O Pacto do Rio, o Uso da Força e a Organização dos Estados Americanos

The chapter examines the regional mechanisms for the use of force established within the Inter-American System, particularly the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), known as the Rio Pact, and its relationship with the United Nations Charter. It first reviews the legal framework for the use of force by regional organizations under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, distinguishing between actions authorized by the Security Council and collective self-defense measures under Article 51. The study then focuses on the Organization of American States (OAS), analyzing its role as the institutional framework through which the TIAR operates. It provides a detailed examination of key precedents in which the OAS and the TIAR were invoked—such as the Dominican Republic crisis (1965), the Cuban question (1960–1975), and the Falklands/Malvinas War (1982) — highlighting how these episodes revealed the political instrumentalization of the system, especially by the United States. The chapter concludes that the decline of the TIAR and the loss of credibility of the inter-American collective security system stem from its dependence on U.S. interests and the absence of effective mechanisms of mutual assistance. The Falklands War represented, in this sense, “the last nail in the coffin” of the Rio Pact. The possible entry into force of the 1975 Reform Protocol could, however, offer a path to revitalizing the inter-American collective defense framework.