UN General Assembly
1963

5. In 1826, on Bolívar's initiative, a Congress was held in Panama for the purpose of setting up a great continental confederation consisting of all the American nations, which would maintain peace among its member States and between them and the rest of the world and provide a common defence for the rights of the members of the confederation. Dr. J. M. Yepes, the distinguished Colombian student of international affairs, has the following to say of this Congress: "Nothing was lacking that we should today consider essential for the proper functioning of an institution of this kind. The qualification for membership of the proposed confederation was laid down: all American States, the only requirement for admission being signature of the articles of confederation. The supreme authority of the confederation was defined: i.e., the 'General Assembly’, a democratic body in which each member State was represented on a footing of complete juridical equality with the rest. The policy of the association was also specifically defined: maintenance of peace, collective security, mutual defence and assistance against aggression; guarantees of the political independence and territorial integrity of member States; peaceful settlement of all international disputes, whatever their nature or origin; codification of international law; finally, the just use of force to safeguard the rule of law.".