“The Disappearing Island: Haiti, History and the Hemisphere” - 2003 Jagan and Baptista Lecture

A Caribbean Dialogue with J. Michael Dash

By Gabriela Agatiello

Renowned scholar J. Michael Dash, professor of francophone literature and director of Africana Studies at New York University, shared his celebrated knowledge of Haiti in a lecture entitled "The Disappearing Island: Haiti, History and the Hemisphere," on Saturday, March 20, 2004, at York University.

In recognition of Haiti's Independence Bicentennial, the 2004 Jagan and Baptista Lecture commemorated this historic Revolution, celebrated Haiti’s contributions to world culture and provided a context within which to better understand current events.

This well-attended lecture was a joint event, constituting the Fifth Annual Jagan Lecture which commemorates the life and vision of the late Cheddi Jagan, Caribbean thinker, politician and political visionary; and the Third Bi-annual Baptista Lecture which is named in honour of Michael Baptista. The event was co-organized by CERLAC, the Latin American & Caribbean Studies program (LACS), York International, and the Jagan Lectures Planning Committee of volunteers from the Toronto Caribbean community.

Both the topic and the presenter drew much interest at a time of great social and political crisis in Haiti. Although the island had remained largely invisible to the international community, the ousting of Aristide and the ensuing social and political turmoil catapulted Haiti into the international spotlight. Haiti has suffered more than 30 coups d’état in its 200-year existence. It is the poorest country in the hemisphere, and is now confronted with humanitarian crisis, social and political chaos, and another repressive US occupation. An understanding of the complexities of the present social, political and humanitarian crisis requires that we go beyond such explosive moments and look back at Haiti’s remarkable history, which provides a context within which to better understand current events.

The evening began with a welcoming address by Lorna Marsden, President and Vice-Chancellor of York University, and was accompanied by a poetry reading by Bernard Delpeche, professor of French at Acadia University and a musical performance by David Rudder, Trinidad’s foremost Soca and Calypso performer.

In his lecture, J. Michael Dash explored Haiti’s symbolic destiny, in an effort to “free” Haiti from being relegated to the margins of world history. He argued for an understanding of the Haitian Revolution as both a foundational moment in modern universalist human rights thought and a point of origin for postcolonial Caribbean societies, one which privileges global interaction and transcends ethnocentric models of nation, race, and identity. In the spirited question period, the circumstances of former President Aristide’s recent departure from office, the complexities of internal Haitian politics, and the regional and international context were discussed.

Dash’s presentation stirred up much dialogue and debate amongst a diverse audience of students, faculty, artists, and members of the local Caribbean community, who left the venue engaged in animated discussion and looking forward to next year’s event.

The full text of the lecture, video and images of the event, can be found online.

Dr. J. Michael Dash was born in Trinidad and has worked extensively with Haitian literature and French Caribbean writers. Before taking up his current position at New York University, he spent 21 years at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, where he was professor of francophone literature and Chair of the Modern Languages Program.

Conference on International Migration in the Americas

In September 2003, CERLAC and the Latin American Faculty of Social Science (FLACSO-Dominican Republic) held a conference at York University on International Migration in the Americas. The various panels brought together speakers from across Canada, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean Basin to examine emerging issues in this regionally and globally important theme.

In an effort to explore the structural and political determinants of population movements and bring them into greater focus in public debate, this conference facilitated an academic exchange on a number of key issues.

The conference recognized the multiplicity of migrant networks and communities that transcend national boundaries, and approached migration as a complex phenomenon reflecting the changes that have taken place within countries in the Western Hemisphere and which have had profound implications for our notions of identity and citizenship. Presentations addressed the tensions inherent in international regimes that facilitate the free movement of capital across borders while at the same time attempting to restrict people’s mobility. Moreover, the impact of increasing economic and financial integration across countries in the region has been compounded by the effects of development options that have tended to produce new inequalities and to transform migration into one of the few options left for survival.

The conference also created a space to discuss the impact of legal status on immigrants in their condition as labourers, members of the community and their families. In most cases, their lack of legal recognition as immigrants entails the group’s vulnerability to violations of their human rights, and creates enormous difficulties for the well-being of immigrants and their families. In this context, presentations addressed the consequences of state policy in the determination of the conditions that shape the experience of immigrants in their new country.

Various suggestions surfaced from the papers presented at the conference, with the central goal of outlining a new research agenda for the study of international migration. Primarily, there was wide recognition of the need for further research in this field, with emphases on the process of incorporation of migrants in host countries, the potential for development resulting from remittances sent home by migrants, and the need for new categories of analysis to account for the transformations in the field of transnational migration.

In addition to members of universities from across Canada and the United States, the conference included the participation of representatives from the Inter-American Dialogue, the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, FLACSO-Dominican Republic, and the Instituto Mora, who added valuable research and perspectives on international migration from the South.

As a result of the enthusiasm and interest in ongoing discussion and information exchange on migration-related issues, a new listserv was established following the conference. To join, send an email with your full name and a request to join the migration listserv.

The papers presented at the conference are now available online. A double issue of CJLACS collects a number of the papers presented. A report on the conference is also available.

Globalization and Social Movements: A Brazilian Perspective

A public lecture by João Pedro Stedile of the MST (Landless Workers Movement) of Brazil

On October 20, 2003, one of the leading spokespersons of the MST (Landless Workers Movement) of Brazil, João Pedro Stedile, presented a public lecture at the OISE Auditorium in Toronto. Co-hosted by CERLAC, The Transformative Learning Centre (OISE, University of Toronto), and The Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy (Ryerson University), the event was part of a rare public tour by Stedile to build international solidarity against the commonly shared perils of corporate-driven globalization.

In order to understand what is occuring in Brazil, Stedile explained that one must first understand the underlying global economic and social context, and in this way began his presentation with an overview of the neoliberal era and the crisis of international capitalism. As outlined by Stedile, the four major strategies of the corporate response to the crisis are to increase privatization and invest in war production as a means to renew capitalism and increase accumulation; control and monopolize the sources of energy (principally oil) that capitalism requires; control access to the biodiversity of the planet and to water; and to allow capital to circulate freely and rapidly around the world, especially in the services sector. The instruments used in this corporate response to the crisis include the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which he described as an attempt on the part of capital to control production in all sectors of society.

Stedile then turned to the popular response to this crisis, where he highlighted a number of electoral victories in Latin America that were defeats for neoliberalism and outlined the opportunities for social movements that the globalization of financial capital presents. These opportunities are, firstly, that globalization has promoted new forms of organizing; secondly, that a sense of autonomy has been gained, whereby social movements are promoting autonomous activity in contrast to a former emphasis on institutionalization; and finally, there has developed a sense of internationalist consciousness and an understanding of the need to work together on common causes.

João Pedro Stedile is considered a principal founder of the MST, one of Latin America’s largest and most dynamic social movements, representing hundreds of thousands of rural workers in Brazil. He presently is the main political spokesperson for this organization and a member of its National Directorate. A leading international figure in the anti-corporate globalization movement, Stedile is also an activist of the international Via Campesina movement and has been an organizer of the World Social Forum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has published extensively on issues relating to agrarian reform, rural development, social justice, and globalization.

(Photo: www.brasileira.info.br.bra15/index.asp)

Canada, Free Trade and Deep Integration in North America

Revitalizing Democracy, Upholding the Public Good

Teach-In and Conference

October 14-16, 2003

The Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) hosted this conference to explore recent trends in continental integration, with a particular focus on Canada-US relations. In response to the major integrationist drive advanced by the business lobby and their supporters in Ottawa, and the flurry of mainstream academic work supporting that drive, the conference brought together researchers from across Canada and beyond who share a sceptical perspective on free trade and the proposals for deeper integration in North America and in the hemisphere. Specialists from those policy areas most affected by growing economic integration were brought together, to critically assess the political, economic, social, cultural and environmental consequences for Canada of a decade and a half of free trade, and to respond both intellectually and practically to the corporate elite’s vision of integration. The researchers advanced an alternative vision of social and economic development that focuses on revitalizing democracy and advancing the public good.

The conference opened with a public forum (Teach-In) on the implications for Canadians of closer integration with the United States. Addressing approximately 300 people in the OISE Auditorium, Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians gave the keynote speech, in which she argued that integration with the US promises little in the way of benefits and threatens to undermine Canadian values and institutions.

Held at York University, the 2-day conference combined plenary discussions with sessions on the following topics: NAFTA and the Canadian Economy; Public Services and Social Exclusion; Deep Integration Agenda; Integration, Neoliberalism, and Sustainable Development; Defence, Security and Immigration; Mexico, Labour, and Deep Integration; and Dispute Settlement, Culture, and Intellectual Property. CERLAC Fellows Ricardo Grinspun and Yasmine Shamsie are currently preparing an edited volume of the papers presented at this important and worthwhile conference.

Fair Trade Offers a Mix of Theory and Practice
By Gavin Fridell

Interest and action around fair trade have picked up steam on the York campus over the past couple of years. Fair trade has proved to be fertile ground for members of the York community to mix academic interests with local activism and international development.

In this spirit, CERLAC has hosted a series of fair trade events. In the fall of 2002, Blanca Rosa Molina, an agronomist and small farmer from Nicaragua, and Leocadio Juracan and Julian Marcelo, Cakchiquel Mayas from Guatemala, spoke about the international coffee crisis and the potential of fair trade to improve the lives of families in their communities. In 2003, Gavin Fridell and Aileen Cowan, both graduate students in Political Science at York, presented on their research on fair trade and its potential benefits and pitfalls.

Along with these efforts, the Fair Trade @ York campaign was founded in 2002 and has since organized a series of small initiatives, including a petition to pressure the university to adopt a fair trade/no-sweat code of conduct. In the winter of 2004, the fair trade campaign, along with CERLAC and other research bodies, organized International Development Week which included a day-long fair trade workshop with academics, activists, and fair traders.

Further discussion on fair trade took place in April 2004 at the founding workshop of the University Consortium on the Global South (UCGS)—a collaborative effort designed to provide a shared space for dialogue and research among students, faculty, activists, policy makers, and visiting scholars—and since then the UCGS has hosted the fair trade campaign. As part of the UCGS project, Professor Darryl Reed, the Chair of Social Sciences, has spearheaded a new initiative designed to bring academics from York and other universities together with fair traders to develop collaborative research projects.

Fair trade offers a potential avenue for academics to explore their research and activist interests, and fair trade campaigners hope to contribute to both of these areas in the upcoming academic year by developing a Fair and Ethical Trade Research Network stemming from the UCGS initiative and, ideally, by successfully pressuring the university to adopt a fair trade/no-sweat code of conduct.

For more information on fair trade at York see:

Fair Trade @ York
UCGS
Contact Gavin Fridell or Professor Darryl Reed.

See also the OXFAM fair trade site for more information.

Transfair Canada Logo

Brown Bag Seminars

How to Present a Conference Paper, October 15, 2002. Judy Hellman, CERLAC Fellow, Social Science.

Narratives of Fear and Geographies of Displacement in Medellín, Colombia, November 6, 2002. Pilar Riaño-Alcalá, CERLAC Post-Doctoral Research Fellow.

*Alternative Food System Planning & Education in Mexico: a community-based alternative to the dominant food system, November 13, 2002. Danielle Schami, MES (Planning) Candidate.

*Plan Puebla-Panamá, January 9, 2003. Strategic development in Southern Mexico: a historical perspective, Paula Hevia, Ph.D. candidate, Political Science; The (High) Ways of Capitalism in Plan Puebla-Panamá, Hepzibah Muñoz, Ph.D. candidate, Political Science.

*Pesticides and Women's Health in Costa Rica, March 27, 2003. Sara Freedman, Environmental Studies.

*The Landless Rural Workers & the Construction of Another Brazil, September 23, 2003. Leandro Vergara, Ph.D. candidate, Political Science.

Transcendent Cuba, November 5, 2003. Bernardo Garcia, Ph.D. candidate, Sociology.

Rural Markets, Revolutionary Souls, & Rebellious Women in Cold War Guatemala, November 12, 2003. Carlota McAllister, CERLAC Post-Doctoral Fellow.

Human Rights Organizations and Argentine Society: Persuasion through Demonstration and the Media, November 18, 2003. Michelle Bonner, Ph.D. candidate (University of Toronto).

*Coffee, Crisis, & Fair Trade - A View from the Guatemalan Highlands, November 26, 2003. Aileen Cowan, Ph.D. candidate, Political Science.

*Pedagogy of the Land: The Political Education Programs of the Brazilian Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST), February 11, 2004. Erika Del Carmen Fuchs, MES candidate, Environmental Studies.

The Contemporary as Absurdity: Reflections on Denials of Citizenship in the Anglophone Caribbean Postcolony, March 8, 2004. Aaron Kamugisha, PhD Candidate, Social and Political Thought.

Grassroots Activism in Argentina: Challenges and Experiences of a Neighbourhood Assembly in Buenos Aires, March 25, 2004. Shana Yael Shubs, MES candidate, Environmental Studies.

*indicates that the seminar was co-hosted by RCDG.

Visiting Speakers

Metaphor, Context & Immersion in the work of Banyan Signs of a Caribbean Television Aesthetic, September 19, 2002. Christopher Laird, Managing Director of Banyan Television, Trinidad.

Fair Trade and the Coffee Crisis in Nicaragua, September 25, 2002. Blanca Rosa Molina.

Chile: Human Rights and the Transition to Democracy, September 30, 2002. Viviana Díaz, Organization of the Relatives of the Disappeared Political Prisoners.

The Political Dynamics of Anti-Globalization, October 2, 2002. Henry Veltmeyer, Professor of Sociology and International Development Studies, Saint Mary's University.

Land Reforms and Indigenous Rights in Guatemala, October 10, 2002. Alfredo Ché, Organizer, the National Coordinating Body of Campesino Organizations of Guatemala.

Promoting Human Development in Southern Chile: Reviving indigenous weaving techniques, October 16, 2002. Marnie Schilken & Joanna Pérez, Fundación Chol-Chol.

Enrique Oltuski: My Life in the Cuban Revolution, October 17, 2002. Enrique Oltuski.

Coffee with Justice in Guatemala: Cooperative Coffee & Land Rights in Guatemala, October 22, 2002. Leocadio Juracan & Julian Marcelo, Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), Guatemala.

Economic, Social & Cultural Rights in El Salvador and the Pursuit of a Real and Participatory Democracy, October 29, 2002. Ricardo Santamaría, Fundación de Estudios para la Aplicación de Derecho.

Black Speech and the Traditions of Storytelling, November 7, 2002. Andrew "Kei" Miller, Performance poet from Jamaica.

The New Interventionism of the World Bank & the IMF: Governance of Global Capitalism in the 21st Century, November 7, 2002. Paul Cammack, Professor of Government, University of Manchester.

RUDE OIL: Ecuadorian Resistance to Canadian Corporate Involvement, November 26, 2002. Nadja Drost, International Project Coordinator at the Toronto Environmental Alliance.

Theoretical Implications of Latin American Nationalisms, November 28, 2002. José Itzigsohn, Associate Professor of Sociology, Brown University.

Local Development: Eco-Business as a Strategy to Diversify Income Sources, December 2, 2002. Andrés Yurjevic, Latin American Center for Sustainable Development (CLADES), Santiago, Chile.

Dying For It: Gangs, Violence, and Social Change in Urban Nicaragua 1997-2002, January 23, 2003. Dennis Rodgers, Lecturer in Development Studies, London School of Economics.

Towards Another World: Reflections on the World Social Forum, February 11th, 2003. Carlos Torres, Centre for Social Justice; Kathryn Palmateer, M.A. candidate, Political Science.

History in the Making: The Perspective of the Participants, February 25, 2003. Marta Harnecker, Director of The Latin American Popular Memory Research Center (MEPLA) in Havana.

Saving the Central American Sea Turtle, March 20, 2003. Enriqueta Ramírez, Proyecto Ayutzin para la Conservación de la Tortuga Marina.

Plan Puebla Panama and Guatemalan Campesino Struggle, April 2, 2003. Rafael González Yoc, General Coordinator of the Committee of Peasant Unity (CUC).

Guatemala: New Hope, 20 Years After the Genocide, September 10, 2003. Guillermo Chen Morales, Director of the New Hope for Rio Negro Rabinal Scholarship Foundation in Guatemala.

Managing an International Development Project: A Nicaraguan Model, September 17, 2003. Amanda Procter, Coordinator of the Casa Canadiense in Managua, Nicaragua.

Militarization and Resistance in Latin America, September 22, 2003. Américo Saldiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

Chile: Civil Democracy in Neo-liberal Times, November 28-29, Dec 1, 2003. Martin Zansana, La Surda movement, Director of Sociedad Educacional para el Desarrollo Humano; Rafael Agacino, Colectivo de Trabajadores.

Extraterritorial Citizenship: The Campaign to Extend Voting Rights of Mexicans Abroad, February 9, 2004. Raúl Ross Pineda, Coalición por los Derechos Políticos de los Mexicanos en el Extranjero.

Oil policies & the future of indigenous territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Feb 26, 2004. Pablo Ortiz, Professor of Latin American Studies, Simon Bolivar Andean University in Quito Ecuador.

Canadian Connections to Oil Exploitation in the Amazon, March 11, 2004. Luís Merino, former Director of Environmental Protection in Cuyabeno, Ecuador; Nadja Drost, Global Aware.

The Disappearing Island: Haiti, History and the Hemisphere, March 20, 2004. J. Michael Dash, Professor of Francophone Literature and Director of Africana Studies, New York University. See article on Jagan-Baptista lecture.

Visions of the New World: Female Migration & Sex Tourism In Brazil, March 22, 2004. Adriana Garcia Piscitelli, Guggenheim Fellow; Senior Researcher, Núcleo de Estudos de Gênero-PAGU, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.

Surrealism, Ethnography, and Contemporary Haitian Writing, March 23, 2004. J. Michael Dash, Professor of Francophone Literature and Director of Africana Studies, New York University.

Anti-Racism, Party Politics and the Left in the Guyanese Context, March 30, 2004. Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, Co-leader of the Working Peoples' Alliance (WPA) Party.

RCDG (Rural Community Development Group) Seminars

Participatory Micro-Financing & Micro-Scale Political Economy, January 16, 2003. Bernice Kozac, Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science.

Environmental Sustainability & Biodiversity Conservation in Southern Chile: The Role of Scientific versus Indigenous Knowledge, February 6, 2003. Tracey Lue, MES candidate, Environmental Studies.

Participation as Political Space: Intervention and Identity in the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, February 13th, 2003. Christine McKenzie, MES, Environmental Studies.

Fair Trade & Market-Based Social Justice: A Critical Assessment of Existing Perspectives, March 20, 2003. Gavin Fridell, Ph.D. candidate, Political Science.

Political Natures: Energy, Identity and Citizenship in Chile's Alto Bio Bio, April 3, 2003. Alex Latta, Ph.D. candidate, Political Science.

Trinidad & Tobago: Competition for Space and Turf, October 29, 2003. Mahadeo Bissoon, Edinburgh and McGill University.

Sustainable Development & Nigeria's Environmental Regime, January 19, 2004. Yemi Oke, Osgoode Hall Law School.

Workshops and Panel Discussions

Challenging "Illegitimate" Sexualities in the Caribbean. Panel discussion, October 29, 2002. H. Nigel Thomas, Professor of Literature, Laval University, Quebec, CERLAC Visiting Fellow; David Murray, Anthropology, York University; Andrea Davis, Humanities, York University.

State Terror, Torture, and Impunity: The Legacy of Political Violence in Chile and Elsewhere. Panel discussion & theatre performance, October 30, 2002. Pilar Riaño, CERLAC Post-doctoral fellow; Carlos Torres, Centre for Social Justice; Judith Pilowski, Psychologist, Member of Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture. Moderated by Judith Rudakoff, CERLAC Fellow, Theatre, York University.

Critical Theoretical Approaches to Restructuring Processes and Resistance in Latin America. Grad seminar, November 8 - 9, 2002. Paul Cammack, Manchester University and Fernando Coronil, Michigan University.

The PT in Power: Prospects for Change in Brazil. Panel discussion, January 14, 2003. Leo Panitch, Political Science, York University; Cecilia Rocha, Ryerson University; Daniel Shugurensky, OISE, University of Toronto. Facilitated by Carlos Torres of the Centre for Social Justice.

El desarrollo rural sustentable en el sur de Chile. Mesa redonda, 22 de Enero, 2003. In Spanish, with eight scholars from Universidad Católica de Temuco: Luis Peralta, director asociado, Centro de Desarrollo Sustentable; Teresa Durán, directora, Centro de Estudios Socioculturales, directora, Escuela de Antropología; Wanda Lado, directora, Programa de Trabajo Social; Paul Escobar, Secretario de la Escuela de Agronomía; Alex Moscoso, profesor de la escuela de Ingeniería Forestal; Ángel Patitucci, secretario académico de la Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria.

From the Bottom Up: Globalization and the Challenge of Rural & Community Development. Workshop, January 27-28, 2003.

Colombia in Conflict, Venezuela in Crisis. Panel discussion, February 6th, 2003. Michael Harvey, First Secretary and Head of the Political Section Embassy of Canada to the Republic of Colombia; Jeanette Sautner, Second Secretary, General Relations Section Embassy of Canada to Venezuela; Bill Fairbairn, Researcher/Policy Advocate, Latin America KAIROS; Maria Victor, Sociologist, Consultant (Victor Research).

The Politics of Transnational Ties: Implications for Research, Communities and Policies. Workshop, March 7 & 8, 2003.

CERLAC Retreat. April 10, 2003.

Making Art, Creating Change! Bi-lingual workshop, April 25-27, 2003. Sergio Ruvalcaba, Luis F. Gutierrez, Ileana Ortiz, Eduardo Tinkam and Danny Caldan.

Fair Trade: Economic Justice, Environmental Sustainability, & Cultural Identity in the New Millenium. Workshop, Feb 5, 2004.

International Migration in the Americas: Emerging Issues. Conference, Sept 19-20, 2003. See article.

Repression and Violence Against Organized Labour in Colombia. Panel discussion, Sept 24, 2003. Sandra Cordero, Representative of Sintratelefonos Union, Secretary of Press and Communication from Toronto; Over Rico, Representative of Sinaltrainal Food Workers Union, Colombia; Ken Luckhardt, National Representative, International Department, CAW-Canada; Jasmin Hristov, M.A. Candidate, Sociology, CERLAC Graduate Associate.

In the Shadow of the Empire? Canada, Free Trade and Continental Integration. Teach-In, Oct 14, 2003.

Canada, Free Trade and Deep Integration in North America: Revitalizing Democracy, Upholding the Public Good. Conference, Oct 15-16, 2003. See article.

Globalization & Social Movements – A Brazilian Perspective. Public Lecture, Oct 20, 2003. João Pedro Stedile, Landless Workers’ Movement. See article.

BASTA: Building a New Argentina. Film & Panel Discussion, February 13, 2004. Kathy Price, filmmaker.

One No! Many Yes(es)! Popular Resistance & Alternatives to the FTAA. Panel discussion, March 18, 2004. Edgar S. Godoy, Chair of International Solidarity Committee, CUPE-Ontario; Jasmin Hristov, M.A. candidate, Sociology, CERLAC graduate associate; Nicolas Lopez, Political Science student, Latin American Bolivarian Circle.

Social Movements and Globalization: Resistance or Engagement. Workshop, April 2, 2004.

VISITORS TO CERLAC

CERLAC received many visitors during the 2002-3 and 2003-4 academic years. These visitors encouraged exchange and facilitated discussion between CERLAC and the broader community.

Isora Enriquez O’Farrill, Cuba Project. (Friday, June 6, 2002)

Suzy Bermudez Quintana, Director of Programa para la Paz, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. (12 June 2003)

Pedro Pérez Herrero, Sub-director of the Instituto Universitario de Investigacion Ortega y Gasset, Madrid. (14 August 2003)

Dra. Aurora Fernández, Vice Minister of the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education and Cuban Minister; Vladimir Mirabal; Sylvia Hernandez; and Rogerio Santana, the Cuban Consul in Toronto. (26 September 2003)

Danilo Rueda, Human Rights Worker with Justice and Peace in Colombia. (30 October 2003)

Irupe Carvajales Larnaudie, Heide Trampus, Lisa Makarchuk, Morteza Gorgzadeh, Rogerio Santana, attended a Planning Meeting at York University towards the launching of a Free the Cuban Five Committee. (6 November 2003)

Jean-Marc Duval, Canadian Ambassador to Colombia. (9 November 2003)

Nino Ricci, Canadian novelist. (November 2003)

Miriam Duailibi, Director of the Ecoar Citizenship Institute, Brazil; Elizabeth Teixeira of the International Cooperation Secretariat, University of Sao Paulo; and Valeria Freixedes of the Community Development/Popular Education Branch of the University of Sao Paulo. (19 January 2004) of the Community Development/Popular Education Branch of the University of Sao Paulo. (19 January 2004) of the Community Development/Popular Education Branch of the University of Sao Paulo. (19 January 2004)

Dr. Gilberto Diaz, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Havana.

VISITING SCHOLARS

Andrés Perez. Visiting Fellow, Department of Political Science, University of Western Ontario. 2002-2003

Pilar Riaño. Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. 2002-2003

Andrés Yurjevic. Visiting Fellow. 2002-2003

Ofelia Becerril. Visiting Fellow, Ph.D. Candidate, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. 2002-2004

Carlota McAllister. Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. 2002-2004

Bill Fairbairn. Canadian Consortium on Human Security Fellow. 2004