During the week of the United Nations General Assembly, Americas Society and Council of the Americas hosted private and public programs with the presidents of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
Ensuring that students have access to computers and the skills to use them will make Uruguay the most wired country in the world, writes President Tabaré Vázquez. This feature article appears in the Winter 2009 issue of Americas Quarterly, which examines connectivity and the digital divide. For more information, visit www.americasquarterly.org.
In the wake of the floundering Doha Round of trade talks, AS/COA hosted its annual Montevideo conference, focusing on Uruguay's positive economic performance in the context of global market flux. Presentations by Ministers Danilo Astori and Daniel Martínez as well as U.S. Congressman Gregory Meeks served as conference highlights.
U.S. Congressman Gregory Meeks, in remarks delivered at AS/COA's Latin American Cities Conference in Montevideo, urged the expansion of inter-American trade pacts. Representative Meeks sees an opportunity to "construct a new framework for hemispheric cooperation and renew our joint focus on hemisphere unity."
For the second year in a row, the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce Uruguay-USA, convened over 150 senior-level private sector representatives, government officials, and members of the press for a conference analyzing Uruguay’s investment opportunities as well as the Southern Cone’s energy sector.
Some fascinating things are happening in the South American nation of Uruguay that should catch the attention of policymakers in Washington. If they don't, we run the risk of missing a historic opportunity to re-orient hemispheric relations in a manner consistent with strategic U.S. interests.