LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES AT HOFSTRA

PRESENTS

Mr. Carlos Salinas
Defending the First Peoples

Tradition and Survival in the Colombian Amazon

Date: Wednesday, November 19
Time: 6:15-7:50pm
Venue: Brower 201

For the past six years, Carlos Salinas has been working in the Colombian Amazon with indigenous tribes to protect their traditional knowledge and legacy. From videotaping the historical memory of the elder shamans and their wives to defending Kofan ancestral territory from encroachment by the Colombian Army, Salinas has logged more than 18 field visits in the past four years. What do Final Cut Pro, the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, geo-referencing, and traditional medicine have in common? Come and find out!

Prior to this work, Salinas was a lobbyist for Amnesty International USA on Latin America and the Caribbean for ten years, serving his last year as Acting Director of Government Relations in Washington, D.C. He testified nearly a dozen times before Congress, participated in dozens of briefings on Capitol Hill, and countless media interviews, including CNN, BBC World Service, Democracy Now!, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. He holds an M.A. from Georgetown University and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Recently, he has had talks at the National Museum of the American Indian, Amnesty International’s Washington Office, and Columbia University.

Please contact Dr. Takashi Kanatsu, Co-Director of LACS, for more information via email