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AROUND THE QUADS

Columbia Hosts Second World Leaders Forum

President Lee C. Bollinger welcomes Vaira Vike-Freiberga, president of Latvia, to the World Leaders Forum. PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO

Columbia welcomed more than a dozen global leaders to campus in September for the second annual World Leaders Forum, a weeklong series of lectures, symposia and panel discussions, which coincided with the fall meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. The events were developed in conjunction with the School of International and Public Affairs and the Earth Institute. Following, from the Columbia Daily Spectator, is some of what was said:

“We must subscribe to and practice basic principles of pluralistic democracy. We support the view that if people were allowed to express themselves, then they wouldn’t take to guns. I assure you there won’t be any weapons in Liberia come election time [in October 2005].

— Charles Gyude Bryant, Chairman of the national transitional government of Liberia, which has gone through a civil war during the past 14 years

“Twenty percent of our territory is under occupation … Negotiations cannot go on forever … Patience has its limits.”

— Ilham Heydar Oglu Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan

“Real peace cannot be achieved in Colombia without real economic stability and growth. We cannot ask farmers to stop growing coca without offering them an economically sustainable alternative.”

— Carolina Barco Isakson, Minister of foreign affairs of Colombia

The world is changed, and I think it’s imporant that the countries get to know each other. We have something to contribute. Keep your eyes open, and watch out for Latvia.”

— Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia

“We offered solidarity when some of America’s closest partners showed discontent. [But I do] not want to choose between America and Europe. Poland is not a world power and does not make pretensions to be. Poland needs both Europe and America.”

— Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Foreign minister of Poland

“Mozambique and Africa are living in abject poverty. Poverty is highest in rural areas, and in Mozambique, 80 percent live in rural areas.”

— Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique

“The 20th century is the most tragic century in the history of mankind. It is strange that the progress of democracy comes only after great violence.”

— Ion Iliescu, President of Romania

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