IRI to Host Timorese Leaders in El Salvador

For Immediate Release
November 19, 2007

Washington, DC – The International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Center for Political Studies will host a delegation of young leaders from Timor-Leste in El Salvador from November 19-29, 2007. The group, a part of IRI’s Rising Stars program, will learn how El Salvador strengthened democracy and economic growth after the country’s long civil war. On November 22, President Elías Antonio Saca, of El Salvador, will welcome the group at the Presidential Mansion and express his country’s support for the mission.

The six-person delegation from Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Economic Development includes Mr. Leoneto Mendes Gonçalves, Rural Development Section Chief; Mr. Frederico Alvares Fernandes Cabral, Rural Development Lead Researcher; Mr. Francisco Xavier, Rural Development Manager Cooperative Division; Mr. João Carlos Soares, Coordinator for Environmental Awareness; Ms. Josephina Antonieta da Silva, Assistant Technical Professional; and Ms. Rosita Garcia de Sousa, Assistant Administrator.

The program in El Salvador will provide policymakers from Timor-Leste, which emerged from its own conflict in 1999, with an opportunity to strengthen their country’s economic and political reconstruction. The group will meet with high-ranking government officials from the ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party to learn about the institutions and policies that delivered progress in El Salvador.

The ten-day program is part of an innovative initiative by IRI to train young leaders from emerging democracies in countries that have undergone successful economic and political transitions.

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