Former Costa Rican presidential candidate to deliver Bacardi Lecture

February 22, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Professor Ottón Solís, the University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies Bacardi Family Eminent Scholar, will deliver the 2008 Bacardi Lecture on “Winners and Losers in Free Trade Agreements: The View from the South,” at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Presidents Room, Emerson Alumni Hall.

Mark Rosenberg, chancellor of the State University System of Florida and an expert on Central America, will be the commentator.

Solís, the founding president of Costa Rica’s Citizens Action Party, has twice been a presidential candidate, losing the 2006 elections by less than one percent of the vote. He led the opposition to Costa Rica’s signing of the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States in the fall 2007 referendum in that country. An economist, Solís has been Costa Rica’s Minister of Planning and Economic Policy and a congressman. He is the author of two books on ethics in government and scores of newspaper articles and opinion pieces on this topic as well as on national development policies. His current research is on the impact of free trade agreements on development and democracy.

The Bacardi Family Eminent Scholar Chair in Latin American Studies was established in 1991 through the leadership of Bacardi Imports Inc. and the collaboration of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the state of Florida. The endowment allows the Center for Latin American Studies to invite distinguished scholars and public figures to teach, lecture, mentor students and carry out research at the university.

Founded in 1930, the mission of the UF Center for Latin American Studies is to advance knowledge about Latin America and the Caribbean and its peoples throughout the hemisphere. With more than 170 faculty from colleges across UF, the center is one of the largest institutions for interdisciplinary research, teaching and outreach on Latin America, Caribbean and Latino Studies.