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LECTURE SERIES OF THE AMERICAS WILL EXAMINE PROCESS THAT LED TO POLITICAL RECONCILIATION IN EL SALVADOR 15 YEARS AGO

  February 8, 2007

As part of the Lecture Series of the Americas, former Salvadoran Foreign Ministers Oscar Santamaría and Fidel Chávez Mena will talk about the negotiation process that brought an end, 15 years ago, to El Salvador’s prolonged armed conflict. “Reconciliation Processes in the Americas: The Case of El Salvador” will be the focus of the conference on Friday, February 16, at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS).

It was on January 16, 1992, that the Salvadoran government and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN in Spanish) signed the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, ending a conflict that had lasted 12 years. At that time, Santamaría was Chief of the Government Negotiating Committee and coordinator of the implementation of the Peace Accords; Chávez Mena was leader of the political opposition and a participant in the peace process.

Following their presentations, the speakers will take questions from the audience. The conference, the—the nineteenth in the series—will be Webcast live (www.oas.org) and broadcast by radio and television at a date to be announced.

Created by the OAS Permanent Council to promote democratic principles and values in the countries of the hemisphere, the Lecture Series of the Americas invites internationally renowned speakers to address key issues such as democracy, human rights, social development, hemispheric security and the fight against poverty. The conferences are possible thanks to financial contributions from Peru’s San Martín de Porres University and the governments of France, Greece and Qatar.


WHAT: Oscar Santamaría and Fidel Chávez Mena talk about “Reconciliation Processes in the Americas: The Case of El Salvador”

WHEN: Friday, February 16, 2007

TIME: 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: Hall of the Americas
Organization of American States
17th Street & Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006

Reference: AVI-006/07