Institute of the Americas - Promoting public policies for development, trade and investment, good governance, and regional integration

May 10-12, 2010
La Jolla, CA
XIX Annual Latin American Energy Conference
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March 22-26, 2010
La Jolla, CA
* On the Cutting Edge: Digital Reporting in the 21st Century Professional journalism workshop
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17th Annual Latino Film Festival

The Institute is a community partner of the Media Arts Center San Diego and its Latino Film Festival. Click on the image to see which films will be screened at the 17th Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Institute of the Americas signs agreement with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to host a series of conferences in Beijing, U.S. and Latin America

BEIJING – The Institute of the Americas (IOA) has signed an agreement with the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to hold a series of seminars and workshops in China, the United States and Latin America on the opportunities and challenges posed by the growing economic relationship between China and Latin America.

During a Jan. 29 ceremony in the Beijing offices of ILAS, Institute of the Americas President Jeffrey Davidow called the agreement “an important opportunity to build stronger economic ties in China and Latin America by deepening the understanding between our regions.”

Dr. Zheng Bingwen,executive director of ILAS, said the agreement marked the beginning of a long relationship with the IOA. He noted that the Institute’s location on the Pacific Coast, coupled with its location 30 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border offers a strategic advantage in forging new economic relationships between China and Latin America.

The first IOA-ILAS conference will be held in Washington, D.C. in May and will focus on several key issues in the maturing China-Latin America relationship. A second symposium on climate change and alternative energy will be hosted by the two organizations in Beijing in October.

A representative of ILAS will also attend the Institute’s 19th annual La Jolla Energy Conference, which will include a special session on China-Latin America energy issues during the May 10-12 symposium.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with 35 institutes for international study, is the largest government research institution in China. ILAS was founded 46 years ago Jeff Davidow shaking hands with the Executive Director of ILAS

Jeff Davidow shaking hands with the Executive Director of ILAS

and now has more than 60 academics and researchers. It is the oldest research institute in the CASS network.

The research conducted by ILAS is becoming increasingly important as China increases economic activity in Latin America. In 2008, the Chinese government issued its first white paper on Latin America. During a November 2008 visit to Latin America, President Hu Jintao reinforced his intention to strengthen China’s rapidly growing economic, trade and diplomatic ties with Latin America.

During a weeklong visit to Bejiing, Davidow, IOA Vice President Lynne Walker and IOA board member Sergio Ley, the highly respected former Mexican ambassador to China, met with top officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the China Institute of International Studies and with representatives of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), which is the country’s leading international trade organization. Board President David Weaver also attended several of the meetings.

The IOA delegation's trip to Beijing was sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF).

IOA Ilas Beiging meeting

The CCPIT agreed to work with the Institute of the Americas and the Inter-American Development Bank to hold a two-day conference in Chengdu in October. The conference will focus on best business practices in Latin America, on labor issues, on regulatory requirements and on ways to access legal, accounting and other professional support services.

The conference will also include a breakout session on the cultural aspects of doing business in Latin America, with a special focus on building professional relationships to strengthen business activities.

During a meeting with top officials at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), Davidow and Dr. Wu Hongying, director of CICIR’s Institute for Latin American Studies, explored the possibility of a China-Latin America conference on the IOA's La Jolla campus in September.

Dr. Wu noted that over the past two decades Sino-Latin American ties have strengthened as business and government leaders recognized the economic opportunities that exist by working together.

“The last 25 years have been the most important for Latin American development, “ Wu said. “Latin American democracies have made some progress. They are more open, more representative. Socially, the poverty phenomenen is improving.

“I believe there is a promising future for the two regions,” she said.

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IOA Fellow named to Cabinet by Chile's President Pinera

Cristian Larroulet

Cristián Larroulet Vignau, a 1992 Institute of the Americas Privatization Fellow, has been appointed Minister of Policy Coordination by Chile's newly elected president, Sebastián Piñera.

Larroulet's government position -- in Spanish "Minister Secretary General of the Presidency" -- is similar in influence to White House chief-of-staff, but it has added power by virtue of having ministerial status.

Until his appointment, Larroulet served simultaneously as the Executive Director of the Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo, a think tank, and Dean of the Universidad del Desarrollo's Economics Department, posts from which he frequently wrote and advised governments about regulation, economic policy, education policy and corporate governance.

His scholarship and public service have been recognized many times, including as Economist of the Year in 2009 by the newspaper El Mercurio.

One of the famed Chilean technocrats known as the "Chicago Boys," Larroulet conceived of and managed the implementation of successful privatizations, including the energy sector, as chief of staff for Minister of Hacienda Hernán Büchi during the military government of General Augusto Pinochet.

Larroulet, his wife Isabel Philippi and their seven children lived in Del Mar while he was in residence at the Institute in 1992, researching and writing his reflections on Chilean privatizations through the 1980s. The Institute's Privatization Program was supported by grants from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Institute of the Americas founding board member, Edgardo Boeninger, held the title of Minister Secretary General of the Presidency during the administration of Patricio Aylwin and is considered to have been one of the most influential persons to have held the position in the modern history of Chile.

The Institute honors the memory and legacy of Don Edgardo, who passed away on September 13, 2009, after distinguished service as Senator, Rector of the University of Chile and Vice President of the Christian Democratic Party. Boeninger is perhaps best remembered for his role in the creation of the Concertación (literally compromise/agreement) of left-center political parties that has governed Chile for the entire post-Pinochet period.

Institute Launches "Health Innovation Advisory Council"

The Institute of the Americas is building on the success of its professional training programs for Latin American and Caribbean health care professionals and science journalists by creating its "Health Innovation Advisory Council" for the region. The Council is a multidisciplinary, inter-American group of highly regarded health professionals who will provide strategic guidance on key aspects of health challenges and innovation, and *   Advise about creating a policy environment conducive for creating and
adopting more rapidly health innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean;

*   Suggest initiatives and partnerships for the Institute to further the
spread of health care innovations; and

*   Advise key potential change makers about these innovations, directly
and through educational work with Latin American and Caribbean journalists.

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Political and economic reforms needed in Mexico, analyst Denise Dresser says at IOA Tequila Talk

Denise Dresser at the institute of the Americas in La Jolla

LA JOLLA-Political analyst and journalist Denise Dresser spoke at the Institute of the Americas on Jan. 20 about Mexico’s political and economic reforms to an audience of nearly 150 people who braved torrential rain to hear her remarks.

In a measured and often witty tone, Dresser said the single most important change Mexico needs is reelection to political office. Why? Because politicians are not accountable, and, although not reelected, move from one political seat to the next without impunity, she said.

Dresser described Mexico as a democracy without representation, which is unable to produce economic equity for its 105 million citizens.

The past 10 years, have cast Mexico into paralysis: Electoral reform worked, but people became complacent and did not seek the necessary structural reforms such as changes in regulatory framework, dismantling the old oligarchy, or competition and antitrust laws to level the economic playing field.

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