Televisa is pleased to announce the event Vanguardia Latina, a forum where top US Latino and Latin American students will gather to rethink the common challenges of the Americas. Televisa, a leader in communications in Latin America, began uniting university students in 1997 in an event entitled Espacio. Through Espacio, students from Mexico and Latin America commit themselves to positive social change through discussion and interaction with political, academic, and business leaders. Espacio has proven itself to be the primary forum for developing and debating issues concerning the Inter-American agendas. 150,000 students and hundreds of leaders have joined Espacio to encourage a positive vision of reality and change.
Now, almost a decade after its premiere, Espacio is broadening its horizons and expanding throughout the Americas. In addition to events in Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile, Espacio will host a custom made event entitled Vanguardia Latina in Washington, DC. It will convene 150 of the best U.S. Hispanic and Latin American graduate students and college seniors for an intensive dialogue, joined by outstanding leaders from throughout Latin America and the United States. Vanguardia Latina will build upon Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Washington, DC by developing networks among the next generation of decision makers and opinion shapers of the Americas while deepening their understanding of the hemisphere.
Throughout two days of meetings, Vanguardia Latina will consist of thematic breakfasts, plenary sessions, and discussion workshops. The event has two main interrelated topics: 1)The reach of Latino influences in the US, and 2) The horizons of Latin America. A unique feature of Vanguardia Latina is that students will not only participate in dialogue as a large group, but they will also be involved in smaller, more personal discussions with hemispheric leaders. The event will conclude with the development and presentation of a statement prepared by the students throughout the course of the event and a Cinco de Mayo celebration.
At a time of regional misunderstandings and a lack of innovative initiatives, new platforms for consensus should be convoked. Vanguardia Latina and the Latin American Espacios provide an adequate forum to engage meaningful, positive and transformative dialogue propelled by the youth of the Americas. Building on its success in Latin America — and taking advantage of the presence of outstanding, bilingual Latin American and Latino students in the best American universities — Vanguardia Latina will become a key bridge joining the future of the Americas.
