Summit of Bilaterial Ambassadors

By:Camron Moore Issue: La Bienal de las Américas 2010 Section:City Exhibitions and Special Events

The Summit of Bilateral Ambassadors

was an opportunity to focus attention on the many challenges and unifying activities facing the Western Hemisphere as a whole, with a gathering of diplomats, who offered frank discussion. The views of the eight ambassadors provided a broader vision of what they strive to achieve when working with partners throughout the Americas — like generating broad-based growth through free trade, developing sound economic policies, and investing in the well-being of people from all walks of life. Western Union, a leading bank in the United States with growing operations in Latin America, hosted the luncheon.

Participants included Dr. Arturo Valenzuela U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Ambassador Vilma Martinez, U.S Ambassador to Argentina; Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan, Ambassador to the United States from Mexico; Ambassador William Brownfield, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia; Ambassador Hugo Llorens, U.S Ambassador to Honduras; Ambassador Francisco Villagrán de Leon, Ambassador to the United States from Guatemala; Ambassador Arturo Fermandois Ambassador to the U.S. from Chile; and Ambassador Luis Valdivieso, Ambassador to the United States from Peru.

Victoria Lopez Negrete, Western Union senior vice president, general manager, and Hispanic Product Manager for Mexico said, "At Western Union we have a long history of service and commitment in the Western Hemisphere, and we were pleased to be a sponsor of this historic first Biennial of the Americas. We believe in supporting the communities where we do business. Remittances, the money workers around the world send home to their loved ones, promote economic opportunity and reduce poverty. Public-private partnership is critical in this era of globalization and the Biennial aims to promote a broader vision of the hemisphere’s common destiny."

The representative members and sponsor of this roundtable live the mission of the Biennial of the Americas everyday seeking collaboration and cohesion throughout the Western Hemisphere.