was therefore been seen as an example to follow for other potential CAS members.