1611 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20009
Feb 13, 2009
(GMT-5)
Host:
CEPR
On January 25, 2009, Bolivians voted 61 to 39 percent to approve a new constitution for the country that would limit the size of future landholdings; make access to essential services, education, and health care a human right; allow for criminal prosecution of members of congress; and establish popular election of Supreme Court justices, among other provisions.
On February 13, 2009, the Center for Economic and Policy Research hosted a discussion of the economic and social implications of Bolivia's new constitution with CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot and Pablo Solón, Bolivia's Ambassador to the United Nations.
Video
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Pablo Solón is Bolivia’s Ambassador to the United Nations. Before assuming this position he was Ambassador for issues concerning Integration and Trade. He was Secretary Pro Tempore of UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations) during Bolivia’s Pro Temporary presidency (December 2006 – May 2008) and President Evo Morales’ delegate in the Strategic Reflection Committee for South American Integration (2006). He is currently the Andean spokesman for the Pillar of Cooperation in the CAN (Andean Community of Nations) - EU (European Union) negotiations. His foreign relations experience includes work on integration and trade, investor-state dispute settlement, indigenous people’s rights, migration, water and the environment.
He is an analyst and researcher on the issues of land, water, trade agreements and integration processes and has written various publications on these issues. He has been a social activist and worked for several years with different social organizations, indigenous movements, workers’ unions, student associations, human rights and cultural organizations in Bolivia.
He was the Executive Director of the Solón Foundation from 1997-2005; a foundation created for the preservation and promotion of the works and thoughts of his father, Walter Solón Romero -- a renowned Bolivian muralist and social artist.
Mark Weisbrot is co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan, and has written numerous research papers on Bolivia and Latin America. Among his recent publications are "The Distribution of Bolivia's Most Important Natural Resources and the Autonomy Conflicts" and "The United States and the World: Where Are We Headed?" He writes a column on economic and policy issues that is distributed to over 550 newspapers by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services and appears regularly on national and local television and radio programs.
