This program is a series of debates and encounters in New York City among Latin American leaders in which they discuss the changes underway in their countries. Each year, the OLA brings together high-level political and societal leaders (press, NGOs, business, culture) to present and discuss how the region is changing, the constraints, and opportunities which these changes face. In these conferences, there is an intensive search for alternative approaches to improve the lives of the people in Latin America after the evident failure of neo-liberal economic policies to generate sustained economic growth and social development.
Prestigious experts on a wide range of issues from all over the region are invited by the OLA to present their perspectives at The New School. The OLA is proud to have hosted lectures and conferences by high-profile leaders such as: Néstor Kirchner, former Secretary-General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and former president of Argentina; Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission on Latin America (ECLAC); Tabaré Vázquez, former President of Uruguay; Nelson Barbosa, Secretary of Economic Policy Federal Government of Brazil, Juan Carlos Moreno Brid, United Nations ECLAC Mexico; Bernardo Álvarez Herrera, Ambassador of Venezuela to the United States; Ollanta Humala, presidential candidate in the 2011 Peruvian elections; Jorge Argüello, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations; and Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador, among others.
