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.

Mexico's finance secretary addressed the Washington Conference on the Americas, offering his perspective on the effects of the global financial crisis and the H1N1 impact. Carstens predicts that Mexico will start to see economic recovery.

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.

At the opening reception for the 39th Washington Conference on the Americas, the Council honored U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) with the Chairman's Award for Leadership in the Americas. Read a summary of his remarks and listen to the audio of his acceptance speech.

At the opening reception for the 39th Washington Conference on the Americas, the Council honored U.S. Representative Elliot Engel (D-NY) with the Chairman's Award for Leadership in the Americas. Read his remarks.

In a new article for Poder, COA's Eric Farnsworth writes that with deteriorating relations in the hemisphere, a high priority for the next president should be restoring the special envoy for the Americas, a key part of U.S. foreign diplomacy.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez called for passage of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and improvements in Cuba’s human rights at COA's annual Washington Conference on the Americas. He announced a May 21, 2008 White House event to “shine a spotlight” on political prisoners in Cuba.