Jose Luis Campo re-elected Americas Paralympic Committee President

Argentinian Jose Luis Campo was re-elected President of the Americas Paralympic Committee (APC) at the APC General Assembly held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday (18 March).

Campo received 16 votes; there were two abstentions and one vote was void.

"It is an honour for me to have the support of the region and I am hoping to repay their confidence in me with four more years of hard work and achievements," he said.

Campo was elected APC founding President in 1997 and served two terms until 2005, when he was replaced by Brazil’s Andrew Parsons. Colombia’s Octavio Londono was President from 2009-2013.

"I presented myself for a fourth term as APC President because I feel I can still contribute to the progress of different areas that can still be improved," Campo said.

"Our aim is to help the NPCs get stronger and more professionalised, and continue raising awareness of the Paralympic Movement across the Americas."

The members for the other four positions on the APC Executive Committee were also elected.

Cuba´s Eduardo Montenegro was elected Vice-president for a second successive term after receiving 10 votes, against eight from the USA’s Julie O´Neill.

After one round of voting, Ecuador’s Bayron Lopez (17 votes), Julie O´Neill (12) and Colombia´s Pedro Mejia (10) were chosen the three new Members at Large.

Besides the elections at the APC General Assembly, which took place ahead of the Youth Parapan American Games opening on Monday (20 March), Xavier González, CEO of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), gave the financial report. The current status of the Strategic Plan and its future was presented by outgoing Member at Large Karen O’Neill.

Outgoing APC Members at Large, Dionicio Zeledon of Nicaragua and Eladio Agramonte of Dominican Republic, gave two reports about the development of Para sports in Central America and the Caribbean, respectively.

O’Neill talked about how to get more women involved in the Movement, whilst APC Athlete Representative Ileana Rodriguez encouraged the different NPCs to create an Athlete Council.

Andres Viale of the Lima 2019 Organising Committee gave an update on preparations for the Parapan American Games.

A presentation on the IPC’s athlete education programme "Proud Paralympian" and Agitos Foundation programmes that are being held across the continent was given by Programme Development Senior Manager Jennifer Wong and Development Manager Jose Cabo.

Delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, CP Football (observer), Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, IWBF Americas, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru (observer), Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, USA and Venezuela were in attendance.

The Americas Paralympic Committee (APC) is the regional organisation, recognised as the sole regional representative of the Americas Region.

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