Lecture to focus on U.S. relations with Latin America

Submitted by Nancy Tarnai
Phone: 907-474-5042
02/02/09

The UA Geography Program will bring U.S.-Latin America relations the forefront at a free public lecture Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Lee H. Salisbury Theatre on the UAF campus.

Former United States Ambassador John R. Hamilton will present "An Overview of U.S.-Latin Relations at the Outset of the Obama Administration." The lecture will cover many contemporary issues facing the region, including recent political developments in Venezuela, Peru and the Caribbean.

Hamilton was the U.S. Ambassador to Peru from 1999 to 2002 and to Guatemala from 2002 to 2005. A career officer in the U.S. Foreign Service for 35 years, he served in Spain, Mexico, Greece, Peru, Costa Rica and Guatemala. Before being named Ambassador to Peru, he was the second-ranking official in the Western Hemisphere Affairs bureau of the State Department and had responsibility, among other issues, for U.S. policy toward Cuba. He also worked for extended periods on Central American Affairs and was recognized for his support of the peace negotiations that ended the 36-year armed conflict in Guatemala in 1996. The department presented him with its Distinguished Honor Award in 2005.

Hamilton holds a bachelor’s degree in U.S. history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. Before entering the Foreign Service, he served in the U.S. Navy Reserve in the Pacific Fleet.

Hamilton’s lecture is sponsored by the University of Alaska Geography Program, UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Alaska World Affairs Council.

CONTACT: Cynthia Steiner, UA Geography Program, 907-474-7494 or cynthia.steiner@alaska.edu. Nancy Tarnai, School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences public information officer, 907-474-5042 or fnnjt@uaf.edu.

NT/2-2-09/092-09