About the Event
CSIS featured NED leaders in a November 30 event with a focus on Latin America titled, Working Towards a Hemisphere of Freedom: Connecting Democratic Leaders in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. After opening remarks by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), NED president Carl Gershman participated in a conversation with House International Relations Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and USAID Administrator Amb. Mark Green. Gershman took the opportunity to thank Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for her unflinching support for the work of democratic activists around the world, presenting her with a framed print of the Goddess of Democracy – originally constructed by student democracy activists in Tiananmen Square in China nearly 30 years ago. Later, NED Senior Director for Latin America & Caribbean Miriam Kornblith took part in a panel featuring activists from Venezuela and Cuba, and moderated by CSIS’s Moises Rendon.
This event brought together U.S. development agencies and policymakers with democratic leaders from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to share diverse and bipartisan views on how we can move closer towards a hemisphere of freedom.
