Alliance for Responsible Trade

October 20, 2008

 Dear Senator Obama:

We write to offer our congratulations on your campaign and to express our hope that as the next president of the United States you will take advantage of an historic opportunity to improve relations with Latin America.  As scholars of the region, we also wish to convey our analysis regarding the process of change now underway in Latin America.

Just as the people of the United States have begun to debate basic questions regarding
the sort of society they want-- thanks in part to your own candidacy but also owing to the magnitude of the current financial crisis-- so too have the people of Latin America. In fact, the debate about a just and fair society has been going on in Latin America for more than a decade, and the majority are opting, like you and so many of us in the United States, for hope and change. As academics personally and professionally committed to development and democracy in Latin America, we are hopeful that during  your presidency the United States can become a partner rather than an adversary to the positive changes already under way in the hemisphere.

The current impetus for change in Latin America is a rejection of the model of economic growth that has been imposed in most countries since the early 1980s, a model that has concentrated wealth, relied unsuccessfully on unrestricted market forces to solve deep social problems and undermined human welfare. The current rejection of this model is broad-based and democratic. In fact, contemporary movements for change in Latin America reveal significantly increased participation by workers and peasants, women, Afro-descendants and indigenous peoples-- in a word, the grassroots. Such movements are coming to power in country after country. They are neither puppets, nor blinded by fanaticism and ideology, as caricatured by some mainstream pundits. To the contrary, these movements deserve our respect, friendship and support.

Latin Americans have often viewed the United States not as a friend but
as an oppressor, the guarantor of an international economic system that works against
them, rather than for them-- the very antithesis of hope and change. The Bush Administration has made matters much worse, and U.S. prestige in the region is now at a historic low.  Washington's tendency to fight against hope and change has been especially prominent in recent U.S. responses to the democratically elected governments of Venezuela and Bolivia. While anti-American feelings run deep, history demonstrates that these feelings can change. In the 1930s, after two decades of conflict with the region, the United States swore off intervention and adopted a Good Neighbor Policy. Not coincidentally, it was the most harmonious time in the history of U.S.-Latin American relations. In the 1940s, nearly every country in the region became our ally in World War Two. It can happen again.

There are many other challenges, too. Colombia, the main focus of the Bush Administration's policy, is currently the scene of the second largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with four million internally displaced people. Its government, which criminalizes even peaceful protest, seeks an extension of the free trade policies that much of the hemisphere is already reacting against.  Cuba has begun a process of transition that should be supported in positive ways, such as through the dialogue you advocate. Mexicans and Central Americans migrate by the tens of thousands to seek work in the United States, where their labor power is much needed but their presence is denigrated by a public that has, since the development of opinion polling in the 1930s, always opposed immigration from anywhere. The way to manage immigration is not by building a giant wall, but rather, the United States should support more equitable economic development in Mexico and Central America and, indeed, throughout the region. In addition, the U.S. must reconsider drug control policies that have simply not worked and have been part of the problem of political violence, especially in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. And the U.S. must renew its active support for human rights throughout the region.  Unfortunately, in the eyes of many Latin Americans, the United States has come to stand for the support of inequitable regimes. 

Finally, we implore you to commit your administration to the firm support of constitutional rights, including academic and intellectual freedom.  Most of us are members of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), the largest professional association of experts on the region, and we have experienced first-hand how the Bush administration's attempt to restrict academic exchange with Cuba is counter-productive and self-defeating.  We hope for an early opportunity to discuss this and other issues regarding Latin America with your administration.

Our hope is that you will embrace the opportunity to inaugurate a new period of hemispheric understanding and collaboration for the common welfare.  We ask for change and not only in the United States.

Sincerely,

SIGNED:

Eric Hershberg, LASA President 2007-09, Professor of Politics and Director of Latin American Studies, Simon Fraser University

John H. Coatsworth, LASA Vice President, and Professor of History and International and Public Affairs, Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Charles R. Hale, LASA Past President (2006-2007), Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin

Sonia E. Alvarez, LASA Past President (2004-2006), Leonard J. Horwitz Professor of Politics, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Marysa Navarro-Aranguren, LASA Past President (2003-2004), Charles Collis Professor of History, Dartmouth College

Arturo Arias, LASA Past President, (2001-2003), Professor of Spanish and Portuguese University of Texas, Austin

Thomas Holloway, LASA Past President (2000-2001), Professor Of History, University of California, Davis

Susan Eckstein, LASA Past President (1997-98), Professor of Sociology & International Relations, Boston University

Cynthia McClintock, LASA Past President (1994-95), Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University

Carmen Diana Deere, LASA Past President (1992-94), Professor of Food and Resource Economics and Director, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida

Lars Schoultz, LASA Past President (1991-92), William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor of Political Science, UNC, Chapel Hill

Jean Franco, LASA Past President (1989-91), Emeritus Professor, Columbia University

Helen I. Safa, LASA Past President (1983-85), Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies, University of Florida

Paul L. Doughty, LASA Past President (1974-75), Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus of Anthropology and Latin American Studies, University of Florida

María Rosa Olivera-Williams, LASA Past Congress Chair (2001-2003), Associate Professor of Latin American Literature, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana. 

 Cristina Rojas, School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa

Marisol de la Cadena, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UC Davis

John C. Chasteen, Distinguished Professor of History, UNC Chapel Hill

Mario Blaser, Assistant Professor of International Development, York University, Toronto

Arturo Escobar, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, UNC, Chapel Hill

Lourdes Benería, Professor of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University

Stephen R. Boucher, Associate Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis

James N. Green, Past-President Brazilian Studies Association, Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Brown University

Carmen Medeiros, Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, New York University

Steve Stein, Professor of History, Director Center for Latin American Studies, University of Miami

Sandra Fernández Castillo, Associate professor of Philosophy, University of Chile

Laura Bonilla-Merchav, Department of Art History, Graduate Center, City University of New York

Sujatha Fernandes , Assistant Professor of Sociology , Queens College, CUNY

Margo Ramlal-Nankoe, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ithaca College

William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, Global Studies, and Latin American Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara

O'Neill Blacker-Hanson, Assistant Professor of Latin American History, Valparaiso University, Indiana

M. Brinton Lykes, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for Human Rights & International Justice, Professor, Community-Cultural Psychology, Boston College

Dr. Rosalina Diaz, Associate Professor, Education Department, Medgar Evers College, City University of New York

Professor Jordan Young, Professor Emeritus Brazilian Civilization, Pace University, New York

 Rubén G. Rumbaut, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine

Robert Andolina, Assistant Professor of International Studies, Seattle University

Barbara Lynch, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology

 Gloria Cañez, Investigadora del Departamento de Estudios Sociales del Sistema Alimentario CIAD AC, Sonora, México

 Beatriz de la Tejera H., Profesora e Investigadora Titular en Desarrollo Rural, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y  Universidad Autónoma Chapingo.

Stephanie Buechler, Research Associate, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Reyes Roberto Garcia, Professor of Philosophy, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado

Derrick Hindery, Assistant Professor, International Studies Program and Department of Geography
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Andrew Orta, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

William D. DeGrush, St. Michael's College, Colchester, VT

Ginetta E.B. Candelario, Director Latin American & Latina/o Studies and Associate Professor,
Sociology Department, Smith College, Northampton, MA

Paja Faudree, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Brown University

Paul Gootenberg, Professor of History, Stony Brook

J. Celso Castro Alves, Assistant Professor of Black Studies and History, Amherst College.

Raúl Molina Mejía, Adjunct Professor of History, Long Island University

Henry W. Sullivan, Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese, Tulane University, New Orleans

Anthony Oliver-Smith, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Florida

J. Patrice McSherry, Professor of Political Science and Director, Latin American & Caribbean Studies Program, Long Island,  University

Melanie Pérez Ortiz, Catedrática Asociada, Departamento de Estudios Hispánicos, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras

Sallie Hughes, Associate Professor, School of Communication, University of Miami

William C. Smith,  Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of International Studies, University of Miami

Lillian Manzor, Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures, Director, Degree Programs in Latin American Studies, Director, Cuban/Latino Theater Archive, University of Miami

Sharon Sullivan Mujica, Consultant, Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Verónica Vallejo, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, Georgetown University

Marcus Rediker, Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh

Kia Lilly Caldwell, Assistant Professor, Department of African and Afro-American Studies
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

 Myrna Santiago, Associate Professor of History, Director, Women's Studies Program
Saint Mary's College of California, Moraga, CA

Susana Kaiser, Ph.D., Department of Media Studies, University of San Francisco

Gerardo Otero, Professor of Sociology and Latin American Studies, Simon Fraser University, Canada

April Yoder, PhD Student, Georgetown University

Eduardo Sáenz-Rovner, Professor of Economic History, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota

Forrest Hylton, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, New York University

Ann H. Peters, Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University

Cliff Welch, Professor of History, Grand Valley State University

Daniel O. Suman, Professor, Division of Marine Affairs & Policy (MAF), Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), University of Miami

Frank D. McCann, Professor Emeritus of History, University of New Hampshire

Judith Adler Hellman, Professor of Social and Political Science, York University, Toronto

Charles Bergquist, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Washington

Carmenza Gallo, Associate Professor of Sociology, Queens College, New York

Carollee Bengelsdorf, Professor of Politics, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA

Forrest Gander, Writer, Professor of English & Comparative Literature, Brown University

Cecilia Menjivar, Professor of Sociology, Arizona State University

Rubén Martínez, Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature & Writing, Loyola Marymount University

Edgar Woznica, Brown University undergraduate '09

Elizabeth Kubick, Independent Scholar, Latin American and Caribbean Issues

Catherine LeGrand, Associate Professor of History, McGill University, Montreal

Roberta E. Goldman, Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Brown University

P. Terrence Hopmann, Professor of International Relations, Johns Hopkins University

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Adjunct Professor of International Studies, Center for Latin American Studies,

Watson Institute, Brown University

Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Director of Development Studies, Associate Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Brown University

Marina Kaplan, Associate Professor of Literature, Smith College, Northampton, MA

Kay Warren, Tillinghast Professor of International Studies and Professor of Anthropology, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

Luis Figueroa, Associate Professor of History, Latin American, Caribbean, Latina\o Studies Coordinator, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106

Soledad González Montes, Profesora-investigadora, El Colegio de México

Angela Garcia, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, UC Irvine

Michelle Bigenho, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Hampshire College

Greg Grandin, Professor of History, New York University

Barbara Stallings, William R. Rhodes Research Professor, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

David Egilman MD MPH, Clinical Associate Professor, Dept of Community Health, Brown University

Lisa Mills, Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University, Ottawa

Juan Manuel Arbona, Associate Professor, Growth and Structure of Cities Program, Bryn Mawr College

Linda Farthing, independent scholar and author

Judith Goode, Professor of Anthropology and Urban Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Rosalind Bresnahan, Ph.D., Collective of Coordinating Editors, Latin American Perspectives

Laurel Rayburn, PhD in English, Brown University.

Ann Zulawski, Professor of History and Latin American Studies, Smith College

Lynn England, Lecturer, Utah Valley University

James Sanders, Associate Professor of History, Utah State University

Thomas Abercrombie, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, NYU

Okezi T. Otovo, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, Georgetown University

Doug Hertzler, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Eastern Mennonite University

Ronald W. Webb, Director, Latin American Studies (2006-present), Temple University

Jonathan Fox, Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz

Benjamin Kohl, Associate Professor, Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University

Laura Malosetti Costa, Co-Director Magister in Sociology of Culture and Cultural Studies, IDAES, Universidad Nacional de San Martin, Buenos Aires.

David Block, Curator of Latin American Collections, Cornell University

William W. Goldsmith, Professor and Director, International Studies in Planning, Cornell University

Mary Ann Mahony, Associate Professor of History, Co-coordinator, Latin American Studies Committee, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT

Karen A. Kainer, Assoc. Prof., School of Forest Resources and Conservation, and Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Cynthia Radding, Gussenhoven Distinguished Professor of Latin American Studies, Department of History, UNC, Chapel Hill

Maria Rogal, Associate Professor of Graphic Design & Affiliate Faculty of the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville

María Isabel Neüman, Profesora titular de la Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela

W. L. Goldfrank, Prof of Sociololgy and Latin American & Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

Miguel La Serna, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Maxine L. Margolis, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville

Mónica Espinosa-Arango, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota.

Sharleen H. Simpson, PhD, MSN, MA, ARNP,  Associate Professor of Nursing and Anthropology, Affiliate Faculty in Latin American Studies, University of Florida 

Anna Peterson, Professor of Religion, University of Florida, Gainesville

S. Ryan Isakson, Assistant Professor, International Development Studies, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Reiko Ishihara, Ph.D., Former Visiting Professor, Institute of Interethnic Studies, University of San Carlos of Guatemala

Magdalena Barros Nock, Professor/Researcher, CIESAS Mexico

 Don Deere, PhD Student, Philosophy, DePaul University

Janet Brody Esser, Emeritus Professor and Past Associate Director, Center for Latin American Studies, San Diego State University

Maria Margarita Malagon-Kurka, PhD in Art History

Karen Davis, Faculty Lecturer, California State University Monterey Bay

Virginia M. Fields, Ph.D., Senior Curator, Art of the Ancient Americas, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Kathryn Burns, Associate Professor of History, UNC Chapel Hill

Marianne Schmink, Professor and Director, Tropical Conservation and Development program, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida.

Andres Avellaneda, Emeritus Professor, Spanish and Latin American Studies, U. of Florida

Claire Farago, Professor, Department of Art and Art History, University of Colorado at Boulder

Terence Grieder, Professor Emeritus, Department of Art and Art History, University of Texas  at Austin

Susan V. Webster, Jane W. Mahoney Professor of Art and Art History, College of William and Mary

Kelley León Howarth, Senior Instructor of Spanish & Head Undergraduate Advisor, Department of Romance Languages, University of Oregon

Patricia M. Martin , Professor of Geography, Université de Montréal, Montréal, CANADA

Amy Lind, Mary Ellen Heintz Associate Professor of Women's Studies, University of Cincinnati

Reynaldo L. Jiménez, Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Studies, University of Florida

Amy J. Buono, Assistant Professor of Art History, Southern Methodist University

Cecelia F. Klein, Professor, Department of Art History, 100 Dodd Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

Andrea Giunta, Professor of Latin American Art, The University of Texas at Austin

Julia E. Murphy, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary

Clemency Coggins, Professor of Archaeology and of Art History, Boston University

Florence E. Babb, Vada Allan Yeomans Professor of Women's Studies, University of Florida

Stephen J. Powell, Lecturer in Law and Director, International Trade Law Program
University of Florida,

Fredric G. Levin, College of Law, Gainesville, FL

Alma Ruiz, Curator MOCA, THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Los Angeles, CA

Liliana Cotto-Morales, Professor, University of Puerto Rico

Edwin Quiles, Professor, University of Puerto Rico

William Avilés, Asociate Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska, Kearney

María Zebadúa Serra, Professor, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, México

Steve Striffler, Doris Zemurray Stone Chair of Latin American Studies, University of New Orleans

Aviva Chomsky, Professor of History, Salem State College, Massachusetts

Ronald Waterbury, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Queens College CUNY

Frederick Royce, Assistant Scientist, University of Florida, Gainesville

Kirk Bowman, Associate Professor, Sam Nunn School International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology

Marco Cupolo, Assistant Professor of Spanish, University of Hartford

Benjamin Arditi, Professor, Centro de Estudios Politicos, UNAM, Mexico, DF.

Adrián Ventura, President, Organización Maya K´iché, New Bedford, MA

Anibal Lucas, Director, Organización Maya K´iche´, New Bedford, MA

Reverend Marc Fallon, csc, Catholic Social Services, New Bedford, MA

Rachel Rosenbloom, Post-Deportation Human Rights Project, Center for Human Rights & International Justice, Boston College

Mary Holper, Boston College Immigration & Asylum Project, Boston College Law School

Kalina Brabeck, Psychologist, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Rhode Island College

Qingwen Xu, Assistant Professor, Boston College Graduate School of Social Work

Alfonso Alvarez, Social Worker, Boston College Graduate School

Juan Manuel Leon Parra, Graduate Student, Post-Deportation Human Rights Project, Center for Human Rights & International Justice, Boston College

Luis Sandoval, Graduate Student, Post-Deportation Human Rights Project, Center for Human Rights & International Justice, Boston College

Robin M. Wright, Full Professor of Anthropology (Universidade Estadual de Campinas) & Associate Professor of Religion (UF Gainesville)

LaDawn Haglund, Assistant Professor, School of Justice and Social Inquiry, Arizona State University

Malcolm K. McNee, Asst. Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese, Smith College

William F. Waters, Chair, LASA Ecuadorian Studies Section (2006-present), Professor of Sociology and Public Health, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)

Donald Hindley, Professor of Politics and Latin American and Latino Studies, Brandeis University

Professor Alberto Julián Pérez, Director, Latin American and Iberian Studies, Texas Tech University

Steven Volk, Professor of History Director, Center for Teaching Innovation and Excellence
Oberlin College

Miguel Tinker Salas, Arango Professor of Latin American History, Pomona College

Kim Morse, Assistant Professor of History, Washburn University, Topeka, KS

Dra. Emperatriz Arreaza-Camero, Investigadora adscrita al Cine Club Universitario de Maracaibo, Universidad de Zulia

Robert Samet, Ph.D. Candidate, Stanford University Department of Anthropology

Ronald H. Chilcote, Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Riverside

Kenneth M. Roberts, Department of Government, Cornell University

Amy Lutz, Professor of Sociology and Education, Syracuse University

Alejandra Letelier Kramer, Anthropology Department, University of California Santa Cruz.

Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian, Vice Provost for Library Affairs, Adjunct Associate Professor of History, Duke University

Maxwell A. Cameron, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia

Fernando Coronil, Presidential Professor, Graduate Center, City University of New York

Kevin Guerrieri, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of San Diego

Luis Duno-Gottberg, Associate Prof. Rice University

María Cristina Burgueño, Associate Professor of Spanish, Marshall University

Amalia Pallares, Associate Professor, Latin American & Latino Studies and Political Science,
University of Illinois at Chicago

Debra H. Rodman, Assistant Professor Anthropology and Women's Studies, Randolph-Macon College

John M. Norvell, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Pitzer College

Patrick J. O'Connor, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, Oberlin College

Daniel Hellinger, Professor of Political Science, Webster University, St. Louis

Jennifer N. Costanza, PhD student, Sociology, Brown University

Brandt Peterson, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Michigan State University

Xóchitl Bada, Assistant Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies Program
University of Illinois at Chicago

Ivonne del Valle, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

Guillermo Delgado, Lecturer in Latin American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

John Gledhill, Max Gluckman Professor of Social Anthropology & Co-Director, Centre for Latin American Cultural Studies, The University of Manchester, UK

Suzana Sawyer, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Davis

Marcia Ochoa, Assistant Professor of Community Studies, UC Santa Cruz

Rosamel Millaman Reinao, Assistant Professor, Universidad Católica de Temuco, CHILE

Lori Hopkins, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of New Hampshire

Alyshia Gálvez, Assistant Professor, Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies, Lehman College/City University of New York

Zoila Mendoza, Professor of Native American Studies, University of California, Davis

Rosana Resende, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Florida, Department of Anthropology

Karem Roitman, Lecturer, Regent's American College London, London UK

Monica Frölander-Ulf, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown

Jennifer F. Reynolds, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, The University of South Carolina.

Patricia Mathews-Salazar, Associate Professor of Anthropology, BMCC & Graduate Center, City University of New York

Caroline Yezer, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, College of the Holy Cross

Liisa L. North, Professor Emerita, Political Science and former director of Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), York University, Toronto, Canada.

Joanna O'Connell, Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies
University of Minnesota

Pat Zavella, Professor and Chair, Latin American and Latino Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz

Phil Young, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon

Norma Klahn, Professor of Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz

Robert McKee Irwin, Professor of Spanish, UC Davis

Shannon Speed, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Coordinator, Indigenous Studies Initiative University of Texas at Austin

René Harder Horst, Associate Professor of History Appalachian State University

Jorge Coronado, Associate Professor of Spanish & Portuguese, Northwestern University

Frank Salomon John V. Murra Professor of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Edward Epstein, Professor of Political Science, University of Utah

Rosamel Millaman Reinao, Assistant Professor. Escuela de Antropología. Universidad Católica de Temuco, CHILE

Nancy Postero, Associate Professor, Anthropology, UC San Diego

Jennifer J. Casolo, PhD Candidate in Geography, University of California at Berkeley

Gerardo Renique, Associate Professor of History, City University of New York (CUNY)

Elías A. Ramos, Professor of Latin American Literature, California State University-Northridge.

Andrea Valenzuela, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Whitman College

Leslie Bary, Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Ana Cristina Ramírez Barreto, Profesora-investigadora en la Facultad de Filosofía, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México. 

Judith Ewell, Newton Professor of History Emerita, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.

Janise Hurtig, Senior Researcher, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Silvia Nagy-Zekmi, Professor of Hispanic and Cultural Studies, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, Villanova University

Tanya Golash-Boza, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Department of Sociology, University of Kansas

Julio Moreno, Associate Professor, History and Latin American Studies Co-Director, Center for Latino Studies in the Americas, University of San Francisco

Bernardo Rengifo Lozano, Professor of Philosophy, Universidad de los Andes

Norman E. Whitten, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Latin American Studies and Curator of the Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Nathalie Lebon, Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, Gettysburg College

Vivienne Bennett, Professor, Liberal Studies Department, California State University, San Marcos

Flora Lu, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, University of CA--Santa Cruz

Marisol Rodriguez, Senior Research Assistant, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University

T.M. Scruggs, Associate Professor, School of Music, University of Iowa

Liv Sovik, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Ariel Dorfman, Walter Hines Page Professor of Literature and Latin American Studies,  Duke University.

Evelyne Huber, Morehead Alumni Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Alejandra Bronfman, Associate Professor, Department of History University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Elizabeth A Hennessy, PhD Student, Geography Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Sarah Koopman PhD Candidate, Geography, University of British Columbia

Brooke Larson, Professor of History, Stony Brook University

Héctor Perla Jr. Assistant Professor  Latin American & Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

Heather Sullivan, PhD Candidate in Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Helen Sabrina Gledhill, Scholar at the Centro de Memória da Bahia, Fundação Pedro Calmon, Brazil

Anna Gruben, Acting Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon

Maureen E. Shea, Associate Professor of Spanish, Tulane University. 

Dereka Rushbrook, Lecturer in Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona, Tucson.

Lindsay DuBois, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

Spike Gildea, Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Oregon

Susana Kaiser, Associate Professor of Media Studies and Latin American Studies, University of San Francisco.

Elizabeth Oglesby, Assistant Professor of Geography and Latin American Studies
University of Arizona

Tedd Judd, PhD, ABPP-CN Adjunct Clinical Faculty, Department of Psychology, University of Washington

Alicia Ivonne Estrada, Assistant Professor, Central American Studies Program, California State University, Northridge

Kathleen McAfee, Faculty of International Relations, San Francisco State University

Adam Versényi, Barranger Distinguished Term Professor of Dramatic Art, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Frank A. Dominguez, Professor of Spanish, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Christopher I. Clement, Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics, Pomona College

Deborah Barndt, Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies and Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University, Toronto, Canada

Horacio Xaubet, Associate Professor, Modern Foreign Languages, North Carolina Central University

Alcira Forero-Pena, Assistant Visiting Professor of Anthropology, UCD, Denver.

Gail González,. Associate Professor and Chair Modern Languages Department, University of Wisconsin

Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, Associate Professor of History and Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of Connecticut

Stephanie Wood, Associate Director for Development and Dissemination, Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon

Joanne Rappaport, Professor of Anthropology, Georgetown University

Altha Cravey, Associate Professor of Geography, UNC Chapel Hill

Elisabeth Jay Friedman, Associate Professor of Politics and Chair of Latin American Studies, University of San Francisco

Norma Alarcon, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

Liza Guzmán, Ecology Graduate Student, UNC-Chapel Hill

Raymond Craib, Department of History, Cornell University

Stefano Varese, Professor of NAS, University of California, Davis

Karen Spalding, Professor of History, The University of Connecticut

Marc McLeod, Associate Professor of History and Director of Latin American Studies, Seattle University

Cecilia Enjuto Rangel, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Romance Languages, University of Oregon

Justin Wolfe, William Arceneaux Associate Professor of Latin American History, Tulane University

Ann Magennis, Associate Professor, Anthropology, Colorado State University

Joseph M. Palacios, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

Miguel Gonzalez, Sessional Assistant Professor, International Development, York University, Toronto.

Diana Ojeda, PhD student, Clark University, Worcester MA, USA

Emilio Bejel, Distinguished Professor of Latin American Studies, University of California at Davis.

Michael Marchman, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, University of Kentucky

Marilyn G Miller, Associate Professor, Tulane

Brent Metz, Asst Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Kansas

Lissie Wahl, Research Fellow, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Margarita M.W. Suarez, Department of Religion & Philosophy, Meredith College

Diego Escolar, Profesor Adjunto de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.

William P. Mitchell, Prof. of Anthropology and Freed Foundation Professor in the Social Sciences, Monmouth University

Erich  Fox Tree, Visiting Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Wellesley College

Victoria Langland, Assistant Professor of History, University of California, Davis

Marcia Stephenson, Associate Professor of Spanish, Purdue University

Jennie M. Luna, Ed.M., Doctoral Candidate Native American Studies, U.C. Davis

Marion Traub-Werner, Dissertation Writing Fellow, University of Minnesota

Matthew T. Huber, PhD. Candidate, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University

Karen B. Graubart, Associate Professor of History and Director, Program in Latin American Studies
University of Notre Dame

Jonathan Dettman, M.A.T. Associate Instructor, Department of Spanish, University of California, Davis

Dominic Corva, Ph. C., University of Washington Department of Geography

Yvette G. Flores,Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Chicana/o Studies, U.C. Davis

Laura Jensen, LMT, Cultural Anthropologist, MPH candidate, New Haven, Connecticut

Lola Proaño Gómez, Professor, Languages Divison Pasadena City College.

Valeria Manzano, History Department, Indiana University at Bloomington

Eileen J. Findlay, Department of History, American University

Marc Zimmerman, Professor and Director, World Cultures and Literatures, Director, Global CASA/LACASA Publications, University of Houston

Marta G. Cruz-Concepción, Teaching Fellow, 2008-10 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 

Patricia Richards, Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies, University of Georgia

Benjamin H. Johnson, Associate Professor, Southern Methodist University

Sharada Balachandran-Orihuela. Doctoral Student. English department, University of California, Davis.

Juanita Darling, Department of International Relations, San Francisco State University

Rina Benmayor, Professor, Humanities and Communication, California State University Monterey Bay

Patricia Sawin, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Karen Ann Faulk, PhD, Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan

Sandy Smith-Nonini, Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, UNC, Chapel Hill

Regina A. Root, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, College of William and Mary

Michelle Lenoue, MA Latin American Studies, San Diego State University

Elizabeth Lilliott, Associate Researcher, Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation

Max Paul Friedman, Associate Professor of History, American University

Frances R. Aparicio, Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies Program, University of Illinois at Chicago

Wayne F. Anderson, Professor of History and Latin American Studies, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Rutgers University

 Donna Chollett, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Minnesota-Morris.

Bernardo Mançano Fernandes, São Paulo State University

Kerry Preibisch, Associate Professor, University of Guelph and Visiting Fellow, University of Sussex

Javier Eduardo Pabón, Assistant Professor International Studies, St. Augustine's College

 Emma Cervone, Department of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University

Marco Polo Hernández Cuevas, Associate Professor of Spanish, North Carolina Central University

Wendy Wolford, Associate Professor of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Frances Rothstein, Professor of Anthropology, Montclair State University

Maria L. Lagos, Associate Professor Emerita, Lehman College, The City University
of New York.

Liz Fitting, Assistant Professor Sociology & Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University, Halifax

Matthew Gutmann, Professor of Anthropology, Ethnic Studies, and Latin American Studies, Department of Anthropology, Brown University

Barbara Schroder, Ph.D. City University of New York

Lucila Vargas, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC Chapel Hill

Peter Singelmann, Professor of Sociology, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Silje Lundgren, Ph.D. candidate, Inst of Latin American Studies, Stockholm University, Sweden

Marc Edelman, Professor of Anthropology, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Emma Zapata Martelo, Colegio de Postgraduados, México, Profesora Investigadora Titular

Kenneth J. Mijeski, South Eastern Council of Latin American Studies (SECOLAS) Past President (1999-2000), Professor of Political Science, East Tennessee State University

Dr. Ronda Brulotte, Lecturer III, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico

 Barry G. Shelley, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Martha W. Rees, Professor, Agnes Scott College Decatur, GA

Christopher Dunn, Associate Professor and Chair Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Tulane University

Dr. Caridad Souza, Lecturer, SUNY-College at Oneonta

Nicole Kellett, Research Associate, University of New Mexico

Analisa Taylor, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Oregon 

David Mora-Marin, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, UNC-Chapel Hill

Hubert C. de Grammont, Investigador, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México DF

Sara María Lara Flores, Investigador, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México DF

Yolanda Prieto, Professor Emerita, School of Social Science and Human Services, Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Kimberly Hernández, Spanish Language Instructor, North Carolina Central University

Linda Wilcox Young, Professor of Economics, Southern Oregon University 

Susanne Jonas, Latin American & Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz.

David Sweet, Prof. Emeritus of Latin American Histor, University of California, Santa Cruz

Donaldo Urioste, Professor of Spanish & Chicano Literature, School of World Languages & Cultures California State University, Monterey Bay

Avrum J. Shriar, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator Urban/Regional Studies and Planning L.D. Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University

Monica Bucio, PhD Candidate, University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Kirsten Appendini, El Colegio de México, Mexico.

Christina A. Sue, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado-Boulder

Francisco Escobedo, Assistant Professor, School of Forest Resources & Conservation, University of Florida

Peter E. Hildebrand, Professor Emeritus Food and Resource Economics, University of Florida

Maya Stanfield-Mazzi, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Florida

Cynthia Tompkins, Asc. Prof. Spanish, School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University

Christine E. Eber, Associate Professor of Anthropology, New Mexico State University

Dr. Anita Spring, Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Florida

Richard L. Harris, Professor Emeritus of Global Studies, California State University

Jennifer Jolly, Assistant Professor of Art History, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

Faye V. Harrison, Professor of Anthropology and Director, African American Studies, University of Florida.

Holly Ackerman, Ph.D. Librarian for Latin America and Iberia, Duke University

M. Carmen Carrero de Salazar, Course Director, Faculty of Education, York University

Ofelia Schutte, Professor of Philosophy, University of South Florida, Tampa

Mauricio Arenas - CUPW Local 626

Edward D'Angelo, Professor of Philosophy, Quinnipiac University

Lori Zett, MIA School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, and Adjunct professor, Temple University

Diane Marting, Past President of the Mississippi Foreign Language Association, University of Mississippi