“If voters don’t feel that their economy holds hope for them -- hope that their lives are going to be better, hope that their children are going to get educated, hope that their children’s lives will be better than their own -- they are much, much more likely to vote for candidates who make promises of quick and easy solutions to what are really difficult and sometimes, intractable problems.”
At a regional conference that Clinton will attend next week in San Jose, Costa Rica, leaders of 14 countries will talk about ways to help small- and mid-sized businesses become more productive and successful. The leaders will also discuss “concrete, practical measures” to reach out to people who are living on the margins of the economy, said Shapiro.
“”We as nations need to broaden the benefits of economic growth. It’s the poor who we, working together with Latin American colleagues, have got to work to move out of poverty. We need to find a link between the macro economy and the micro economy because that’s where we all live,” he said.
Many countries in the Western Hemisphere have been successful in opening their economies to more of their citizens.
Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico “have reduced the number of people in poverty and are busy working to end social exclusion,” Shapiro said.
“Good governance and open economies work, but they must be linked to social inclusion,” he said. “Democracy must deliver the benefits of good government to our citizens. That’s the key".
Haitians show remarkable resiliency amid destruction
Janine Schooley, senior vice president of programs for Project Concern International
LA JOLLA - There are signs of revival in Haiti. Men are shining their shoes. Women are putting on their lipstick. Every now and then, someone smiles.
Haiti is slowly returning to life, Janine Schooley, senior vice president of programs for Project Concern International, said during a Feb. 9 presentation at the Institute of the Americas.
Schooley, who had just returned from two weeks in Haiti where she worked on San Diego-based Project Concern International’s relief effort, said she was struck by “this sense of the human spirit.”
“You see all this destruction right in front of you. The bodies are still there. You walk by a building and you can smell death,” said Schooley. “But at the same time you see all this destruction you see this resiliency. There are a lot of people who are stressed and frustrated but most people are remarkably patient and they’re trying to get on with their lives.”
More than 1 million people are now living in settlement camps, many in makeshift tents fashioned from bed sheets and sticks. Most have lost their homes. Those whose homes are still standing are living in tents in their yards because they are fearful that an aftershock could bury them alive.
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 22-26, 2010
On the Cutting Edge: Digital Reporting in the 21st Century
Institute of the Americas UCSD campus, La Jolla
REGISTER
The workshop entitled, “On the Cutting Edge: Digital Reporting in the 21st Century,” will focus on multi-platform storytelling as well as the dissemination of information through new media. This workshop will include presentations from Latin American journalists who have successfully launched their own news sites and will focus on the effective use of new technology to reach wider and more diverse audiences.
The workshop will invite specialists to discuss the issues of accuracy and credibility, libel and other legal questions, reporting ethics and the sourcing of information in electronic media. We will also offer hands-on training sessions to give journalist participants new reporting tools.
Journalists will participate in professional training sessions on innovative, multiplatform storytelling led by faculty at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism and a new media/design instructor at Los Angeles Pierce College. And one full day of the workshop will focus on field reporting followed by critique session with the founder of a San Diego web-based news site.
COLLABORATORS
April 19, 2010
Border Health / Medical Tourism
A conference about health services for Americans in Mexico
Institute of the Americas complex On campus at UCSD
Preliminary agenda | Sponsorship details | Registration form
The Institute of the Americas is pleased to announce that it will host an important conference on April 19 at its headquarters on the campus of the University of California, San Diego to discuss the important policy issues relating to the provision of health care for Americans in Mexico.
Americans are increasingly looking southward for both health care and retirement living. Mexico, and especially Baja California, are capable of providing quality care and have embraced health tourism as a viable economic development option.
But more must be done on both sides of the border in terms of government policy and other practices to make what is now a reality for a few into a possibility for many.
While cross-border health care is not new, there are several trends pointing to this being a good moment in time to bring together the principal actors to discuss the facts, recognize the challenges that must be overcome, and prepare for the opportunities to be realized given the changing marketplace.
Health care reform in the United States, were it to becomes a reality - and some form of health reform will - points to the likelihood of increased demand for differentiated, good, and affordable health care options. We believe that this conference will awaken interest in the possibilities and will serve to inform about what is already happening in Baja California, who the players are, and what the state of Baja California is doing to promote health care tourism.
This conference will explore the answers and is meant for health insurers, brokers, health care providers (hospitals, clinics), health care administrators, labor unions, the hospitality industry, government agencies, and anyone wishing to learn more about what services are currently available in Baja California and what the future holds.
For more information about this event, including sponsorship opportunities, please contact: Isabel Escalle, Program Director, T: (1/858) 453-5560 x 122.
May 10-12, 2010 XIX Annual Latin American Energy Conference The La Jolla Conference
La Jolla, CA
REGISTRATION | SPONSORSHIP
Recognized as the most significant meeting of its kind, the La Jolla Conference annually convenes the most influential players from across the hemisphere and globe. Last year's conference included presentations by the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, as well as senior executives from Chevron, CAF, Ecopetrol, PEMEX, AES, GDF SUEZ, Gran Tierra, among others.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
Luis Enrique Berrizbeitia
Executive Vice President
Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF)
Enrique Devoto
Former Secretary of Energy of Argentina
Wu Guoping
Deputy Director
Institute for Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences (CASS)
Wes Lohec
Managing Director for Latin America
Chevron Africa Latin America Exploration and Production Company
Allan T. Marks
Partner
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
Jin Shumao
Vice President
China NOCs Global Accounts, Schlumberger
Juan Manuel Urriola
Secretary of Energy
Government of Panama
SPONSORS
MEDIA PARTNERS
