Luis Leonardo Almagro Lemes (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis alˈmaɣɾo]; born June 1, 1963) is a Uruguayan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who currently serves as the 10th Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) since 2015.

[2] During his tenure in the Mujica administration, the country received several detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and dozens of Syrian families who were civilian victims, as well as maintained a military presence in Haiti to ensure the reconstruction process after the 2010 earthquake.

[3] After leaving government service, Almagro was elected Senator of the Republic in 2014 for the 48th Legislature and assumed his seat in March 2015, however, he resigned a few months later to take office as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Also responsible for trade, Almagro also played a key role in expanding and diversifying Uruguay market access, raising exports each year of his term.

A strong advocate for refugees, Almagro played an integral role in negotiating the transfer of a group of ex-detenidos (former detainees) from Guantanamo Bay detention camp to Uruguay.

In addition to four programmatic pillars of democracy, human rights, security and development, he announced a set of new strategic initiatives to achieve this goal including Under the renewed vision, Almagro continues to champion key OAS initiatives including the Inter-American Human Rights System, the Inter-American Judicial Facilitators Program, the MACCIH, and the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP), along with electoral cooperation and observation missions as priorities for the organization.

On 3 March 2020, Santiago Abascal of the far-right Spanish political party Vox met with Almagro, with the two discussing the creation of the anti-leftist organization, the Madrid Forum.

[15] Members of the Madrid Forum again met with Almagro in March 2023, presenting the ongoing Peruvian protests as an international "destabilization campaign" against President Dina Boluarte.

[30] Following the suspension of the second round of presidential elections on January 24, 2016, President Michel Martelly requested assistance from OAS Secretary General Almagro to facilitate a discussion on finding a way forward.

In the spring of 2015, widespread protests erupted when a multi-million corruption scandal involving the Honduran social security system was uncovered by the local media.

In August 2015, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández invited Secretary General Almagro to Honduras to facilitate a dialogue and response to the protests.

[35][36][37] Led by Almagro, the General Secretariat of the OAS activated different diplomatic and denouncing mechanisms to expose the serious situation that the Central American country faces.

While the agreement is currently on hold given the ongoing crisis, Secretary Almagro remains a staunch supporter of mechanisms that would allow for redemocratization, and to achieve justice for the hundreds of Nicaraguan victims.

[40] The Secretary General continues to lead the international community in advocating publicly on behalf of political prisoners[42] and for a return to the constitutional order in Venezuela.

In this Report, the Secretary General stated that there was “evidence that pointed to the systematic, tactical and strategic use of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence” are part of a targeted campaign and systemic policy against those who opposed the government.

The OAS General Secretariat was tasked with monitoring further developments in Venezuela and to “specifically look at the individuals and institutions that directly or indirectly enable the use of these repressive tactics and tools” to determine whether crimes against humanity have taken place.

In May 2018, the Panel of Independent Experts released their report indicating that there are reasonable grounds that satisfy the burden of proof required by Article 52 of the Rome Statue, to believe that crimes against humanity had taken place in Venezuela.

[45] During subsequent months, the Secretary General worked diligently to identify a coalition of countries to take the historic step of invoking Article 14 of the Rome Statute and refer the situation in Venezuela to the ICC.

On September 26, 2018, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru formally submitted the Article 14 referral to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

The 33 magistrates, elected by the National Assembly in July 2017, were forced to take office in exile due to political persecution, intimidation and threats of being detained by the Maduro dictatorship.