In light of the June 28 overthrow of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, the Council of the Americas hosted a July 9 discussion of the recent political crisis. Panelists debated about factors contributing to the crisis, the U.S. and OAS responses, and the road ahead for Honduras.
Program Summaries
Chilean Minister of Finance Andrés Velasco, Canadian Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty, and World Bank President Robert Zoellick joined AS/COA's Santiago conference. Topics included the global economic downturn in Latin America, Chile's response, and the role that hemispheric integration and investment will play in recovery.
In an AS/COA panel, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and New York Times science reporter Andrew Revkin outlined how the economic gains of a trans-South American highway come at environmental costs.
AS/COA brought together a panel of experts to examine polls ahead of Mexico's midterm elections. Topics also included possibilities for fiscal reform given the probably political make-up of the country's congress after the July 5 vote.
With an eye to the recent conflict in Peru's Amazon region, the Council of the Americas hosted a June 18 briefing in Washington by Peru’s Ambassador to the U.S. Luis Valdivieso.
In the thirteenth AS/COA Bogota Conference, President Álvaro Uribe talked about his government's efforts to build confidence in the face of global economic challenges. Panelists also offered insight into financial and energy issues.
AS/COA’s annual São Paulo Conference examined the state of the Brazilian economy, prospects for growth in light of the crisis, energy and climate change initiatives, the U.S.-Brazilian relationship, and corporate governance in Brazil and abroad.