Americas Society is pleased to announce its 2009 Gold Medal recipients, honored June 15 at its Twenty-Ninth Annual Spring Party: Roger Agnelli, Alberto Baillères, and Luis Alberto Moreno.

The BRIC leaders meet June 16 for their first official summit amid optimism about their economies and growing importance on the world stage. Ahead of the meeting, Brazil, China, and Russia announced substantial financing of the International Monetary Fund.

An OAS task force will examine proposals, including one from Washington, which could pave the way for Havana to rejoin the OAS. But the Obama administration has indicated that Cuba must adhere to democratic principles before gaining readmission.

Speaking at COA's 39th Washington Conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recognized that democratic elections are now the norm in the Western Hemisphere and argued that the next step is to address social inequality.

Addressing the 39th Washington Conference, the OAS secretary general talked remarked that the Fifth Summit of the Americas demonstrated a commitment to a common agenda and to tackling difficult tasks in the coming months.

Speaking at COA's Washington Conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, and Mexico's Finance Secretary Agustín Carstens joined others in discussing policy issues affecting the hemisphere.

The AS/COA Energy Action Group hosted a panel on energy and climate change in the Western Hemisphere. Following the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April and in advance of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.