Arturo Cruz, Jr., Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States, will give a talk at UNM on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Titled “Political Trends in Latin America and Challenges to the Ortega Government in Nicaragua,” the talk will be held at the Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII) located at 801 Yale Blvd., N.E. A question and answer session will follow the talk, which is free and open to the public.
Cruz, who was was appointed Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States in February 2007 by President Daniel Ortega, is intimately associated with Nicaragua’s tumultuous recent history and its controversial relationship with the United States, having participated in both the early Sandinista government following the 1979 overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship and the Nicaraguan Resistance during the 1980’s.
Prior to becoming Ambassador, he was professor of political economy at INCAE, the Central American management institute associated with Harvard Business School.
He is the author of several books, including the forthcoming Varieties of Liberalism in Central America: Nation-States as Works in Progress, and his articles on Latin America and the foreign policy of the United States have appeared in such publications as the New Republic, Commentary, The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
Ambassador Cruz is a graduate of American University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. He obtained his Ph.D. in Modern History from Oxford University.