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Financing Democracy: Participants' Biographies

María Teresa Riveros de Almarza

Maria Teresa Riveros de Almarza is the director of public affairs and communications for Venezuela and Colombia for The Coca-Cola Company. Before holding this position, Ms. Almarza worked as corporate communications manager of Coca-Cola Venezuela, public relations director for Hilton International in Venezuela, and as membership manager of the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VenAmCham). Additionally, she coordinated committee work as vice president of the Latin American Chapter of the World Federation of Advertisement and president of the Venezuelan Advertiser Association. Ms. Almarza holds a bachelor's degree in business administration.

Augusto Álvarez Rodrich

Augusto Alvarez Rodrich, an economist by training, is presently director of the newspaper Peru Veinte-Uno ("Peru 21"). In addition, he works with El Comercio and is a political commentator for Canal N's popular Sunday program "Press Round." Mr. Alvarez Rodrich was formerly director of APOYO Comunicaciones, a university professor, and editor of the magazine Debate.

Jaime Aparicio

Jaime Aparicio is currently the ambassador of Bolivia in Washington D.C. Prior to this appointment he was director of the OAS' Office of Summit Follow-Up, created in July 1998 and senior policy advisor to the OAS Secretary General in 1997. As a career diplomat in the Bolivian Foreign Service, Ambassador Aparicio led a number of diplomatic missions in Latin America, United Nations, the OAS, and Europe. As under secretary for foreign affairs and acting minister for foreign affairs, he coordinated the Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development held in Bolivia in 1996, as well as the Rio Group Summit in 1996. Mr. Aparicio also served abroad in Venezuela, France and as Bolivia's permanent representative to UNESCO in Paris. He was director of the Bolivian newspaper La Razón from 1991 to 1993 and has taught public international law at the Catholic University in Bolivia and diplomatic history at the Foreign Service Institute of Bolivia. Ambassador Aparicio holds degrees in lw from San Andres University and in political science from the Political Sciences Institute in Paris.

Miguel Basáñez

Miguel Basañez holds a bachelor's degree in law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a master's degree in public administration from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and a doctorate in political science from the London School of Economics. Dr. Basáñez served in the Mexican government from 1968 to 1988. His last positions were as pollster for the President of Mexico, general attorney of the State of Mexico, and as the chief of staff for the Secretary of Energy. He was president of Prospectiva Estratégica, Centro de Estudios de Opinión Pública, and MORI from Mexico between 1988 and 1993 and became executive vice president of MORI International from 1993 to 2000. He was president of the World Association for Public Opinion Research from 1999 to 2000. He is currently president of Global Quality Research Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey and the founding publisher of the Mexican monthly magazine Este País. Dr. Basañez has authored "La Lucha por la Hegemonía en México" ("The Struggle of Hegemony in Mexico"),1982; "El Pulso de los Sexenios: 20 años de Crisis en México" ("Pulse of the Six-Year Term Cycles: 20 Years of Crisis in Mexico"), 1990; "North American Trajectory: Trade, Politics and Values," (co-author with R. Inglehart), 1996; "Human Values and Beliefs," (co-author with R. Inglehart), 1998; numerous articles on public opinion and political issues, and has participated in conferences, seminars and round tables around the world.

Peter Bell

Peter Bell is the president and chief executive officer of CARE, an Atlanta-based relief organization. Before joining CARE, he served as president of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, a senior associate for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, president of the Inter-American Foundation, and a special assistant to the Secretary for Health, Education, and Welfare. Mr. Bell is co-chair of the Inter-American Dialogue, chair of the Advisory Council to the Woodrow Wilson School, and a trustee of the World Peace Foundation. He holds a bachelor's in history from Yale College and a master's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton.

Gerardo Blyde

Gerardo Blyde is a specialist in constitutional law, as well as a professor of constitutional and human rights law at the University José María Vargas. He is amember of the national Executive Council for the political party Primero Justicia and deputy to the Venezuelan National Assembly for Miranda State. Mr. Blyde is head of the parliamentary faction of Primero Justicia in the National Assembly and coordinates the National Legislative Commission of the party. He has been a member of the Permanent Commission of Defense, the Ordinary Commission of Legislation, and at the moment, is a member of the Commission of Foreign Policy of the National Assembly. In addition, Mr. Blyde is presently a member of the Special Parliamentary Commission for the "Mesa de Negociación" (negotiation table), at which OAS Secretary General Gaviria presides. Mr. Blyde is a contributor to the daily newspaper El Universal. He received his degree from Catholic University Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela.

Hans-Joerg Brunner

Hans-Joerg Brunner was recently appointed as consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany in Atlanta. Mr. Brunner was a French and English teacher in Regensburg, Germany until 1982, when he began Diplomatic School in Bonn. In 1984, Mr. Brunner became first secretary in the German Embassy of Baghdad. Following, Mr. Brunner held diplomatic positions as consul general in Boston from 1987 to 1989, the Protocol Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bonn from 1989 to 1992, the German Embassy in Ivory Coast as deputy ambassador from 1992 to 1997, and as head of the "Internal Service" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is in charge of the technical and logistical infrastructure of the Ministry, real estate, construction works, diplomatic courier service, conference facilities and security. Mr. Brunner completed his studies at Regensburg University and the Sorbonne in Paris in 1979.

Liza Caceres

Liza Caceres is the regional manager of corporate communications for Delta Air Lines in Latin America and the Caribbean. Caceres is charged with developing and communicating Delta's position to key target audiences in priority markets across Latin America and the Caribbean, through the development of business and marketing plans. Additionally, she directs the day-to-day operation of Delta's Latin America public relations agency network in the execution of initiatives that further Delta's brand awareness and help generate transportation and non-transportation revenue for the company's Latin America and Caribbean regions. Caceres is based at Delta's worldwide headquarters in Atlanta. Prior to joining Delta in 2003, Caceres worked for Turner Broadcasting System Latin America, Inc., where she served for almost four years as the publicist for Turner's corporate and news properties in the region, including CNN en Español, CNN International, CNN en Español RADIO and their corresponding Web sites. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration in marketing and communications, with a second major in Spanish, from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.


Richard Calland

Richard Calland is the program manager of the Political Information & Monitoring Service at the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, where he has worked since 1995, and executive chair of the Open Democracy Advice Centre in Cape Town. Calland was a leading member of the Open Democracy Campaign Group that conducted extensive research and lobbied intensively in relation to what was then the Open Democracy Bill (now the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2000). Large parts of the bill were re-written by the parliamentary committee as a result of the lobbying of the campaign group. The Open Democracy Advice Centre provides advice and support for organizations making requests for information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act and also conducts test case litigation. Dr. Calland has written and spoken extensively on the issue of access to information legislation and implementation and has recently published the book "The Right to Know, The Right to Live: Access to Information." He has also published numerous books and articles in the field of South African politics, including "Real Politics - The Wicked Issues" and "Thabo Mbeki's World." Prior to coming to South Africa in 1994, Calland practiced at the London Bar for seven years, specializing in public law. He has an LL.M. in comparative constitutional law from the University of Cape Town (1994) and is a feature commentator for the Daily Mail and Guardian newspaper.

Jorge Canelas

Jorge Canelas turned to his family's profession of journalism after having studied architecture. In the 1970s he was chief of the Associated Press in Colombia. He returned to Bolivia in the 1980s, where he was subsequently appointed associate editor and then chief editor of the daily newspaper Ultima Hora. After a clash of ethics with the owner, Mr. Canelas founded and directed the daily La Razón in 1991, universally considered a turning point in Bolivian journalism. In 1998, La Razón was taken over by a media group, and Mr. Canelas, a few months later, founded La Prensa, another influential newspaper. He left La Prensa in order to create yet another media enterprise: the intellectual and informative weekly Pulso. Mr. Canelas received the Life Achievement National Journalism Award 2002 given by the La Paz Journalism Association.

Carlos Eduardo Caputo Bastos

Carlos Caputo, a 1977 graduate, has been an active lawyer, mainly in litigation before the Brazilian Higher Courts specializing on electoral matters. Dr. Caputo is presently a judge with the Superior Electoral Court, a position he accepted in 2000. Previously, he was former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso´s attorney, during both of his electoral campaigns of 1994 and 1998. A post-graduate in constitutional law and competition law, he also has developed studies in international law and is president of the Center for the Study of International Law. In addition, he is a member of the Inter-American Bar Association, the Union Internationale des Avocats, the International Bar Association; the European Community Studies Association--Brazilian Branch, the Brazilian Institute of Electoral Law, the Brazilian Society of International Law, and the Deliberative Council of the Brazilian Institute for the Study of Competition and Consumer Relations. He also was a former federal counselor and president of the International Relations Committee of the Brazilian Bar Association and a former Brazilian delegate within the College of Lawyers of MERCOSUR.

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, founded The Carter Center with wife Rosalynn in 1982. He also became university distinguished professor at Emory University in Atlanta in 1982. He and Mrs. Carter chair the Center's Board of Trustees, overseeing the implementation of the Center's mission: a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering, to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health. President Carter also chairs the Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers, a group of current and former heads of government who have observed elections throughout the Western Hemisphere since 1987. President Carter also has led election observation delegations in Africa and Asia. Known as a peacemaker throughout the world, President Carter has been instrumental in resolving and preventing conflict in North Korea, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan and Uganda, and in the Great Lakes region of Africa. When at home in Plains, Ga., he teaches Sunday school and is a deacon in the Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains. On October 11, 2002, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced it had awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Mr. Carter "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." He received the prize on December 10, 2002.

Rosalynn Carter

Rosalynn Carter is a full partner with the president in all the Center's activities. The former First Lady is co-chair of the Center's Board of Trustees. She created and chairs the Carter Center's Mental Health Task Force, an advisory body of experts, consumers, and advocates promoting positive change in the mental health field. Mrs. Carter has written four books: her autobiography "First Lady From Plains," "Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life," a book about life after the White House co-authored with President Carter; "Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book for Caregivers" (with Susan K. Golant), and "Helping Someone With Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers" (with Susan K. Golant), which was selected as the winner of the 1999 American Society of Journalists and Authors Outstanding Book Award in the service category.

Kevin Casas-Zamora

Kevin Casas-Zamora is an assistant professor of state theory at the University of Costa Rica and and international consultant. Dr. Casas holds a master's degree in Latin American politics from the University of Essex and a doctorate in politics from the University of Oxford. His doctoral thesis, soon to be published, is titled "Paying for Democracy in Latin America: Political Finance and State Funding for Parties in Costa Rica and Uruguay." Dr. Casas has written extensively on political finance, electoral, and democratization issues.

Jorge Del Castillo

Jorge del Castillo is a congressman, member of the Permanent Regulatory, Justice, Human Rights and Pacification Commissions and second vice president of Congress in Peru. A lawyer with studies in political science, a post-graduate degree from the University of Piura and a master's degree in constitutional rights from the Catholic University of Peru, Mr. Del Castillo has been a leading politician of the Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) since 1968. He was a representative from APRA in the general elections of 1985; president of the Party's Commission of Politics from 1993 to 1995; secretary general elected in the XXI APRA Ordinary National Congress in January 1999; and second vice president in the general elections 2001 for APRA. In addition, Mr. Del Castillo was the mayor of Lima from 1985 to 1986 and from 1987 to 1989; president of the Municipalities Associations of Peru from 1987 to 1989; president of the Capital Union of Ibero-American Cities; president of the Sub Group of Labor Economic Regime to the Constitutional Reform, Regulatory and Constitutional Indictments Commission in 2001, and president of the Commission for the Law of Political Parties in 2002.


Cristiana Chamorro Barrios

Cristiana Chamorro is the founder and director of the Fundación Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, a nonprofit organization focusing on projects for the consolidation of reconciliation, peace, and democracy in Nicaragu, freedom of expression, and responses to poverty. She writes on the editorial page for Diario La Prensa and for the agency Servicio Especial de Mujeres, based in Costa Rica. She is on the Board of Directors and Editorial Advisery Board for Diario La Prensa. From 1991 to 1996, Mrs. Chamorro Barrios was an adviser to the President of Nicaragua, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. As president of the Director's Board of Diario La Prensa from 1991 to 1993, she introduced a process of computerization and began the professional modernization of the newspaper. From 1987 to 1993, she was the vice president of the Commission for the Freedom of Expression. In 2000, she was awarded the prestigious Excellence in Journalism in the Category of Opinion from the Inter-American Press Society of the International Press Association.

Oliver Frederick Clarke

The Honorable Oliver F. Clarke joined The Gleaner Company Limited (Jamaica) in 1976 in the capacity of managing director and after several months was later appointed chairman. Mr. Clarke is the immediate past president of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica, chairman of the Commonwealth Press Union (West Indies Section), chairman of Jamaica National Building Society, and director of Independent Radio Company. He is also a member of the Caribbean Media Corporation, the Inter-American Dialogue, Tools for Development Jamaica Limited, PALS Jamaica, in which he teaches conflict resolution in schools, and the Miami-based Peace Education Foundation. Mr. Clarke served as president of the Inter-American Press Association from 1997 to 1998. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of Jamaica and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica in 1997. He received the Americas Award in 1990.

Ricardo Claro

Ricardo Claro is a partner in Claro y Cía, a leading Chilean law firm and chairman of several corporations, including Viña Santa Rita and Red Televisiva Megavisión S.A. Mr. Claro was named Entrepreneur of 2000 by ASIMET and Most Dedicated to Support Art and Culture by Amigos del Arte in 1998. For more than 30 years, Mr. Claro taught economic policy at the law school of Universidad de Chile. His activities in the public sector include serving as economic adviser to the Foreign Affairs Minister, with the rank of ambassador at large from 1973 to 1975; delegate to several conferences for Foreign Affairs Ministers; plenipotentiary ambassador in missions to the Middle East and China in 1975 and 1978; and general coordinator for the Sixth Assembly of the OAS in Santiago in July 1976. He was also a member of the board of TELEVISA (Mexico) between 1992 and 2001 and advisory board chairman of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Mr. Claro has received the Order of Pope San Sylvester in the rank of Commendatory; the Order of Merit, given by the Government of Poland; special distinction given by the Israel Government; and Jerusalem 2002 award given by the Mayor of Jerusalem.

John Compton

Former Prime Minister of St. Lucia Sir John Compton entered political life in St. Lucia immediately after graduating from the London School of Economics in 1954. An attorney and economist by profession, he became the head of government in 1964 and continued to serve as prime minister until he voluntarily demitted office in 1997. He led his country through a series of constitutional changes from Self Government in 1964 to Associated Statehood with Britain in 1967 and finally into independence in 1979. He is now a legal consultant with continued interest in world and Caribbean affairs. He was knighted in 1996 and in 2002 received the Order of the Caribbean Community.

Jack Correa

Jack Correa is a lawyer and works in public relations. He worked in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil as chief of ceremonial for the governor from 1979 to 1983. He was director of governmental public relations during 18 years at FIAT International. Mr. Correa began working for The Coca-Cola Company in 1996 to implement management of strategic affairs in Brasilia, and today, he is the vice president of governmental affairs. His experience in public relations set the foundation for his book "Without Ceremony," published in 1998.

Charles Costello

Charles Costello became director of the Carter Center's Democracy Program in December 1998. As director, he has headed election-monitoring missions to Nigeria, Indonesia, East Timor, and Peru. He also oversees civil society strengthening and rule of law projects worldwide run by the Democracy Program. Previously, he was director of the Center for Democracy and Governance at the U.S. Agency for International Development since shortly after its creation in 1994. From 1993-1994, he headed the USAID mission in post-conflict El Salvador, overseeing programs to help demobilize forces, support reformed political institutions, and to rebuild civil society. A career U.S. Foreign Service officer for more than 20 years, he also headed USAID to Ecuador and Guatemala and served in Kenya and Bolivia. A lawyer with corporate finance experience, Mr. Costello holds a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He was in the Peace Corps in Guatemala and Colombia.

Edmundo Cruz

Edmundo Cruz has led a long and respectful path as a leading Colombian journalist. He serves as research manager and co-editor of La República, a newspaper committed to the fight against corruption. In addition, Mr. Cruz is a professor of journalism at Catholic University. He has received the Maria Moors Cabot prize in 1998. He was also a journalist with the magazine Si and the newspapers "Edmundo" and "El Sol."

Henry Day

Henry Day is currently the chairman of Peru 2021, IDRS, Consorcio Grupall, Corporesa, and Energroup. He is also a board member of Repsol YPF Comercial del Peru S.A. His education includes Alexander Von Humboldt German School, a bachelor's degree in economics from the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and a master's of business administration in finance from Georgia State University. His professional development focuses on leading professional teams in strategic planning, policy, formulation, and restructuring with a specialty in reconverting companies. Day has been active in the Peruvian privatization process, and in 1992, he bought the largest gas company in Peru. Day has a partnership with Repsol in Spain and Repsol YPF Comercial in Spain, Argentina, and Peru.

Hatuey De Camps Jimenez

Hatuey De Camps Jimenez is the president of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and letters from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, as well as doctorate studies in the same discipline from Complutense University in Madrid, Spain. Mr. De Camps also graduated with a degree in children's literature from the Hispanic Cultural Institute in Spain and a master's in economic planning and development from the Institute for the Development of the Ibero-American Area in Spain. Mr. De Camps also has served as the vice president of Socialist International and of the Permanent Conference of Latin American Political Parties. He also served as secretary general of the PRD for 16 years, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies in the National Congress for three consecutive terms from 1978 to 1982, secretary of state for President Salvador Jorge Blanco from 1982 to 1984 and Congressman in 1978 and 1986. Mr. De Camps was the campaign coordinator for Presidents Antonio Guzmán Fernández and Salvador Jorge Blanco and for party leader Dr. Jose Francisco Peña Gómez.

Humberto de La Calle Lombana

Humberto de la Calle Lombana has a law degree from the University of Caldas, a doctorate in law and political science and completed the VI course in international law organized by the Inter-American Judiciary Committe in Rio de Janerio in 1979. Dr. De la Calle has been ambassador of Colombia to the OAS in 2001-2003; minister of the interior in 1990-1992 and 2001; ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom in 1998-2000; vice president of Colombia in 1996-1998; magister at the Supreme Court in 1986- 1987, and director of the Electoral Body of Colombia from 1980-1986. He also has taught law at the Universities of Caldas, Andes, and Rosario in Colombia for 15 years. Some of his publications are: "La Acción Cambiaría" (Action for Change), "La Inoperancia del Negocio Jurídico" (The Inoperative Nature of the Judiciary Business), "Anatomía del Cambio-d-e los sesenta al siglo 21" (Anatomy of Change -from the sixties to the 21st Century), "En Defensa de la Descentralización" (In Defense of Decentralization), and "Código Electoral Comentado" (Electoral Code Commented).

Carlos De Leon Argueta

Carlos de Leon Argueta is a lawyer and notary. Born in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, Mr. De Leon has a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University, a law degree from University of San Carlos University in Guatemala, and a management degree from Universidad Rafael Landivar. Mr. DeLeon is president-elect of the Ibero-American Association of Public Ministers, vice president of the Ibero-American Association of Public Ministers, president of the Central American Council of Attorneys General, chief of the Public Ministry, and attorney general of the Republic of Guatemala. Mr. De Leon also has provided legal, administrative, and financial assessment to several private companies in Guatemala, as well as to other organizations such as the Foundation for the Economic and Social Development of Guatemala and the Foundation for the Development of Small Businesses. Among other positions Mr. De Leon has held are the departmental secretary for the Christian Democratic Political Party in the municipality of Quetzaltenango and the mayoral candidate of Quetzaltenango for the Advanced National Party in 1995. Mr. De Leon is a promoter of the World Summit of Attorneys General and Public Prosecutors for the five Central American nations, to be held in February 2004 in Guatemala.

Pedro Pablo Díaz

Pedro Pablo Díaz is vice president of corporate communications for Coca-Cola Latin America. Previously, he held a number of other marketing and external affairs positions with The Coca-Cola Export Corporation in Santiago and Embotelladora Andina, Chile's largest Coca-Cola bottler. Mr. Díaz serves on the board of directors of a number of organizations and companies, including Bancard, Ladeco Chilean Airlines, and the Council of the Americas. He holds degrees in economics and business administration from the Catholic University of Chile and studied strategic marketing at Harvard Business School.

Stephen Donehoo

Stephen C. Donehoo, managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates, is a former military intelligence officer specializing in Latin America. He provided strategic policy advice on the region while serving at the White House Drug Policy Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the U.S. Southern Command, and the Army Staff. He also ran the Army Operations Center 24-hour Intelligence Watch, where he oversaw crisis-action support teams for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and numerous disaster relief deployments. Mr. Donehoo was raised in Colombia and has lived in Costa Rica, Panama, and El Salvador. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and has a master's of public administration from the University of Oklahoma.

Jorge Fernandez

Jorge L. Fernandez is the Latin America and Caribbean director for Delta Air Lines at its world headquarters in Atlanta. Mr. Fernandez has full operational responsibility for Delta's Latin American region, including all customer service, financial, sales, marketing, human resources and corporate representation issues. In his capacity, Mr. Fernandez also has responsibility to further develop Delta's Latin America strategy. Mr. Fernandez came to Delta from Veridian Engineering, where he led the company's efforts in implementing strategic plans for public agencies and institutions to overseas crises. Prior to his tenure with Veridian Engineering, he served 24 years in the U.S. Air Force as a command pilot, strategic planner, and international affairs adviser. He held various diplomatic posts where he led air base access rights negotiations for a U.S. Air Force aviation hub and directed mediation between states. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Mr. Fernandez received a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Puerto Rico and a master's degree in international marketing from Texas Christian University. He is a National Defense Fellow in Brazilian studies from the University of Miami's Graduate School of International Studies.

Rafael Fernandez

Rafael Fernandez is communications services director of Coca-Cola Latin America in Mexico City. After graduating in journalism from Madrid's Complutense University, he worked as a reporter in Spain before joining The Coca-Cola Company in 1989. Mr. Fernandez held a number of responsibilities in the public affairs and communications department of Coca-Cola's Iberian division until he moved to Atlanta in 1999, where he has served as communications and international public affairs manager for the Latin American group. Mr. Fernandez relocated to Mexico in September of 2002.

Leonel Fernandez

Dr. Leonel Fernandez, former president of the Dominican Republic (1996-2000), is the president of the Dominican Liberation Political Party and of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, a nongovernmental organization based in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Fernandez is a member of various institutions' boards of directors, including Montevideo Circle since 1996, the Carter Center's Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas since 1997, Foreign Affairs in Spanish since 2000, Inter-American Dialogue since 2001, and the Madrid Club since 2001. He is also the chair of the U.S.-Caribbean Executives' Club, organized and sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and serves as the chairman and president of the United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic. Additionally, Dr. Fernández has stood out in academic life as a professor since 1979. He has written numerous articles on communication, culture, history, and law, which have appeared in national and foreign publications. He also has authored several books, including "The United States in the Caribbean: From Cold War to the Plan Reagan, Roots of an Usurped Power." Dr. Fernández obtained the title doctor of law with honors from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. He also has been recognized by various renowned universities with the title of doctor honoris causa: by the University of Sorbonne, France, and Harvard University, United States, in 1999; and Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University, Santo Domingo, and Seton Hall University, New Jersey, in 2000.

Eduardo Frei

Eduardo Frei Ruiz Tagle was born in Santiago, Chile. After graduating as a civil engineer with a major in hydraulics from the University of Chile, he then completed postgraduate studies in business administration and management in Milan, Italy. His political life began in 1958 when he joined the Christian Democratic Party. During Chile's military regime, he was one of the founders and catalysts of the Free Elections Committee. Mr. Frei traveled the country in support of the "NO" vote campaign during plebiscite held in October 1988. After his father's death in 1982, he participated in the creation of the Frei Foundation, a political and academic institution of which he was chairman until April 1993. In 1989, he was elected senator, representing Santiago, and obtained the greatest percentage of vote of all the senators elected. He presided over the finance and budget committee and was a member of the housing committee. In 1991, his fellow Christian Democrats elected him president of the party. In 1993, he won 64 percent of the votes in the Coalition presidential primary and was officially nominated as the candidate of the "Concertación por la Democracia." In December 1993, Eduardo Frei was elected president of the Republic with 58 percent of the votes and assumed his duties in March 1994. In March 2000, he finished his presidency and took office as senator for life in compliance with the constitution.

Carol S. Fuller

Carol S. Fuller has served as counselor for political and economic affairs in the United States Mission to the OAS since 2001. She is responsible for conducting U.S. relations with the permanent missions and permanent observer missions to the OAS, as well as with the political bodies of the OAS and the inter-American multilateral system. From 1999 to 2001, she held the position of executive director for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. A career U.S. Foreign Service officer since 1984, Dr. Fuller has alternated program and policy management positions with those in resource management. She served as deputy director of the narcotics affairs section in Lima, Peru from 1998 to 1999, desk officer for UNICEF in the Bureau of International Organizations from 1993 to 1995, and desk officer for Rwanda and Burundi in the Office of Central African Affairs in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1993. Her administrative tours overseas include administrative officer for the narcotics affairs section in Lima, Peru from 1995 to 1998, and general services officer in Belize City, Belize in 1986, among others. Ms. Fuller earned her bachelor's degree in French from Wittenberg University in 1969. In 1972, she earned her master's from the Catholic University of America in romance philology and in 1974, her doctorate in French language and literature. Her languages include French, Spanish, Italian, and German.

Enrique García

Enrique García is the president and chief executive officer of CAF since December 1991. His previous positions include minister of planning and coordination and head of the economic and social cabinet, under-secretary of planning, board member of the Central Bank and manager of Banco Industrial, in Bolivia; division head, representative in Argentina, advisor to the president and treasurer of the Inter-American Development Bank. He has been governor at the World Bank and at IDB and a member of the development committee. He has taught at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés and the Catholic University in Bolivia. A member of the Academy of Economic Sciences and the Council of Science and Technology of the National Academy of Sciences of Bolivia, author of several publications, Mr. García is also vice president of Canning House in London, a member of the Inter-American Dialogue Washington, D.C. and of the advisory boards of the CID at Harvard University and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Administration, Caracas. He has received honorary degrees from several universities and has been decorated by the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Venezuela and Sovereign Order of Malta. Mr. García holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and finance from St. Louis University and studied toward a doctorate degree at American University.

César Gaviria

César Gaviria, former Colombian president, was first elected OAS Secretary General in 1994. He was re-elected by acclamation at the 1999 regular session of the General Assembly. As Secretary General, he has fostered profound institutional changes that have reinvigorated the inter-American agenda and prepared the OAS to meet the challenges the hemisphere will face in the next millennium. During his tenure, the OAS has become a key player in the Summit of the Americas process and now serves as its technical secretariat and institutional memory. The Organization also has advanced the concept of integral solidarity and has reformed its technical cooperation programs. Mr. Gaviria began his political career at age 23, when he was elected councilman in his hometown of Pereira. Four years later, he became mayor. In 1974 he was elected to Colombia's House of Representatives. He rose to the top position in the House in 1983, and three years later, he became co-chair of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served in the Barco administration first as minister of finance and later as minister of the interior. In early 1989, he left the government to manage the presidential campaign of Senator Luis Carlos Galán. Following the brutal murder of Senator Galán by drug traffickers, the Liberal Party chose César Gaviria as its candidate. He was elected president of Colombia in May 1990. During his four-year term, he enacted policies to strengthen democracy, promote peace, and reintegrate armed rebels into civilian life. He also carried out a process of constitutional and institutional change, focusing on strengthening the judiciary branch and increasing human rights protection, and undertook economic reforms to modernize and enhance Colombia's competitiveness in the world market.

Bruce Golding

Bruce Golding was first elected to the Jamaican Parliament in 1972. He served as minister of construction from 1980 to 1988 and in that capacity, was elected vice chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements from 1984 and 1985 and chairman from 1985 to 1986. He was the opposition spokesman on finance and chairman of the public accounts committee between 1989 and 1995. He also served as general secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 1984 and chairman from 1984 to 1995. In 1995 he resigned from the Jamaica Labour Party and, along with others, founded the National Democratic Movement, serving as its first president between 1995 and 2001. In 2002, he rejoined the Jamaica Labour Party and is now a Senator as well as the opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade. Senator Golding, a businessman and political commentator, was educated at St George's College and Jamaica College and earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of the West Indies in 1969.

John W. Graham

John Graham is chair of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. He was the first head of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy in the Organization of American States and in that capacity, led a number of OAS election observer missions in Latin America, participated in OAS mediation in Guatemala, and was the principal international mediator in the Dominican Republic post election crisis in 1994. Previously with the Canadian Foreign Service, his assignments have included high commissioner to Guyana and ambassador to Suriname (concurrently) and ambassador to Venezuela and the Dominican Republic (concurrently). He has been a senior advisor for the International Foundation for Election Systems, leading election advisory missions to Guyana and Haiti and head of a technical advisory team for the 1998 elections in Paraguay. He was OSCE senior election officer for two cantons in Bosnia-Herzogovina in 1996 and 1997. His publications include: "Canada and the OAS: Terra Incognita," Canada Among Nations, 1996; "Black Past, Grey Future? A Post Dayton View of Bosnia-Herzegovina," International Journal, 1998; "A Magna Carta for the Americas: The Inter-American Democratic Charter," FOCAL, 2002. Ambassador Graham has participated in election monitoring for The Carter Center, IFES, OAS, and OSCE in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Balkans and Central Asia.

Steven Griner

Steven Griner joined the OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy in 1993. As a senior specialist at the Unit, Mr. Griner has observed more than 20 elections in Latin America and the Caribbean, serves as the coordinator of the special program of support to Guatemala and currently manages the OAS Inter-American Forum on Political Parties. From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Griner worked at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a nongovernmental organization that provides assistance to democratic institutions throughout the world through election observation, training seminars, and civic education campaigns. Mr. Griner graduated from Texas A&M University with degrees in modern languages and business administration. After graduation until 1989, he worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Upon his return from Guatemala, Mr. Griner studied at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies where he earned his master's degree in Latin American studies and international economics.

Christian Gruenberg

Christian Gruenberg has served as the director of the anti-corruption program of the Poder Ciudadano Foundation and as the director of Transparency International Argentina since 1996. Within TI, he designs practical tools by which civil society can control corruption and increase accountability, including the program for transparent financing of political campaigns, program for transparent contracting, and program for free access to public information. Mr. Gruenberg has held training workshops for NGOs and governments on controlling corruption in more than 18 countries from Latin America and Eastern Europe. He is working with the World Bank Institute on the implementation of distance learning programs for governments and NGOs regarding social accountability and good governance. Mr. Gruenberg has served as an international election observer with The Carter Center and NDI in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. He has coordinated the monitoring of the campaign financing in the last three Argentinean electoral campaigns in 1999, 2000, and 2001; Perú, 2001; Paraguay 2001, Costa Rica 2001, Ecuador 2002, Latvia 2000, Slovakia 2002, and Ukraine 2002. Mr. Gruenberg received his law degree from Buenos Aires University.

John Hardman

As executive director, Dr. John Hardman provides leadership to achieve the Carter Center's commitment to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health. He is an active participant in the Carter Center's program initiatives, including election monitoring in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Ethiopian public health training, global development strategies, conflict resolution efforts, and agriculture programs aimed at improving food production in Africa and North Korea. Dr. Hardman first served the Center in 1989 when he headed the Initiative to Reduce Global Tobacco Use and was the Center's representative to the World Health Organization's Tobacco and Health Program in 1990. Dr. Hardman directed the Center's Mental Health Program from 1991-1993, became associate executive director in February 1992, and was appointed executive director in December 1992. Dr. Hardman has held faculty appointments in psychiatry and pediatrics at Emory University Medical School and was medical director of Peachford Hospital. He also has held prominent positions with professional and community organizations, including serving as president of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association, president of the Georgia Council on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, president and chairman of Leadership Georgia, and president and chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society. Dr. Hardman received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, received his training in psychiatry as a resident at the Mayo Clinic from 1969-71, and completed a child psychiatry fellowship at Emory University from 1971-73.


T roy Hatch

Troy Hatch is a senior operations counsel in BellSouth International's legal department. He has been practicing law since 1991. Mr. Hatch is responsible for coordinating the efforts of in-house and outside counsel in Colombia, Venezuela, Denmark, Israel, China, and India. He also is responsible for providing legal support to various functional groups at BSI, including external affairs, regulatory, human resources, security, compliance, corporate development, and finance. As part of this support, he provides advice and counsel to BSI's management and employees in connection with contracts, transactions, commercial matters, operational matters, corporate governance, and litigation that affect each of the individual operating companies where he has responsibility. Prior to joining BellSouth in March of 2000, he was with Baker Hughes Incorporated, an oil and gas services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining Baker Hughes Incorporated, he practiced law with the firm Campbell & Riggs in Houston, Texas. Mr. Hatch is very active in the community. He is currently the chair of the Carter Center Council for Ethical Business Practices. He is also a frequent lecturer on the topics of negotiation strategies and compliance at Kennesaw State University. Mr. Hatch speaks English and Spanish.

Linda Hemby

Linda Hemby is a political sociologist, anti-corruption specialist, human rights advocate, and trainer. She is the co-director of PROBIDAD, an anti-corruption and free press watchdog and advocacy nonprofit that administers three regional projects in Latin America and local projects in El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama. Ms. Hemby is the regional coordinator of Journalists Against Corruption, which provides a network and investigative assistance to Latin American journalists, defends them when they suffer reprisals, and promotes conditions conducive to a free press. Since 1994, she has been a speaker and author of numerous articles about corruption, investigative journalism, and free expression in Latin America. Previously, as a social researcher and training consultant, Ms. Hemby was advisor to nonprofits, unions, political parties, and government officials on environmental and nonpartisan accountability and transparency issues. She also was a humanitarian and human rights worker during the war in El Salvador and a university professor. Before relocating from Washington, D.C. to El Salvador in 1985, Ms. Hemby worked on human rights and crisis intervention for at risk individuals and families, the poor, victims of discrimination, war, and abuse, and the imprisoned. Ms. Hemby holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a master's degree and two years of doctoral work in sociology at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Osvaldo Hurtado

Osvaldo Hurtado studied political science and law at the Catholic University of Quito, taught political sociology at this university and at the University of New Mexico and has written numerous essays and books about Ecuadorian and Latin American politics and sociology. Of special importance is "El Poder Político en el Ecuador," published in Spanish in 1977, in English in 1985, and in Portuguese in 1981. He was a member of the commissions appointed by the United Nations and the IDB to prepare the environmental reports entitled "Our Own Agenda" in 1990, "Amazonia Without Myths," and "Dawn in the Andes" in 1992. He presided over the commission that prepared the law of referendum, elections and political parties in 1977, which was the legal base for reestablishing democracy in his country. He was vice president of Ecuador from 1979 to 1981 and later president of the Republic from 1981 to 1984. He presided over the National Assembly from 1997 to 1998 that prepared the constitution that entered into effect on August 10, 1998. He is co-chair of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C and is a member of the Council of Former Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas, chaired by President Jimmy Carter, of the Commission Sudamericana de la Paz in Santiago, and of the Comisión Andina de Juristas in Lima among others. In Quito, he presides over Cordes, a nonprofit corporation that studies the development problems of Latin America and Ecuador, gives lectures, and writes editorials for Ecuadorian newspapers and the Spanish Press Agency EFE.

Jose Miguel Insulza

Jose Miguel Insulza is the minister of interior of Chile. He obtained a law degree from the University of Chile and completed post-graduate studies at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences and the University of Michigan. Mr. Insulza was a professor of political theory at the University of Chile and of political science at the Papal Catholic University of Chile until 1973. He is also a political advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director of the Diplomatic Academy until 1973. From 1981 to 1988, Mr. Insuza lived in Mexico, where he was a researcher and subsequently, director at the Institute of United States Studies at the Centre for Economic Research and Teaching. A professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Ibero-American University, and at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies, and author of many publications in this field, Mr. Insulza was appointed ambassador for international cooperation in 1990, director of multilateral economic affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and vice president of the Agency for International Cooperation. In March 1994, he was appointed under-secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and during the same year, minister of foreign affairs of Chile. He was subsequently appointed minister general secretary for the presidency in 1999, and minister of interior (vice president) in March 2000. Mr. Insulza is a member of the Chilean Political Science Association, Chilean Bar Association, and Chilean Council for International Relations.

Edmundo Jarquín

Edmundo Jarquín is a lawyer, economist, and university professor from Nicaragua. Between 1981 and 1984, he served as minister of external cooperation for the Nicaraguan government. From 1984-1988, he served as ambassador to Mexico and ambassador to Spain from 1988-1990. From 1990 to 1992, he was a member of the Nicaraguan National Assembly. Since 1992 he has been involved in research and operational activities on public policy, good governance and civil society at the Inter- American Development Bank. Currently he is the chief of state, governance and civil society division in the sustainable development department and has authored a number of publications on development and democracy.

Earl Jarrett

Earl Jarrett was appointed general manager of Jamaica National Building Society in October 1999. He joined the Society in May 1997 as an executive with responsibility for compliance and overseas subsidiaries. Mr. Jarrett is a member of the Society's board and of all its local and overseas subsidiaries. He also is a director of the JNBS Foundation. A chartered accountant and a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Mr. Jarrett is a member of the executive board of the Caribbean Association of Housing Finance Institutions. He is also the chairman of the Jamaica Cancer Society, trustee and treasurer of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, trustee of the Dudley Grant Memorial Trust, and director of the Gleaner Company (UK) and North American Boards. He is a former council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica and past president of the Rotary Club of New Kingston. He also served as a member of the National Task Force on Political Tribalism.

Luis Alberto Lacalle

Luis Alberto Lacalle took office as president of Uruguay on March 1, 1990. While in office, President Lacalle signed the framework treaty creating the Common Market of the South, along with Presidents Carlos Menem of Argentina, Fernando Collor de Mello of Brazil, and Andrés Rodríguez of Paraguay. Born in Montevideo in 1941, Dr. Lacalle earned his law degree at the University of the Republic, School of Law and Social Sciences in Montevideo. Dr. Lacalle also has received honorary doctorates from Madrid's Complutense University, the Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalem in Israel, the Universidad Autónoma in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the Universidad Nacional de Paraguay. Lacalle has been active in the National Party since he was 17 and has held many political positions, such as representative in the lower house of parliament, founder and secretary general of the Consejo Nacional Herrista, and member of the national committee of the National Party. In 1984 Dr. Lacalle was elected senator. While in this position, he worked on the Senate finance committee, the transport committee, and the public works committee. He also was a member of the special committee on political parties. In 1987, Dr. Lacalle was named vice president of the Senate and elected national chairman, the highest position in the party, for Partido Nacional, on July 19, 1999. Dr. Lacalle has published many essays and articles on key political and economic issues affecting Uruguay and Latin America.

Hernan Lanzara

Hernan Lanzar studied law and specialized in international commerce and economic integration. Mr. Lanzara has had extensive experience in communications and institutional relations with different companies as general manager at Exports Association (ADEX), executive project director (ADEX - USAID), public relations chief at Cervecería del Sur, and global communications manager at Coca-Cola.

Gerardo Le Chevallier

Gerardo Le Chevallier is the director of Latin American and the Caribbean programs for the National Democratic Institute. Mr. Le Chevallier directs the organization's design, development, implementation and evaluation of programs in the Americas. He has broad experience in communications and negotiation and has recognized expertise in democratic institutions, electoral systems, civil-military relations and legislative reform. In recent years, he has acted as a field director in Paraguay from 1996 to 1998, Bosnia in 1996, and Haiti from 1995 to 1996 for NDI. Having undertaken political consultancies and electoral observation in 14 countries, he has traveled to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa to complete professional assignments. During his political career in El Salvador, Mr. Le Chevallier served in various positions within the government. He was popularly elected as a deputy in the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly from 1991-1994, in the Central American Parliament from 1991 to 1996, and as member of the national committee of the Christian Democratic Party from 1980 to 1994 among others. Mr. Le Chevallier is recognized as one of the key negotiators in the Salvadorean Peace Accords that ended the 12-year civil war. A Salvadoran and French citizen, Mr. Le Chavallier is trilingual in Spanish, French, and English. Mr. Le Chevallier received his master's of business administration from the Hautes Etudes Commerciales in France in 1975. He received a doctor honoris causa from the Centre National de Formation des Journalistes Haïtiens in Haiti in 1995, and from the Universidad del Pacífico in Paraguay in 1999.

Axel Leblois

Axel Leblois is currently president and publisher of World Times, Inc. Based in Boston World Times, Inc. publishes the weekly WorldPaper, an international affairs section carried by 23 newspapers and magazines around the world, in seven languages. Its affiliate, World Sources, provides editorial content from newspapers and magazines around the world to news databases such as Reuters, Financial Times, Associated Press, Lexis-Nexis, and Factiva. A French citizen residing in the United States since 1986, Mr. Leblois has spent most of his career in international corporations such as international Data Group (information technology publishing), Bull HN Information Systems (information technology systems), Executrain (computer-training), and has been president of World Times, Inc. since 1995. With French degrees in philosophy and political sciences, Axel has a master's of business administration from Insead in Europe. He is currently chairman of the board of the Atlanta International School and lives in Atlanta, with his wife, Christine, and their three sons.

Christine Leblois

Currently manager or partner publications at World Times, Inc., Christine Leblois has a business degree and was for many years in France, a freelance editor for business newspapers. Since moving to the United States in 1986, Mrs. Leblois has been actively involved in several not-for-profit activities in Boston and in Atlanta. Resuming professional activities a few years ago, Mrs. Leblois has written occasionally for WorldPaper and maintains regular relations with partner and associate publications of World Times around the world. Christine has traveled extensively around the world with her husband, Axel, in the context of his nusiness activities, while involving their four children in multicultural experiences.

Charles Lewis

Charles Lewis is the founder and executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization in Washington that concentrates on public service and ethics-related issues. Unfettered by the normal time and space limitations that confront most traditional news organizations, the Center for Public Integrity is "the best known of the independent journalism initiatives" operating today. Lewis has written or co-written several of the Center's books and studies that systematically track political influence, including "The Cheating of America, 2001" and "The Buying of the President 2000." Lewis has testified before Congress and has been interviewed hundreds of times about corruption-related issues by the national and international news media. Since 1992, he has spoken on corruption or journalism in Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Ireland, Russia, Sweden, and South Africa. In 1998, Lewis and the Center began a nationwide investigation of corruption in America's state legislatures. In 2001, he created Global Access, a groundbreaking project to monitor and report on corruption, government accountability, and openness in every country in the world. Lewis has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, The Nation and many other publications. He serves on the board of the Fund for Investigative Journalism and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Lewis, a native of Newark, Delaware, holds a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington and a bachelor's in political science from the University of Delaware.

Adam Lioz

Adam Lioz is a specialist in government and election issues at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Lioz wrote a March op-ed piece in The New York Times criticizing Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold for supporting a ban on soft-money (directed to political causes or parties) that allows wealthy individuals to contribute double what they now can in hard money. In 1983, U.S. PIRG was formed to serve as a watchdog in the nation's capital. As a fellow, Lioz worked extensively with state PIRGs and during his second summer, raised $100,000 for North Carolina PIRG, directing the office in Chapel Hill.

Alonso Lujambio

Alonso Lujambio attained a bachelor's degree in political science from the Technological Autonomous Institute of Mexico (ITAM) in 1987. He also completed a master's degree and is candidate for a doctorate in political science at the University of Yale. He was director of the undergraduate program on political science at ITAM from 1993 to 1996 and has been electoral counselor of the Federal Electoral Institute since November 1996. Mr. Lujambio has been an editorial writer for the newspaper Reforma from 1994-1996 and the magazine Expansion from 1995-1996. Author of several publications, his main books are "Federalismo y Congreso en el cambio político de México," published by the Judicial Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and "El Poder Compartido:. Un ensayo sobre la democratización mexicana." His essays have been published in books and magazines, such as Revista Mexicana de Sociología, Etcétera, Perfiles Liberales, Nexos, Vuelta, and Este País.

Ronald MacLean-Abaroa

Ronald MacLean-Abaroa has served as a consultant and advisor on governance and anti-corruption issues to the World Bank, The Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization of American States, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. As such, he has advised the governments of Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Central America, the Philippines, China, and Korea. He chaired the Economic and Social Council of the Andean Pact Countries in 1977 and chaired the board of directors of the Andean Development Corporation in 2000. Mr. MacLean has had a successful career in the private sector between 1973 and 1985. He was an assistant vice president of International Mining Co. and vice president and CEO of Inti Raymi, a gold mining operation. He also has sat on the board of leading banks and is a director in the board of AFP Futuro, one the two pension funds in Bolivia. MacLean-Abaroa has published many academic papers, written case studies, and three books. He recently co-authored (with Robert Klitgaard and Lindsey Parris) a book on governance and corruption, "Corrupt Cities: A Practical Guide to Cure and Prevention," 2000. He has authored and led research with Mauricio Silva of Gobernabilidad y Transparencia on Central American municipalities and has published with Fernando Cajias an historical profile of his great-grand-father and celebrated Bolivian hero.

Elena Martinez

Elena Martinez of Cuba was appointed assistant administrator and regional director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme in January 1999. Ms. Martinez joined UNDP in 1972 as an assistant program officer and was later appointed associate area officer, then regional area officer in New York from 1972 to 1975. She subsequently served as assistant resident representative in Peru from 1976 to 1978; assistant resident representative and later as deputy resident representative in Venezuela from 1978 to 1980; liaison officer with the Regional Economic Commission for Latin America in Chile from 1980 to 1982; deputy resident representative in Mexico from 1982 to 1983; and resident representative in Venezuela between 1983 and 1988. Ms. Martinez then returned to headquarters to serve as chief of Central America in the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean from 1988 to 1992. She subsequently served as deputy regional director between 1992 and 1993 and then as acting director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific in New York from 1993 to 1995. She served as director of the Office of the Administrator in New York from 1995 to 1997 and from September 1997 to April 1999, as director of the Operations Support Group in New York. Ms. Martinez obtained a post-graduate degree from the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and a master's degree in international affairs from the University of Miami. In 1998, she successfully completed the World Bank Executive Development Program led by the Harvard Business School.

Shelley A. McConnell

Shelley McConnell is associate director of the Americas Program at The Carter Center. She tracks issues in inter-American relations and plans and implements anti-corruption and democratization projects. She has helped organize election observation missions in Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, Jamaica, and the Cherokee nation and participated in observation missions to Guatemala, Liberia, and Mozambique. In addition, she has helped organize and lead hemispheric conferences on transparency and on challenges to democracy in the Americas. These projects are conducted in coordination with the Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas, a group of 35 former leaders from throughout the Americas who strive to promote democracy and improve inter-American relations. Dr. McConnell is a visiting assistant professor in the political science department of Emory University. Her research and publishing focus is Nicaraguan politics with a special emphasis on elections. Prior to coming to The Carter Center, she was an assistant professor of political science and Bard Center fellow at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. She also has worked for the United Nations, Inter-American Dialogue, and the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights. Dr. McConnell earned her bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Wellesley College and both her master's and doctorate in political science from Stanford University.

Jennifer McCoy

Jennifer McCoy has been director of the Carter Center's Americas Program since August 1998 and a political science professor at Georgia State University since 1984. Previously she served as senior research associate at The Carter Center from 1988 to 1998. She currently co-leads the Carter Center's participation in the international tripartite working group on Venezuela (Organization of American States, United Nations Development Programme, and The Carter Center). She has directed election monitoring projects for The Carter Center in Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, Venezuela, Jamaica, and Peru and has participated in election delegations to Indonesia, Haiti, Suriname, and Guyana. As director of the Center's project, "Forging a New Partnership with Latin America," Dr. McCoy recently organized two hemispheric conferences: Transparency for Growth and Challenges to Democracy. She is executive director of the Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas, a group of 35 former leaders from the Americas who strive to promote democracy and improve inter-American relations. Dr. McCoy's academic career has included extensive fieldwork in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and in Uruguay, where she conducted research as a Fulbright fellow in 1991 and 1992. A specialist on democratization, anti-corruption global norms, and Latin American politics, Dr. McCoy is editor and contributor to "Venezuelan Democracy Under Stress," 1995 and "Do Politicians Learn from Political Crises?," 2000. She is currently working on a new book on Venezuelan democracy. Dr. McCoy received her doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1985.

Danny Lee McDonald

Danny Lee McDonald is a Democrat commissioner of the Federal Election Commission. He was originally nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 1982. He served as FEC chairman in 1983, 1989, 1995, and 2001 and previously has served as vice chairman in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 2000. Prior to his initial appointment in 1981, the Sand Springs, Oklahoma, native served as general administrator of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Additionally, he served as secretary of the Tulsa County Election Board and as chief clerk of the Board. Commissioner McDonald was a member of the advisory panel to the FEC's National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. Commissioner McDonald received his bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State University and attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has served as a member of the JFK School Advisory Board for State and Local Government.

Thomas McLarty

Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty III has a distinguished record of business leadership and public service, including various roles advising three presidents: Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Jimmy Carter. McLarty worked with President Carter as a member of the Democratic National Committee, was appointed to two commissions by President Bush, and served President Clinton in several key positions: chief of staff, counselor to the president, and special envoy for the Americas, with over five years of service in the President's Cabinet and on the National Economic Council. Upon leaving the White House in July 1998, McLarty returned to the McLarty Companies as its chairman and continues in that role while also serving as president of Kissinger McLarty Associates, which provides strategic advisory services to U.S. and multinational businesses, and vice chairman of Asbury Automotive Group, one of the largest automobile retailers in the United States. As White House chief of staff, McLarty helped enact the historic 1993 deficit reduction package, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the family and medical leave law. In 1994 McLarty organized the successful Summit of the Americas in Miami, and he played a critical role in structuring the 1995 Mexican peso stabilization program. The president recognized McLarty's work by appointing him special envoy for the Americas in 1997. McLarty made over 50 trips to the region and planned U.S. participation in the 1998 Summit of the Americas in Santiago. He also served as vice chair of the White House Task Force on the 1996 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the largest peacetime event in modern history.

Robin McLay

Robin McLay is director of the Governance, Human Rights and Social Policies Division at the Canadian International Development Agency. He has had experience working at Harvard University's Native American Program and the Cambridge-based Consensus Building Institute. Mr. McLay recently initiated and developed a series of capacity development partnerships and programs integrated in the development planning framework of indigenous communities throughout North America and parts of Africa.

Percy Medina Masías

Percy Medina is secretary general of the civil association TRANSPARENCIA and member of its general assembly. Mr. Medina is also a member of the board of trustees of the Instituto de Diálogo y Propuestas; member of the board of trustees of the Consorcio Nacional para la Ética Pública PROÉTICA, and chairman of the board of Publimedios S.A. Upon completion of core studies in arts and jumanities, Mr. Medina enrolled in law school and following that obtained a master's degree in government and political science from the Catholic University of Peru. Among other political activities, Mr. Medina has been an international electoral observer in Venezuela, Chile, and Dominican Republic; host of the radio program "Si la gente quiere la gente puede" to foster citizen participation on the Peruvian News Channel; advisor to civil organization Derechos Territoriales Indígenas on constitutional issues, and researcher of the Instituto de Diálogo y Propuestas, in the areas of political context, violence and narcotics and in the democracy program. One of his most recent publications is "Ciudadanos por voluntad propia" in Cuestión de Estado in 2001.

Carlos Mesa

Carlos Mesa is the vice president of Bolivia, as well as a journalist and historian. He holds a bachelor's degree in literature from the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, studied in Madrid, and has worked in radio, television, and newspapers. Vice President Mesa was the assistant director of Ultima Hora newspaper from 1982 to 1983 and shortly afterwards began a television interview program "De Cerca," considered to be the most important program of this genre in Bolivian television until 2002. He also directed two major television channels, Channel 2 and Channel 6, between 1986 and 1990. In 1990, Vice President Mesa created the Television Journalists Associates (PAT), today called T.V. Net. He is the founder and chairman of the Bolivian Film Institute and is member of the Bolivian History Society. In 1994 he won the international journalism award "Rey de España" and the "Manuel Vicente Ballivián Foundation Journalism Award" in 2000. Vice President Mesa has written more than 50 video documentaries and numerous books. In 2002, he ran with President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada as candidate for the vice presidency and was elected on Aug. 4, 2002.

Ellen Mickiewicz

Ellen Mickiewicz is the James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy Studies, professor of political science, and the director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Communications and Journalism of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. A specialist on media and politics, especially in the former Soviet Union and Eastern/Central Europe, she is also a fellow of The Carter Center. Dr. Mickiewicz was the first American to be honored by the 120,000-member Journalists Union of Russia for her contribution to the development of democratic media in the region. She is author or editor of numerous journal articles and of seven books including her most recent, "Changing Channels," published in which is a study of the role and impact of television from 1985 to 1999. An earlier book, "Split Signals: Television and Politics in the Soviet Union," won the Electronic Media Book of the Year award of the National Association of Broadcasters and the Broadcast Education Association. In 1997 Dr. Mickiewicz was given the Murray Edelman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Political Communication by the American Political Science Association. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and received her doctorate at Yale University. She held a Guggenheim Fellowship and has served on the advisory boards of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center and currently, the International Journal of Press and Politics from Harvard University and Political Communication. She is a trustee of the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a member of the governing board of The International Research & Exchanges Board.

Arnauld Miguet

Arnauld Miguet is a lecturer in French and European politics at the European Institute of the London School of Economics and chair of a program on globalization and leadership. He is also a visiting professor at King's College London in French Politics as well as French and Comparative Constitutional Law. He held academic positions at the University of Surrey, Royal Holloway, Southbank University and taught in Spain and France. His main area of interest is French and EU public law as well as comparative politics and governments. He has presented and written numerous papers on French politics as well as political corruption and the regulations regarding the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns in France and the United Kingdom. He is currently an advisor for Transparency International. In his spare time, he is also a broadcast journalist for France 2 TV, the main public channel in France and a documentary maker for ARTE, the Franco-German channel. He is a regular contributor to various British and international newspapers and radio programs such as the BBC World service. His latest publication is "The French Elections of 2002: After the Earthquake, the Deluge," 2002.

Trevor Munroe

Trevor Munroe is a professor of government and politics at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and a government senator in the Jamaican parliament. He holds a doctorate in political science from Oxford University, and bachelor's and master's degrees in government from the University of the West Indies. Professor Munroe teaches comparative politics at the UWI, specializes in issues of democratic governance and has authored several academic books and a number of scholarly works on democratic governance in the Caribbean. He has won many academic awards and research fellowships, including the University of the West Indies' Vice Chancellor's award for Excellence in 2000 and two Fulbright Fellowships which he took up as a visiting secholar at Howard University in 1993 and 1998. In his parliamentary career, which begun in the Jamaica Senate in 1998, Professor Munroe has consistently advocated deepening democratic governance in Jamaica. In this regard Senator Munroe has served on a number of joint select committees of parliament, including on access to information legislation. In 2002 Professor Munroe won bipartisan support in the Jamaican Senate for a resolution calling for campaign and party finance reform in Jamaica. Dr. Munroe also has been a long-standing civil society activist. He currently leads one of Jamaica's major trade unions and is founder member of the Breakfast Club, an award winning radio show. Professor Munroe was also co-founder and a vice chairman of Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections, Jamaica's monitoring group.

Burt Neuborne

Burt Neuborne has been one of the nation's foremost civil liberties lawyers for the past 30 years, serving as national legal director of the ACLU, special counsel to the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, and as a member of the New York City Human Rights Commission. He has argued many Supreme Court cases, and litigated hundreds of important constitutional cases. He challenged the constitutionality of the Vietnam War, pioneered flag burning cases, worked on the Pentagon Papers case, worked with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she headed the ACLU Women's Rights Project, and anchored the ACLU's legal program during the Reagan years. In recent years, he has become a regular commentator on "Court TV," which he views as a chance to teach constitutional law to a mass audience. In 1996, Professor Neuborne appeared as Jerry Falwell's lawyer in Milos Forman's "The People v. Larry Flint." Professor Neuborne is the legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. The Brennan Center was established in 1994 by the law clerks to Justice William Brennan, Jr., to honor his monumental contribution to American law. The Brennan Center seeks to link the academic resources of a great law school and the practical skills of the bar in an effort to develop pragmatic approaches to problems that have resisted conventional solutions.

Laura Neuman

Laura Neuman is the senior program associate for the Americas Program at The Carter Center, where she directs and implements transparency projects. Ms. Neuman has edited publications and written on fighting corruption and access to information, including "Fostering Transparency and Preventing Corruption in Jamaica" and "Access to Information: A Key to Democracy." She has presented at a number of international seminars relating to these topics. Ms. Neuman serves as executive secretary for The Carter Center's Council for Ethical Business Practices, a working group of leading Atlanta corporations that promote transparency in the private sector. Ms. Neuman also has worked on election monitoring missions in Venezuela, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Cherokee Nation. Ms. Neuman led the Carter Center international observation delegations to Jamaica in 2002, the Dominican Republic in 2000, and Venezuela in 1999 and 2000. Ms. Neuman is a member of the Carter Center Human Rights Committee. Prior to joining The Carter Center in August 1999, Ms. Neuman was senior staff attorney for Senior Law at Legal Action of Wisconsin, the state's largest legal services provider for low-income persons. In 1996, she won the prestigious Older Adult Service Providers' Consortium Advocate of the Year award. She is a 1993 graduate of the University of Wisconsin law school and received a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Ms. Neuman is working towards her master's in international public health at Emory University.

Larry Noble

Larry Noble is the executive director and general counsel of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Prior to joining the Center, he served as general counsel of the Federal Election Commission from October 1987 through December 2000. Mr. Noble was president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws from 1997 to 1998 and, in December 2000 received the COGEL Award for his outstanding contribution to the field of campaign finance and ethics. He has served on the Committee on Judicial Review of the Administrative Conference of the United States and as vice chair of the Election Law Committee of the Administrative Law Section of the American Bar Association. He has written and spoken extensively on campaign finance issues, argued before the Supreme Court of the United States and testified before Congress on problems with the existing campaign finance laws. Mr. Noble has served as an official observer and consultant with respect to elections held in the former Soviet Union, Benin, Senegal, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Trinidad and Tobago. He is on the Editorial Advisory Committee for the Transparency International Global Corruption Report and is an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School, where he teaches campaign finance law.

Andres Oppenheimer

Andres Oppenheimer is a foreign affairs columnist and a member of The Miami Herald team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize. He also won the 1999 Maria Moors Cabot Award and the King of Spain prize in 2001. He is the author of "Castro's Final Hour," "Bordering on Chaos," on Mexico's crisis, "Crónicas de Hèroes y Bandidos" and "Ojos Vendados." A new "Oppenheimer Report" appears every Sunday and Thursday in the Herald.

Beatriz Paredes

Beatriz Paredes is considered a distinguished leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in which she has been general secretary of the National Executive Committee. Ms. Paredes is presently a federal deputy, and recently served as chair of the board of the Chamber of Deputies. Additionally, she has held several political positions. She was governor of Tlaxcala from 1987 to 1992 and was the first woman to hold that post in her state. Following her term as local deputy in 1974 and head of Tlaxcala Congress, Paredes became a federal deputy from 1979 to 1982 and from 1985 to 1986, and senator between 1997 and 2000. Paredes has served as president of the National Commission of Integral Development and Social Justice for Indigenous peoples and as deputy minister of Agrarian Reform. Paredes has participated in several international events as a delegate to the UN, UNESCO, and FAO, among other multilateral organizations. Paredes was ambassador of Mexico to Cuba from 1993 to 1994 and president of the Latin-American Parliament (Parlatino) in 2000. Paredes has received several national and international awards. Some of the most remarkable awards are the Cruzeiro de Sur National Order in 2003 and the Rio Branco Order both granted by the Brazilian government; Woman who Makes a Difference Awardgiven by the International Women's forum in 1995; Woman of the Year Award in Mexico in 1988; and the Inter-American Award for the Woman Participation in Rural Development in 1986.

Robert Pastor

Robert Pastor became vice president of international affairs and professor of international relations at American University on Sept. 1, 2002. In addition, he directs two new Centers: Democracy and Election Management and North American Studies. Before coming to American, Dr. Pastor was professor of political science at Emory University, and from 1985 until 1998, he was a fellow and founding director of the Carter Center's Latin American and Caribbean Program and the Democracy and China Election Projects. In May 2002, he advised and accompanied former President Jimmy Carter on his trip to Cuba. He was the director of Latin American and Caribbean affairs on the National Security Council from 1977 to 1981, the senior advisor to the Carter-Nunn-Powell mission to Haiti that negotiated a peaceful restoration of constitutional government, and was nominated by President Clinton to be ambassador to Panama in 1993. Dr. Pastor received his master's of public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and his doctorate in political science from Harvard University. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia and in 1995, received the Sargent Shriver Humanitarian Service Award, the highest award for a returned Peace Corps volunteer. He was the Ralph Straus Visiting Professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1998 and a Fulbright Professor at El Colegio de Mexico in 1985-86. He is the author or editor of 14 books, including "Toward a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New," 2001.

Andres Pastrana Arango

Andres Pastrana Arango was elected president of Colombia on June 21, 1998. Pastrana, the son of former Colombian President Misael Pastrana Borrero, has a law degree from the University of El Rosario in Bogotá and was fellow at the Center of International Affairs at Harvard University. He also was a respected journalist, as founder of the political magazine Guion in the 1970s and as a director and anchorman of a daily nationwide news program. In the 1980s he won many prestigious awards for his work, such as international "Rey de España" in Madrid and "El Premio Simón Bolivar" in Bogota. His political career began in the early 1980s, when he was elected twice to the Bogota City Council. In 1988, when he was only 34, Mr. Pastrana became the first publicly elected mayor in Bogota's history. During the campaign, he was kidnapped by the Medellin cartel, and, after a dramatic rescue, escaped with his life. In 1991 he created the New Democratic Force, a dissident group of the Conservative Party and launched his campaign for Senate. The group made history by winning eight independent seats, the largest number ever in the Colombian Senate. His 1994 presidential campaign united both the Conservative Party and the New Democratic Force, although he lost the election in the second round. Over the next four years, Pastrana worked as a consultant for the United Nations under the Young Leadership Program, and prepared carefully for his return to the political arena.

Henry Pease Garcia

Henry Pease Garcia is a sociologist and journalist. Dr. Pease received his master's and doctorate degrees in the social sciences from the Catholic University of Peru, where he has been a professor of sociology since 1971. Dr. Pease has also served as a congressman since 1993. He is president of the Commission for Constitutional Regulations and Indictments since 2002, president of the board of directors in the Congress Parliamentary Investigations Center, and first vice president of Congress. Dr. Pease also has held office as a member of the Congressional Economic, Constitutional, and Regulatory Commissions as well as the Congress Directors' Council between 1995 and 2000. In addition, his political career includes a presidential campaign in 1990 representing the Left Electoral Alliance United Party and the Lima mayoral campaign in 1989. Dr. Pease has published works on several political issues, including "La Autocracia Fujimorista;" "Del estado Intervencionista al estado Mafioso," 1999; "Los Años de la Langosta," 1984; "Propuesta Alternativa," 1983; and "Un perfil del proceso político peruano," 1981.

Teodoro Petkoff

Teodoro Petkoff is the executive director of Tal Cual Daily. Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Mr. Petkoff holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. He is currently an adjunct professor of economics at the same university. Mr. Petkoff was a deputy to the National Congress until 1994 and also held office as minister of the Central Office of Coordination and Planning (CORDIPLAN) from April of 1996 to February of 1999. Mr. Petkoff was the director of El Mundo Daily until 1999.

Silke Pfeiffer

Silke Pfeiffer heads the Latin American department at the International Secretariat of Transparency International in Berlin. She joined TI in July 1999. She holds a degree in Latin American studies from the University of Cologne in Germany and Tucumán in Argentina and completed a postgraduate program in development studies at the German Development Institute in Berlin. Before joining TI, Silke lived in different parts of South America for 18 months, working with human rights organizations and on social development projects. Her current responsibility as regional director of Latin America includes the co-ordination of the Transparency International Latin American Chapter network, which is engaged in several collective action programs, among them a regional program on transparency and equity in political party and election campaign financing.

Peter Phillips

Peter Phillips, formerly the minister of transport and works in Jamaica, recently replaced K.D. Knight as minister of national security. He also serves as leader of the House of Representatives and minister with responsibility for electoral matters. In the past, he has served as minister of health, minister of special projects in the office of the prime minister, and senator and minister of state in the office of the prime minister. Dr. Phillips has been chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force, which steered the Greater Portmore Project; he led CARICOM negotiations on the San Jose Accord; he contributed to the development of framework agreements between CARICOM and the USA; and he has been a member of the Electoral Advisory Committee and the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Reform. A graduate of Jamaica College, Dr. Phillips earned a bachelor's degree in economics and master's in government from the University of the West Indies. As a Ford Foundation fellow, he completed doctoral studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton in international political economy. He also has been a Fulbright scholar and has done work at the University of Florida at Gainesville. As a former lecturer in the department of government at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Phillips has published extensively on a variety of Caribbean development issues. Dr. Phillips also served as the general secretary of the People's National Party between 1991 and 1994, vice president since 1999, and member of parliament for East Central St. Andrew since April 1994.

Michael Pinto-Duschinsky

Michael Pinto-Duschinsky chairs the International Political Science Association's Research Committee on political finance and political corruption. He is a member of the board of directors of the International Foundation for Election Systems, IFES Limited, and of the steering committee of the World Movement for Democracy. He was a founder governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. He is a former Fulbight fellow, fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, and guest scholar of the Wilson Center. He was educated at Oxford and Cornell. He is currently senior research fellow at Brunel University in London. His recent works on political finance include "Political Financing in the Commonwealth," 2002; "Financing Politics: A Global View," Journal of Democracy, 2002; and "Political Finance in Central Eastern Europe: An Interim Report," Austrian Journal of Political Science, 2002 (co-author). He was the lead writer on "Parties and Elections" for the ACE Project (IFES, UN and IDEA). He is a contributor and advisor to the Central European University's forthcoming study of political finance in 14 countries of Central and Eastern Europe. He has advised governments, commissions, and international organizations on laws relating to political financing, political aid, and constitutional reforms. Since 2001, they have included UNDP, Commonwealth Secretariat, European Union, British Council (Buenos Aires), Policy Planning Staff of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the UK Electoral Commission, and the UK Department for International Development.

Paul Reichler

Paul Reichler, an international lawyer, is managing partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Foley Hoag LLP. For 25 years, he has provided strategic advice and legal representation to heads of state and governments in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. His specialties include international conflict resolution, international litigation and arbitration, and lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. In conflict resolution, he advised and assisted the five Central American presidents in reaching the 1987 Central American Peace Accords and follow-up agreements, which led to the end of insurgencies and the establishment of democratic governments in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala; he facilitated the cease-fire agreement between the government of Nicaragua and the Contras, which ended the civil war in that country; he led an international effort to restore democracy to Guyana via the holding of free and fair elections, for which the government of Guyana awarded him the "Cacique's Crown of Honour;" presently, he is working to end the internal political conflict in Haiti via the holding of OAS-supervised elections. In international litigation, he represented Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice at The Hague in its successful lawsuit against the United States over U.S. mining of Nicaragua's harbors and support for anti-government paramilitary forces; he is representing Uganda before the International Court of Justice in a lawsuit brought by the Democratic Republic of Congo over Uganda's military intervention in the DRC. His present and past lobbying clients include the governments of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guyana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Malaysia.

Carlos Roberto Reina

Carlos Roberto Reina is a lawyer from the National University of Honduras, with a master's degree in international law from Sorbonne University in Paris. Mr. Reina has been president of the Inter American Court on Human Rights; vice president of the National Assembly on Honduras; president of the Hispanic and Latin American Institute of International Law in Madrid; president of the Republic of Honduras from 1994 to 1998; and president of the Central American Parliament in Guatemala. Mr. Reina has been recognized by various widely renowned universities with the title of Doctor Honoris: American University, Senshu University in Japan, Fu Jen University in China, and South Pacific University. He also obtained an honorary degree from Sorbonne University. Mr. Reina speaks Spanish, English, and French and among his publications are "El agora y el Aula," "El Ideal Morazanico en el Siglo XXI," and "Huellas de una Lucha."

Juan Rial

Juan Rial, born in Uruguay, is a political scientist and works as an international consultant in the field of governance. Mr. Rial has written extensively on topics related to political parties and elections. Recently, Mr. Rial worked as a consultant to the Peruvian Congress in the drafting of a new law on political parties, which included political campaign funding and the use of the media by political organizations.

Miguel Angel Rivadeneira Vallejo

Miguel Angel Rivadeneira holds a bachelor's degree in communications from the Central University of Ecuador and a master's degree from the National Higher Studies Institute. Mr. Rivadeneira has been a journalist for several newspapers, including El Tiempo and Extra and has worked 15 years in El Comercio as a political editor, editing coordinator, and as editor in chief. He has also been vice president of the National Union of Journalists, a member of its honor tribunal, and a member of The Commission of Civic Control for Corruption from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Rivadeneira holds numerous recognitions for his work: 12 national awards from the National Union of Journalists, The Journalism School of Pichincha, The Journalist Federation of Ecuador, The National Congress, The Armed Forces and the National Police, among others. He also was granted the National Order for Merit by Ecuadorian President Gustavo Noboa. Mr. Rivadeneira is currently the news director of radio stations Ecuadoradio, Radio Quito, and Radio Platinum FM.

Juan Jose Rodil Peralta

Juan Jose Rodil Peralta has been a lawyer and notary for 30 years. Among other positions, Rodil has been president of the Association of Social Studies and Research, president of the College of Lawyers and Notaries of the Republic of Guatemala, president of the Delegation of Guatemala to the XVI International Congress of Latin Notaries in 1982, member of the Monetary Council of Guatemala 1982-1984, president of the Central American Institute of Arbitral Law in 1984, ambassador of Guatemala to Venezuela in 1985, minister of the interior from 1986-1988, member of Congress in 1991 and 1992, and president of the Judicial Organism and Supreme Court of Guatemala between 1992 and 1994. Mr. Rodil has delivered more than 200 addresses in Latin America and Europe on topics related to political institutions in Guatemala and citizen participation. Rodil has received several recognition awards from organizations such as the Monetary Council of the Bank of Notaries, the Republic of Guatemala, and the OAS.

Miguel Angel Rodriguez

Miguel Angel Rodriguez recently completed his four year term as president of Costa Rica in 2002. A long-time leader in the United Social Christian Party, he also has served in public office as president of the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly and as president of the Christian Democrats of America. Before becoming a public official, President Rodriguez had a highly successful career as a businessman. He has been the director of the Agro-Industrial and Export Bank, SA and president of Agrodynamic International, SA. He received his doctorate in economics from UC-Berkeley and has taught economics at the University of Costa Rica and the Autonomous University of Central America. President Rodriguez has published several articles and books on economic and social issues in Costa Rica and Latin America. Dr. Rodriguez is currently the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Visiting Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University.

Marta Pasos de Sacasa

Ms. Pasos studied interior design Madrid and Paris and eventually returned to Nicaragua to pursue a liberal arts degree in humanities at the Central American University. In 1979, after the Sandinistas took control of the only independent television station, her family moved to Miami, helping the first groups of the Nicaraguan Resistance--the contras. Marta eventually became a spokesperson for the contras, attending peace talks and meetings with the Sandinistas. After Doña Violeta Chamorro's triumph, the family moved back to Nicaragua and with the opening of political freedoms, restarted the television station. Ms. Pasos de Sacasa is now vice president and assistant manager of Channel 2, which holds more than 65 percent share of Nicaraguan viewers. After publicly endorsing candidate Arnoldo Alemán, Channel 2 was quick in denouncing the rampant corruption the former president instilled during his tenure in government. After denying an offer to be running mate to candidate Bolaños, Ms. Pasos de Sacasa is now a member of the president's Civilian Society Council, a private group of Nicaraguan intellectuals and former politicians supporting anti-corruption and institutional changes for the development of a better society in Nicaragua. She was also head of National Conscience, a civic group which actively collected almost a million signatures asking for the removal of President Aleman's immunity so he may respond to the charges presented against him.

Lloyd Erskine Sandiford

Lloyd Erskine Sandiford was prime minister of Barbados between 1987 and 1994. He was a member of the Parliament of Barbados for 32 years from 1967 to 1999, representing the Constituency of St. Michael South from 1971 to 1999. Additionally, he has held many positions in government and in the opposition, including serving as deputy prime minister, deputy leader of the opposition, leader of the house, as well as president, vice president, and secretary of the Democratic Labour Party of Barbados. Currently, Mr. Sandiford holds the position of distinguished fellow in the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies in Barbados. Mr. Sandiford has taught at secondary and tertiary levels of education for some 20 years in Barbados and Jamaica and has been a visiting scholar in residence at Penn State University. Additionally, he has lectured at numerous universities, including Seton Hall University, University of Maryland, Emory University, University of Miami, and Harvard University. Mr. Sandiford also has extensive experience in international affairs and has headed many delegations from Barbados to international meetings and conferences. Mr. Sandiford has authored books, numerous newspaper articles, six volumes of speeches, and a collection of poems. His most recent book is entitled, "Politics and Society in Barbados and the Caribbean: An Introduction," 2000. Mr. Sandiford holds an upper second class degree in English from the University of the West Indies and a master's degree in economics and social studies from the University of Manchester.

Andrea Sanhueza

Andrea Sanhueza is a social assistant from the Catholic University of Chile and magister in human and environmental settlements at the Urban Studies Institute of the PUC. Between 1996 and 2000, Ms. Sanhueza was the executive director of PARTICIPA and from 1999, a professor of organizational managementat the School of Social Work of the Catholic University of Chile. Following training from the Kettering Foundation in issues of debate to engage civil participation, Ms. Sanhueza has coordinated national and international projects, among which are Application of a Methodology of Civil Participation for an Evaluative System of Environmental Impact, Design of a System of Civil Participation for the Process of Establishing Telecommunication Fees, Consultation Process for the Definition and Implementation of a Regional Policy of Domestic Solid Waste and the Role of the State in the Strengthening of Civil Society Organizations. In the international arena, she coordinates PARTICIPA activities within the Red Interamericana de Democracia. Since 1997, Ms. Sanhueza has actively worked in the promotion of civil society organizations in America Summits. She is a member of the Assessment Committee of the Inter-American Strategy for Public Participation in the OAS. In addition, she has facilitated several international workshops on resource management for municipal and nongovernmental organization representatives, as well as organizations focused on planning, leadership and teamwork. Ms. Sanhueza has been the executive director of PARTICIPA since 2001.

Michele Schimpp

Michele Schimpp is USAID's senior election advisor and has led the Election and Political Process Division in the Office of Democracy and Governance since 2001. She returned to USAID headquarters in 1999 after spending four years in Haiti as the deputy chief in the Democracy Office where she managed rule of law, local government, and civil society programs. Prior to joining USAID's Foreign Service, Ms. Schimpp supervised a multi-sectoral research staff with the Academy for Educational Development and authored several reports on democracy and governance, including "USAID and Elections Support" and "USAID and Democratic Development." A Latin Americanist by training, Ms. Schimpp led the Latin America research program for Defense Systems Incorporated from 1988 to 1991, conducting long range political forecasts for the region and other analyses. In addition to Haiti, she has lived, worked, and studied in the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Venezuela. Ms. Schimpp received her master's degree in Latin American studies from the University of California at Berkeley and her bachelor's degree in international affairs from the George Washington University.

Christopher Shays

Christopher Shays is a leader among moderates in the Republican Party. He advocates fiscally conservative and socially moderate views both in Congress and on the national stage, and is a frequent guest on political talk shows. Mr. Shays was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1974. As a state representative, he spoke out against abuses in the state probate system and was sent to jail by a judge for criticizing corruption in the court system. In 1987, he won a special election to the U.S. Congress. At the start of the 108th Congress, he was appointed by Speaker Hastert to serve as vice chairman of the House Budget Committee. Mr. Shays previously served as a member of the Committee from 1991-2001, heading its defense and health care task forces. He is a leader of the coalition supporting campaign finance reform, working with Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA), Senators John McCain (R-AZ), and Russ Feingold (D-WI) and others to enact a ban on soft money and a prohibition on campaign ads masquerading as "issue" ads in federal races. President Bush signed H.R. 2356, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, into law in March 2002, and Mr. Shays is working with partners in reform and a talented legal team to vigorously defend the legislation against challenges in court. He also serves as vice chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and as chairman of its Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. The subcommittee oversees the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

Adele Simmons

Adele Simmons is president of the Global Philanthropy Partnership, a nonprofit that encourages donors to address the disparities within and among countries. She is a senior advisor to the World Economic Forum and a senior associate at the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago. She is vice chair of Chicago Metropolis 2020, which was established by the Chicago business community in 1999 to ensure that the Chicago region is economically competitive in the future. Mrs. Simmons was president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, overseeing the distribution of over $1.5 billion. The Foundation's international programs focused on peace and international security, population, the environment and human rights. The Foundation was an active funder in many Latin American countries and had offices in Brazil and Mexico. Mrs. Simmons serves on the board of Marsh and McLennan Companies and a number of nonprofits, including the Field Museum in Chicago, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Environmental Defense, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Global Fund for Women. She is a member of several World Bank and U.N. advisory committees. Her articles and columns appear regularly in the U.S. press. Her analysis of the role of civil society in prompting corporate responsibility, "Who's Minding the Store?" appeared in the 2002 Global Civil Society Yearbook, published by the London School of Economics.

Frederick B. Slattery

Frederick Slattery is a chartered accountant and holds two post graduate degrees in commerce and accounting science from Laval University in Quebec City. Mr. Slattery was employed for many years as a senior executive in the Federal Public Service in Canada until his retirement in October 1995. He has extensive experience in the area of election financing, having held the position of registrar of political parties and director of election financing at Elections Canada for more than 13 years. Since his retirement, Mr. Slattery has worked as a private consultant and in this capacity he worked as a member of the international team that organized the first democratic elections held in Bosnia and Herzegovina both at the national level in 1996 and the municipal level in 1997. During the past three years, he has assisted a number of federal government departments with the task of converting their accounting systems from a cash basis to accrual accounting basis.

Richard W. Soudriette

Richard W. Soudriette has served as president of the International Foundation for Election systems since 1988. Under Mr. Soudriette's leadership, IFES has grown into one of the premier organizations offering technical assistance in the areas of elections, civil society, rule of law, and governance. He has played a key role in launching networks of elections officials in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia and has overseen the tremendous growth of IFES, which has worked in more than 120 countries around the world. Prior to joining IFES, Mr. Soudriette served as chief of staff for U.S. Congressman James M. Inhofe (R-OK), director of the U.S. Peace Corps in Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, and chief of staff for the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mr. Soudriette is currently a member of the American Political Science Association and the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Treasurers and Election Officials. He is a graduate of the University of Tulsa with a bachelor's degree in political science and a master of public Administration from the University of Oklahoma.

Elizabeth Spehar

Elizabeth Spehar has been executive coordinator of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy of the Organization of American States since Jan. 23, 1995. In this capacity, she has spoken extensively on OAS and democracy issues as well as written on these themes for a variety of publications. Among other duties, she has been involved in organizing a number of the Organization's largest electoral observation missions and has been strongly involved in the development of the Unit's expertise and activities in the emerging field of conflict resolution. Previous professional experience includes work as a development consultant for agencies such as the International Development and Research Centre and the Canadian International Development Agency, particularly in the areas of Latin American regional organizations, human rights and women and development; United Nations Development Programme (Programme Officer); Match International, an NGO dedicated to women in development (Project Officer - Latin America). Her academic background includes a bachelor's degree with honors from Queen's University at Kingston, Canada, diplome d´etudes superieures from the Université de Pau, France, and a master's degree in international affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

Eduardo Stein Barillas

Eduardo Stein Barillas is a former foreign minister of Guatemala. He has headed the OAS electoral observation mission to Peru for 2000 and 2001. From October 2001 to September 2002, Mr. Stein was president of the Foundation of the Americas. He participated actively in Central American peace processes both in the Esquipulas regional negotiations, as well as in the San José Dialogue with the European Union. He has served as a consultant for UNDP. Stein was a member of the International Commission of Intervention and State Sovereignty. In 2002 he advised national dialogues between political parties, civil society, government, and private sectors in Panama and Peru. At present he is a consultant for the International Organization of Migrations in Guatemala.

Gordon Streeb

As the Center's associate executive director for the Peace Programs, Dr. Streeb oversees center projects to promote democracy, human rights, economic development, and conflict resolution. Dr. Streeb came to the Center in 1994 as diplomat-in-residence near the end of a 30-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, a professional path that included assignments in West Berlin, Mexico, Geneva, and New Delhi, culminating in his appointment as ambassador to Zambia from 1990-1993. His Washington assignments included several policy positions in international economic development. An economist by training, for several years Streeb directed the Center's Global Development Initiative, an innovative project to assist emerging democracies in creating sustainable development plans. He earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Minnesota.

José Antônio Dias Toffoli

Jose Antonio Toffoli is the legal counselor to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the legal counsel to the president's chief of staff. Mr. Toffoli attended law school at the State University of São Paulo and is a professor of constitutional law and civil law at the Unified Center of Education of Brasília/DF. He also is the national representative of the Workers Party - PT to the Supreme Electoral Court and to the Supreme Federal Court since 1996. He worked in the elections of 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002 and was the legal counsel to the Workers Party at the House of the Representatives from 1995 until 2000. Mr. Toffoli has been an electoral lawyer since 1991.

Luis Verdesoto Custode

Luis Verdesoto Custode is a sociologist from Ecuador. Mr. Verdesoto completed his studies in social science at the Catholic University of Ecuador and Peru, as well as L'Ecole de Hautes Etudes in France. He has authored "Certezas e Incertidumbres en la Política Ecuatoriana," "Temas para una Sociedad en Crisis," and "El concepto de las experiencias de regionales de participación" among many others. Mr. Verdesoto is a consultant to organizations such as the Latin American Institute for Social Investigation, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNICEF, The World Bank, NUU-PNUD-DPA, the European Union, IRDC, and USAID. Mr. Verdesoto is also a consultant to the president of the Dominican Republic and served as the assessor to Ecuadorian President Jaime Roldos. He has been the ambassador of Ecuador to Switzerland and also the executive secretary of the Inter-American Network of Democracy. He is currently the coordinator of the Regional Security and Democracy in the Andean Region and a visiting professor at York University.

George Vickers

Dr. George R. Vickers is regional director for Latin America at the Open Society Institute and senior policy analyst at the Open Society Policy Center. From 1993-2001, he was executive director of the Washington Office on Latin America, a center for policy analysis and advocacy that works to secure human rights and promote democracy in the Americas. Dr. Vickers was professor of sociology at the Graduate Center and Brooklyn College of the City University of New York from 1975 to 1997 and also was director of the Institute for Central American Studies in New York from 1986 to 1993. Dr. Vickers has served on numerous election observer delegations in Central and South America and co-directed missions monitoring the implementation of peace agreements in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. He is the author of several books and has written extensively on the dynamics of revolutionary movements, democratization processes in Latin America, civil-military relations and United States military strategy. Dr. Vickers is a member of the boards of directors of Hemisphere Initiatives, the Institute for Central American Studies, and the Latin America Working Group. He is also a mentor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy.

Gene Ward

Gene Ward is a senior democracy fellow specializing in political finance in the USAID Office of Democracy and Governance. He received his doctorate from the University of Hawaii while a degree scholar at the East-West Center in Honolulu. His area of specialization is international economic and political development. Gene served eight years in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1990 until 1998, half of this time as the minority leader. He was a candidate for the U.S. Congress from Hawaii's Congressional District One in 1998. Prior to joining USAID, he was the program coordinator for the International Republican Institute's Local Autonomy Project in Indonesia. Prior to entering elected politics he worked as business development advisor for the United Nations and executive director of an entrepreneurship development nonprofit organization. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer as well as Vietnam veteran.

Phillip Wise, Jr.

Phil Wise is associate executive director for operations at The Carter Center. Prior to joining the Center's staff in 1994, Mr. Wise was deputy chief of staff to the governor of Florida and has been executive vice president and corporate secretary of a diversified financial institution based in Florida. During the Carter Administration, Mr. Wise was appointments secretary to President Carter and served in his gubernatorial administration.

Alexandra Wrage

Alexandra Wrage is an international regulatory attorney. She works on all aspects of regulatory matters, including compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery, as adopted by member states. She has created international due diligence programs for the retention and training of international business intermediaries. Ms. Wrage currently holds the position of senior counsel - international with Northrop Grumman Corporation. Prior to that, she worked in the Washington, D.C. and Middle East offices of MCI Communications. Alexandra Wrage also is the president of TRACE, a nonprofit association of companies committed to greater transparency in international business. Based in London and Washington, TRACE undertakes best practicesresearch, prepares extensive background reports on business intermediaries, and holds anti-corruption workshops at locations around the world. Ms. Wrage studied law at Kings College, Cambridge University. She works with the ABA Task Force on international corrupt practices, the ABA Section of International Law and Practice and the International Bar Association. She speaks frequently on topics of international law and anti- corruption initiatives and on the hidden costs of corruption.

Nelly del Carmen Yañez

Nelly del Carmen Yañez is a Chilean journalist. A graduate from the Catholic University of Chile in 1983, Ms. Yañez has worked in several media outlets, always covering the political sector. Her work experience includes coverage of local media including Broadcasters, Radio Chilena; Megavision, T.V. 7, T.V. 13; Cosas magazine, and newspapers La Epoca and El Mercurio, where she currently works.

Michele Zebich-Knos

Michele Zebich-Knos is a professor of political science and international affairs at Kennesaw State University. Dr. Zebich-Knos was chair and founding member of the Haiti Section of the Latin American Studies Association from 1997-2000 and served as OAS election observer during the 1990 and 1995 Haitian presidential elections. Her research includes issues on the environment, governance, and development policy in Latin America. She is the author of numerous publications including "Ecotourism, Economic Development and the Environment in Latin America: A Policy Perspective in Environmental Policy and Developing Nations," 2002; "Mexico: Christianity and the Struggle for Collective Identity in Religion and Politics in the Developing World," 2002 and "There are No Free Riders in an International Climate Change Regime: The Role of Latin America in Reducing Global Warming," 2000. Other publications include "The Internet in Latin America: Narrowing the Digital Divide" in South Eastern Latin Americanist, 2001; "Global Environmental Conflict in the Post-Cold War Era: Linkage to an Extended Security Paradigm," Journal of Peace Studies, 1998; "Preserving Biodiversity in Costa Rica: The Case of the Merck-INBio Agreement" in Journal of Environment and Development, 1997; and "Politics and Democracy in Haiti: The Challenge from the Military" in South Eastern Latin Americanist, 1994.

Andreas G. Zimmer

Dr. Andreas G. Zimmer has been deputy consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany in Atlanta since August 2002. Prior to Dr. Zimmer's arrival in Atlanta, he was posted in Jakarta, Indonesia; Breslau, Poland; and in the German Foreign Ministry in Bonn and Berlin, Germany, with the German Foreign Service. Dr. Zimmer was a practicing attorney in Cologne, Germany, before he joined the foreign service. He holds law degrees from universities in Mainz, Germany and Stockholm, Sweden.

Daniel Zovatto

Daniel Zovatto Garetto is the regional representative for Latin America in the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Mr. Zavatto is a senior adviser for Electorales.com, the only portal in Latin America dealing with the importance of Internet in politics, elections, government, and democracy; Latinobarómetro, the transnational public opinion polling firm; and Nueva Mayoría, one of the most prestigious portals in politics in Latin America. He is also a political advisor to Latin American governments; a member of the Latin American Association of Political Consultants; an international consultant for several international organizations and agencies (UNDP, IADB, AID, World Bank, OAS); program chair of the Research Committee of the International Political Science Association on Political Corruption and Political Party Funding; academic board member of the project Political Transparency. Dr. Zovatto is also a professor at several universities in Latin America, Europe, and North America. He is an international speaker and frequent contributor of articles to many Latin American newspapers and political science journals. Mr. Zovatto holds a bachelor's degree in political science, international relations and law from the University of Cordoba in Argentina, a master's in international studies from the Diplomatic School at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid, Spain; a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University; a master's in human rights and a doctoate in international law both from Madrid's Complutense University in Spain. Between 1985 and 1997, Dr. Zovatto occupied posts as director of research and publications at the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, executive director of the Center for Electoral Promotion and Assistance, and founder and executive secretary of the Association of Electoral Organizations of South America, among others.

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