Partners-Colombia organized the Houston Series Conference in Cartegena, Colombia
The Houston Series Conference, organized for the first time by Partners-Colombia, took place the weekend of December 4th-6th in Cartagena, Colombia and was a resounding success.
The Houston Series has been an annual event of the US Embassy in the last 10 years as a very high-level meeting of differing political decision-makers to discuss the pressing issues facing Colombia. This year the theme was "Institutions and Democracy", and covered some of the most important crises facing the country, such as:
- the political opposition and the state of political parties (there are parliamentary and presidential elections coming up this year)
- relations with Ecuador and Venezuela
- state of freedom of expression,
- and the current "train wreck" between the judicial and executive branches. (One of the most series problems facing Colombian's democracy is the current fight between the constitutional and supreme court.)
Participating in the conference were the U.S. Ambassador, President of the Supreme Court, the Senior Magistrate of the Constitutional Court, the Ministers of Justice and Defense, the National Ombudsman, Senators, the Secretary Generals of all the major political parties, two of the major presidential candidates, and the Directors of all the major news media, and many others of the highest level of NGO and academics in the country. It was an extremely diverse political spectrum, and the discussions were held off the record to spur a real debate amongst perspectives.
Partners role was as conference organizer and facilitator, and Partners-Colombia Director Oscar served as Master of Ceremonies for the entire event.
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