By Simon R. Bone
Last Friday HKS held the inaugural annual Latin American Conference entitled “Rethinking Latin America”. The purpose of the conference was to create a space for dialogue and awareness at Harvard’s Kennedy School community regarding the challenges, successes and opportunities of recent Latin America’s policies.
Its panel talks focussed on four areas:
1. Economic growth: How can new opportunities solve old problems?
2. Education: How can education provide solutions to inequality in Latin America?
3. Security: How can a decrease in crime and violence promote regional development?
4. Democracy: What can Latin American citizens expect from their democracies in the 21st Century?
The launch was a huge success in its aim to not only inform, but also inspire students and the Harvard community to reflect and engage on the opportunities and fundamental challenges that the region is facing as well as to contribute to reposition Latin America as an area of interest in the discussion circles of academic, political, and professional communities.
The opening and closing keynotes were provided by two prestigious Latin American figures: Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico (2006-2012) and Eduardo Duhalde, President of Argentina (2002-2003).