MIAMI – A delegation of twelve economic advisors and media representatives representing five Latin American and four Caribbean nations will meet in Miami August 11-14, 2009 on a U.S. State Department sponsored project titled, “Economic Recovery and the Evolving Global Financial System.” Their South Florida visit will focus on Economic Implications of Natural Disasters and Rebuilding After and Urban Economic Redevelopment and Job Creation.
The visitors are participants of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program and the Miami Council for International Visitors, the local non-profit organization that manages the South Florida program. Events planned for them include a roundtable discussion on current economic conditions, meetings with Miami Beach officials at the Emergency Operation Center and an architect’s tour of South Pointe Park on South Beach.
The participants come from a multitude of nations, including Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Barbados, El Salvador, Guatemala, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands Antilles and Jamaica.
Celebrating 50 years of citizen diplomacy, the Miami Council for International Visitors (MCIV) has been shaping foreign relations and promoting international understanding one handshake at a time. MCIV is the official South Florida host for the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program, and welcomes hundreds of distinguished international visitors every year. MCIV designs and coordinates professional, educational, and cultural programs that enable the visitors to meet on a one-to-one basis with local leaders across all disciplines. Many of the international participants go on to become heads of state or cabinet members in their country of origin.
Miami Council of International Visitors belongs to a nationwide network of community-based volunteer organizations that is part of the National Council for International Visitors in Washington, D.C.
The International Visitor Leadership Program participants are given the unique opportunity to gain insight and perspective from an American viewpoint on global and domestic issues, and share with U.S. citizens the challenges and opportunities in their home countries. U.S. Ambassadors have consistently ranked the International Visitor Leadership Program their number one tool for Public Diplomacy.
