New York University’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center will host a dialogue with Rigoberta Menchú, the winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize, and Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón on Wed., May 17, at 7 p.m. (53 Washington Square South, first floor, betw. Sullivan and Thompson Sts.). The event will be in Spanish with simultaneous translation in English.

A native of Guatemala, Menchú received the prize for her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples. Like many other countries in South and Central America, Guatemala has experienced great tension between the descendants of European immigrants and the native Indian population. In the 1970s and 1980s, that tension came to a head in the large-scale repression of Indian peoples. Menchú has come to play an increasingly prominent part as an advocate of native rights. Garzón is at NYU as the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Chair and as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Center on Law and Security at NYU’s School of Law. This encounter forms part of a semester-long series of dialogues titled “Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Latin America.”

The event is part of the Human Rights Series, which is sponsored by Grupo Santander and supported by NYU’s Center on Latin America and Caribbean Studies.

  • WHO: Rigoberta Menchú, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize
  • WHAT: Dialogue-“Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Central America - Guatemala”
  • WHEN: Wed., May 17, 7 p.m.
  • WHERE: NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center (53 Washington Square South) [Subway Lines: A, B, C, D, E, F, V (West 4th Street); N, R, W (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place)]

Reporters interested in attending the event should contact James Devitt, NYU’s Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu. The public should call 212.998.3650 for more information.

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