Mérida - Madrid, 13 – 16 July 2008

The “Interculturality and Conflict in Latin America” project has enabled relevant experiences in the Andean region to be identified, where the concept of intercultural relations, whilst being a source of conflict, also offers broad possibilities for dialogue between sectors that represent different interests co-existing in the same territory.

The topics outlined for the project are experiences of managing conflicts in the following areas: local and indigineous governments, local communities and multinational companies, international relations and indigineous diplomacy. These issues are all among the priorities of Latin American societies, they refer to an area of important conflict and have taken on an international dimension with an increasingly strong presence in Spain and Europe and whose key players are found on both continents.

The aim of the July seminar was to understand better relevant experiences in the aforementioned areas, to validate intercultural dialogue as an unavoidable instrument in building peace and to bring together people and institutions who have worked on these issues, aiming to set out permanent formulas for coordination and assessment. 

These meetings were attended by the Secretary of State for the Republic of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca, Latin American Secretary General, Enrique Iglesias, President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara,  Mayor of Mérida, Ángel Calle Gragera, Doctor Nina Pacari, former Minister for Foreign Affairs and current judge for the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, and Vice-President of CITpax, Shlomo Ben-Ami, as well as other Spanish and foreign individuals.