Orfila, Washington Alejandro José Luis (1925–)
Orfila, Washington Alejandro José Luis (1925–)
Alejandro Orfila, an Argentine diplomat, served as secretary general of the Organization of American States. Born on March 9, 1925, in the city of Mendoza, Orfila's father was then governor of Mendoza Province. In 1946, when Federico Cantoni became the first Argentine ambassador appointed to the USSR, Orfila was assigned to Cantoni's staff. This early experience was followed by consular posts in Varsovia (1947), San Francisco (1948) and New Orleans (1949). Orfila's diplomatic career began in the Argentine embassy in Washington. In 1960 he was appointed ambassador to Japan; as such he returned to Washington in 1973. On May 17, 1975, Orfila was elected secretary general of the Organization of American States, and reelected for the period 1980–1985, but resigned in 1984. During his tenure as secretary general of the OAS, the treaties between Panama and the United States were signed (1977), by which full sovereignty over the Panama Canal reverts to Panama in 1999. He authored The Americas in the 1980s (1980). In 1994 Orfila purchased a winery in southern California, where he continues to live.
See alsoOrganization of American States (OAS) .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atkins, G. Pope. Encyclopedia of the Inter-American System. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Celso RodrÍguez