This luncheon program is being held at the initiative of the State Department as a follow-up to President Clinton’s recent visit to Central America. New Orleans was selected for the first presentations in a planned 20-city series of presentations on this topic.

About Hugo Llorens

Hugo Llorens has been Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Bureau’s Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination at the U.S. Department of State since 1997. From 1992 to 1996, he was the Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa where he managed the Economic/Commercial/Agricultural office. From 1989 to 1992, Mr. Llorens was the Economic Officer and Narcotics Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador. He was the Economic/Commercial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay from 1986 to 1989. From

1984 to 1986, Mr. Llorens was the Economic and Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia. He was Vice Consul at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines from 1982-1984.

Mr. Llorens earned a Master of Science in National Security and Strategic Studies at the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., an MA in economics at the University of Kent at Canterbury, England, and a BS degree at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

About Mark L. Schneider

Mark L. Schneider has served as Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) since 1993. USAID is the government agency that administers economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide. President Clinton also appointed Mr. Schneider as a board member of the Inter-American Foundation.

Before joining USAID, Mr. Schneider, a Latin America specialist, served 12 years with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a regional office for the World Health Organization, in Washington, D.C., as Chief of the Office of Analysis and Strategic Planning. He coordinated programming and evaluation of PAHO’s technical cooperation program and served as senior policy adviser to the director on PAHO’s relations with the United States, other Western Hemisphere countries, the Organization of American States, the United Nations, and other international organizations.

From 1977 to 1979, Mr. Schneider was Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights. In this capacity he served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nation’s Human Rights Commission in Geneva, the U.N. General Assembly, and the Organizations of American States General Assembly. He also has served as Legislative Assistant and Senate Committee Staff Member for the Office of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, working on the Labor and Human Resources and Judiciary committees.

In the 1960’s, Mr. Schneider was a reporter for the Washington Daily News, San Francisco News Call Bulletin and the United Press International. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador from 1966 to 1968. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of California Berkeley, and a Master’s degree in political science from San Jose State College.

Registration Fee: $22 for members of the sponsoring organizations and $27 for non-members.