Former president of Chile Lagos and Caritas-President Rodríguez lecture at the IASS Potsdam

November 28, 2011. The IASS lectures series “A Different Kind of Development? Perspectives from Latin America“ in Potsdam closes at the beginning of December with lectures by two outstanding Latin American personalities. Former president of Chile Ricardo Lagos Escobar and Óscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras, president of the international organization Caritas, will speak about development and environmental protection in Latin America.

Ricardo Lagos Escobar’s lecture on the correlations between social inequality, export-oriented economics and institutional reform in Latin America will take place on Sunday, December 4th at 18:00 o’clock. The role of education and participation of social mobility and sustainable development will receive special focus. From 2000 to 2006, the economist and Social Democrat Escobar governed Chile , where students have been currently protesting against injustice in the education system. Lagos was UN special envoy for the environment from 2007 until 2010.

The connections between ecology and the struggle against poverty, with regard to the „rights of creation,“ is the theme of the fifth and final Fall lecture, on Friday, December 9th at 15:00 o‘clock. Óscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga is the archbishop of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, and president of Caritas since 2007. Renowned worldwide, he is referred to as Latin America’s first potential pope.

The lectures are admission-free and will be held in English with simultaneous German translation.

Sunday, December 4, 2011, 18 o‘clock:

Ricardo Lagos Escobar (Chile): „A New Latin America: After the Crisis. Challenges and Opportunities”;

Friday, December 9, 2011, 15 o’clock:

Óscar Andrés Kardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga (Honduras): „Sustainable development in the face of today’s social challenges“.

Location: IASS Potsdam – Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Berliner Straße 130, 14467 Potsdam