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Influential Latin American political leader and economist to speak Oct. 1

Posted 9/21/2009

Ricardo Lagos, a former Chilean president whose administration achieved strong economic growth while adopting democratic and social reforms, will address current issues facing Latin America during an Oct. 1 lecture at Vanderbilt.

Lagos, who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006, will speak on “Latin American Challanges…After the Crisis” at noon in the Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall at the Blair School of Music. The lecture will be video-streamed live at VUCast – www.vanderbilt.edu/news.

The Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt is sponsoring this event, which is free and open to the public.

“We are delighted to bring Lagos, one of the most influential and respected political leaders in Latin America, to campus,” Edward Fischer, director of the Center for Latin American Studies, said. “Lagos is a serious economist and human rights advocate who refuses to be confined into one discipline or role – similar to the work of our center.”

Lagos earned a law degree from the University of Chile and a doctorate in economics from Duke University. He then returned to Chile, where he began his political career as a member of Salvador Allende’s Socialist Party during the early 1970s. He spoke out courageously against General Augusto Pinochet’s human rights violations and was forced to flee first to Argentina and then to the United States, where he lived in exile for several years.

During the 1980s he returned to Chile and founded the Party for Democracy, which gained power through its “NO” campaign against the Pinochet legacy. During his time as minister of education, Lagos introduced a major policy to decentralize Chile’s education system. Later, as minister of public works, he engineered a unique and successful plan to revamp Chile’s road system.

In 2000, Lagos was elected the first socialist president of Chile since Allende was overthrown. Despite high unemployment and tensions with other South American nations regarding access to energy resources, Lagos enjoyed widespread popular support with approval ratings over 70 percent when his term ended. In 2007, he was appointed to his current position as the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change.

A reception will precede Lagos’ talk at 11 a.m. in the lobby of the Blair School, which is located at 2400 Blakemore Ave. Parking is available in the South Garage.

For more information, call the Center for Latin American Studies at (615) 322-2527.

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