The 22nd Congress of the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP) was held last 9-13 September in Havana, Cuba. The Portuguese delegation included representatives from ANACOM and the CTT national postal service.
The Congress is UPAEP's topmost body and meets every four years. Decisions made at this congress include results of elections for the post of secretary-general (SG), which represents the organisation and heads a permanent support structure, and for the management committee (MC), a restricted body that reports to the Advisory and Executive Committee (AEC). The MC closely accompanies the organisation’s management activities, supporting the AEC which ensures continuity of the organisation’s work between Congresses and the SG.
Roberto Cavanna of Ecuador was elected SG and will begin his four-year term in January 2014, succeeding Serrana Bassini Casco of Uruguay, who has led the UPAEP for the last eight years.
The following were elected to the MC (by decreasing order of votes): Uruguay, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Spain and the Dominican Republic. The first and second most voted countries will respectively hold the first and second vice-chairs of the MC, a body which Cuba will inherently lead (as well as the AEC), because it was host and chair of this Congress.
Other significant issues dealt with by the Congress concern the Union’s finances, due to the period of financial hardship affecting the member countries (especially the more developed ones, which pay higher contributions to the budget), and reorganisation of the working groups and other bodies that function between congresses. The aim is to achieve a more efficient structure better adjusted to evolution of the postal sector in overall terms and for each member country in particular.
The Congress also decided to accept Venezuela’s invitation to host the next Congress, to be held in 2017 (the date and site have yet to be determined).
