Speaking at COA's 2010 Madrid Conference, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs Arturo Valenzuela discussed international recovery efforts in Haiti, and the need to form strategic alliances in the Americas. (en español)

AS/COA's first conference in Madrid explored Spain's strong cultural ties and significant investment relations with Latin America and the United States. Speakers included U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela and Ibero-American General Secretariat Enrique Iglesias.

As Brazil's influence on the world stage increases, its partnership with the United States should be based on mutual recognition and respect, writes COA's Eric Farnsworth in Folha de São Paulo. Economic and political security should not come at either country's expense. (em português)

By the end of the month, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will have played host to Israeli, Palestinian, and Iranian leaders as he lifts Brazil’s profile on Middle East policy. But the November 23 visit of Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raises eyebrows, given global concerns over Tehran's nuclear program.

"Brazil's growing influence on the global stage means that leaders with whom the president of Brazil chooses to meet gain greater credibility and, indeed, legitimacy through those meetings," says COA's vice president, commenting on the Iranian president's November 23 trip to Brazil.

Leaders from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas met October 16 and 17 in Cochabamba, where they charted a course for implementing a virtual currency that could replace the dollar in commercial transactions. ALBA also imposed a blockade on Honduras.

As Canada's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Peter Kent visits Tegucigalpa this week with an OAS delegation, Canadian Senator Pamela Wallin comments on Ottawa's commitment to resolving the Honduran dispute.