Department of State to Host the Andes in the U.S.A. Conference

The Department of State will host the ‘Andes in the U.S.A.’ (ANDUSA) Conference in the Loy Henderson Auditorium, on April 15, 2005. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger F. Noriega, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States John Maisto, and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council Ambassador Thomas Shannon will address the group. Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro will moderate the conference, which will focus on the expanding the relationship between the United States and Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Of special interest is how free trade can strengthen economic ties and improve the livelihoods of the people of our region.

ANDUSA participants are U.S.-citizen and resident business executives and community leaders with ties to the Andean-American communities in the United States whose goal is to establish a more formal and productive dialogue between the United States and the Andean region.

Members of the press are invited to attend the opening session, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Those who do not have a Department of State building pass should arrive at the State Department’s 23rd street entrance by 8:30 a.m. to clear security procedures, and will be escorted to the event from the 23^rd Street entrance at 8:45 a.m.

Media representatives who plan to attend must present one of the following press credentials: (1) a U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification (driver’s license or passport).

2005/414