On 13 April, Enestor Dos Santos (BBVA Research Department) presented his paper: "Financial stability and the role of banking in Brazil." In his address, Dos Santos stressed that Brazil and its banks had successfully escaped the effects of the current global economic crisis.

The Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence and the Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Miami, sponsored by the Cultural Corporation Programme of Spain's Ministry of Culture, organised the seminar “Spain in the European Union and the state of Latin American integration”, which was held at the University of Miami on 5 February.

On 16 November 2009, the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Foundation jointly organised a conference in Washington (USA) to debate the existing political options for the United States, Europe and the Western Hemisphere with respect to Cuba. The event included presentations by Cynthia Arnson, Director of the Latin America Programme at the Woodrow Wilson Center; Anna Ayuso, Coordinator of CIDOB's Latin America Programme, Karl Buck, from the Council of the European Union; Carlo Dade, from FOCAL Canada; Dan Fisk, from the International Republican Institute; Susanne Gratius, from FRIDE; Jorge Heine, from the Wilfrid Laurier University; the ambassador John Maisto; Stephen Wilkinson, from the London Metropolitan University and Bisa Williams, from the US State Department, all of whom subsequently debated with a selected group of experts.

The University of Cologne (Germany) dedicated the 2009 LATIF International Congress to studying the alternatives between reform and revolution in Cuba, at a time that coincides with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, and with the political succession between Fidel and Raúl Castro.

The systematic attack by armed actors on the indigenous peoples in the internal conflict afflicting Colombia is conspiring against their very existence. With the aim of raising awareness about this society, the Colectivo Maloka (sponsored by the ACCD and with support from CIDOB) organised the seminar “Indigenous peoples; the struggle for life and dignity in the framework of conflict in Colombia", an event that was attended by prominent indigenous leaders who have experienced this reality at first hand.

The State in Latin America: Building bridges for social cohesion?

The current crisis is creating new challenges in Latin America. Thus, the subject for debate on the course "The States and social cohesion in Latin America: A view in light of the crisis" was the need to rethink public policies linked with social cohesion. The course was directed by José Luís Machinea, Director of the Raúl Prebich Chair at the University of Alcalá and ex-Minister of Economic Affairs for Argentina.

Anna Ayuso and Gemma Pinyol, the respective coordinators of the Latin America and Migrations Programmes CIDOB, participated in Malaga in Rethinking democracy: inclusion and diversity, the 9th Conference of the Spanish Association of Political Science and Administration (AECPA).

28th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association.

From 11 to 14 June, three researchers from the CIDOB Foundation – Anna Ayuso, Coordinator of the Latin America Programme, and the researchers Francesc Bayo and Mariana Foglia – participated as discussion panellists at the 28th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association LASA 2009, held in Río de Janeiro.

The policy of abandonment is the main cause of the absence of government in Ciudad Juárez.

On 7 May, Guadalupe González and Ferran Martínez i Coma, researchers from the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (Centre for Research and Teaching in Economics, or CIDE) of Mexico, presented their research study “The Americas and the World. Foreign policy and public opinion in Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru 2008”.