Terrorism and Democracy Conference Program

OAS Hall of the Americas, December 10, 2001

OER-OAS/GW-CLAI

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9:00 – Registration

9:30 – Welcome by Eduardo Del Buey, Director, OAS Office of External Relations

9:35: - Introductory Remarks by Cesar Gaviria, Secretary General of the OAS.

9:40 – Remarks by Georgie Anne Geyer, Syndicated Columnist and Terrorism Expert, on the nature of the present terrorist threat; the responses by governments and others to the September 11 events; the impact of these developments on the political and social fabric of democratic societies around the world; and the future developments we might anticipate in the battle against international terrorism.  

10:20 – Question and Answer Session

10:45-11:00 – Coffee Break

Dr. James Ferrer, Director of the Center for Latin American Issues at the George Washington University, will moderate.

11:05-11:25 – Paper on Terrorism and Democracy by Ernesto Betancourt, former Director of Radio Marti and author of various publications on revolutionary situations. Will speak on the illegitimate use of terrorism for political gains as a logical corollary to the principles invoked in the Inter-American Democratic Charter by the hemisphere’s foreign ministers, as well as on the role of government to confront terrorist threats.

11:25-11:40 – Paper on US Foreign Policy by Dr. Ralph Nurnberger, International Relations professor at Georgetown University and government affairs counselor at Preston Gates. Dr. Nurnberger also assisted former Vice President Al Gore in the Middle East Peace Process negotiations. Will speak on the shift that US foreign policy has taken since the September 11 attacks.

11:40-11:55 – Impact of Terrorism on Human Rights and Civil Liberties by Rudolf Hommes, former Finance Minister of Colombia and syndicated columnist. Will speak on the measures taken by Colombia since September 11 and the impact of those measures on the implementation of the recently-adopted Inter-American Democratic Charter, as well as on the challenges of enlarging and protecting individual rights and civil liberties in the Americas. He will also speak about the relation between narco-trafficking and terrorism.

11:55-12:25 – Question and Answer Session

For more information, please call (202)458-3720.