Past Circulo Castellano Lectures

February 28, 2006 LT Marvin Burton and SGT Joseph Bologna, members of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Narcotics Division spoke first hand about their experiences in Columbia working along side of their counterparts in the war on drug-trafficing.

September 8, 2005 Hosted by Michael Bolton of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, featuring a series of operatic vignettes by local performers Evelyn Santiago Schultz, soprano, Ubaldo Feliciano Hernandez, tenor, and Lauri Rodgers, pianist, demonstrating the significant scope of Latin influence on opera.

June 12, 2005 The threat of Bio-Terrorism in the Western Hemisphere - Harvey Rubin, M.D., Executive Director of the ISTAR Institute of the University of Pennsylvania spoke on the very real danger of the spread of bio-toxins across the loose borders of the nations of Latin America, the Mexico – U.S. Border, and through the busy, tourist airports of the Western Hemisphere.

June 16, 2004 Guest speakers Frank Bisk, a career teacher of Spanish in the Philadelphia School System with family ties in Venezuela and Professor Garcia Crespo, a CPA practitioner in The Chaos in Venezuela – What It’s Like to Be There Now Pottstown , PA and formerly a professor at the School of Administration and Accountancy of the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas and the Catholic University traced the chronology of Venezuelan politics from the 1970s to the present and shared first hand experiences of life under the Chavez government with the membership at a luncheon held at Mixto, a Center City Philadelphia restaurant. An open and lively discussion followed focusing on the issues surrounding the scheduled August 2004 presidential election in Venezuela.

January 29, 2004 Colombia: Paradigm of Global Security for the United States
Dr. Gabriel Marcella, Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and Consultant to the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Defense on Latin America summarized key contributors to the situation in Colombia today as a combination of ungoverned national territory, insurgent terrorism of the left and right, and transnational organized crime that create consequences that include violence, conflict, human agony, the erosion of democracy, and possible state failure. Based upon his expectation for greater cooperation between the United States and Colombia, Dr. Marcella projected optimism for an improving situation that will generate a climate of security that will allow for economic and political stability.

September 25, 2004 Festive Latin American Dinner To recognize the importance of conversation and social exchange for the membership and its guests, the Circulo Castellano presented the cuisine of Latin America in a buffet dinner setting featuring selected dishes from Central and South America at Mixto Restaurant, 1141 Pine Street in Center City Philadelphia.

March 24, 2003 Rafael Porrata-Doria, Esq., a professor of Temple University Beasley Law School spoke at a luncheon concerning the Latino migration patterns in our own Delaware Valley region at the Union League of Philadelphia. The presentation highlighted the history and contributions of Latino communities in Philadelphia, Berks and Lancaster Counties, and Southern New Jersey. Professor Porrata-Doria was born in Puerto Rico and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his law degree from Yale University. An expert on International Trade he has written extensively on comparative law, world trade and the socio-economic impact of the Latino population.

November 18, 2003 Professor Mauro Guillen spoke at a luncheon meeting held at the Union League of Philadelphia on Argentina’s Predicament in the Global Economy. Professor Guillen is on the faculty at the Wharton School and Department of Sociology of the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches multinational management. He previously taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He received a PhD in sociology from Yale University and a Doctorate in political economy from the University of Oviedo in his native Spain. His current research deals with the impact of globalization on cross-national patterns of organization, and with the use of the internet worldwide. His new book, The Limits of Convergence: Globalization and Organizational Change in Argentina, South Korea, and Spain, has been published by Princeton University Press. In Spanish, he has published La Profesión de Economista (Ariel, 1989), and Análisis de Regresión Múltiple (CIS, 1992). His research has appeared in Academy of Management Journal, American Sociological Review, Annual Review of Sociology, Administrative Science Quarterly, East Asian Economic Perspectives, Industrial & Corporate Change, and many more. He is a former Guggenheim Fellow and Member in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

June 3, 2002 Philadelphia City Councilman the Honorable Angel Ortiz shared his vision for the future of Philadelphia and the impact of the Latino population on its future development at a luncheon held at the Union League of Philadelphia. Since 1984 Mr. Ortiz has been Councilman at Large in the City Council of Philadelphia. Over the course of his tenure in City Council, he has chaired the Public Safety, the Health & Human Services, and the Labor & Civil Service committees. Councilman Ortiz has a long history of community activism and progressive politics and has been praised for his many achievements. A believer in the whole city, Mr. Ortiz is a voice in City Council for ownership of major issues by the entire city rather than factionalism.

March 4, 2002 United States Representative Cass Ballenger addressed the topic of Politics and Stability in South America: Understanding Venezuela’s President Chavez at a luncheon held at the Union League of Philadelphia. Congressman Ballenger has been North Carolina’s 10th District representative in the United States Congress since 1986. He is a subject matter expert on the Western Hemisphere and a true friend of Latin America.

October 23, 2001 Dr. Elin Danien of the Anthropology Museum of the University of Pennsylvania spoke to the membership concerning the Mythology of Pre-Columbian Civilizations.

May 22, 2001 Dr. Michael Radu presented his analysis of the social and political situation in Colombia and Peru following a recent visit to those countries at a luncheon held at the Franklin Inn Club in Philadelphia. The presentation occurred prior to Peru’s presidential election for a successor to Alberto Fujimori and at a time when Colombia was on the verge of chaos. Dr. Radu is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia and specialist in insurgencies worldwide. He has been quoted often by the media and interviewed on TV.

March 20, 2001 Dr. Rosario Espinal led a discussion on the democratic processes and emerging democracies in Latin America at the Franklin Inn Club in Philadelphia. Dr. Espinal is Professor of Sociology at Temple University and also the Director of the Program for Latin American Studies at Temple. Her areas of interest are political sociology; social movements; and Latin American culture, society, and politics.