U.S. Embassy in Montevideo

Ambassador David D. Nelson Arrives in Uruguay

2010-01-28T09:54:00.003-02:00

Career diplomat David D. Nelson, confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, arrived in Montevideo with his wife Gloria January 26, 2010. Uruguayan Protocol director, Ambassador Cesar Rodriguez, and senior U.S. Embassy officials welcomed Ambassador Nelson upon his arrival at the Port of Montevideo. Ambassador Nelson will soon be presenting his credentials to Uruguay President Tabare Vazquez.

Ambassador Nelson looks forward to working with Uruguay to deepen bilatertal relations. In his confirmation statement delivered before the Foreign Relations Committee on December 1, 2009 Nelson described Uruguay as an example of stable democracy, not only by holding regular elections, but with a deep commitment to democratic values, civil rights, and civil society. “Uruguayan leaders of all parties are dedicated to improving the situation of all Uruguayans, including through education and market-led economic growth. Uruguay’s commitment to education is highlighted by its recent achievement of providing a laptop computer to every student”.

USNS Comfort Begins Treating Haiti Earthquake Patients

2010-01-25T10:57:00.002-02:00

The U.S. Navy’s 1,000-bed hospital ship Comfort arrived off the Haitian shore and began receiving patients from the January 12 earthquake even before it dropped anchor in Port-au-Prince harbor.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the arrival of the Comfort is “a big help,” as international medical personnel on the ground continue to cope with casualties despite ongoing challenges resulting from the natural disaster.
Speaking to reporters at the State Department January 20, Clinton said the Comfort has brought with it more than 600 American medical personnel and “adds important capacity to our relief efforts.”
“Already patients are being taken onboard via helicopter and treated,” she said.

See compelete article:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2010/10-029EN.shtml

Former U.S. Presidents Team Up for Haiti Relief Fund

2010-01-20T10:05:00.007-02:00

Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton teamed up to spearhead a global fundraising effort to rebuild Haiti in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that has killed tens of thousands and injured even more.
“By coming together in this way, these two leaders send an unmistakable message to the people of Haiti and to the people of the world. In these difficult hours, America stands united,” President Obama said at a televised White House press conference January 16 with Bush and Clinton at his side. “We stand united with the people of Haiti, who have shown such incredible resilience, and we will help them to recover and to rebuild.”
Bush and Clinton created a Web site, which is designed to begin a fundraising campaign that will be needed to support immediate relief efforts and to address long-term recovery efforts:
http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/

See complete article:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2010/10-022EN.shtml

Haiti Disaster Relief Is Top U.S. Priority Right Now, Obama Says

2010-01-20T10:01:00.001-02:00

The first wave of American search-and-rescue teams, disaster relief experts, military forces and supplies are at work in Haiti, beginning what President Obama says will be a massive U.S. relief effort in response to the January 12 earthquake, which caused losses that he called “nothing less than devastating.”
“None of this will seem quick enough if you have a loved one who’s trapped, if you’re sleeping on the streets, if you can’t feed your children. But it’s important that everybody in Haiti understand, at this very moment, one of the largest relief efforts in our recent history is moving towards Haiti,” the president told reporters at the White House January 14.
Obama said he told his national security team that Haiti “must be a top priority for their departments and agencies right now.” The moment calls for American leadership, he said, and “responding to a disaster of this magnitude will require every element of our national capacity — our diplomacy and development assistance, the power of our military and, most importantly, the compassion of our country.”
See complete article:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2010/10-018EN.shtml

U.S. Search-and-Rescue Teams Are Arriving in Haiti

2010-01-20T09:58:00.000-02:00

The U.S. Agency for International Development has dispatched a disaster assessment team along with a U.S. military assessment team to determine the scope of the humanitarian crisis affecting the Haitian people in the aftermath of one of the region’s most violent earthquakes in a century.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said January 13 that an agency Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) was expected to arrive in Haiti from San Jose, Costa Rica, about 1:30 p.m. EST (18:30 GMT) to assess the crisis even as relief efforts from governments and relief agencies gear up their responses. He said two urban search-and-rescue teams with 72 personnel each are being sent to Haiti.
In addition to a USAID mission already in Haiti, the deputy commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Army Lieutenant General P.K. Keen, is in Port-au-Prince and has already begun providing an assessment for the U.S. military, SOUTHCOM Commander General Douglas Fraser said at a special briefing January 13 in Washington.
USAID is working in conjunction with the U.S. departments of State, Defense and Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in mounting relief efforts, he added.
See complete article:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2010/10-015EN.shtml

Clinton Sees U.S. Aid Based on “Partnership, Not Patronage”

2010-01-20T09:55:00.002-02:00

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the United States is elevating development to play a role equal to diplomacy and defense in U.S. foreign policy, and says efforts to end poverty and inequality are indispensible to creating a more stable and democratic world.
The secretary spoke January 6 at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. She said the Obama administration’s emphasis on development is based on “partnership, not patronage,” with the countries it is seeking to help.
Instead of dictating solutions from afar, the United States will work with countries that “take the lead in designing and implementing evidence-based strategies with clear goals,” Clinton said.
“Development built on consultation rather than decree is more likely to engender the local leadership and ownership necessary to turn good ideas into lasting results,” she said.
See complete article:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2010/10-005EN.shtml

Secretary Clinton on U.S. Human Rights Agenda for 21st Century

2009-12-30T15:15:00.001-02:00

"Today, I want to speak to you about the Obama Administration’s human rights agenda for the 21st century. It is a subject on the minds of many people who are eager to hear our approach, and understandably so, because it is a critical issue that warrants our energy and our attention. My comments today will provide an overview of our thinking on human rights and democracy and how they fit into our broader foreign policy, as well as the principles and policies that guide our approach.
But let me also say that what this is not. It could not be a comprehensive accounting of abuses or nations with whom we have raised human rights concerns. It could not be and is not a checklist or a scorecard. We issue a Human Rights Report every year and that goes into great detail on the concerns we have for many countries. But I hope that we can use this opportunity to look at this important issue in a broader light and appreciate its full complexity, moral weight, and urgency. And with that, let me turn to the business at hand."

See complete speech:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-338aEN.shtml

Launching of the Frank and Kathy Baxter Science Corner

2009-12-15T12:40:00.003-02:00

The Frank and Kathy Baxter Science Corner of the Alianza Binational Center debuted yesterday with a live video conference featuring former Apollo XI astronaut, Buzz Aldrin.
Buzz spoke with Uruguayan students and scientists telling of his experience as a crew memeber of Apollo XI and landing on the Moon forty years ago, and the future prospects for the peaceful use of space to benefit mankind.
The Frank and Kathy Baxter Science Corner is intended to create an environment of communication between the Uruguayan and U.S. scientific communities for the exchange of advanced scientific information, to provide support materials and to encourage the study of science.
Frank Baxter is a former U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay.

See photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassy_montevideo/sets/72157622969466564/show/

Obama’s Acceptance of Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo

2009-12-15T12:35:00.002-02:00

Today, President Obama formally accepted the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
"I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict -- filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other," remarked President Obama in his acceptance speech. "There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified," he added
See complete speech:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-332EN.shtml

Clinton Cites AIDS as Defining Health Challenge of Today

2009-12-15T12:24:00.003-02:00

Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton highlighted the continued threat HIV/AIDS poses to the world in a special event at the White House, calling HIV/AIDS “the defining health challenge of our time.”
Speaking November 30 with senior administration officials responsible for the global fight against HIV/AIDS, Clinton said, “We are gathered on the eve of World AIDS Day to renew and recommit ourselves” to helping the 33 million people worldwide afflicted with the disease that still has no known cure.
World AIDS Day was adopted by 140 countries in 1988. It is commemorated every December 1 to raise awareness about the pandemic that has killed more than 25 million people since it began in 1981.

Clinton used the White House event to mention a new five-year global AIDS strategy that will be unveiled later in the week and to announce that Washington will host the 2012 International AIDS Conference since the ban on people with AIDS entering the country had been lifted by President Obama.

See complete article:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-322EN.shtml

Video Contest

2009-08-04T16:34:00.000-03:00

To commemorate the independences of the United States and Uruguay, the U.S. Embassy Montevideo has launched an online video contest inviting contestants to submit a three-minute video on the subject "Uruguay and the United States".
The contest is open to all interested parties. Entries can be submitted individually or in teams. More than one entry per person or team is allowed. The videos can be in Spanish or in English. The use of subtitles is encouraged. Videos containing unauthorized copyrighted material will be disqualified.
Contestants must submit their videos, no more than 3 minutes in length, directly to YouTube, as a response to the promotional video of the contest: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qU14W4vqNA.
A panel of renowned experts in communications will be selected to judge the entries. The winner, to be announced as soon as the panel has reached a decision, will be awarded a high definition digital video camera.
The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Uruguay's Independence Day.

U.S. Regions Experiencing Climate Change Effects Now, Report Says

2009-06-23T11:33:00.001-03:00

By Cheryl Pellerin

The first U.S. report in nearly a decade to assess the impacts of climate change in different regions of the United States confirms and extends research that describes rising sea and air temperatures and sea levels, melting ice, intensified hurricanes and many other changes that are happening now. Such changes will continue into the future, affecting water resources, agriculture, coastal areas and health.
Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, called a state-of-knowledge report, was released June 16 during a briefing at the White House by John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The report, in development for more than a year, “tells us why remedial action is needed sooner rather than later,” Holdren said in a statement. It shows “why that action must include both global emissions reductions to reduce the extent of climate change and local adaptation measures to reduce the damage from the changes that are no longer avoidable.”
Findings are based largely on results of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and that Congress included in the Global Change Research Act of 1990. Thirteen federal agencies participate in the work of the USGCRP.

[See complete article: http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-208EN.shtml]

U.S. Electric System Begins Long Transformation to a Smart Grid

2009-04-15T15:20:00.004-03:00

Following the lead of some European and Pacific Rim nations, U.S. government technical and regulatory agencies, electric utilities, energy service providers and private companies are working to turn the nation’s century-old electric power grid into a 21st-century “smart grid”.

More information on our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-128EN.shtml

Obama to Allow More Travel, Money Transfers to Cuba

2009-04-14T14:08:00.001-03:00

Actions intended to reach out directly to the Cuban people

The United States will allow Cuban Americans unlimited travel and money transfers to family in Cuba, the White House says.
Cuban Americans may also send clothes, personal hygiene items, seeds, fishing gear and other personal necessities to family members in Cuba. Businesses will be able to obtain licenses to sell cellular telephones, television services and other telecommunications devices to Cubans, with family members in the United States allowed to pay for them, the White House said.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-126EN.shtml

Economic Crisis Top Item on Summit of the Americas Agenda

2009-04-13T16:33:00.000-03:00

The fifth Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad and Tobago, April 17–19

One of the central issues confronting the 34 leaders of the Western Hemisphere is that the economic gains so hard won over the past six years are being threatened by the downturn in the global economy, says the White House adviser for the April 17–19 Summit of the Americas.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-121aEN.shtml

United States Hosts 32nd Meeting of Antarctic Treaty Nations

2009-04-13T14:19:00.001-03:00

Historic Antarctic Treaty, Arctic Council joint session launches meeting

At a critical time for the Antarctic Peninsula, which scientists say is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth, and the increasing loss of summer ice in the Arctic Ocean, the first joint session of officials representing the Antarctic Treaty and the Arctic Council convened April 6 in Baltimore.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-120aEN.shtml

United States to Seek Membership on U.N. Human Rights Council

2009-04-06T14:57:00.002-03:00

U.S. Ambassador Rice says Human Rights Council must be balanced

The United States believes that working within the U.N. Human Rights Council is the best way to improve the council’s goal of thwarting global human rights abuses, says the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

More ifnormation at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-117EN.shtml

Doubling Financial Resources for Agricultural Development

2009-04-03T15:46:00.001-03:00

Obama calls on Congress to increase support for developing countries

Obama Calls G20 Summit a Turning Point for Recovery

2009-04-03T12:58:00.001-03:00

U.S. increases foreign assistance globally across social, economic sectors

President Obama says the G20 Summit is a turning point in the pursuit of global economic recovery.
“The London Summit was historic. It was historic because of the size and scope of the challenges we face and because of the timeliness and magnitude of our response,” Obama said at an April 2 press conference following the daylong summit in London’s Docklands section along the Thames River.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-114EN.shtml

Obama News Conference on U.S. Economy

2009-03-26T13:45:00.000-03:00

President also discusses Mexico, Middle East and Iran

At a news conference March 24, President Obama fielded questions about his economic recovery plan, saying, “our economy only works if we recognize that we’re all in this together — that we all have responsibilities to each other and to our country.”

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-107EN.shtml

USDA Implements Lacey Act Plant and Plant Product Declaration Requirement

2009-03-26T13:41:00.000-03:00

Measure aimed at deterring products stemming from the practice of illegal logging

On May 22, 2008, the Lacey Act was amended to make it illegal to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, any plant or products made from plants—with limited exceptions—to be taken or traded in violation of domestic or international laws.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-106EN.shtml

Op-ed by President Obama on Global Economic Cooperation

2009-03-26T13:36:00.000-03:00

President says G20 leaders must take bold, coordinated steps

The piece by President Barack Obama was issued by Tribune Media Services March 23 and is in the public domain:

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-104EN.shtml

Innovation Critical in Battle Against Ancient Tuberculosis

2009-03-26T13:20:00.004-03:00

Tuberculosis (TB) is a 500,000-year-old contagious lung disease that kills someone around the world every 20 seconds. A diagnostic test was developed 125 years ago, its vaccine 80 years ago and drug treatments 40 years ago.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-103EN.shtml

U.S. Navy Carries Filters to Haiti, Dominican Republic, Ghana

2009-03-24T16:46:00.003-03:00

The U.S. Navy is working with U.S.-based nonprofit International Aid during February, March and April to transport household drinking-water filters to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Ghana. This assistance is part of a larger effort by International Aid and partner organizations, which aim to distribute 300,000 filters in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean in the next two years through a new network of filter distribution centers.

“Planetary Skin” Tool Aims to Improve Response to Climate Change

2009-03-23T12:42:00.004-03:00

Every day, on and above Earth, millions of sensors collect vast amounts of data representing interactions among the planet’s systems of land, air, water and life.

The Planetary Skin platform will capture, collect, analyze and report data on environmental conditions around the world.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-101EN.shtml

Remarks by President Obama in Celebration of Nowruz

2009-03-20T16:22:00.001-03:00

President speaks to leaders and people of Iran, seeking partnership

President Obama released today a special video message for all those celebrating Nowruz. Translated "New Day," Nowruz marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the New Year for millions in Iran and other communities around the world. This year, the President wanted to send a special message to the people and government of Iran on Nowruz, acknowledging the strain in our relations over the last few decades. "But at this holiday we are reminded of the common humanity that binds us together," he says.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-097EN.shtml

President Obama Interview on NBC's Tonight Show

2009-03-20T14:31:00.000-03:00

The President talks with Jay Leno about politics, the economy and adjusting to his new lifestyle
More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-100EN.shtml

Stabilizing Afghanistan Common Challenge for America and Iran

2009-03-20T13:34:00.001-03:00

No plans for formal U.S.-Iran talks at upcoming international conferences

In two conferences in March, American and Iranian diplomats will focus on a shared challenge: making new progress on promoting security and development in Afghanistan and the Pakistan border region.
“There are no plans for any substantive meetings with Iran,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood on March 19, but he added that “it’s not unusual for U.S. and Iranian officials to cross paths during a multilateral meeting, so I’m not going to rule anything in or rule anything out.”

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-098EN.shtml

U.S. Central Bank Moves to Pump Up Economy

2009-03-20T13:30:00.000-03:00

Massive purchase of assets dwarfs previous actions

With its interest rate hovering around zero, the Federal Reserve — the U.S. central bank — has resorted to unconventional measures to infuse more than $1 trillion into the ailing financial system.
The bank announced March 18 it will purchase $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $300 billion in long-term Treasury bonds to bring down costs of home-purchase financing and other types of loans as well as to reduce long-term interest rates.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-099EN.shtml

World TB Day is March 24

2009-03-19T15:48:00.002-03:00

TB is one of the three leading causes of deaths worldwide due to an infectious disease
World TB Day is March 24. This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB). The World Health Organization (WHO), the United States, and countries around the world will commemorate this day by celebrating the lives and stories of people affected by TB: women, men and children who have taken TB treatment, medical professionals, researchers, and community workers - all essential team members in the global fight against TB

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-092EN.shtml

Is the United States Headed Toward a New Great Depression?

2009-03-19T14:40:00.006-03:00

Most economists say the government's rescue efforts make that unlikely
(...)Today, as unemployment rises and the recession deepens, growing numbers of people wonder whether the United States could be headed toward a repeat of the Great Depression, when a quarter of the work force was unemployed and millions of Americans fell into poverty. (...)

United States to Participate in World Water Forum

2009-03-19T14:11:00.003-03:00

U.S. to lead interagency delegation to water forum in Istanbul, Turkey
United States Participation in World Water Forum

Acting USAID Administrator Alonzo Fulgham and Daniel A. Reifsnyder, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Sustainable Development, will lead an interagency delegation of technical experts to the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, March 16-22, 2009.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-095EN.shtml

U.S. Companies Focus on Extracting Oil from Algae

2009-03-19T14:08:00.003-03:00

Will it be cost-effective someday soon to produce jet fuel from algae — the same green, viscous substances that can choke aquatic life out of a pond? The Defense Department posed that question to private industry recently and is pushing for an answer with funding.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-094EN.shtml

State Announces Winners of Global Online Video Contest

2009-03-19T13:42:00.001-03:00

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is pleased to announce the four winners of its online video contest, “My Culture + Your Culture =?”.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-093EN.shtml

U.S. Institute Helps Developing Nations Put Climate Data to Use

2009-03-17T15:25:00.002-03:00

As climate variability drives alterations in the physical environment, it is increasingly critical that all nations — especially the most vulnerable — are able to understand and harness climate and weather data in their efforts to adapt to a changing planet.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-091EN.shtml

New Guantánamo Detainee Policy Rooted in International Law

2009-03-17T15:21:00.000-03:00

Elimination of “enemy combatant” status another step toward closure
The Obama administration has issued new standards for holding terrorism suspects at the Guantánamo Bay detention center that are rooted in international law and mark the White House’s latest step toward final closure of the facility by early 2010.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-090EN.shtml

Award Honors, Supports Women Who Fight for Social Justice

2009-03-16T13:26:00.002-03:00

First lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined forces March 11 to congratulate the 2009 winners of the secretary of state’s International Women of Courage awards, celebrate International Women’s Day and announce the Obama administration’s efforts to empower women everywhere.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-089EN.shtml

Vice President Biden Travels to Latin America March 27–30

2009-03-16T13:24:00.001-03:00

Visits to Chile, Costa Rica to discuss upcoming Summit of the Americas

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice PresidentMarch 13, 2009
Vice President Biden to Travel to Latin America
The Vice President will travel to Chile and Costa Rica from March 27-30 to consult with Latin American leaders regarding the Summit of the Americas, which is scheduled for mid-April in Trinidad and Tobago.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-088EN.shtml

Economy Seen as Overarching Issue for Americas Summit

2009-03-16T13:22:00.000-03:00

April 17-19 Summit of the Americas to focus on energy, environment and prosperity

While economic prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability are primary issues for the fifth Summit of the Americas in April, the overarching issue confronting the Western Hemisphere is the current economic crisis, says a senior U.S. diplomat.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-084EN.shtml

12 Fulbright Scholarships Awarded to Uruguayan Students and Educators

2009-03-16T11:55:00.002-03:00

"Building the Fulbright Future" programs promote English and community learning The Fulbright Commission of Uruguay has awarded six students and six educators with scholarships to improve English language skills and foster community involvement in educational initiatives. The scholarships, presented during a ceremony on Mar. 10, 2009, are part of the “Building the Fulbright Future” program supported by the U.S. Embassy.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-085EN.shtml

U.N. Secretary-General Says Violence Against Women Must Stop

2009-03-13T15:51:00.003-03:00

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeated his urgent call for the international community to unite and work harder to end violence against women, marking the United Nations’ observance of International Women’s Day.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-087EN.shtml

U.S.-Supported Foreign Broadcasting Adapts to Digital Age

2009-03-13T15:13:00.002-03:00

The U.S. government’s premier international radio and television broadcast organization — the Voice of America (VOA) — will continue to provide timely news and information to more than 130 million people worldwide while pursing innovative ways to engage this audience, says VOA Director Dan Austin.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-086EN.shtml

Summit of the Americas Expected to Focus on Economic Crisis

2009-03-13T13:37:00.002-03:00

Future U.S.-Cuban relations also will be discussed at April 17–19 summit
A central concern facing the 34 nations at the fifth Summit of the Americas in April will be the global economic crisis and whether the United States will take Latin America's needs into account, say a panel of U.S. specialists on Latin America policy.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-083EN.shtml

President Obama's Address on Education

2009-03-12T13:35:00.005-03:00

President Barack Obama gives remarks on education at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce gathering Tuesday, March 10, 2009, in Washington at the Washington Marriott Metro Center's Grand Ballroom.
In the opening of his speech at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the President met critics head on who complain of too much change, too fast...

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-080EN.shtml

Obama Lifts Ban on Government-Funded Stem Cell Research

2009-03-10T15:27:00.007-03:00

Promising vigorous support for scientists, President Obama signed an executive order lifting the ban on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. He also issued a memorandum to "restore scientific integrity in government decision making".
More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-078EN.shtml

United States Recognizes Women of Courage

2009-03-10T15:22:00.004-03:00

Eight exceptional women are being recognized by the U.S. secretary of state as “Women of Courage.”
The award “pays tribute to outstanding women leaders worldwide” and “recognizes the courage and leadership shown as they struggle for social justice and human rights,” according to a March 5 State Department announcement.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-076EN.shtml

Secretary Clinton's Op-Ed Celebrating International Women's Day

2009-03-10T14:27:00.006-03:00

Global problems "are too big and too complex to be solved without the full participation of women".

"On a trip to China eleven years ago, I met with women activists who told me about their efforts to advance conditions for women in their country. They offered a vivid portrait of the challenges women faced: employment discrimination, inadequate health care, domestic violence, antiquated laws that hindered women’s progress".

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-075aEN.shtml

Singer/Composer Stevie Wonder Honored at White House Ceremony

2009-03-03T16:32:00.004-02:00

At the onset of his career, when he was hailed as a music prodigy before he’d even reached his teens, the word “little” preceded his name.
But Stevie Wonder — newest recipient of the Library of Congress’ prestigious Gershwin Prize for Popular Song — is “little” no more, neither in age nor in terms of his global influence across the musical landscape.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-073EN.shtml

Illegal Drug Trade Takes Lives, Ruins Societies

2009-03-03T14:05:00.003-02:00

The illegal drug trade takes lives, ruins societies and undermines legitimate law enforcement and government institutions, according to the State Department's 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-070aEN.shtml

U.S. Celebrates Women’s Contributions to the World Every March

2009-03-02T15:06:00.004-02:00

Washington — The world-renowned marine biologist, author and environmentalist Rachel Carson is the inspiration for the 2009 National Women’s History Month theme, Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet.
More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-069EN.shtml

Human Rights Report Sees Worldwide Demand for Greater Freedom

2009-03-02T15:03:00.003-02:00

Washington — More people worldwide are demanding greater personal and political freedom, but many governments are resisting this trend, says this year’s human rights report released February 25 by the U.S. Department of State.
“A disturbing number of countries imposed burdensome, restrictive or repressive laws and regulations against NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and the media, including the Internet,” the report says.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-064bEN.shtml

Record Number of Farmers Growing Biotech Crops

2009-03-02T14:54:00.003-02:00

A record 13.3 million farmers in 25 countries are using agricultural biotechnology to help meet the world's food demands, according to a leading agricultural research group. In 2008, the 13th year since biotech crops were first commercialized, farmers planted a record 125 million hectares (309 million acres) of genetically improved crops.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-067EN.shtml

Language-Immersion Program Focuses on Teaching Through Play

2009-03-02T14:46:00.004-02:00

On a Saturday morning, when many of their peers are probably playing sports or watching television, six children listen to their teacher identify toy animals in Chinese. In a nearby classroom, others ask in Arabic for specific colors as they make paper flowers. Next door, a third group sings in French.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-066EN.shtml

Youth Worldwide Join in Call to Stop Use of Child Soldiers

2009-03-02T14:42:00.003-02:00

Thousands of “red hands” presented to U.N. secretary-general

Young people from around the world on February 12 presented U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with thousands of symbolic “red hands” to draw attention to the plight of child soldiers.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-065EN.shtml

Black History Month Honors Legacy of Struggle and Triumph

2009-02-04T12:03:00.003-02:00

Washington — Each February, Black History Month honors the struggles and triumphs of millions of American citizens over the most devastating obstacles — slavery, prejudice, poverty — as well as their contributions to the nation’s cultural and political life.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-039EN.shtml

Obama Orders Guantánamo Shut Down

2009-01-30T14:46:00.009-02:00

Washington — President Obama issued orders closing the detention center at the Guantánamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba within a year and placing new restrictions on interrogation of terrorism suspects.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-022EN.shtml

Barack Obama Becomes 44th President of the United States

2008-12-24T13:01:00.020-02:00

Shortly after noon EST (1700 GMT) January 20, Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office, becoming the 44th president and first African-American leader of the United States.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts administered the oath of office to Obama on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. “I will faithfully execute the office of the president of the United States,” Obama said as he placed his hand on the Bible last used to inaugurate President Abraham Lincoln in 1861.

More information at our web site:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-022EN.shtml

President Obama's Inaugural Adress

2008-12-24T12:57:00.010-02:00

Moments after taking the oath, President Obama gave his first speech, known as the Inaugural Address. He spoke not only to Americans, but to millions across the globe who closely watched the 2008 campaign, election and transition.

More information at our web site

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-022EN.shtml

Youth Ambassador Wins Laptop in State Alumni Draw

2008-12-18T16:52:00.005-02:00

State Alumni Romina Castellini (Youth Ambassador 08) receives a laptop computer from John Dickson, the director of the Office of Public Diplomacy Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs for the U.S. Dept. of State, left, and Embassy Public Affairs Officer Robert Zimmerman, December 17, 2008.

Romina is one of more than 100 Uruguayan alumni that joined the State Alumni network during International Education Week celebrated in mid-November, following Ambassador Baxter's appeal announcing that those who registered would be entered into a raffle to win a laptop.

The embassy also raffled off five State Alumni flash drives to lucky registered alumni. State Alumni (https://alumni.state.gov/) is an online interactive network for all past and current participants of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs.

U.S. Official Will Discuss Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas

2008-12-17T16:41:00.005-02:00

On September 24, leaders from countries in the Western Hemisphere that have free trade agreements with the United States met in New York to announce the launch of the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas initiative. Pathways will deepen existing partnerships and cooperation to ensure that the benefits of free trade and open investment are broadly shared throughout the societies of the region.

On Thursday, December 18, 2008, at 1 p.m. EST (16:00 in Uruguay), Craig Kelly, principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, will join us for a live webchat to discuss the events of the follow-up meeting that took place December 10 and what steps are being taken to strengthen trade partnerships in the Americas.

Craig Kelly was the U.S. ambassador to Chile from 2004 to 2007. From 2001 to 2004 he was executive assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Before that, he served for two years as executive assistant to Thomas Pickering, who was then the under secretary of state for political affairs.

Kelly has served in a variety of overseas posts, including Bogota, Rome and Paris. In Washington he has served in the Western Hemisphere and European bureaus as well as at the National Security Council. He has a Ph.D. in Romance languages and European history from the University of California – Los Angeles and speaks Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. He has a diploma from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration in Paris and attended the National War College in Washington.

This webchat will take place at http://statedept.connectsolutions/wha. No registration is needed. Simply choose "Enter as a Guest," type in your preferred screen name and join the discussion.

The transcript of this webchat will be available on Ask America's webchat page, where information about upcoming webchats is also available.

More information on the Pathways to Prosperity in Americas initiative is available online.

The Many Faces and Facets of Abraham Lincoln

2008-12-15T16:39:00.005-02:00

Abraham Lincoln, widely regarded as one of the greatest U.S. presidents, is the subject of a new exhibition, One Life: The Mask of Lincoln. The exhibition offers rare photographs and other objects that bring visitors tantalizingly close to a man who remains an elusive figure.

One Life: The Mask of Lincoln opened on November 7, 2008, and runs through July 5, 2009. More information on the exhibit is available on the Web site of the National Portrait Gallery.

Missouri State Representative Rachel Storch Vists Uruguay

2008-12-15T16:22:00.005-02:00

Missouri State Representative Rachel Storch, center, stands with Ambassador Baxter and Eisenhower Fellows Carina Novarese, Daniel Pagliano, Pablo Fernandez, Claudio Paolillo and Ricardo Zerbino during a courtesy call Friday, December 12, 2008.

As a state representative, Rachel Storch is a member of three committees - Budget, Ways and Means, and Appropriations and also serves as a Deputy Whip for the Democratic Caucus.

During her fellowship, she will meet with government officials, industry representatives, non-profit executive directors, and scholars to explore the potential for partnerships between the public and private sectors in Missouri, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

More information on the Eisenhower Fellows program is available on the organization's website.

Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2008-12-10T14:44:00.002-02:00

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, defines human freedoms in 30 different articles. Promoting human rights is a daily practice for many Americans, who affirm human freedom and dignity in their everyday endeavors.

http://www.america.gov/publications/ejournalusa/1108.html

Scripps Research Vessel Roger Revelle Visits Montevideo

2008-12-09T17:34:00.006-02:00

U.S. Chargé D'Affaires Robin Matthewman visited the oceanographic research vessel Roger Revelle, December 3, 2008 while berthed at the port of Montevideo to take on supplies and equipment as well as a contingent of scientists who are initiating a research cruise along the southern coast of Argentina.

The vessel is operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research, graduate training, and public service in the world. Revelle is the second of three new-generation AGOR oceanographic ships built by the U.S. Navy for operation by oceanographic institutions.

The current ship's position may be tracked online

Western Hemisphere Ambassadors Will Participate in Forum

2008-12-04T17:29:00.004-02:00

December 5 11:00am EST (1600GMT)

Come and join in a live chat with U.S. Ambassadors from six countries including Paraguay, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, and Guatemala.

Schedule of Events:

11:00-11:30am
U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay Liliana Ayalde
U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Peter Cianchette

11:30am-12:00pm
U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan
U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Earl Anthony Wayne

12:00-12:30pm
U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay Frank Baxter
U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Stephen McFarland

https://statedept.connectsolutions.com/wha

U.S. Leaders Celebrate Life on World AIDS Day

2008-12-04T17:23:00.002-02:00

For World AIDS Day, December 1, United States leaders are calling on Americans to celebrate life and commemorate those who were once dying but are now living and thriving in the fight against the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS.

The State Department encouraged its posts to mark AIDS Day 2008 by “celebrating the work of the dedicated men and women in nations affected by HIV/AIDS who are choosing life, saving the lives of their fellow countrymen and women, and creating hope for a future free of HIV/AIDS.”

“On World AIDS Day, we recommit ourselves to the global challenge of combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and to showing our compassion for those affected here at home and around the world,” President Bush said in a proclamation on World Aids Day.

Visit to "Liceo Jubilar Juan Pablo II"

2008-12-01T16:56:00.003-02:00

Ambassador Frank Baxter visited the “Liceo Jubilar Juan Pablo II”, the first private high school in Uruguay where students attend without paying tuition. It has open its doors to the school system in the country, giving the most needy students a chance to learn and graduate from high school, who, otherwise, would not be able to escape the tough social situation they are in.

The high school is located in a very poor neighborhood called Casavalle and it arose as a result of parents’ hard work in order to have a high school for their kids to continue studying after graduating from elementary school.

The porpose of the visit was to meet the Principal, Gonzalo Amelius, who participated in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program 2008, and to get acquainted with their programs.

Mrs. Baxter was invited on Uruguayan National TV to prepare a Thanksgiving Turkey

2008-11-28T16:48:00.009-02:00

The Ambassador's wife shared her cooking tips live on Channel 12 of Montevideo. With the chef Marcelo Bornio she talked about the best techniques for cooking a Thanksgiving turkey during a morning show called "Bien Despiertos," aired live on Montevideo's Channel 12, November 26, 2008. Although the celebration of Thanksgiving is not part of Uruguayan culture, a great deal of interest has been generated in this event by movies and shows from North America.

Alliance of Youth Movements Summit, December 3-5

2008-11-26T12:52:00.004-02:00

Summit brings youth groups, tech experts together to promote freedom
New York, NY — Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Howcast, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media are bringing leaders of 17 pioneering organizations from 15 countries together with technology experts next month in New York for the first-ever conclave to empower youth against violence and oppression through the use of the latest online tools.
These young leaders will form a new group, the Alliance of Youth Movements, which will produce a field manual for youth empowerment. The field manual will stand in stark contrast to the Al-Qaeda manual on the basics of terrorism, found by Coalition Forces in Iraq.
The gathering was inspired by the success of the One Million Voices Against the FARC, a group started on Facebook.com by young people in Colombia. Aided by social networking technologies, the organization inspired 12 million people in 190 cities around the world to take to the streets in protest against the FARC, an extremist group that has been terrorizing Colombia for more than 40 years. The magnitude of the marches illustrated once and for all that the FARC lacked a strong support base. Within days of the protests, the FARC witnessed massive desertions from their ranks. The Colombian group will share their ideas with leaders of other groups that use social and mobile technologies to promote freedom and justice and oppose violence, extremism and oppression.
The New York summit will bring together such organizations as One Million Voices Against the FARC, Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, Burma Global Action Network and Invisible Children.
The Alliance of Youth Movements Summit will take place December 3 to 5 at the Columbia Law School in Manhattan. “We at Columbia are excited about helping, designing, and studying innovative public-private partnerships that leverage new technologies to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges. This summit is a great opportunity to do this,” said Matthew Waxman, associate professor of law. The event will also be streamed live online by Howcast.com and on ThinkMTV.com. Howcast Media is organizing the Summit with additional support from Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media.
Speakers at the Summit will include:
• Whoopi Goldberg, Host of ABC’s “The View” • Dustin Moskovitz, Co-Founder, Facebook • James K. Glassman, Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State • Oscar Morales, Founder, One Million Voices Against the FARC • Luke Russert, MSNBC • Matthew Waxman, Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Panels will discuss a variety of practical topics, including How To Build Transnational Social Movements Using New Technology, How To Use New Mobile Technologies and How To Preserve Group Safety And Security.
Summit participants will also be honored at a red-carpet event with entertainment celebrities, business leaders, and civil society figures at the former home of MTV’s Total Request Live (“TRL”) overlooking Times Square.
Howcast will use the field manual for youth empowerment developed at the Summit as the cornerstone of a much larger online “hub,” where emerging youth organizations can access and share “how-to” guides and tips on how to use social-networking and other technologies to promote freedom and justice and counter violence, extremism and oppression. The hub (http://howcast.com/youthmovements) will include instructional videos and text guides, links to related online resources and discussion forums for sharing experiences, ideas and advice.
“The Summit provides a unique opportunity to bring these socially conscious groups together for the purpose of making real, positive change in the world," said Jason Liebman, Co-Founder and CEO of Howcast Media. “Howcast’s mission has always been focused on making it easier for people to learn how to do just about anything, and I'm particularly proud to see Howcast being used to help people learn how to make a difference in improving the world that we all share."
“I’m thrilled and inspired to see how people, especially young people, are using Facebook and other technologies to work together to improve the lives of entire nations of people,” said Elliot Schrage, VP of Communications, Public Policy and Platform Marketing, Facebook. “We often focus on the value technology brings to the individual but the true promise of technology is unlocked when it connects people and enables them to work with a common purpose.”
“The State Department is proud to play a role in highlighting the new wave of civil-society empowerment that is happening online,” said James K. Glassman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. “What is so encouraging is that this effort is being led by public-spirited technology firms like Howcast and innovative educators like those at Columbia University.”
“It’s critical that young people continue to utilize the technological tools available to them to band together and rally around causes and movements that can make a difference in the world,” said Ian Rowe, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships. “On Think.MTV.com, we encourage young people to engage in and take action on the issues that matter to them most. This Summit revolves around how young people can do this, through multiple technology platforms.”
About the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit
From December 3 to 5, leaders of pioneering youth movements will launch a global network that seeks to empower young people to mobilize against violence and oppression. Brought together by Howcast, Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, the U.S. Department of State, Columbia Law School and Access 360 Media, leaders of the organizations will travel to New York City with the mission of crafting a field manual on how to effect social change using online tools. This field manual will form the cornerstone of a much larger online “hub,” where emerging youth organizations can access and share “how-to” guides and tips on using social-networking and other technologies to further their causes.
About Howcast Media
Recently named a top website of 2008 by both TIME and PC Magazine, Howcast.com engages consumers to watch and share free, useful how-to videos and guides produced in-house at Howcast Studios as well as by innovative media partners, trusted brands and individual contributors. Howcast Studios produces useful, engaging how-to videos while also enabling up-and-coming filmmakers and students to gain experience and build real careers by making professional video with guidance in the Howcast Emerging Filmmakers Program.
To show consumers how-to videos wherever, whenever they need to learn how, Howcast tailors Howcast.com and The Howcast Player to showcase instructional content, while partnering with leading websites as well as home and mobile-video providers. Howcast also offers marketers innovative, relevant “how-to” video-advertising solutions.
* * *
Domestic Press Contact: Tessa Barrera, 646-558-0671, tessa.barrera@howcast.com
International Press Contact: Jared Cohen, 202-647-0531, Cell: 917-923-0732, cohenJA2@state.gov

Ambassador Baxter visits a housing project at a displaced settlement near Montevideo

2008-11-24T17:02:00.001-02:00

The organization Endeavor launched Entrepreneurship Week in Uruguay, which will take place November 17 through 23. Its main objective is to raise awareness of the importance of encouraging entrepreneurship with simultaneous activities in Montevideo and the interior of the country. Talks, workshops, symposiums, roundtables, conferences and awards ceremonies are just some of the activities that will take place during the course of the week.

A highlight of Entrepreneurship Week in Uruguay are the volunteers from over 50 businesses as they begin construction on 30 houses for the most needy families in the settlement of Independencia, located in the outskirts of Santiago Vázquez, near Montevideo. The plan, called Build with Your Enterprise, was created by the organization Un Techo para mi País (A Roof for My Country), which is led by young people from various countries of Latin America. These youthful volunteers take part in the construction of emergency housing for those living in settlements or temporary camps.

Ambassador Frank Baxter had the opportunity to visit the settlement at Santiago Vázquez on November 16, where he learned about the work being carried. While there, he spoke with the young volunteers as well as the families who will receive the housing. Ambassador Baxter has made it a priority to encourage entrepreneurship combined with a spirit of volunteerism. U.S. firms such as IBM and Weyerhaeuser, together with numerous Uruguayan companies, form part of this important social project.

Endeavor is a non-profit organization that aims to unleash young people’s enterprising ideas and promotes a culture of business entrepreneurship, contributing to the economic and social development in the countries it works in.

Flipping Burgers for a Good Cause

2008-11-24T16:51:00.003-02:00

U.S. Ambassador Frank Baxter and local TV celebrities helped MacDonald's staff to serve customers at a restaurant in downtown Montevideo during McHappy Day event, November 14, 2008. Known as "McDia Feliz," McHappy Day is a very special event in Uruguay as proceeds from all Big Mac hamburger sales across the country are donated by McDonald's to the Peluffo-Giguens Foundation, an organization for the fight against cancer in children.

Barack Obama Wins Historic Election Victory

2008-11-05T15:02:00.001-02:00

Democrat will be first African-American U.S. president

By Stephen Kaufman, America.gov

Washington — On November 4, Americans elected Illinois Senator Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States.
Addressing supporters in Chicago November 5, the president-elect said, “To all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright, tonight we’ve proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.”
Obama said that through their votes, Americans sent a message “that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are and always will be the United States of America.”
“A new dawn of American leadership is at hand,” he said. “To those who would tear the world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you.”
As of early November 5, Obama had won at least 26 states and the District of Columbia with a total of 338 electoral votes, putting him well above the 270 needed to clinch the presidency. Results still were being reported from some states in the early hours of the day after Election Day.
Obama will become the first African-American president of the United States and also the first person of color to govern a country with a white majority.
The Illinois senator carried all the states won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004, as well as Ohio, Iowa, Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia — states previously carried by Republican George Bush.
In his concession speech from Phoenix, Senator John McCain said he had telephoned President-elect Obama to offer his congratulations. He recognized the significance of Obama’s victory for African Americans and the “special pride that must be theirs tonight” following a long history of slavery, segregation and discrimination.
He said the United States is now “a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time,” and “there is no better evidence of this” than Obama’s election. He also pledged to support the incoming president and urged his supporters to offer their “good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together.”
Obama’s victory came after a long and difficult Democratic Party primary battle with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, followed by an intense general election campaign again McCain.
The 2008 U.S. presidential election was historic in a number of ways. After the field of Democratic Party candidates narrowed in early 2008, it was clear that voters would be choosing between the first female presidential nominee and the first African-American nominee.
On the Republican side, McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a running mate marked only the second time a women has been on the ticket of a major political party.
OBAMA CLAIMS VICTORY
Early November 5, Obama and his running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, addressed cheering supporters in Chicago, and pledged to be the president of all Americans, regardless of whether they had given him support or not. Hundreds of thousands of people, some of whom arrived the day before, celebrated in Chicago’s Grant Park.
Obama’s rally was especially poignant given that 40 years ago the park was the site of the violent demonstrations aimed at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. That violence illustrated the rift within the party between younger liberal activists and older conservative stalwarts.
It was also in 1968 that Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy predicted an African-American could become president in 2008.
“Things are moving so fast in race relations a Negro could be president in 40 years. There is no question about it. In the next 40 years, a Negro can achieve the same position that my brother has … prejudice exists and probably will continue to … but we have tried to make progress and we are making progress. We are not going to accept the status quo,” Kennedy said May 27, 1968, approximately one week before he was assassinated.

Fulbright Announces Awardees of 2009 Teacher Exchange Program

2008-10-20T10:33:00.002-02:00

33 teachers from Uruguay to spend three weeks in U.S. schools
By Leigh Miller
The Fulbright Commission of Uruguay announced on October 15, the awardees of scholarships for the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program in the United States.
Thirty-three teachers, principals, subdirectors, superintendents and second language educators from across Uruguay were selected by the Fulbright Commission to visit the U.S. in February. Following an introductory visit to Washington D.C. to learn about the U.S. school system, they will then spend three weeks teaching alongside their U.S. counterparts in bilingual schools throughout the country.
The educators’ goals during the program will be to learn about the U.S. school system, teaching methods and American culture, and to share information about Uruguay with their host schools and families. Upon returning to Uruguay, the teachers will complete projects based on their experiences and maintain ongoing contact with the U.S. schools.
The awardees were congratulated by U.S. Public Affairs officer Robert Zimmerman, who also serves as chair of the Fulbright Commission, and the commission’s executive director, Mercedes Jimenez de Arechaga, during an introduction session held Oct. 15, at Cala di Volpe Hotel in Montevideo.
Ana Maria Carballo, national superintendent of the National Board of Education Public Elementary Schools Council (ANEP-CODICEN); Norma Quijano, advisor to the ANEP-CODICEN general director and Gabriela Casal, director of ANEP-CODICEN’s Second Language Program, gave words of congratulation and advice to the teachers during the meeting. Fulbright Commission Board Members Felipe Michelini and Leigh Miller also attended the event.
The annual Teacher Exchange Program, funded by the U.S.-based Fulbright Foundation, supports Uruguayan teachers to visit the U.S. each February, and American teachers to teach in Uruguayan schools each July.
Uruguay’s Fulbright program was established in 1960 to promote understanding between the U.S. and Uruguay through educational and professional exchange programs. In addition to the Teacher Exchange Program, the Fulbright Commission funds Uruguayan scholars to complete graduate study and research in the U.S. and supports educational partnerships, teacher exchanges and American Fulbright scholars doing projects in Uruguay. Visit www.fulbright.org.uy for more information on the Fulbright program in Uruguay.
The 2009 Teacher Exchange Program awardees are:
Canelones: Adriana Hernández, Etel Perdomo, Graciela Raquel Techera
Cerro Largo: Ana Isabel Borba, Wilson Fernandez
Colonia: Myriam Lourdes Ayala, Ana Victoria Vazquez
Florida: Gessy Pedreira
Montevideo: Ana Gabriela Abelenda, Luisa Ayerza, Mónica Grisel Bruguera, Maria Dolores Buján, Maria Isabel Eraña, Diego Estévez, Vilma Esther García, Sylvia Itté, Alicia Gloria Lacuesta, Carmen Nibia Lopez, Silvia Rosario Mariño, Sara Muñoz, María José Quintela, Ana Quinteros, Marcelo Rodriguez, Verónica Soler
Rocha: Faty Yanina de Avila
Salto: Gretel Beatriz Castagno, María Celia da Rosa, María José Souza
San Jose: Ana Inés Andrada
Tacuarembo: Nelly Graciela Caro, Gloria Silva dos Santos
Second Language Program: Gabriela Balao, Beatriz Tejeira

U.S. Embassy Montevideo Hosts Alternative Energy Expert

2008-09-17T11:55:00.002-03:00

George Philippidis Investigates Uruguay's Bioenergy Potential

By Leigh Miller

While wind power may be one of Uruguay’s best bets for future alternative energy production, the country could start right away making ethanol from sugarcane and biodiesel from animal fat or soybeans, according to George Philippidis, a bioenergy expert who visited Montevideo, Sept. 15-17.
Dr. Philippidis, associate director of the Applied Research Center and co-director of the Energy Business Forum at Florida International University in Miami, was invited by the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo to investigate alternative energy projects in Uruguay.
He said that Uruguay’s wind power is probably one of its greatest assets for developing an alternative to petroleum-based energy. But harnessing wind power is unpredictable – if the wind does not blow, no power can be produced. Plus, the windiest time of the day is typically at night, which is when the least electricity is needed to power homes and businesses, he noted.
So, harvesting sugarcane to make ethanol and using soybeans and animal fat to make biodiesel offer great potential for Uruguay’s alternative energy production, Dr. Philippidis said. “These are projects that Uruguay could do today with the right government policies and investment from the private sector,” he said.
In the future, ethanol in Uruguay could be made from bagasse (leftover sugarcane fiber), wood waste from forest products, sweet sorghum or switch grass, while biodiesel could possibly be produced from algae or jatropha (a drought and pest resistant plant), he added.
Most biofuel produced in Uruguay would likely be used as fuel for vehicles, rather than for other energy uses, Dr. Philippidis said, noting that biodiesel would be preferable to ethanol because the country consumes two and a half times more diesel than gasoline. Uruguay currently uses 300 million liters of gasoline per year. To supplement this with ethanol, the country would need one small plant to produce 30 million liters of E10 (gasoline that contains 10% ethanol) and several plants to produce E85 (gasoline with 85% ethanol), Dr. Philippidis estimated. Feedstocks used to produce the ethanol could include sugarcane and sweet sorghum. In terms of diesel, Uruguay already uses 800 million liters per year. To convert this to biodiesel, he said that the country would need one medium-sized plant to produce 160 million liters of B20 (diesel made with 20% biodiesel) and several plants to make 680 million liters of B85 (diesel with 85% biodiesel). This biodiesel could be produced from soybeans, vegetable oil and animal fat, he said. Fuels that contain 10% ethanol or 20% biodiesel can be used in exiting vehicles in Uruguay.
Existing sugar or corn mills in Uruguay could be converted to make biofuels from sugar, corn, algae and other biomass, as well as electricity and food products, Dr. Philippidis suggested. Pulp and paper mills already operating in Uruguay could also produce biofuels from algae and woody biomass, in addition to paper, wood pellets and electricity, he added.
Some investment in biofuel production has already begun in Uruguay, with the state-owned petroleum company, ANCAP, building an ethanol plant that will use sugarcane inputs. And the national power company, UTE, is requesting bids to buy wind, solar and biomass power from local and foreign producers. The majority of Uruguay’s energy needs, however, including industrial and residential electricity, are currently supplied by hydroelectric power.
For biofuel production to really take off in Uruguay, Dr. Philippidis said that the government needs to implement a comprehensive, long-term bioenergy policy that includes incentives for private investors. Incentives are also needed to encourage Uruguayan consumers to purchase flex-fuel cars, which can use either petroleum-based fuel or biofuel. Uruguay could consider importing flex-fuel vehicles from neighboring Brazil, which currently has 6 million such vehicles, he suggested. Some 6.8 million flex-fuel vehicles are operating in the United States.
Dr. Philippidis and the Applied Research Center are assisting the U.S. Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Brazilian government, to conduct biofuel feasibility studies in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti and St. Kitts and Nevis. This project, which could be extended to other countries in the Americas, is part of a broader bioenergy cooperation agreement between the U.S. and Brazil aimed at fostering alternative energy production in these countries. The hope is to create jobs and wealth in these countries, which could reduce poverty and emigration in the region, Dr. Philippidis noted.
While media and the petroleum industry have linked rising global food prices to biofuel production, Dr. Philippidis dismissed such fears as unfounded. He blamed increasing food prices, instead, on the high cost of oil, which is needed to make fertilizers and to transport food products. Significant increases in meat consumption worldwide have also caused animal feed prices to skyrocket. China, for example, has more than doubled its per capita meat consumption and quadrupled its grain consumption since 1995.
“The price of rice has increased significantly, but how much rice is used for biofuel? Zero,” Dr. Philippidis said. “Plus, U.S. exports of biofuel increased last year, but so did its exports of corn. So, there is no relationship; it’s just a misperception.”
He added, however, that the alternative energy industry needs to move away from using any food crops for biofuel because of the negative perception it has generated. Next-generation bioenergy technology will use waste materials, such as residual fibers, instead, he noted.
While Dr. Philippidis was in Montevideo, he gave a presentation at ANCAP, met with LATU (Uruguay’s national technological laboratory) and INIA (the national agriculture research institute) and attended a U.S. Embassy-sponsored luncheon, among other activities.
For more information, visit the Applied Research Center’s website at www.arc.fiu.edu.

John McCain Formally Accepts Republican Presidential Nomination

2008-09-06T00:06:00.003-03:00

Arizona senator pledges to be guided by the public interest

By Stephen Kaufman, America.gov

Washington – With “gratitude, humility, and confidence,” Arizona Senator John McCain accepted the Republican nomination for president at the party’s convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and pledged to confront challenges such as terrorism and energy sources by putting the public’s interests first.
Speaking September 4, at the culmination of the four-day convention, McCain criticized many of Democratic challenger Senator Barack Obama’s policy positions and his relative inexperience. However, he said Obama and his supporters have “my respect and admiration.”
“Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other,” McCain said.
The Arizona senator embraced the “maverick” label that has been attached to him in the past for occasionally taking unpopular positions and voting against Republican-supported programs and legislation.
“Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you,” he said.
He pointed to his recent support for the U.S. troop surge in Iraq, despite diminishing public support for continuing the military engagement. “[T]hat strategy succeeded and rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, risked a wider war and threatened the security of all Americans,” he said.
McCain said he is prepared to handle the many security threats currently facing the United States, and knows both the capabilities and the limitations of military force.
“I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't. I know how to secure the peace,” he said.
McCain warned that both al-Qaida and Iran continue to threaten the United States and its interests. He also was critical of Russia’s leadership, describing them as people “rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power” who have “rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power.”
He pledged to work to establish good relations with Russia, but said he could not “turn a blind eye to aggression and international lawlessness that threatens the peace and stability of the world and the security of the American people.”
On energy policy, McCain said as president he would embark on “the most ambitious national project in decades,” to reduce U.S. dependence on “countries that don’t like us very much.” He called for drilling new oil wells within U.S. territory; building more nuclear power plants; and increasing the use of wind, tide, solar, natural gas and clean coal technology.
“We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet,” he said.
Throughout his speech, McCain referred to his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and the challenges he and other American soldiers faced. “I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s,” he said, adding “My country saved me, and I cannot forget it.”
For additional information, see excerpts from McCain's acceptance speech:
McCain’s Acceptance of Republican Nomination to Presidency
[The full text of McCain’s acceptance speech is posted on the Web site of the Republican National Convention.]
Excerpts on McCain’s vision for the country and his views on energy policy and international security follow:
(begin text)
Senator John McCainSt. Paul, MinnesotaSeptember 4, 2008
Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans -- the privilege of accepting our party’s nomination for President of the United States. And I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence.
In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn’t any different. That’s a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They’re leaders of great ability, who love our country, and wished to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor I won’t forget.
* * *
Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We’ll go at it over the next two months. That’s the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We’re dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn’t be an American worthy of the name if I didn’t honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.
But let there be no doubt, my friends, we’re going to win this election. And after we’ve won, we’re going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again, and get this country back on the road to prosperity and peace.
* * *
I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles.
We’re going to change that. We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.
We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential from the boy whose descendents arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers. We’re all God’s children and we’re all Americans.
We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.
We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench. We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.
We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans. Government that doesn’t make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.
* * *
My fellow Americans, when I’m President, we’re going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we’ll drill them now. We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.
Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet. It’s an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, and we have faced greater challenges. It’s time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.
* * *
Today, the prospect of a better world remains within our reach. But we must see the threats to peace and liberty in our time clearly and face them, as Americans before us did, with confidence, wisdom and resolve.
We have dealt a serious blow to al Qaeda in recent years. But they are not defeated, and they’ll strike us again if they can. Iran remains the chief state sponsor of terrorism and on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons. Russia’s leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world’s oil supply, intimidate other neighbors, and further their ambitions of reassembling the Russian empire. And the brave people of Georgia need our solidarity and prayers. As President, I will work to establish good relations with Russia so we need not fear a return of the Cold War. But we can’t turn a blind eye to aggression and international lawlessness that threatens the peace and stability of the world and the security of the American people.
We face many threats in this dangerous world, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them. I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do. I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't. I know how to secure the peace.
(end text)

Barack Obama Accepts Presidential Nomination

2008-08-29T17:50:00.003-03:00

Democratic nominee says it is “time to change America”
By Michelle Austein
Denver – On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech August 28, Barack Obama formally accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency of the United States.
As people shouted “Yes we can” and waved signs reading “Change,” Obama said, “With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.”
In his acceptance speech, Obama said “it is time for us to change America,” and this 2008 election is the election to keep “the American promise alive."
“We meet at one of those defining moments, a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil and the American promise has been threatened,” he said.
OBAMA’S VISION FOR HIS PRESIDENCY
Obama said he would change life in the United States by cutting taxes for 95 percent of working families, providing affordable health care for every American, ensuring equal pay for women and offering affordable college education to every young American who serves his or her community.
In an election year in which high gasoline prices have been a major campaign issue, the Democratic nominee said that as president he would “set a clear goal … in 10 years we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.” Obama said he would do so by safely harnessing nuclear power and investing in renewable sources of energy.
“Just as we keep our promise to the next generation here at home,” Obama said, “so must we keep America’s promise abroad.” The Democratic nominee said he would end the war in Iraq and fight al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Obama said he would “build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century,” which include nuclear proliferation, poverty, genocide and climate change.
Much of Obama’s speech focused on what he viewed as “failed policies” of President Bush and problems with presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s proposed policies.
“We love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight,” Obama said. Throughout his campaign, Obama has said McCain would promote policies similar to those of the Bush administration. Obama said the Republican candidate does not understand the problems middle-class Americans face, and criticized McCain’s positions on tax relief for oil companies, health care and education.
The Democratic candidate also criticized McCain’s positions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: “We need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.”
Obama, the first African-American presidential nominee of a major party, spoke of King’s famous March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
Speaking about those who participated in the march and listened to King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Obama said “they could’ve heard words of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.”
“But what the people heard instead … is that in America our destiny is inextricably linked,” Obama said. “That together, our dreams can be one.”
Those marchers, Obama said, pledged to march ahead. In this election, “we must pledge once more to march into the future.”
PEOPLE WAIT IN LONG LINES TO SEE HISTORY MADE
Obama’s speech capped off an evening of political speeches, videos and musical performances at Invesco Field, a football stadium that seats about 76,000. Most convention events were open only to delegates and party leaders, but this speech was open to the general public – free tickets were distributed months ahead of the speech. The last candidate to give an acceptance speech outside the convention hall was John F. Kennedy in 1960.
Those who were able to get the tickets waited long hours in the Denver heat to see the Democratic nominee, but few complained. Many said they believed they would be witnessing history. Tom and Patty Ballowe came from New Mexico for the speech.
“It’s exciting to be a part of history,” Tom Ballowe said. The Ballowes, who have worked as volunteers on the Obama campaign for months, saw the event as an important recognition of their hard work.
Dale Fish of Pueblo, Colorado, drove 100 miles to see Obama. The Vietnam veteran says he supports the Democratic candidate because “we don’t need kids dying for another war.” Fish said Obama reminds him of the late President Kennedy and his “passion and ability to capture the imagination.”
In 1960 “the whole nation was jaded,” Fish said, but Kennedy and King helped that generation believe in their leaders. Fish believes that “Obama gives us new dreams, new direction, new passion.”

[Full text of Obama's speech]

More coverage:
> Democrats Formally Nominate Barack Obama for U.S. Presidency

> Hillary Clinton Encourages Supporters to Back Barack Obama

> Former President Helps Democratic Party Unite Behind Obama

> Opening Night of Democratic Convention Celebrates Obama’s Story

> U.S. Election Helping America’s Image Worldwide

Competitiveness Forum Raises Uruguay's Profile in the Americas

2008-08-29T17:40:00.002-03:00

Ambassador Baxter and Uruguay delegation have successful meetings in Atlanta
By Leigh Miller

The second annual Americas Competitiveness Forum held August 17-19 in Atlanta, Georgia, was an opportunity for Uruguay to raise its profile as an innovation center in the Americas, according to U.S. Ambassador Frank Baxter.

Baxter and Uruguay Industry, Energy & Mining Minister Daniel Martinez led a Uruguayan delegation to the event, which brought together public and private sector actors from the Western Hemisphere to discuss strategies for innovation and economic growth. More than 1,000 attendees from business, government, academia and non-governmental organizations in at least 25 countries attended the forum, which was organized by the U.S. State Department.

“This was an opportunity to learn about best practices for competitiveness from peers in other countries,” Baxter said in an interview following the conference. “Sure, there’s competition, but the market is so broad that there is room for learning from each other about how to succeed in the world economy.”

Ambassador Baxter stressed that the development of human capital “should be the No. 1 priority for any country or entity that wants to be competitive,” adding that the Atlanta conference highlighted the importance of educational partnerships between universities and private industry.

He said that developing such academia-industry relationships is one area in which Uruguay has room to grow. One of his meetings in Atlanta, along with Minister Martinez and U.S. Embassy Political Officer Jack Doutrich, involved a discussion with the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Georgia and the Georgia Energy Innovation Center about potential cooperation with Uruguay for renewable energy projects.

Although Atlanta-based Southern Co., the world’s eighth-largest utility company, has divested its international holdings, Ambassador Baxter said his meeting with company representatives proved useful for learning about the potential for Uruguay to further its cellulosic biofuel power generation capabilities.

“There are so many opportunities out there, but you have to look for them. Uruguay has to initiate the conversations,” Baxter said, adding that it was encouraging that such a substantial delegation from Uruguay attended the Atlanta forum.

Several Uruguayan business and government officials spoke on discussion panels at the forum, and met with counterparts from U.S. states and other countries to share best practices on technology transfer, economic development and small business innovation.

Rodolfo Oppenheimer, senior partner of Prosperitas Capital Partners, a financial management company that established the first venture capital fund in Uruguay, participated on a panel about the development of venture capital in Latin America.

Uruguay has begun the process of creating venture capital markets to support Uruguayan entrepreneurs and small businesses, Mr. Oppenheimer said, by following the U.S. model that first develops seed capital, then angel investors, followed by venture capital funds and, finally, mature capital markets. “Now we just need to allow our VC companies to mature,” he said in an interview after the Atlanta conference.

“I think we are headed in the right direction. We need to talk about it day in and day out. The U.S. ambassador [Baxter] is doing a fabulous job of bringing the right individuals from the U.S. to talk to Uruguay about creating capital markets,” Mr. Oppenheimer added.

He said that the Atlanta conference was useful for talking with policy makers from around the hemisphere about strategies that his company can use to develop the right environment for the growth of venture capital in Uruguay. Montevideo-based Prosperitas invests in small- and medium-sized companies with technologies for the information technology, service and agribusiness industries.

Isidoro Hodara, vice president of Zonamerica, a business park in Uruguay, attended the Atlanta forum to learn about developing closer relationships between universities and entrepreneurs. “In addition to networking, the usefulness of this forum lies also in learning what other countries are doing to increase their competitiveness. This gives us a much better position from which to judge what to do in the future,” he said. Dr. Hodara is also an international affairs professor at Universidad ORT Uruguay in Montevideo.

Miguel Brechner, president of the Uruguay Technological Laboratory, a government-funded, privately operated organization, spoke at the forum about the country’s innovation in public-private partnerships. Among other projects, his lab is handling the roll-out of the international “One Laptop Per Child” program, which provides a laptop computer to each public school child in Uruguay.

Santiago Sotuyo, director of Uruguay's National Ports Administration, and Fernando Brun, head of the country’s National Research and Innovation Agency, also attended the forum with Ambassador Baxter and Minister Martinez.

Baxter noted that Uruguay is hoping to host a second annual Americas Innovation Forum in April 2009. The first innovation forum, held in Punta del Este at the end of March, drew attendees from Latin America to discuss strategies for innovation. It was modeled after the inaugural the Americas Competitiveness Forum in Atlanta in 2007.

The third annual Americas Competitiveness Forum is to be held in Chile in 2009.

Visit www.competitivenessforum.org for more information about the event.

United States at “Turning Point” as Voters Go to Polls November 4

2008-08-05T11:36:00.004-03:00

Major shifts in U.S. society suggest 2008 election particularly significant

By Eric Green

The 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign will reflect dramatic changes in American society, political analysts tell America.gov.
Iowa State University political science professor Steffen Schmidt said the 2008 vote will be a “watershed, seriously important election.”
The election would be important, he said, even without a global terrorism threat, or that the presumed presidential nominees are Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, who could be the first African-American U.S. president.
Important elections occur “when there is a general shift in the paradigm [basic structure] of society,” Schmidt said Examples in U.S. history include the 1861-1865 Civil War and the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Schmidt said 2008 is a “threshold year when the full impact of globalization is making itself felt in full force, and the U.S. economy has now shifted so that most Americans are no longer working in stable lifelong jobs.” Instead, Schmidt said, “we are becoming a very fast-moving, innovative and novel economy -- the first 21st century economy.”
The election, he said, marks the “end of the cheap energy period and the need to shift to new energies and technologies which can be accelerated or slowed by good or bad national government policies.”
These challenges face “whoever becomes U.S. president in 2008,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said older Americans will be “critically important in 2008 simply because their numbers are huge and they are facing the economic [income, job and pension] and health consequences of the 21st century economy and they are very concerned” about those issues.
The candidate who “can see what the next 50 years will require to keep us competitive, wealthy, and strong and who can articulate that to voters will win the election,” said Schmidt.
UNITED STATES FACES ENORMOUS CHALLENGES
Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University in Washington, said 2008 ranks “among the most important elections in U.S. history because America is at a turning point today.”
“There are enormous challenges abroad with two wars raging” in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the United States faces an “enormous challenge in terms of how we get off the fossil fuel economy and ensure our children a future,” said Lichtman, who will be in Russia September 15-30 for the State Department’s U.S. Speaker and Specialist program. Lichtman will “impersonate” Obama in the staging of up to five U.S.-style presidential debates to heighten Russian awareness of the American election process.
The presidential election will show the conflicting pressures older voters face in casting their votes, Lichtman said. Many older voters, he said, identify with McCain because the Arizona senator is 71, but have views on the issues more compatible with those of Obama, who will be 47 when the election occurs. Lichtman said the Illinois senator showed during the Democratic primaries that he can motivate younger voters “but the open question is whether they will show up at the polls and vote where they haven’t in the past.”
Young people “are the hardest voters to turn on and the easiest voters to turn off,” said Lichtman.
OBAMA CAMPAIGN OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
Cary Covington, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, said the election is important on at least two levels.
“First, and most obviously, the symbolism of an African American running for the highest office in the country is, regardless of whether he wins or loses, of historic significance,” said Covington.
On a substantive level, Covington said, the country’s choice between McCain and Obama will be “critical to foreign affairs. Differences between the two candidates on domestic issues are, of course, important. But presidents cannot determine our path in domestic affairs the way they can in foreign affairs.”
Covington said presidents can use their leadership role in foreign affairs to pressure the U.S. Congress to “endorse their preferred policies in ways that they cannot do in domestic policy.”
McCain is more attuned to President Bush’s “unilateral approach to foreign policy” and his “reliance on ‘hard’ foreign policy tools like the military,” Covington said.
Obama, in contrast, “appears to prefer to act multilaterally, much like” the first President Bush as he prepared for the 1991 Gulf War, Covington said.
He added that Obama also seems “inclined to lead with the ‘soft’ foreign policy tools of diplomacy and to rely on military force only if the diplomatic efforts fail.”
This difference, Covington said, is “important because the rest of the world is likely to respond quite differently to a continuation of the Bush approach than to the change embodied by Obama,” who will give U.S. allies a “sense of inclusion and a stake in outcomes.”
Covington said the differences in the approaches of McCain and Obama are likely to influence foreign policy more significantly than domestic policies.
For information on the foreign policy positions of McCain and Obama, see “Candidate McCain Aims to Revitalize U.S. Global Standing” and “Obama Emphasizes Multilateral U.S. Foreign Policymaking.”

Donation of Books on Honing Debate and Language Skills

2008-07-31T17:35:00.003-03:00

Each of the 250 public high schools in Uruguay will receive a set of books
250 sets of three English books --Discussion, Discover Debate and Getting Ready for Speech-- by Michael Lubetsky, Charles LeBeau and David Harrington, intended for each of the 250 public high schools in Uruguay were presented to a group of English teacher trainers from across the country on July 30, 2008. The books will allow implementation of American English-based debate and speech courses in Uruguayan schools. Students will learn how to examine, question, defend and refute opinions, improve grammar, vocabulary, and listening skills along with speech delivery and organizational skills.

Remarks by Ambassador Baxter at Marketing Management Association Luncheon

2008-07-30T17:41:00.001-03:00

Uruguay-U.S. Bilateral Relations: Constructing a New Reality?
Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Frank E. Baxter
Asociacion de Dirigentes de Marketing del Uruguay (ADM)
Montevideo, Uruguay

July 30, 2008

(begin transcript)

Muchas gracias. Es un honor y un privilegio para mí dirigirme a tan selecto grupo de líderes uruguayos. Y también lo hago con mucha humildad. Los uruguayos parecen ser excelentes oradores por naturaleza. Con frecuencia, mientras miro las noticias en televisión, me asombra ver a los uruguayos que son entrevistados en la calle. Todos parecen ser Cicerón. Nunca seré Cicerón, pero puedo ser un poco mejor en mi lengua materna, de modo que continuaré en inglés. Les agradezco me disculpen.

I have been asked whether Uruguay and the United States are constructing a new reality. My answer is a resounding and positive yes. I think our relationship is advancing economically, politically, socially and culturally. Further, I think that citizens of both of our countries are benefiting and will benefit more from this evolving reality. Today, I would like to talk about that evolution.

To discuss this subject, it is very appropriate to be addressing a group dedicated to marketing. Marketing is essential to a free society and a global economy. Every individual and every group, including every city, region and country has a brand. A quick definition of a brand is that it is the perception that others have about an individual, a group, or a product. Companies spend millions in advertising in order to improve their brand and have customers think favorably about them. In our global economy, it is essential to continuously manage your brand. It is necessary to be clear about target audiences and to constantly sharpen the message. Uruguay has been working on its brand with the “Uruguay Natural” campaign and considerable outreach. Our embassy has sponsored at least 10 delegations to trade fairs over the last year. Your profile has been raised around the world and especially in my country. However, there is more to be done. I have heard you described as a secret paradise. I am sure that you can still be a paradise without being such a secret.

It’s a happy coincidence that today is also the 61st birthday of my friend Arnold Schwarzenegger. I mention Governor Schwarzenegger because besides being a good friend, he is also an inspiration. He represents many of the values and opportunities that have made the United States such a great country over the last two centuries. He arrived in the United States at the age of 21 with but a dream. Forty years later, he has become one of the most successful public figures in the United States He has said: “If you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve anything.” I believe that, and I know that most Uruguayans feel the same about your country.

In my 20 months as U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay, I have gotten to know many of you, and have often said that you are the nicest and kindest people in the world. Your hospitality and kindness to my wife, Kathy, and me have been incredible. Mi esposa y yo nos sentimos como en nuestra casa, tanto en Montevideo como en cualquier lugar del interior. Gracias, gracias y muchisimas gracias! While officially I represent the President, in reality we both represent the people of the United States. The strength of our country is not so much its government as it is its people. We, like you, are a nation of immigrants. It is always important to remember that we are really some 300 million different persons with some important common values. It is impossible to accurately generalize about us. Generalizations about both of our countries are usually more misleading than enlightening.

Since I represent the people of the U.S., Kathy and I have wanted to get to know the people of Uruguay as much as we can. In order to do that, we have tried to visit every part of your country. By next month we will have been to all 19 departments, many more than once. Some generalities about you that I feel comfortable with are that you are the nicest people I have met. You are very creative in the arts and music, but also in businesses like software and animation. You have a stable society. And you certainly have a beautiful country.

The world is changing rapidly, and my country is no exception. Soon we will have a new President and Congress. Regardless of who emerges victorious, I expect a continuation of the very positive view of Uruguay that Washington now has.

Another change is that we are presently experiencing some economic challenges. Our financial sector has been too exuberant and leveraged in financing homebuilding, and is suffering huge capital losses. Many new homebuyers have been unable to pay their mortgages. The concurrent drop in home prices has resulted in weakness in the retail sector. Petroleum dependent businesses have also been having a hard time. There is little consensus among economists. In the latest Wall Street Journal poll, slightly over ½ of them thought that the U.S. is in recession. In fact, parts of our economy remain strong. This is especially true in export industries. Our government and central bank have instituted very proactive fiscal and monetary policies addressing the weaknesses in our financial sector, stimulating the economy, and helping troubled home owners. The economy has been the number one topic recently in the presidential race.

Although I make no claims to be a forecaster, I don’t expect the difficulties in our financial sector to travel to Uruguay. Your banks do not appear to have anywhere near that kind of leverage.

One area which both countries need to carefully watch is the increasing prices of some commodities. Inflation impedes growth and is especially hard on working people.

For the longer term, I am very optimistic about our economic future. Businesses in our economy learn from setbacks, and emerge stronger than ever. Some of the doomsday scenarios we hear don’t strike me as very realistic. However, since forecasting isn’t especially reliable, it is always wise to be prepared for anything. It is also wise to remember that, in finance, hope is not a strategy.

There are also changes in our military. For more than a century, we been active in disaster relief around the world If there is a flood, a tsunami, an earthquake, or a fire it is likely that our military will be there assisting. Today, much more emphasis and resources are being devoted to preparation for and anticipation of disasters. We feel that an essential part of peace keeping is to reach out to friendly nations to help in training, including building medical and educational infrastructure. In our training exercises in the region, we have been able to provide lasting benefits such as schools and clinics.

Here I would like to applaud Uruguay for its inspiring leadership in peace keeping. Your contribution to United Nations peace keeping programs is an example for the world.

Despite all of the recent controversy about immigration in my country, it remains as one of the most open countries to legal immigrants and non-immigrants in the world. For instance, hundreds of thousands of people whose heritage is Latin American become U.S. citizens every year. Many of those new citizens continue to support their native countries with remittances and in other ways.

We are very open in many ways. We import over $6 billion in goods and services every single day. We educate hundreds of thousands of students from foreign lands. We welcome artists, politicians, government officials, teachers and others from all over the world. We have welcomed millions of refuges. We are a leading tourist destination. The lower dollar makes us a real bargain. Incidently, our consulate approves over 90% of all non-immigrant visa applicants.

The relationship between our countries has flourished for a long time. General Artigas expressed approval of our constitution, and there were communications between him and the U.S. government during the early part of the 19th century In 1817 our President Madison sent sailors from Baltimore to fight on the General’s side against a Portuguese blockade. When the general had to go into exile, President Monroe offered him a place to live and a pension, although he decided to stay closer to Uruguay by moving to Paraguay. In 1852, Uruguay and the United States signed a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation in which we pledged “perpetual friendship between the U.S. and its citizens on one part, and Uruguay and its citizens, on the other part.” Our pledge still stands today. At the height of the 2002 crisis, the U.S. granted Uruguay a 1.5 billion dollar bridge loan and pressed the IMF hard to negotiate a long-term plan with Uruguay. We reopened our market to Uruguayan beef in record time. And our relationship continues to be very robust today.

In the past four years we have signed four important agreements:

1. In 2004, we signed an Open Skies Agreement to improve the air linkages in both our countries. It allows for extending flight frequencies and destinations.
2. In 2005, we signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty, known as the BIT, to protect and to promote bilateral investments.
3. In January 2007, we signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the TIFA. The TIFA is an excellent instrument for achieving substantial progress in many trade areas. Some 11 working groups are in constant communication, and their work has already yielded concrete results. The opening of the $180 million blueberry market to Uruguay was negotiated under the TIFA and we are also working on certifying de-boned lamb and in the longer term, citrus. We expect that later this year we will be signing agreements under the TIFA concerning the environment, e-commerce and business development.
4. As a result of the TIFA, in May of this year, we signed a Bilateral Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. The new agreement provides a mechanism through which the United States and Uruguay can broaden cooperation in all scientific and technology fields, and move forward in areas of collaboration such as energy, health issues, science and technology education, engineering, sustainable development, agriculture, and natural resources. It will support government-to-government exchanges and scientific partnerships between private, academic, and non-governmental entities.

To follow up on the Science and Technology agreement our Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky recently brought a blue ribbon delegation of scientists and doctors to Uruguay to discuss possible exchanges and joint projects.

In the last eighteen months Uruguay has been host not only to our President, but to the most important four members of our cabinet (Labor, Treasury, Commerce and State). In addition, U.S. Trade Representatives, Congressional Delegations, and several high-ranking officials from other Departments have visited the country. President Vazquez and many cabinet members have visited the U.S.. There is activity between most of our Cabinet Departments and commensurate Uruguayan Ministries.

As Ambassador I have made seven trips to Washington on Uruguay business, I have been with President Vazquez on his visit to California, where he had a successful meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger. I have also had two other meetings with a number of California businessmen. I have been to Montevideo, Minnesota, where they celebrated General Artigas’s birthday, and I have visited the partners of Uruguay in Minneapolis. I was with the Uruguayan delegation to the Americas Competitiveness Forum in Atlanta, which was the forerunner of the incredibly successful Americas Innovation forum held in Punta del Este in March. We have had scores of important visitors from all walks of life from the U.S. In our residence we have hosted over 6000 people from all over the world as well as Uruguayans. I know that many of you have been there. Mi casa is su casa.

The United States has a strong interest in constructive relationships with countries that respect fundamental democratic values and the rule of law. We will work closely with any government, regardless of its ideological persuasion, as long as it is committed to our shared principles and the well-being of its citizens. Therefore, Uruguay is very important to the United States. Economically, we see you as a valuable example of a stable, well-managed economy governed by sound market principles. Politically, you have the values, and the institutions needed to sustain a vibrant democracy. Socially, you are an example of rationality in a sometimes volatile region. I like to use a boxing analogy about you which is that you punch above your weight! My friend Arnold has said: “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” We see a Uruguay that has gone through recent struggles, a Uruguay that in spite of it all did not surrender, a Uruguay that is now much stronger and much better prepared to take on any hardships, as well as opportunities, that the future may bring. You know that falling is not failure. The only failure is when you don’t get up again. We love that attitude.

We share beliefs that are essential to a free society:

• The belief that democracy, backed by free press, regular and transparent elections, and the rule of law, is the most effective and moral form of government.
• The belief that the free market, under the rule of law, with universal education, and effective support for the less fortunate are the best ways to develop economies and reduce poverty.
• The belief in the role of civil societies in the formation and policies of modern democracies.

In terms of commerce, we recognize that Uruguay has an excellent environment in which to do business. You enjoy many conditions which are unequaled in Latin America. You boast one of the best telecommunications systems in the region, You have good infrastructure and transportation networks which you are striving to improve. Montevideo has a world-class natural port and Uruguay’s secondary ports give access a waterway that flows deep into South America. Your port expansion plans are very creative and exciting. The new Airport terminal plus the expansion of Pluna will make you an even more important logistical hub.

You have a creative population, highly literate and capable, which, with the right training, can be able to adapt quickly to the technological changes that are required to compete today. You have the most even income distribution in Latin America, which is attractive to businesses and investors. You have a transparent business environment. Additionally, you show economic prudence, reliability, and an independent legal system.

The U.S. is already a major investor in your country, with a stock of direct investment of over $600 million, according to our Department of Commerce. Over 100 U.S. companies work here, especially in forestry, tourism, transportation, telecommunications, services, and agriculture. Just four U.S. companies - Weyerhaeuser, the Conrad Hotel, McDonald's, and Sabre - generate approximately 3,000 high-quality direct jobs. Sabre already employs over 900 people, some of whom are Uruguayans who have been recruited home from abroad. Its campus looks like Silicon Valley. These are high-paying, high-value-added service jobs. Weyerhaeuser employs over 1,000 people in the interior. It makes special efforts to ensure its projects work hand in hand with nearby communities. It has changed the face of Tacuarembó, and I encourage you to go and see for yourselves the positive impact that it has had on that Department. The McDonald’s chain of restaurants employs over 1,000 young people across Uruguay, which is the first job for many of them. The Conrad Hotel employs approximately 900 people during the low season and 1,500 during the summer. I think you know the very positive effect the Conrad has had not only in Punta del Este but in Uruguay as a tourism destination as a whole. I am sure you also know the very positive impact on Uruguay from American Airlines’ direct Montevideo to Miami flights. I was recently on one of those flights in which American Airlines was hosting 11 travel agents in order to develop more tourism business. Both of these U.S. companies are increasingly helping position Uruguay as an easily-accessible and affordable international tourist destination.

I strongly believe that you have an attractive environnment and that much more investment can be available, under the right conditions. Investors from the U.S. as well as other nations are looking for opportunities around the world. Uruguay is very interesting because of its safety, its stability, its climate, and its time zone. To date your focus has been on Direct Foreign Investment including buying and/or developing existing resources such as timber, infrastructure, and agriculture. You are taking steps to make Uruguay significantly more important.

First, you are focusing more on human resources. You know that human capital is the most important capital in the 21st century. This is the key to having state of the art businesses locate here. U S high tech companies are looking for trained workers. You know that to be a more serious competitor you must produce more business people, engineers, computer specialists, technologists etc. Our Embassy is helping by being involved in the training of 20,000 young Uruguayans to learn English, which is an essential tool to compete in this. We are also soliciting scholarships from U S business schools for Uruguayan students. Our joint efforts through the Fulbright Commission to exchange scores of teachers and other experts produces a signficant contribution to your human capital. We support DESEM Junior Achievement which is teaching hundreds of young people how to be entrepreneurs. Project CEIBAL is an indication of your serious desire to be a competitor with high quality workers.

I also applaud your current focus on demographics. Recruiting and retaining talented Uruguayans must be be an important part of your human resource strategy. This is such a beautiful place to live, and today it isn’t necessary to leave in order to have a fulfilling career. Today, trained people can live anywhere and offer their services to the world. I like to say that today you can export your brain without sending your body along.

Looking at polls, it is clear that most Uruguayan youth do not want to pursue a business career. Instead they would rather be in a profession such as medicine or law. I can identify with them. Ever since I was very young, I had wanted to be a lawyer. I envisioned myself using the law to fight for right and equality – but whether we like it or not, our lives are mostly the result of random events. It is said that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. An important random event for me was that shortly after I finished high school, I joined the Air Force, instead of going on to university as I had planned. I hasten to add that I wound up flying typewriters rather than jets. While there, I met an airman slightly older than me who was trading in the stock market. I worked with him, for no pay, as he looked for investment opportunities. I became excited by the dynamics of finance and its role in creating value. In university I studied economics rather than law, and since have had a series of jobs as a trader, institutional salesman, investment banker and eventually running an investment banking firm. Because of a random set of events, I believe that I have been able to give more to society than if I had followed my original plan. In my former firm and the firms that we served, thousands of good jobs have been created. We also designed new processes that made financing more cost effective. I have been able to contribute significantly to education, health care, and the arts. I hope that more Uruguayan youth will take a look at business as a path to be creative, fulfilled and to make a contribution to society. Jose Pedro Varela, the father of Uruguayan free education started as a businessman. He said: “It is to the young people that I am speaking; from young people I expect everything.” Business is a very good way to meet those expectations. Bill Gates is an example of someone whose creativity has changed the world, and who now is using his resources to improve health and education around the world.

You are also beginning to address another necessary component for significant growth. That is the development of more sophisticated capital markets, and particularly revitalizing your stock market. As I mentioned before, direct investors are coming into Uruguay buying Uruguayan firms, and developing existing resources, such as timber and real estate. However, institutional investors, such as pension funds and mutual funds-which have the bulk of the world’s capital-, are also looking for ways to invest in this wonderful economy. Rather than running businesses themselves they want to buy shares in businesses. They need the vehicle of capital markets to invest in Uruguayan businesses, both existing growing companies as well as new ones. A liquid stock market provides many other benefits such encouraging risk capital for start ups and new ideas. Young people would be more anxious to stay home if they would have a better chance to develop their ideas here. A stock market also provides opportunities for existing business owners to liquefy without entirely selling out, thereby retaining their skills in Uruguayan businesses. In short, it will be impossible to achieve your full economic potential without viable capital markets. Having some background in this area, I stand ready to be of any help you wish.

Exports will always be a very major component of your economy. Over the last few years you have managed to diversify the variety and destination of your exports. The fact that your exports are shattering record after record is an excellent indication that your products are considered of excellent quality and price in markets world-wide. In 2007, the U.S. was the second largest buyer of Uruguayan products, purchasing just under half a billion dollars, or 11% of your total exports. Our total imports from you this year are way down, because other countries are willing to pay higher prices for your meat. This is a cyclical phenomenon which will change. For now, I feel lucky to have access to asados every day. Besides the traditional agricultural products, the U.S. purchased over three hundred different types of Uruguayan products including several non traditional exports such as gasoline (13% of the total exports to the U.S.), plywood, parts and accessories for motor vehicles, honey, and even floor tiles.

In fact, in 2007 the United States was the number one export destination of almost one hundred different Uruguayan products. Among these were:

• Sawed wood: taking almost 50% of the total exports (14.4 of 29.7 million dollars);
• Brake linings and pads: taking again almost 50% of the total exports (2.5 in 5.4 million);
• Live horses: again almost 50% of the total exports (1.6 in 3.3. million);
• Woven labels and badges: 22% of the total exports (.7 million in 3.2);
• Medical implants, mainly gastric stimulators, cardiac valves and parts for pacemakers: 55% of the total exports (0.8 million in 1.5);
• Breads and pastries, (HTSUS 1905), 26% of Uruguay’s total exports go to the U.S.. (1 in 3.9 million);
• Motorcycles and cycles fitted with an auxiliary motor: 62% (400,000 in 645,000)

I believe that we have only begun to tap the potential for more commercial activity.

The U.S. is the world’s largest market. As I mentioned previously, every day, we import over $6 billion in goods and services. The potential for Uruguay is virtually unlimited. As you know, the world economy is rapidly switching from an industrial economy to an information economy. Most of the employment growth in advanced developing countries and developed countries is in information technology and services. Actually, commodity and industrial employment is decreasing world wide. Uruguay has tremendous potential to take advantage of this trend. To capitalize, you will need to focus more on exporting molecules, bytes and services. These don’t face as many barriers such tariffs and quotas. Such a focus would be another factor in retaining your best talent.

In addition to information technology, I think the opportunities in tourism (including medical tourism), logistics, and alternative energy are also limitless. The U.S. is a demanding market. To win business, the customer has to come first. Those who want to sell in the U.S. must study the market and adapt to it. Quality, price and reliability are keys. Above all, you must market, market, and market. In my former firm, the motto was you go broke waiting for incoming calls. Marketing is not only for businesses. If academics, hospitals, labs, students or others look hard for opportunities in our country, I guarantee that they will find them. Our Embassy is always ready to be of help, but you must take the initiative.

There is much more to be done. Next month a delegation led by Minister Martinez is going to the Americas Competitiveness Forum in Atlanta. They will interact with businesses large and small, with academics, and with government officials from all over the hemisphere. Uruguay wants to have another Innovation Forum next year. I am sure that would be another big step in making you the innovation center of the Southern Cone or, probably, South America.

These are some of the things that are happening in this new reality. We are expanding our business ties, deepening our engagement, and are working together to improve the lives of the citizens of both of our countries. It is impossible to describe everything that is happening in and between free societies. I am certain that there are as many positive developments below the surface as those that we can see now. It is a very, very exciting time.

A muchos de ustedes les gusta decir que son un paísito. Hoy en día, ser un país pequeño es una gran ventaja. Se pueden adaptar a un mundo que cambia con mucha rapidez. Mi imagen de Uruguay es que es un país pequeño que piensa grande. Nos alegra que tengamos tantos lazos con este pequeño país que piensa tan en grande. Los lazos van en ambos sentidos. Hay un número importante de uruguayos / estadounidenses en cada segmento de la sociedad estadounidense. Muchos de ustedes tienen familiares en los Estados Unidos. Me alegra profundamente informarles que Kathy y yo tenemos una bisnieta nacida en Uruguay, de modo que siempre tendremos un vínculo muy personal con ustedes.

Mis buenos amigos, hemos hecho grandes cosas juntos en el pasado. Estamos haciendo grandes cosas en la actualidad. Tengo plena confianza de que lo mejor aún está por venir. Muchas gracias por todo.

(end transcript)

Virtual Enterprise Competition for Senior Public High School Students

2008-07-11T12:07:00.004-03:00

Winning team will travel to the 2009 Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge in North Carolina

DESEM/Junior Achievement and the U.S. Embassy Montevideo are announcing this year's virtual enterprise competition for senior high school students from public institutions across Uruguay.
“Empresas Virtuales” – also known as Management & Economics Simulation Exercise – is a computer simulated program in which different companies must compete in the production and marketing of a product. Each group of students, composed of three participants, must create a company, give it a name, and expose it to competition. The different companies must “elaborate” a revolutionary product that involves a technological advance.
The objective of the program is to introduce 17 year old students from the public sector to the competitive market and to expose them to making business related decisions. The program also aims at providing the participants with the opportunity to interpret and analyze financial reports of a company, put into practice economic and administration concepts and make strategic decisions based on a deep analysis of the information.
The best six teams will compete “face to face” in an event to be held at the U.S. Embassy Montevideo, followed by an Awards Ceremony. The winning team will participate in the 2009 Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge organized by The Jesse Helmes Center at Wingate University, North Carolina.
The program will reach approximately 300 students throughout Uruguay. The competition will be between public high schools across the country through a web page specially designed for this game.
A group of volunteers from the U.S. Embassy will work as assessors giving advice, guiding the participants and transmitting their knowledge and experiences of the business world.
Further information and registration forms are available in Spanish on the embassy website.

Europe 60 Years After Marshall Plan

2008-06-12T10:37:00.002-03:00

Transformative program was inspiration for several modern institutions

By Michael Buchanan

Washington -- When President Bush touched down in Slovenia June 9 for his last major visit to Europe, he set foot on a continent that has reinvented itself. From the devastation and division of World War II to the thriving European Union of today, Europe has experienced a renewal that has roots 60 years ago in the American Marshall Plan.
On April 3, 1948, U.S. President Harry Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948, which became known as the Marshall Plan after a speech given at Harvard University by Secretary of State George Marshall. Soon after becoming law, American aid shipments were flooding into Europe, and European leaders were taking the first steps of coordination that would lead to the formation of the European Union.
By the time the Marshall Plan ended at the beginning of 1952 -- five years after Marshall’s initial speech -- the United States had invested $13.3 billion, and the years 1948 to 1952 had recorded the fastest economic growth in European history.
At the time, British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin called the plan “a lifeline to sinking men” and an act of “generosity … beyond belief.” In 1947, Europe survived one of the worst winters in recorded history, and experts were predicting financial and social collapse.
MARSHALL’S SPEECH
“I need not tell you that the world situation is very serious,” Marshall -- a former soldier widely respected for his honesty and administrative skills -- began after a few introductory remarks. He went on to describe dire economic and social breakdowns that were bankrupting the European continent as it struggled to recover from the devastation of World War II.
Two years after the end of the war, Europeans had no products to sell for hard currency. Because of the money shortage, farmers were not able to sell their food. This resulted in a breakdown of economic activity and fear of widespread starvation while families and governments rapidly drained their savings to buy necessities. In Germany, money was so worthless that most purchases were made by trading cigarettes.
“Thus, a very serious situation is rapidly developing which bodes no good for the world,” Marshall said. “The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger of breaking down.”
Over the next three to four years, Europe required massive amounts of imported food and essential products, but had no way to pay for them.
“It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world,” Marshall said. “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.”
Marshall’s initial speech offered few details. Before the United States could move forward with large amounts of aid, “there must be some agreement among the countries of Europe” about how to spend the money, he said.
EUROPEAN REACTION
Within weeks, European governments -- led by France and Britain -- began drafting Marshall’s spending plan. The first request, for $29 billion in aid over four years, was rejected by the United States. Eventually, the parties cut the request in half.
Congress funded the first $5 billion for 18 months, with the remaining money appropriated only after careful review. The spending plan actually concluded about six months early, due to the outbreak of the Korean War and to the improving economic situation in Europe.
As European leaders first met to discuss the plan in July 1947, an editorial in LIFE -- an influential U.S. weekly magazine -- stated: “What Americans like about the Marshall Plan is that it points toward the triumph of a rational idea.” While history often is far from rational, it continued, “the Marshall Plan is a reminder that problems do have rational solutions, that some ideas are better than others, and that it is even possible to think them up well in advance of a crisis.”
TODAY’S EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS
The Marshall Plan’s requirement for economic coordination set in motion a series of events and policy decisions that evolved into the modern institutions of European cooperation.
In March 1948, Britain, France and the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) signed a treaty establishing a military pact, aimed at collective defense as well as fostering cultural and economic integration. They sought more U.S. involvement, and the negotiations led, in April 1949, to the founding of NATO, which continues to integrate the defense of its democratic member nations.
In May 1950, former French Prime Minister Robert Schuman proposed joint management of the French and West German coal and steel industries. The “Schuman Plan” led in 1951 to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community by West Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. This led, in 1957, to the Treaty of Rome, which established Europe’s first full customs union, the European Economic Community, which is considered the founding organization of the modern European Union.
On the 60th anniversary of Marshall’s speech, the EU encompassed 27 nations and 500 million people, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $14 trillion, exceeding the GDP of the United States.

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2008/08-289EN.shtml

How Will Candidates Explain Stances on Meeting Hostile Leaders?

2008-06-11T18:54:00.002-03:00

Political analysts detail candidates’ likely strategies
By Eric Green
Washington -- Senator John McCain and the man he is expected to face in November for the presidency, Senator Barack Obama, are presenting contrasting philosophies on whether to negotiate with hostile foreign dictators and rogue leaders, with the question becoming which position will be more attractive to American voters, according to a leading political analyst.
Illinois Senator Obama has stated his willingness to meet with Cuba’s Raúl Castro and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. McCain, a senator from Arizona, opposes such talks, saying Obama’s stance would only embolden America’s “implacable foes.”
Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, spoke recently with America.gov.
Ornstein, also an election analyst with the CBS Television Network, said, “What we know is that Americans, in principle, like the idea of talking to others, including adversaries; in that sense, Obama is on the right side of public opinion.”
The issue, said Ornstein, involves whether Obama’s approach -- “direct talks by the president, not surrogates, with no preconditions, only prearrangements -- will be seen as a sign of naiveté and inexperience.”
Ornstein said that to date, it appears Obama “has handled the issue adroitly enough. But more pitfalls remain, including making distinctions between Ahmadinejad” and the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups, “and between Ahmadinejad and other Iranian leaders.”
For McCain, Ornstein said, the question is whether his attack on Obama on this issue looks like President Bush’s “policy of not talking to adversaries,” or whether the attempt to make a distinction between a U.S. secretary of state’s talking to a foreign adversary instead of a president “will resonate at all with voters.”
NBC ANALYST SAYS CANDIDATES USING NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES OF OPPONENT
Chuck Todd, political director for the NBC television network, told America.gov that the two candidates are trying to paint each other with negative stereotypes on whether an American president should meet with hostile foreign leaders.
Todd said the back-and-forth between the two candidates raises the question of which stereotype will prevail with U.S. voters.
Regarding Iran, Obama has claimed he never said he would talk directly with Ahmadinejad, only with Iranian leaders. This parsing of words, said Todd, might lead to a debate about who exactly is the leader of Iran.
In Obama’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Todd, the Illinois senator sought to portray his opponent, Hillary Clinton, as “very Bush-like” and wanted to contrast his fresh take on foreign policy with the approach of the New York senator.
Obama “made some commitments that I think he wishes he had back, frankly,” said Todd. But Todd said Obama “thinks he can win” the argument about negotiating with dictators by saying McCain adheres too closely to President Bush’s more unilateral, hard-line foreign policy.
VIRGINIA POLITICAL ANALYST SAYS MCCAIN FACES TOUGH BATTLE
Political analyst Larry Sabato told America.gov that McCain “obviously has a very tough battle under adverse conditions that face any Republican” who runs for elected office in 2008.
McCain’s best tactic against Obama is charging the Democrat with inexperience, “especially as it applies to foreign affairs, the military, defense and national security,” said Sabato, a University of Virginia professor of politics.
Sabato said McCain’s job “is to paint Obama as too risky” and lacking “the experience to make rational and thoughtful decisions in the nation’s interests.”
McCain could employ the word “naïve” over and over again to define Obama, said Sabato, adding that other likely charges include “gullible and too trusting of these evil dictators around the world who would gladly slit our throats if they had the opportunity.”
Sabato said Obama could respond by casting himself in the youthful image of a new generation of leadership similar to that exemplified by John F. Kennedy, who said in his January 1961 presidential inaugural address that America should “never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”
McCain’s strategy is to press his argument about not negotiating with hostile dictators in such conservative-leaning states with large numbers of military personnel as Virginia, Sabato continued.
The Arizona senator also could try to make this appeal in Florida, Sabato said, which has conservative voters attached to the state’s many military installations and a large Cuban-American population that objects to talking to Cuba’s communist leaders.
For additional information, see “Candidates on the Issues.”

Famine Early Warning System Can Predict Food Shortages

2008-06-11T16:47:00.005-03:00

Guinea-Bissau is a small country in West Africa. Complex patterns can be seen in the shallow waters along its coastline, where silt carried by the Geba and other rivers washes out into the Atlantic Ocean.

U.S. aid agency’s international network uses satellites to spot crop trends
By Cheryl Pellerin
Since 1985, when scientists first used satellites to produce continental-scale images of vegetation and crops across Africa, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has funded an effort that warns nations and regions months in advance of serious impending food shortages.
USAID established the famine early warning system (FEWS) to help prevent or respond to famine conditions in sub-Saharan Africa by giving decision makers specific information about drought conditions or dwindling crop yields based on satellite remote-sensing data.
Satellite sensors acquire images of the Earth and transmit the data to ground receiving stations worldwide. Once the raw images are processed, analysts can document changing environmental conditions like pollution, global climate change, natural resource distribution and urban growth.
In this effort, USAID partners with NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the United States, and collaborates with international, regional and national partners. Chemonics International, a global development firm, implements the program for USAID.
In 2000, the FEWS Network (FEWS NET) was formed to establish more effective, sustainable, African-led food security and partnerships to reduce the vulnerability of at-risk groups to famine and floods.
“At the beginning, it was primarily remote sensing,” Gary Eilerts, USAID program manager for FEWS NET, told America.gov. “It was pretty much looking at rainfall and vegetation and trying to say what we thought was happening in terms of food security.”
IMAGERY AND MARKETS
Today, he said, the program has 23 offices around the world where analysts combine maps, data and imagery with knowledge of local markets and trade in each country, and information about local livelihoods, to determine what food the market can buy locally, what it can bring in and what people can afford.
“Food security is a very complex phenomenon,” geographer Molly Brown, who works for the Biospherics Sciences Branch at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, told America.gov. “Just because you have green stuff on the ground doesn’t mean you’re producing anything in the way of food.”
USAID spent $14.9 million on FEWS NET activities in 2007, funding operations in 17 African nations; regional offices in Burkina Faso, Kenya and South Africa; and country offices in Afghanistan, Haiti and Guatemala.
In the field offices, analysts study satellite imagery, local livelihoods, food security and vulnerability, markets and trade, early warning systems and agricultural economics. They also plan contingencies for and responses to food issues.
The USGS employs regional scientists for Central America, East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa who support FEWS NET activities and strengthen the technical capacity of regional and national institutions.
FEWS NET gets its warnings out through a mix of products that are printed and posted online, Charles Chopak, Chemonics’s chief of party for FEWS NET activities, told America.gov.
These include monthly food-security updates for the 23 countries and three regional offices that are targeted to technical readers in ministries of agriculture, finance and social welfare. Regular food-security outlooks -- maps updated semi-annually -- show projected food insecurity for a country.
“When a situation is emerging or evolving,” Chopak said, “we put out a one-page food-security alert that describes what’s causing the issue and what the impact will be on food security.”
In a typical year, FEWS NET analysts might be able to give warnings five months to six months in advance of a food problem. In a bad year, they might be able to give a one- to two-month warning.
Anyone can sign up for e-mail alerts on the FEWS NET Web site. Audiences for the warnings include local governments, U.N. agencies in FEWS NET countries, USAID missions and embassies, local and international nongovernmental organizations and food-security consultants.
FOOD CRISIS
The average price of rice worldwide has more than tripled since early 2006 and wheat, corn and soybean prices have more than doubled, triggering food riots and threatening to plunge more than 100 million people into deeper hunger and poverty. The causes of the crisis vary, but the result in many places is famine. (See “Multiple Factors Drive Up Global Food Prices.”)
The evolving and increasingly advanced work of FEWS NET becomes even more critical during such a crisis, Eilerts said.
“I spend about 80 percent of my time now dealing with that crisis,” he added. “It’s much more important to know what [food] is [available in countries] and what is not. And it’s much more important to be able to follow the changes over time because this problem will be with us for several more years, if not 10 more years.”
“We’re developing a series of products specifically to respond to people at various [technical] levels who want to monitor and take action on rising prices,” Chopak said.
One product will compare the main staple food of the poor in each country with a likely substitute and try to understand the relative price changes of each. Another product will examine a series of price changes in a region and explain the food-security effect of the change.
FEWS NET is adding to its monthly reports in each country an urban assessment and vulnerability section that discusses food-security issues in urban areas, which may be more vulnerable to food shortages than agricultural areas.
More information about FEWS NET is available at the USAID Web site.
For more about remote sensing systems, see. "U.S. Agencies Moving Forward in Planning Landsat 7 Successor."

Uruguayan Students Participate in Global UGrad Program

2008-06-06T16:28:00.003-03:00

The Uruguayan undergraduate students selected to participate in the 2008 Global UGrad Program chat with Ambassador Frank E. Baxter during a pre-orientation session at the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo, June 4, 2008. Seated around the table are: Fiorella Bafundo (University of the Republic), Tamara Míguez (Instituto de Profesores Artigas), Lucía Caumont (Catholic University), Irace González (Instituto de Profesores Artigas), Verónica Pérez Urioste (Cultural Assistant, U.S. Embassy Montevideo), Ambassador Frank E. Baxter, Magdalena Gutiérrez (Universtity of the Republic), Amalia Bonica, Josefina Caviglia (University of the Republic), Javier Maseiro (ORT University)

Nine undergraduate students have been selected to attend accredited institutions in the U.S.

Nine applicants have been selected among more that 70 undergraduate students from all five Uruguayan universities to participate in this year's Global Undergraduate Program. (See related article.)
The participants will be enrolled full-time in undergraduate course work chosen from the host institution´s existing curriculum to allow students ample opportunity for substantive interaction with U.S. faculty and student peers, and for exposure to U.S. academic and classroom culture.The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (also known as the Global UGRAD Program) is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. It provides one semester and academic year scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students from underrepresented sectors in East Asia, Eurasia and Central Asia, the Near East and South Asia and the Western Hemisphere for non-degree full-time study combined with community service, internships and cultural enrichment. Approximately 460 scholarships will be awarded in 2008.

Reducing Demand Is Key To Curbing Human Trafficking, U.S. Says

2008-06-05T11:45:00.004-03:00

A woman holds the school ID of her missing daughter. Demand for cheap labor and sexual services must be addressed to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery, U.S. officials say at a briefing on the State Department's Eighth Trafficking in Persons Report.

Forced labor gets special focus in the 2008 report on modern-day slavery
By Jane Morse
Washington -- The demand for cheap labor and sexual services must be addressed to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery, say U.S. officials.
At a June 4 briefing for the release of the State Department’s eighth annual Trafficking In Persons Report, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the 2008 report, for the first time, examines prosecution data.
She cited one “disturbing discovery” in particular: “Although more countries are addressing sex trafficking through prosecution and convictions, the petty tyrants who exploit their laborers rarely receive serious punishment. We see this as a serious shortcoming, and as we move our efforts forward, we and our allies must remember that a robust law enforcement response is essential. “
Ambassador Mark Lagon, the director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said the 2008 report also focuses on forced labor, a form of trafficking in persons.
Lagon recounted instances of workers imprisoned in factories under brutal conditions that could be categorized only as forced labor. Evidence of forced labor is especially strong in Thailand’s shrimp-processing industry, he said, and in charcoal production and on sugar plantations in Brazil.
In addition to slave labor in factories, many trafficking victims find themselves enslaved as domestic servants. Lagon said the government of the Philippines has taken steps to prevent workers from accepting domestic employment in certain countries where such enslavement is prevalent. Lagon called on more governments around the world to exercise stronger political will to prevent trafficking.
Lagon said the 2008 report takes a close look at the factors that create demand and at the recruiters of trafficked victims. Such recruiters often establish fees for finding “work” for their “clients” that are so onerous the result is debt bondage. Debt bondage is a form of enslavement in which workers find they never can pay off their debts to win their freedom or the right to keep their wages.
The ambassador also called for more services for the treatment and rehabilitation of the formerly enslaved. “We must restore humanity to those who have been dehumanized,” he said.
The 2008 report evaluates the efforts of 170 countries to combat human trafficking. The report aims to raise awareness of the scourge of modern slavery and to encourage countries to take action to prevent it.
The report places countries in “tiers” based on an assessment of the government’s compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking as explained in the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Protection Act of 2000. Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries have moderate to severe challenges in controlling trafficking. Another category, “Tier 2 Watch List,” indicates countries in danger of falling to the bottom Tier 3.
Lagon said that in the 2008 report, Madagascar moved to Tier 1 -- the best of the ratings -- by demonstrating the ability to take effective anti-trafficking steps with minimal resources. Moldova, however, fell to Tier 3. Both previously had been classified in Tier 2.
China and India remain on the Tier 2 Watch List. China, he said, has made insufficient efforts to combat trafficking, especially in regards to North Korean women who are trafficked into China as “wives” or prostitutes. Those North Koreans unlucky enough to be returned by authorities to North Korea routinely are punished by the North Korean regime, he said.
In contrast, India has made more efforts to protect children who become victims of trafficking, but the government still does not recognize bonded labor as a form of slavery, Lagon said.
TRAFFICKING A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM
According to U.S. estimates, some 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders each year. That number does not include the millions of people trafficked within their own countries.
Trafficking is a problem in the United States as well, where an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 victims are trafficked into the country each year. A separate report on trafficking problems inside the United States is produced each year.
U.S. efforts to combat trafficking involve partnerships with other countries, international and nongovernmental organizations. In fiscal year 2007, the U.S. government spent approximately $79 million to fund 180 anti-trafficking projects in about 90 countries. Since fiscal year 2001, the United States has funded more than $528 million for anti-trafficking projects worldwide.
Even though the problem of human trafficking is severe, the outlook is not entirely gloomy. According to Rice, in recent years there has been “a hopeful global movement uniting civil society, governments, and international organizations” to abolish human trafficking.
“We hope this report encourages responsible nations across the globe to stand together, to speak with one voice, and to say that freedom and security are non-negotiable demands of human dignity,” she said.
“Together I believe this movement of governments, civil society, and brave individuals of conscience can rescue, rehabilitate, and restore the lives of those who have been treated as less than human.”
The full text of the 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report is available on the State Department Web site. See also U.S. Government Efforts to Fight Demand Fueling Human Trafficking and The Facts About Human Trafficking for Forced Labor also on the State Department Web site.

Earth Day Celebration Fosters Students' Awareness

2008-05-13T14:06:00.002-03:00

GLOBE activity taps into the creative talent of youngsters at a Montevideo school

To celebrate Earth Day 2008, Montevideo's public school Nº 85 “Republic of India” held a GLOBE activity involving a total of 80 primary education students. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program.
For the celebration, GLOBE-trained teacher Patricia Píriz organized a photography and plastic expression contest aimed at promoting among the students the awareness and feeling of belonging to their city and their planet. The theme of the contest was “MY NEIGHBORHOOD - MY EARTH”.
Students participating in the contest ranged between 9 and 13 years of age. They observed and showed, through plastic expression and photography techniques, the features of the day and night landscapes of the area where they reside. They submitted photographs, scale models and drawings in various techniques, showing an enormous enthusiasm in carrying out the project. Their families and school teachers also provided assistance in the development of the artistic productions.
The jury, comprised of representatives from the teacher and the student bodies, had to face the difficult task of choosing the winners among the many excellent contestants. The most voted productions were those submitted by students Daniel Fontana, Gonzalo Monzón, Víctor Blanco, Diana Fráppola, Irina Feria, Luna Rivero, Antonio Geriboni, Camila Cónsul, Camila Massa, Jimena Fernánadez, Florencia Zanelli, and Micaela Rótulo.
The experience was extremely positive and rewarding. The students worked in teams, exchanged ideas, and identified their favorite locations in their respective neighborhoods, green and urban areas. They observed the landscapes in great detail, and looked for personal, unique ways to portray them.
Based on the great interest expressed by everyone, the school intends to continue celebrating this event in the coming years.
Announced in 1994, GLOBE began operations on Earth Day 1995. Today, the international GLOBE network has grown to include representatives from 110 participating countries and 137 U.S. Partners coordinating GLOBE activities that are integrated into their local and regional communities. In Uruguay, 46 teachers have been trained be trained by the GLOBAL organization and 25 primary education schools have been formally appointed as GLOBE schools.

World Press Freedom Day Supports Journalists Facing Threats

2008-05-02T17:32:00.003-03:00

By Eric Green

Washington -- Global events marking World Press Freedom Day May 3 will spotlight repression against independent journalists and murders of members of the media, many of which go unpunished.

Press Freedom Day will remind the world that 171 journalists were killed in 2007 while pursuing their work, a number just short of the yearly record, and hundreds more were threatened, imprisoned or tortured, says the United Nations. The U.N. General Assembly in 1993 established each May 3 as the commemorative day for press freedom.

Joel Simon, executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, says that when Press Freedom Day was created, “I don’t think anyone expected it to have the kind of resonance that it does today.”

Simon said the day is marked by numerous rallies, protests and newspaper editorials to focus international attention on the violence and repression inflicted on the media in many countries.

The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will hold its central activities marking the special day in Mozambique, a country where press freedom has begun to thrive following a civil war that ended in 1992.

Simon said, however, that the country’s small independent press corps was traumatized by the November 2000 murder of a leading Mozambican investigative reporter, Carlos Cardoza.

The murder “got a huge amount of attention” in Mozambique and internationally, Simon said. Cardoza was considered a fearless muckraker (a journalist who exposes corruption and scandals in business and politics). Reports said he was killed for daring to denounce by name criminal elements and corrupt government officials. The case spurred a “great deal of awareness about press freedom” in Mozambique, Simon said.

The press has been “quite vital in Mozambique in the post-civil war period, and has served as an independent voice,” said Simon. He added that the “state media is credible” in that country, a situation he said is not typical for Africa.

Mozambique’s government will participate in the May 3 ceremonies in Maputo, the Mozambican capital. Scheduled events include the awarding of UNESCO’s $25,000 prize to a journalist or organization for actions that contributed to the defense and promotion of world press freedom. The 2007 prize was awarded posthumously to the Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in October 2006.

REPRESSIVE GOVERNMENTS FEAR INDEPENDENT MEDIA

David Hoffman, president of Internews Network, a nongovernmental group that promotes independent media, says press freedom day is important “because it reminds us of the vital role that a free and open media have in supporting democracy and civil society and creating transparency in government.”

Hoffman said he considers government repression of the independent media the top issue for Press Freedom Day.

Some countries have laws -- that “aren’t being followed” -– to protect the media, said Hoffman, whose organization is funded by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, among others.

Hoffman said an “anti-democratic backlash” against the media began following the 2003 “Rose Revolution” in Georgia, and similar movements in post-communist societies in Central and Eastern Europe and in Central Asia.

“Many repressive governments are fearful of an independent media in their countries because of the prominent role” that the press played in bringing about those movements, said Hoffman.

He cited Russia as an example of a country where the “independent media has been closed down,” which included the 2007 expulsion of Internews from the country on what Hoffman called the Russian government’s “purely political” charges against his group for alleged currency violations.

PRESS FREEDOM DAY IMPORTANT IN EMERGING DEMOCRACIES

William Orme, policy adviser for media development at the U.N. Development Programme, says that in “emerging democracies around the world, World Press Freedom Day has become a very significant event.”

The day is a “moment in the calendar [to support] journalists who often feel in jeopardy, marginalized and under threat,” Orme said. “It’s a moment where the international community officially acknowledges the central importance of a free media and a democratic system.”

Press Freedom Day, said Orme, is not just for journalists, but also serves as a reminder to the world’s citizens and governments “that the right to free expression and the exchange of information” is guaranteed in Article 19 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Most countries are signatories to that international covenant, said Orme, a former newspaper reporter and executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Orme said his U.N. agency once ranked Mozambique as the poorest country in the world, but the nation has emerged after almost 20 years of civil war and hundreds of thousands dead to a stage when the nation’s leadership has “tried to build a democratic culture, including great leeway for the press.”

Though the situation for journalists in that nation is “hardly perfect,” Orme said, Mozambique holds “very important symbolic significance within Africa and around the world” as a place where press freedom is recognized as part of the country’s “democratic experiment.”

Article 19 of the U.N. declaration about human rights is available on the UNESCO Web site.

Ambassador Baxter Congratulates the 2008 Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program

2008-04-18T13:51:00.004-03:00

46 Uruguayan teachers from public schools across the country participated in this year's program

By Leigh Miller

U.S. Ambassador Frank Baxter welcomed 46 Uruguayan public school teachers and members of the Montevideo business community to his residence April 17 to congratulate them for their participation in the 2008 Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program.
The annual program, supported by the U.S.-based Fulbright Foundation and administered by the Fulbright Commission of Uruguay, sends Uruguayan teachers to the United States to spend three weeks teaching in American schools.
Following a three-day orientation with the Fulbright Foundation in Washington D.C. in February 2008, the 46 Uruguayan teachers traveled to various states in the U.S. where they were installed in public and private schools as temporary teachers. In these roles, they learned about the U.S. education system and shared their Uruguayan teaching expertise with their host schools and families. They collaborated on ideas for curriculum development with their American counterparts, focusing on teaching the English language in their classrooms upon return to Uruguay.
During the reception, Mr. Baxter praised the Fulbright Commission of Uruguay for its coordination of the program and encouraged the business community to participate in future Teacher Exchange Program activities.
Following an introduction by Primary Education Administration Director General Edith Moraes, three teachers - Andrea Musso, an English teacher from public school Nº 31 in Montevideo; Cristina Álvez, an English teacher from public school Nº 56 in Maldonado and Norma Quijano, teaching assessor from the Primary Education Administration - gave testimonials about their experiences in the U.S.
Each emphasized the value of the relationships they developed with American teachers for enriching the learning experiences of their own students. Each also highlighted the importance of the Fulbright program and the support of the U.S. Embassy for encouraging Uruguayan teachers to learn English and collaborate with U.S. schools through the exchange program.

Alliance for a Drug-Free Uruguay Unveils New Ad Campaign

2008-04-17T14:03:00.003-03:00

A group of students from ORT University pose with U.S. Public Affairs officer Robert Zimmerman during the presentation of a new ad campaign by the Alliance for a Drug-Free Uruguay, held April 10, 2008.

The Alliance for a Drug-Free Uruguay (Alianza por un Uruguay sin Drogas) launched a new drug prevention ad campaign during a presentation held at the ORT University in Montevideo. The ads, prepared free of charge by Uruguayan PR experts, will target child drug abuse by encouraging parents to communicate with their children and talk about drugs. The campaign includes a parents' guide with tips on how to raise awareness in children of all ages including teenagers.
Several Uruguayan media outlets such as dailies, radio and TV, have donated space and air time to run the ads. The parent's guide, available online, will be distributed throughout the country in supermarkets, movie theatres and sporting events.

Martin Luther King’s Dream Lives on 40 Years After His Death

2008-04-04T17:31:00.007-03:00

On April 4, 1968, an assassin took the life of Martin Luther King Jr. He was 39 years old. Forty years after his death, Americans honor King with a national holiday celebrated on the third Monday of each January. Above, DJ Lewis (left) and his father, Dennis Sr., join in a January 2006 march in honor of King in Oklahoma City.

Americans remember the days of anger and hope
By Michael Friedman

Washington -- On April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, an assassin’s bullet took the life of Martin Luther King, the main architect and the leader of the nonviolent civil rights movement in the United States. He was 39 years old. The medical examiners said King died with the heart of a 60-year-old, because he had for so long carried the burden of so many. Some 100,000 Americans stood outside the church at the time of his funeral.
The day before, as part of his “poor people’s campaign,” King was campaigning on behalf of striking -- and primarily black -- sanitation workers. His last address drew strongly on his lifelong study of the Bible. It would prove prophetic:
Well, I don’t know what will happen now; we’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life -- longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
The year 1968 was one of political upheaval throughout the world. In the United States, just two months later, on June 5, another assassin took the life of Senator Robert Kennedy, who as attorney general had provided timely assistance to civil rights activists.
DAYS OF ANGER
The murder of Martin Luther King sparked riots in Washington and more than 100 other American cities, threatening to turn a peaceful struggle of African Americans into a violent racial confrontation. Even before the tragic event, the movement seemed to be undergoing a transformation that many of King’s closest associates watched with apprehension.
By May 1966, Stokley Carmichael, veteran of numerous voter registration drives, had established himself as the new head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the principal student organization of the civil rights movement, whose leadership was growing increasingly impatient with the gradualist strategy of Martin Luther King and his associates.
In a speech at Greenwood, Mississippi, Carmichael raised a call for “Black Power.” Where people like Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King had sought integration, Carmichael instead sought separation. Integration, he said, was “an insidious subterfuge, for the maintenance of white supremacy.”
Meanwhile, the Black Panther Party (some accounts trace the name to a visual emblem for illiterate voters used in an Alabama voter registration drive), founded in Oakland, California, in October 1966 by activists Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, employed armed members -- “Panthers” -- to shadow police officers who, they believed, unfairly targeted blacks.
While the party briefly enjoyed a measure of popularity, particularly through its social services programs, armed altercations with local police resulted in the death or jailing of prominent Panthers, turned many Americans against its violent ways, and fragmented the Panther movement. It petered out in a maze of factionalism and mutual recriminations.
Many feared, however, that King’s assassination would increase the influence of militant elements within the movement. At that time, some questioned King’s life work. But the “Promised Land” that King described was in many ways far closer than it seemed during the riots of April 1968.
AMERICAN CONSENSUS
The African-American historical experience will always be unique. But meaningful federal enforcement of the right to vote equipped black Americans with the tools that immigrants and other minority groups long have used to pursue -- and achieve -- the American Dream. In the United States, people who vote wield real political power. With the vote -- and over time -- legal and political equality for African Americans has produced gains in nearly every walk of life.
John R. Lewis, for example, was one of the Freedom Riders beaten bloody by a Montgomery, Alabama, mob in 1961. Today he represents Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nearly 50 of his congressional colleagues are African Americans, and several of them wield great political power as chairpersons of in?uential congressional committees.
In 1963, Denise McNair was among the girls killed when racist vigilantes bombed Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. In 2005, her friend Condoleezza Rice took office as the nation’s secretary of state.
Black secondary school graduation rates have nearly tripled since 1966, and the rate of poverty has been nearly halved in that time. The expansion of the black middle class is a widely noted social development, as are the many successful entrepreneurs, scholars and literary and artistic achievers who are African American.
Although Americans continue to wrestle with issues of race, those issues differ profoundly from those addressed by Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement generation.
Unquestionably, the civil rights movement forced the American people to confront squarely the contradiction between their ideals and the reality of segregation and inequality. In doing so, it launched the nation far along the path to full racial equality, a road it is still traveling.
Probably the most important measure of progress is the emergence -- not least among the younger Americans who will build the nation’s future -- of a broad and deep consensus that the shameful histories of slavery, segregation and disadvantage must be relegated to just that: history.
The materials above are adapted from Free At Last: The U.S. Civil Rights Movement, a book to be published on America.gov during summer 2008.

U.S. Funding Helps Fight One of the “Worst Forms of Child Labor”

2008-04-04T10:24:00.001-03:00

Initiatives aim to protect, educate child soldiers, other young victims
By Jane Morse
Washington -- U.S. programs are tackling the problems faced by many of the millions of children around the world who are exploited as laborers. Among the most unfortunate are children pressed into service as soldiers.
The U.N. International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that there are 218 million child laborers worldwide. Of these, some 300,000 are child soldiers, according to UNICEF.
Child soldiering has been designated as one of the “worst forms” of child labor by the United Nations in the ILO International Convention 182, which was adopted in 1999 and ratified by 163 nations, including the United States. U.S. efforts to protect and aid these children have been vigorous and consistent, and many agencies are involved in the effort.
The U.S. Department of Labor, for example, has spent $595 million since 1995 to help victims of child labor abuse. These programs, according to department estimates, have touched the lives of at least 1 million children.
In 2003, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao held a conference on child soldiers titled “Children Caught in the Crossfire.” During the conference, she announced initiatives for on-the-ground services. Prior to this, the Department of Labor had funded research to look at the issue.
At the time of the conference, Chao said: “There are two faces of the child soldier issue -- the face of despair, and the face of redemption. ... We can’t give child soldiers their childhood back, but we can help them to rebuild their lives.”
To this end, the department launched a $13 million global initiative to help educate, rehabilitate and reintegrate former child soldiers. The initiative included a $7 million project funded through the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor to develop comprehensive strategies to help former child soldiers in Africa, where most current and former child soldiers live.
The Department of Labor currently funds more than 19 projects to educate children and protect them from exploitation in countries recovering from armed conflict. In fiscal year 2007, the department funded two new projects that target war-affected children -- including child soldiers -- in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Labor-funded project in Uganda -- by promoting awareness campaigns and by providing increased access to educational opportunities -- is expected to help save more than 11,000 children from the worst forms of child labor. The project will reach an additional 14,725 indirect beneficiaries, who will attend target schools or join households that benefit from activities designed to enhance livelihood opportunities.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 12,000 youths will be aided by programs designed to prevent them from being exploited in a country still recovering from decades of conflict.
CHILD SOLDIERING AND TRAFFICKING
At the U.S. Department of State, child soldiering is considered to be “a unique and severe manifestation of trafficking in persons that involves the unlawful recruitment of children through force, fraud or coercion ….”
The Presidential Initiative on Trafficking in Persons has provided $2.5 million for post-conflict projects. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been the biggest source of funds for projects working with child soldiers, providing $1,875,000 for fiscal years 2003 through 2006.
Because programs to help child soldiers are scattered through so many U.S. government departments and agencies, the State Department has taken the lead in serving as coordinator and information clearinghouse. In 2007, it launched a “Children in War” Web site, available to government personnel only, which collects information from a wide array of sources to serve as a resource tool for future programs.
Tu Dang, the foreign affairs officer who manages that Web site at the State Department’s Office of International Labor and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told America.gov that the site covers a number of broader issues as well, such as vulnerable children and orphans.
“There’s a real need for coordination and information sharing,” she said. “It’s difficult, because there isn’t enough consistent information out there.”
Additional information on the worst forms of child labor and the Children in the Crossfire 2003 International Conference is available on the Labor Department Web site.
The full text of the 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report is available on the State Department Web site.

Right to Dissent a Cherished American Freedom

2008-03-25T10:55:00.005-03:00

War protesters creatively make their voices heard in Washington
By Lea Terhune

Washington -- Families and school tours visiting the nation’s capital during spring vacation were treated to an example of direct political action as protestors against the Iraq War mingled with throngs of tourists and residents March 19.

Demonstrators young and old dispersed throughout the city to mark the fifth year of the conflict by publicly voicing their concerns. Equestrian police sat placidly on their horses as a group bearing a large orange sign that read “Iraq get out, Iran stay out” crossed McPherson Square. Peaceful groups chanted anti-war slogans and songs near the White House and other federal buildings.

President Bush, speaking at the Pentagon the same day, acknowledged the “understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning, and whether we can win it.”

But he maintained his support for the Iraq war, saying the troop buildup, or surge, is working. “The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated -- but it is a fight we must win,” he said, lauding soldiers’ courage and determination and calling the military action noble, necessary and just.

Nearby on the Capitol Mall and on surrounding city streets, Americans from various parts of the country disagreed.
Veterans for Peace intoned responses to the military cadence call “Sound Off” with words tailored to the peace march, rather than the drill field. Member of the group held signs aloft and flashed peace gestures. Some were in wheelchairs. Stopping in front of the White House, a member of the group delivered a speech condemning the war.
“Support our troops -- bring them back” was a sentiment expressed by many.

Mike Ferner, a Navy hospital corpsman, or medical specialist, during the Vietnam War, told reporters, “I’m here because this president apparently is not interested in listening to the will of the majority of people in this country, and we need to get out and demonstrate more … what we really need to do is stop business as usual.” He said delivering that message peacefully was the goal of the demonstrators.

More theatrical were groups of black-swathed protesters wearing white death masks who silently threaded their way through the city. They called their protest a “Death March.”

FREE SPEECH GUARANTEED UNDER THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

Although the Washington demonstration was not as large as some in the past, it was earnest. Protesters tried to blockade the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. tax office, to symbolize a call to halt the flow of U.S. taxpayers’ money to fund the Iraq War. Some groups held up traffic. A few dozen were arrested across the city.

“Protesting is not illegal. It is our right. It’s in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution,” Officer Josh Aldiva, spokesman for the Metropolitan Police, told America.gov. But when protesters break laws by blocking traffic, crossing a police barrier or trying to enter a restricted building, they may be arrested.

In those cases, Aldiva explained, people are taken to the local police station and their police records are checked. If they have no recorded offenses, they may be asked to pay a fine, after which they may leave.

Various law enforcement agencies, local and federal, policed the protests, which were calm despite arrests.

According to Federal Protective Service press officer Ernestine Fobbs, “It was peaceful at the IRS, but you are still required to charge people with failure to comply.”

Countering anti-war protesters were a group of people at a military recruiting center with signs stating “We support our brave military and their just mission.”

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE DEEPLY ROOTED IN AMERICAN HISTORY

Civil disobedience is an old weapon in the American arsenal of dissent, dating back to the 1773 Boston Tea Party, when Colonists dumped a British vessel’s tea cargo overboard into Boston Harbor to protest against an unfair British system of taxes and tariffs.

Writer Henry David Thoreau’s famous 1849 essay on civil disobedience still resonates to Americans: “The authority of government … is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed.”

Nonviolent protest was used in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and in the movement against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s. Both employed marches and sit-ins, a form of passive resistance.

Organizers such as the group United for Peace and Justice offered training in nonviolent protest and political activism ahead of the peace march. Similar events were staged in cities around the country.

Anti-war protester Diane Rosen explained why she was there: “I want to just take part in letting people know there are people who think like this.”

Rice Comments on Regional Issues, Including Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia

2008-03-17T14:49:00.001-03:00

INTERVIEW
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
With William Waack of Globo TV
March 13, 2008
Salvador de Bahia, Brazil

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, in terms of the capacity of your government to influence positively events in this region, under President Bush, what’s your assessment? This capacity has increased or decreased?

SECRETARY RICE: In many ways, our relations have never been better in many parts of the region. With Brazil, we’ve developed a very important and strategic relationship where we’re cooperating together on projects in Africa, where obviously we have the biofuels initiative. Brazil is such an important actor not just in the region, but globally. And I spent a long time today talking to the Foreign Minister, for instance about the Middle East -- Brazil was a participant in Annapolis -- and even on issues that are not of high politics, but I think that touch the lives of people. The United States has doubled foreign assistance to Latin America and we are trying to do more about education and healthcare because ultimately, this President cares about social justice in this hemisphere; democracy, good economies and social justice.

QUESTION: I read your remarks at the OAS as recently as last October when you said this is a change in history. This President, for him, it’s not important where you are, your ideological background, whether you are leftist or rightist. But after we heard from President Bush yesterday, Wednesday about Chavez, this position has changed.

SECRETARY RICE: No, this is – we are sitting here in Brazil. Brazil has a president from the left. He’s one of America’s closest friends and partners in the region and on the globe. I will go on to Chile, another country where the president is from the left and again, we have excellent relations with Chile.

And so this is not about where you are on the ideological spectrum. It’s a question of: Do you respect democratic values and democratic institutions; are you working for the good of your people; are you working for the good of your neighbors. Those are the issues that are important to the United States, but it’s certainly not a matter of whether you come from the left or from the right.

QUESTION: So definitely, you can work with Chavez?

SECRETARY RICE: This is a question of what policies the country pursues, what interests the country pursues. We’ve had good relations with Venezuela historically. We would like to have good relations with Venezuela again. The question is: Are countries and are leaders working for democracy and for free trade and for prosperity and for social justice for their people and are they respecting their neighbors.

QUESTION: Now the United States is involved directly in armed conflict in Colombia. How seriously do you take the allegations that the FARC would be defeated were it not for the help it’s getting from neighbors like Ecuador and Venezuela?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the United States is involved and has been, on a bipartisan basis going back to the Clinton Administration, in helping the people of Colombia deal with what was a terrible situation in which insecurity was a daily matter for the Colombian people; kidnapping and bombings along roads, roads that no Colombian would even go along, narco trafficking and terrorists who were killing innocent people, paramilitaries who were involved in all kinds of crimes.

And President Uribe, following on President Pastrana, has carried out what he has called a program of democratic security. And indeed, life in Colombia is much better. I was in Medellin just a couple of months ago and I’ll tell you something about Medellin. This is a name that used to be synonymous with trouble and now, it is a city that is booming and where prosperity is coming again and where people are beginning to feel safe. That’s the partnership that the United States has engaged in with Colombia.

Now to the degree that the FARC, a terrorist organization by U.S. designation, is operating someplace outside of Colombia’s borders, Colombia’s neighbors owe it to the people of Colombia to deal with that problem, not to allow them to operate on their territory. And it is, by the way, a UN requirement of member states to do everything that can be done to prevent terrorists from using irregular groups, from using financing, from using ungoverned territories to attack innocent people. And so we’ve worked very closely with Colombia. Colombia is a good partner and Colombia is a good partner in the region for a better Western Hemisphere.

QUESTION: In your assessment, Madame Secretary, why are so many South American and Latin American countries shy or reluctant to adopt the same designation to the FARC as the U.S. does?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we have different histories. We have different tasks to where we are now. But I don’t think that many would deny that the FARC has been associated with some of the most horrendous violence against the people of Colombia. If we were sitting here with my Foreign Minister colleague from Colombia, we would be sitting with somebody who was six years in captivity because of the FARC. So whatever one wants to call them, and we designate it as a terrorist organization, the FARC has had a horrendous impact on lives – for the lives of ordinary Colombians.

QUESTION: Would you call Brazil a leader in this region?

SECRETARY RICE: Brazil is clearly a leader in this region. Brazil is looked to, President Lula is looked to for his wisdom, he’s looked to for his ability to bring the region together, he’s looked to for his vision. And by the way, not just his vision for the region, but because he has been effective here in Brazil in helping to deliver a better life for its people, in having relationships now with countries like the United States that I think will put biofuels on the map as a way to deal with the terrible problems that we face in energy supply and climate change.

So President Lula is looked to as a leader and Brazil is looked to as a leader. I think increasingly, Brazil will be looked to as a global leader as well, not just a regional leader.

QUESTION: On the other hand, the branch of government that you lead, the State Department, as recently as the day before yesterday was worried about the level of corruption in Brazil, stating – well, in a country report that Brazilian authorities are not doing enough. Is that impunity what worries you?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I don’t believe for one moment that there – that it’s a question of impunity. I know that it’s very difficult when corruption gets rooted in, to get it out, to root it out. But I strongly believe that the Brazilian Government understands the connection between corruption and growth. Corruption is attacks on the poor. Corruption is a sure way to kill international investment and I know that those things are understood by the Brazilian Government and that efforts are being made to fight out – to fight corruption.

QUESTION: Have you time to talk a little bit about more pleasant issues?

SECRETARY RICE: Sure.

QUESTION: Have we? Because she was giving me time.

SECRETARY RICE: Yeah, we’ll take a moment to do that, yeah, sure.

QUESTION: Have we time? Yeah.

SECRETARY RICE: Sure.

QUESTION: Okay.

SECRETARY RICE: Sure.

QUESTION: So it – apparently, it was one – a personal wish from your side to be in Bahia. And why?

SECRETARY RICE: It was a personal wish of mine to be in Bahia. First of all, I’ve heard so much of Bahia over the years, of Salvador as a great city, but also because of the Afro-Brazilian community here and the expression of that culture here. I am, of course, myself of – partly of African descent and I’ve always believed that Brazil and the United States, in some ways, look more like each other than any two countries in the world; great European and Latin and African and (inaudible) traditions all living side by side.

And so I was – I wanted to come to Bahia. I can see I wasn’t wrong. It’s absolutely beautiful here. I’m just sorry I don’t have longer to be in Bahia.

QUESTION: You do feel at home?

SECRETARY RICE: I feel right at home and as we came through the streets, you can see the wonderful mixture of people. I’m a great believer that the future is in big, multiethnic democracies like Brazil and India and the United States and South Africa, where all kinds of people find their place and all kinds of people find opportunity and they live together. In so much of the world, difference is still a license to kill and when you drive along in Brazil or in the United States and you see that there are people whose faces look like the world, but they speak the same language and they want the same things, it’s really quite affirming of our common humanity.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, thank you very much.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.

Innovation Will Safeguard Uruguay’s Future

2008-03-14T11:54:00.003-03:00

By Frank E. Baxter / US Ambassador to Uruguay

At least once a year, business leaders from around the world gather to discuss the trends in economic growth, education, and technology that will shape the future. They usually decide to meet in a friendly country that boasts an intelligent work force and a government which is open to fresh ideas.

It came as no surprise to me that the organizers of the 2008 Americas Innovation Forum decided to meet from March 30 to April 2 in Uruguay. Of course, it takes more than a surplus of friendly and intelligent people or a picturesque setting to convince highly competitive business representatives to take time away from their busy schedules to spend a few days contemplating the future. They chose Uruguay because this country has the potential to become a South American innovation center and the headquarters for companies seeking to take advantage of an emerging Mercosur.

This year’s Innovation Forum will highlight advancements in cutting-edge technology; business practices that reflect long-range thinking and planning; and Uruguay’s growing attractiveness to world business. Visitors will hear how this country is creating nationwide programs that support the ambitions of the small enterprise leaders and innovators of the future.

Though the Forum will focus on the Southern Cone, other Western Hemisphere countries are also taking part. Speakers and participants will explore and highlight new ways to spark innovation and competition, with the goal of creating and sustaining economic growth. I am sure this important forum will be more than merely another conference in which the participants congratulate each other or replicate the work of existing institutions and agreements.

Being the first country to implement a “one laptop per child program” makes Uruguay especially attractive to forward-looking business leaders, particularly to those who might otherwise overlook South America in favor of the emerging technology centers in Eastern Europe and the Indian subcontinent.

Hosting the Innovation Forum further demonstrates that the Uruguayan-American bilateral relationship is headed in a positive direction. The creation of the Joint Commission on Trade and Investment in 2002; the negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty in November 2006; and the signing of a trade and investment framework agreement in January 2007 clearly shows good will and a commitment to ensure that young people in both of countries will have the skills they need to take advantage of the opportunities of the future.

The Innovation Forum is itself a follow-up of the Americas Competitiveness Forum held last year in Atlanta, and a preview of the second Competitiveness Forum, to take place this August in Atlanta.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez summed up the outlook for Uruguay, and our relationship, when he praised this country for making “great progress in opening doors for business, creating advances in technology, and improving education,” adding that “by working together, both bilaterally and regionally (Uruguay and the United States) can ensure that we have robust, dynamic business environments and flexible, skilled talent pools that are equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century and to compete globally.”

I urge Uruguayans and Americans to pay close attention to the Americas Innovation Forum. The ideas and proposals discussed here will directly touch our lives and positively impact the future of our young people.

Ambassador Baxter Encourages Participation in Americas Innovation Forum

2008-03-13T14:05:00.008-03:00

U.S. Ambassador Frank E. Baxter, Canadian Ambassador Alain Latulippe and Mexican Ambassador Cassio Luiselli at the March 13, 2008 launching of the Americas Innovation Forum.

By Leigh Miller

Montevideo -- During a presentation March 13, U.S. Ambassador Frank Baxter urged companies to participate in the upcoming Americas Innovation Forum, endorsing the event as an opportunity for Uruguay to position itself as a center of innovation in the region.

The forum, to be held March 30-April 1 at the Conrad Hotel in Punta del Este, will draw business and government leaders from 20 countries to discuss the further development of innovation in education, entrepreneurship and technology in the Western Hemisphere.

“It does not surprise me that the organizers chose Uruguay as the headquarters of the Americas Innovation Forum. This country has the potential to become the center of innovation in South America,” Mr. Baxter said during a breakfast presentation at the Montevideo Golf Club.

The March 13 event was organized by the embassies and binational chambers of commerce of the United States, Canada and Mexico in order to encourage the Uruguayan business community to participate in the Americas Innovation Forum.

The forum will propose strategies to increase innovation in the region, focusing on education and public policies that support the advancement of technology and entrepreneurship.

Plenary sessions are to address information and telecommunications technologies, biotechnology, engineering and human capital, while workshops will highlight international cooperation for the development of alternative energy, digital communications, tourism, agroindustry, pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology.

Mr. Baxter invited Uruguay businesspersons to attend the forum, emphasizing its importance for showcasing Uruguay’s potential for investment and economic development.

“The forum will demonstrate advances in recent technology and business practices that reflect Uruguay’s long-term plans and attractive growth in the business world. Visitors will learn how this country is creating programs that support the ambitions of small business owners and innovators of the future,” he said.

The Americas Innovation Forum in Uruguay is to feature 47 speakers, 20 countries, 25 multinational corporations and 22 institutions and government agencies. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs, executives, academics and government officials from the throughout the hemisphere are expected to attend.

The forum, organized by Uruguay’s National Research and Innovation Agency, is a follow-up to the Americas Competitiveness Forum held in June 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, which Mr. Baxter attended with a group of Uruguay government officials and technology business representatives.

The Americas Innovation Forum in Uruguay forum will expand on the topics of innovation and competitiveness discussed at the Atlanta forum, and will serve as a preview to the second annual Americas Competitiveness Forum to be held in Atlanta, Aug. 17-19, 2008 (http://trade.gov/competitiveness/acf/index.asp).

For more information, or to register for the Americas Innovation Forum in Punta del Este, March 30-April 1, please visit http://www.fia2008.com.uy/Fia_2008.

Following is a translation of ambassador Baxter's remarks, delivered in Spanish:

(begin transcript)

Hello and thank you very much for being here this morning.

At least once a year, business leaders from all over the world meet to discuss the trends in economic growth, education and techology that will be shaping the future.

These leaders usually decide to meet in a friendly country that is proud of the intelligence of its labor force and who’s government is open to new ideas. So it does not surprise me that the organizers chose Uruguay as the headquarters of the Americas Innovation Forum. This country has the potential to become the center of innovation in South America.

El Foro destacará los avances en la más reciente tecnología; la práctica de negocios que reflejan planes a largo plazo y el atractivo crecimiento de Uruguay hacia mundo de los negocios.

The Forum will highlight the most recent advances in technology and business practices that reflect Uruguay’s long-term plans and attractive growth in the business world. Visitors will learn how this country is creating programs at the national level that encourage the goals of small business leaders and innovators of the future.

The Americas Innovation Forum is itself a follow-up event of the Americas Competitiveness Forum which took place last year in Atlanta, and this meeting preceeds the second Americas Competitiveness Forum that will take place again in Atlanta next August.

I urge everyone attend the Americas Innovation Forum, to register and to participate in the multiple and diverse sessions. The ideas and proposals that will be discussed will directly impact on our lives and have a positive impact on the future of our young people.

My wish is that the discussions generated here, in which we will promote knowlege and innovation as well as investment in technology as part of strategies for development, will be of real benefit to everyone of your countries and businesses.

Thank you.

(end transcript)

United States Honors Eight Female Champions of Human Rights

2008-03-12T16:11:00.004-03:00

Washington -- Ambassadors and other diplomats, members of Congress and leaders of nonprofit organizations gathered at the U.S. Department of State March 10 to honor eight women who have risked harassment and death to fight for women’s rights.

“In too many parts of the world, unfortunately, women still struggle for basic rights and liberties in places where discrimination and exploitation and violence against women is all too common and all too often accepted or tolerated,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the awards ceremony.

The 2008 award recipients, she said, “also represent many other women around the world who fight and sacrifice so that future generations may benefit from human rights protections, access to justice and democracy, and greater prosperity and personal security in their countries.”

This year’s winners are Suraya Pakzad of Afghanistan, Virisila Buadromo of Fiji, Dr. Eaman al-Gobory of Iraq, Valdete Idrizi of Kosovo, Dr. Begum Jan of Pakistan, Nibal Thawabteh of the Palestinian Territories, Cynthia Bendlin of Paraguay and Farhiyo Farah Ibrahim of Somalia.

The Women of Courage Awards were first awarded in March 2007. The initial group of honorees represented Afghanistan, Argentina, Indonesia, Iraq, Latvia, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe.

Rice said that “no culture, no religion and no tradition of any nation provides license for treating women as objects or instruments to be commanded by another.”

UNITED STATES “DEEPLY COMMITTED” TO WOMEN’S RIGHTS

“The United States remains deeply committed to helping women of courage everywhere to peacefully remove the barriers to political, economic and social empowerment for themselves and for others,” Rice said.

Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, presented each woman with a trophy, and noted that “when women stand up for their freedom, all of society benefits.

“When women are educated, have access to health care and are active and productive members of their country’s economy and governments, their countries are better equipped to reach their full potential,” Dobriansky said.

Guests at the awards ceremony included Samir Sumaidaie, the ambassador to the United States from Iraq; Tayeb Jawad, the ambassador to the United States from Afghanistan, and his wife; Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Representative Nita Lowey of New York; Ambassador Ellen Sauerbery, the State Department’s assistant secretary for population, refugees and migration; and Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, senior adviser to the secretary of state for women’s empowerment.

Also in attendance were representatives of American Women for International Understanding, a nonprofit organization that will be holding a dinner to honor the Women of Courage awardees at the National Press Club and will present each recipient with a $1,000 grant.

During their Washington visit, the awardees met at the White House with the president and first lady and with members of the U.S. Congress.

March 10 is International Women’s Day. Among the activities planned at the State Department is a gathering of judges and legal practitioners from around the world to discuss action that can be taken to prevent violations against women such as rape, domestic violence, human trafficking and prostitution.

By Jane Morse
Staff Writer