The former President of the Spanish Government, Felipe González, will headline the 8th conference in the monthly Lecture Series of the Americas, scheduled for September 13 at the Hall of the Americas of the Organization of American States. González, who headed the Government of Spain from 1982 to 1996, will talk about "Challenges Confronting Latin America and the Caribbean.”

A panel of experts will convene following Gonzalez’s presentation, featuring Mark Schneider, Senior Vice President of the International Crisis Group and head of the Washington Office; Richard Fletcher, Principal Advisor in the Department of Strategic Planning and Budget in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Nancy Zucker Boswell, Managing Director of Transparency International and Alan García, Director of the School of Government at the San Martín de Porres University. Irene Klinger, Director of the OAS Department of Communications and External Relations, will moderate the panel discussion.

The Lecture Series of the Americas was created by the OAS Permanent Council, on an initiative of the Peruvian Government, to promote democratic principles and values in the countries of the hemisphere by hosting monthly conferences with internationally known speakers on key issues of the hemispheric agenda, such as the strengthening of democracy, human rights, social development, hemispheric security and the fight against poverty. The 12 conferences scheduled for 2005 are being held thanks to a financial contribution from Peru’s San Martín de Porres University and support from the governments of the People’s Republic of China and the Hellenic Republic.

Former US President Jimmy Carter, IDB President Enrique Iglesias, International Criminal Court President Phillipe Kirsh, Nobel Laureate for Literature Derek Walcott of Saint Lucia, former US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury John B. Taylor, the President of the Inter-American Press Association, Alejandro Miró Queseda and OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza have been keynote speakers for the previous lectures.

President Felipe Gonzalez will take questions from the media and the general public, immediately following his presentation. The conference will be Broadcast live.


WHAT: Felipe González, former President of the Government of Spain,
headlines eighth Lecture Series of the Americas

WHEN: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 3:00 p.m. (Washington, D.C. Time)

WHERE: OAS Hall of the Americas
17th & Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006

There will be a photo opportunity immediately before the start of the program.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION BULLETIN

A) LIVE BROADCAST

TELEVISION *

To down-link the signal from satellite:
NEWSKIES 806
319.5 Degrees East
DL Freq: 4123.25 Mhz
L Band DL Freq: 1169.50 MHz
FEC: 3/4
Symbol Rate: 17.8 MS/network ID: 2
Virtual Channel 322
* Satellite frequencies provided courtesy of VOA Television

RADIO

To down-link the signal from satellite:
NEWSKIES
40.5 deg W, 319.5 deg E. LA NET, WHA Region
Band: C/Downlink Freq. Network ID: 2
FEC Rate: ¾ Video Standard:
525, NTSC
Symbol Rate: 8.90 ms/S C Band L.O. 5150 MHz
Polarity H, Receive polarity is RHC.

B) RE-BROADCAST
At a later date, the lecture will be re-broadcast through a number of cable and satellite networks, among them Hispanic International Television Network (HITN-TV) and EDUSAT.
For further information please contact: Mario Martinez y Palacios MMartinez@oas.org, Tel. (202) 458-3984; Gabriel Gross GGross@oas.org, Tel. (202) 458-3752.

Reference: AVI-100/05