The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. COHA was established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere, raise the visibility of regional affairs and increase the importance of the inter-American relationship, as well as encourage the formulation of rational and constructive United States policies towards Latin America.

Since its inception, COHA has been one of the most active and broadest-based U.S. private bodies dealing with the entire spectrum of political, economic and diplomatic issues, as well as responding to the economic and political challenges confronting the nations of this hemisphere.