Proclamation 4911—Pan American Day and Pan American Week, 1982

This fifty-first observance of Pan American Day invites us to celebrate the common heritage that inspires and guides our unique regional approach to problem solving through the Organization of American States.

The OAS has fostered hemispheric friendship and well-being through its peacekeeping efforts, peaceful settlement of disputes, protection of individual rights and human dignity, promotion of industry and trade, and sponsorship of meaningful cultural exchanges. Its humanitarian concerns are evident in the programs of such specialized agencies as the Inter-American Children's Institute, the Pan American Health Organization, and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture.

Through programs such as these and through the Inter-American Development Bank, which it helped to found in 1961, the OAS has greatly enhanced the economic development of its members.

Peace, prosperity, and freedom throughout the Americas continue to be the most deep-seated desires of the nations and peoples of this hemisphere. The OAS has symbolized these desires through a permanent system of regional inter-American cooperation. It has provided a forum where members meet freely in friendship, cooperation, and mutual respect to address common problems and differences.

During this special week, the people of the United States extend cordial greetings to their brothers and sisters throughout the hemisphere. We reaffirm our commitment to the spirit of solidarity and to the ideals and goals of the inter-American system. And we express our strong support for the Organization of American States as a strong vehicle for translating that commitment into reality.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, April 14, 1982, as Pan American Day and the week beginning April 11, 1982, as Pan American Week; and I urge the Governors of the fifty states, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and officials of the other areas under the flag of the United States of America to honor these observances with appropriate activities and ceremonies.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 22nd day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixth.

RONALD REAGAN