Get Herald RSSThis winter break, a graduate student packed her bags and headed to South America to meet with some foreign heads of state.
Kendra Fehrer GS and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75, a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, went to South America to personally invite Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to a Feb. 12-13 conference held by the Center for Latin American Studies. Ideally, Fehrer said, they would have also met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but arranging that meeting was "more complicated" because of the political situation in Venezuela.
The conference, "Changes in the Andes: Realities, Challenges, and Opportunities for Inter-American Relations," will focus on the democratic transformations taking place in Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela.
The meeting with Correa never occurred because of evacuations caused by eruptions of Tungurahua - a volcano in central Ecuador - but the pair met with the Foreign Minister of Ecuador instead. They did meet with Morales and other important political figures from Bolivia, Ecuador and the Andean region.
"There was a sense of really having a meaningful and significant encounter with the political process in each nation," Fehrer said. "I think involving Brown in that is fantastic for the University because it puts it on the cutting edge."
Fehrer, who had studied and worked in several Latin American countries before coming to Brown, became involved with the conference through a chance meeting with Associate Professor of History James Green, who is the director of the CLAS. Green approached Fehrer after she expressed interest in Venezuela at a panel event. He then asked if she wanted to organize the conference, Fehrer said.
Though none of the three presidents will be able to attend the conference, Morales is expected to visit Brown at the end of February and Correa is expected to make a trip in the next six months, Fehrer said.
"People don't understand how big a deal this is," Green said. "Brown doesn't get a lot of heads of state; we get former heads of state."
Green said Morales is an important symbol in Latin America because he is the first fully indigenous head of state in Bolivia, whose population is approximately 60 percent indigenous almost 500 years after Spanish colonization.
The "Changes in the Andes" conference will focus on discussing the democratic changes in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela. "The Andean region is very important in Latin America today," said Ben Brown '08, assistant to the director of the CLAS. "There is change in how politics is approached starting with the election of Hugo Chavez in 1999."
"We want to have real dialogue especially with controversial issues," Fehrer said. "The University is a space to discuss ideas in a meaningful way. Most of the conversation around the three countries centers around the presidents. ... The conference brings to light some other issues."
Scholars, policy makers and diplomats from Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and the United States will attend the conference, which will feature keynote addresses from the Bolivian, Ecuadorian and Venezuelan ambassadors to the United States. There will be five panel discussions on topics important to the political and social evolution of Latin America today, including discussions of foreign policy, regional and national politics, economic development and utilization of natural resources.
Last April, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, visited Brown to speak about diplomatic relations between the two countries. During that visit, he met with Chafee and discussed holding a conference with the theme of political change in the Andean region, Green said.
"The idea (for the conference) came about through Senator Chafee's awareness that there were significant changes in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela that were really poorly represented in the media," Green said. "The conference brings together scholars and policy makers in those countries to understand and examine the change being made by these governments."
After the event, a summary of the conference will be published in a book to be accompanied by a policy paper that will hopefully be circulated in Washington, D.C. and abroad, Brown said.
Chafee's political connections have been extremely instrumental in drawing the attention of political figures and the media, Green said.
Chafee is widely respected in Latin America because he stood up to Condoleezza Rice in her 2005 confirmation hearings to become Secretary of State after she suggested that the United States might be very aggressive towards Chavez, Green said. Chafee is "well respected for taking a principled stance," Green added. "Brown has a wonderful ambassador in Senator Chafee."
During his time in the Senate, Chafee served on the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs. He made numerous trips to Latin America and met with political leaders, including Chavez.
Chafee said the conference and the invitations to Chavez, Correa and Morales to visit Brown are part of an effort to build bridges and heal relations. He said that it is hypocritical for the U.S. government to promote democracy around the world but ignore it when it is on its doorstep. International monitors and the rejection of Chavez's proposed constitutional referendum last year demonstrate the validity of the democratic process in these nations, Chafee said.
"Sometimes the rhetoric can get elevated unnecessarily," Chafee said. "Ultimately, we might have differences but we have a lot in common."
Latin Americans in general have a poor opinion of the U.S. government and their policies towards the region, Green said. "The conference will help to articulate the willingness of many people in this country to be interested in alternatives in Latin America," Green said.
"The Watson Institute is the perfect place (for this dialogue)," Chafee said. "(Brown is) a place of academic open-mindedness with a foundation in international relations. We told (the presidents) that they would be well received and well respected."
The conference could act as a precursor to the initiative, led by Vice President for International Affairs David Kennedy '76, to create a forum at Brown in which people from around the globe can discuss policy and world issues in an academic setting, Green said.
