Cultural Affairs Office ESPAÑOL

The Cultural Affairs Office (CAO) is part of the Embassy’s Office of Public Diplomacy. The Cultural Office is responsible for promoting cultural and educational ties between the United States of America and Uruguay in order to foster a better understanding of the American society and culture among Uruguayans. The CAO has responsibility for managing the U.S. Department of State's educational and cultural exchange programs in Uruguay.

The Cultural Affairs Office, in collaboration with the Press Office and the Information Resource Center, works closely with Uruguayan institutions in organizing a variety of activities which promote personal, professional, and institutional ties between private citizens and organizations in the United States and Uruguay and also in presenting U.S. history, society, art and culture in all of its diversity to Uruguayan audiences. These activities include lectures, seminars, workshops, exhibits and performances by U.S. officials, academics, writers and artists in Uruguay, as well as the visit of Uruguayans professionals to the U.S.

Contact: CordonesAM@state.gov

The Cultural Affairs Office develops programs primarily in the following areas:

International Trade and Economic Affairs
Anti-Terrorism and International Crime Issues
Education
Congressional Exchanges
Understanding U.S. Society and Culture
The Cultural Affairs Office main activities are:
Exchanges
Education programs
Cultural programs

EXCHANGES

International Visitors
Facilitative Assistance
Programs for politicians
- ACYPL
- CSIS
Speakers and Specialists
EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Fulbright Programs
Education in the U.S.
Support to English Teaching
- Programs
- Binational Center
- English Immersion Program
- Office of English Language Programs
CULTURAL PROGRAMS

General
Sponsorships
Jazz Ambassadors
Art in the Embassy
Binational Center
Arts & Culture in the U .S.

EXCHANGES

International Visitor Program
The International Visitor Program brings participants from Uruguay to the United States each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience the United States firsthand. The visitors, who are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, and other fields, are invited to participate by members of the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay. More than 200 current and former Heads of State, 1,500 cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished world leaders in government and the private sector have participated in the International Visitor Program.

Facilitative Assistance
The Cultural Affairs Office assists individuals traveling to the U.S. on professional programs as well as organizations seeking information and links with U.S. institutions for a wide variety of projects and programs that promote mutual understanding. Funds for special projects are very limited.

Programs for Politicians

• American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL)
This program sponsors reciprocal study tours of two weeks duration for delegations of U.S. and Uruguayan young political leaders to learn about each other’s political systems and institutions.
The Cultural Affairs Office, in coordination with the Uruguayan political parties, organizes the visit of U.S. participants to Uruguay and of Uruguayan participants to the United States.
Click here for additional information on ACYPL

• Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
The CSIS Americas Program established the South America Project to upgrade U.S. government, congressional, and private sector understanding of, and relations with, the countries that make up this region.
To improve legislative ties between the two regions, the bi-partisan MERCOSUR Congressional Study Group (CSG) was established in 1995, and remains the only group in the U.S. Congress dedicated to this region. Through its activities, the CSG has taken the lead in addressing the limited understanding of MERCOSUR within the U.S. Congress. An important component of the CSG is the visits of congressmen and congressional staffers. The Cultural Affairs Office sponsors these visits on a yearly basis.
Click here for additional information on CSIS
Speakers and Specialists

U.S. Speaker and Specialist programs provide opportunities for U.S. experts to visit Uruguay to share U.S. experiences of professional importance and relevance with their Uruguayan counterparts, and allow an exchange of viewpoints on subjects of common interest.

Since the U.S. Speaker participants hail from a wide variety of private and public institutions, including universities, think-tanks, NGOs, and state and federal government offices, their views and analysis may reflect U.S. government policies or views of their own.

In all cases, Speakers and Specialist programs are proposed, planned and organized by the Embassy's Cultural Affairs Office. Most of the programs, however, are co-organized and co-sponsored by Uruguayan academic, public and private sector institutions.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Fulbright Commission Programs
In addition to the Speakers and Specialists programs, the Public Diplomacy Office interacts with Uruguay's public and private universities through the Fulbright Commission program. The Fulbright Commission in Uruguay administers a wide variety of academic programs that enable Uruguayans students and professors to study in the United States and also U.S. students and academics to study and research in Uruguay. The Commission also provides counseling services for those interested in studying in the United States.
Click here for additional information on the Fulbright program.

Education in the U.S.
Click here for information.

Support to English Teaching

• Binational Center
The Binational Center, Alianza Cultural Uruguay-Estados Unidos, maintains a vibrant English teaching center in Montevideo and 44 branches throughout the interior of Uruguay. The U.S. Embassy in Uruguay provides regular support to the Center and develops special programs for key audiences.
Click here for additional information on the Binational Center

• English Immersion Program
The United States Embassy in Uruguay is supporting the Uruguayan educational authorities in their efforts to implement a series of educational reforms at primary and secondary levels. As part of the reform, in March 2001 Uruguay began an innovative project in a group of public elementary schools attended by children from low-income families, which consists of teaching English via immersion in the foreign language.
Click here for further information on the program

• The Office of English Language Programs
Click here for information.

CULTURAL PROGRAMS

General
The Cultural Affairs Office organizes presentations of plastic and performing U.S. artists and co-sponsors local events that include U.S. artists and/or their work.

Sponsorships
Artistic presentations promoting cultural exchange between the U.S. and Uruguay qualify for sponsorship by the U.S. Embassy. Embassy sponsorship does not necessarily mean a commitment on the part of the Embassy to fund the activity; however, limited funding is available throughout the year. If you are interested in requesting Embassy sponsorship for a cultural activity, please refer to Sponsoring Guidelines

Jazz Ambassadors
The Department of State’s Cultural Programs Division has established the Jazz Ambassadors Partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to send selected professional U.S. jazz musicians on concert tours throughout the world. Jazz Ambassadors tour abroad under official U.S. Government auspices, following their debut performances as Jazz Ambassadors at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage.
The 2004 Jazz Ambassadors program will mark the seventh anniversary of the Department of State and Kennedy Center partnership. Quartets of outstanding American jazz musicians will highlight the influence of Latin rhythms on American Jazz.

Art in the Embassy
The Cultural Affairs Office is responsible for organizing and implementing the Art in the Embassy Program. This program offers Embassy staff and visitors the possibility to enjoy original art by Uruguayan plastic artists through monthly exhibitions held in the lobby of the Embassy.
Click here for additional information on exhibitions.

Binational Center
The Cultural Affairs Office is a major sponsor of the Binational Center cultural activities program. The Center, Alianza Cultural Uruguay-Estados Unidos, runs a very ambitious cultural program hosting an all-year-round theater season, regular art exhibits as well as concerts and dance performances.
Click here for additional information on the Alianza Cultural Uruguay-Estados Unidos.

Arts & Culture in the U.S.
Click here for information.

To contact the Cultural Affairs Office:

Cultural Affairs Office / Embassy of the United States of America
Lauro Muller 1776 / Montevideo, Uruguay 11200
Tel: (598-2) 418-7777, ext. 2357 and 2358
FAX: (598-2) 4109775
Email: CordonesAM@state.gov