Ambassador, Representative of Uruguay and Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Pan American Union. José A. Mora Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Pan American Union As a result of the elections of November 10, Dr. José A. Mora, of Uruguay, will serve as Vice Chairman of the Governing Board for a one-year term. Dr. Mora has been the ambassador, representative of his country on the Board since September 25, 1946. In A lawyer and diplomat, Dr. Mora was born and educated in Montevideo. 1925 he received the degree of Doctor of Laws and Social Science at the Law School of the University of Montevideo, and entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as second secretary of legation. He left Uruguay for Madrid in 1926, when he was appointed first secretary of the legation to Spain and Portugal. In the next four years he held similar posts in Brazil and in the United States. Dr. Mora returned to the Uruguayan capital in 1931 to become chief of the International Institutes Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He began his long and valuable experience at international conferences as secretary general of Uruguay's delegation to the Buenos Aires Commercial Conference (1935), and to the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace, also at Buenos Aires (1936). In 1938 he was a temporary representative to the League of Nations in Geneva. He has been adviser to the Uruguayan delegation at three Conferences of Ministers of Foreign Affairs— at Panama in 1939, at Habana in 1940, and at Rio de Janeiro in 1942. In the last-mentioned year, he was appointed Minister to Bolivia, and served in La Paz until 1944, when he was chairman of the Uruguayan delegation to the Conference of Commissions of Inter-American Development in New York. Back in Montevideo, he became in 1945 Director of the expanded Bureau of International Institutes, Congresses, and Conferences of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and took part, as adviser to the Uruguayan delegation, in the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace at Mexico City, and in the United Nations Conference at San Francisco. He also served in Washington as alternate delegate of Uruguay on the Committee of Jurists to prepare the statute of the International Court of Justice. Dr. Mora received a second appointment to the United States, as Minister Plenipotentiary, in 1946. He was his government's delegate to the International Sanitary Conference of the United Nations (New York), and to the second half of the First General Assembly of the UN. In 1947, he was a delegate to the Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security at Rio de Janeiro, thus completing his record of attendance at the most important inter-American conferences in the last twelve years. Dr. Mora's writings, published at Montevideo, include Internationalism in Uruguay (1938) and Judicial Organization in the San Francisco Conference (1946). 29 Water Colors by José Solari Hermosilla These paintings of scenes from the artist's native Peru are representative of a growing collection which has won high praise throughout Latin America. Well known in his own country, José Solari Hermosilla came to the United States in September 1947 after more than a year of travel, painting, and exhibiting his works over the rest of the continent. In explanation of his long tour, he says, "I want not only to help each American country know the landscapes of the others, but also to put on canvas the countryside of that nation itself." Solari Hermosilla has been hailed for his mastery of the technique of water color, a difficult medium because of the speed required of the artist and his inability to correct mistakes. He likes pure, clear colors and bright sunlight; critics have commented on his particular aptitude for capturing the atmosphere of tropical scenes. The paintings reproduced here are from private collections. An exhibit of 80 water colors will be held at the Pan American Union next July. (Above) MAIN SQUARE, CUZCo, Peru (On opposite page) VILLAGE SCENE, PIURA, PERU VILLAGE, DEPARTMENT OF PIURA, PERU Cultural Center Echoes from Tico' Lan WRIGHT KIRK Director, Centro Cultural Costarricense-Norteamericano "God bless America Land that I love . . .” Thus sang a group of Costa Ricans during an all-student program at the Centro Cultural Costarricense-Norteamericano in San José on December 4, 1946 to an audience of about two hundred fellowstudents and friends. The evening before Thanksgiving Day, the "Pilgrims" had foregathered in a series of tableaux to portray to the Costa Ricans the history and background of this important festival in American history. Not only did the selected students serve as the narrators-reading in English and Spanish but also a sextet sang appropriate American songs. As the Christmas season approached, the Centro students enthusiastically learned the ever-beautiful American Christmas songs and carols which were sung by a Centro chorus during the presentation of scenes from the Nativity, all in the traditional American manner. As the four hundred fifty spectators, mostly students, sang I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, Santa Claus appeared with his offering of candies and coca-colas for all those present, and by his witty comments. in English demonstrated that even a Tico Santa Claus can learn quite a lot of English in ten short weeks. Through the medium of programs such as those mentioned above, through formal and informal gatherings, teas, fiestas, lectures, and concerts by both Costa 1 Tico is a familiar name for Costa Rican, somewhat like Hoosier for Indianian. Rican and United States citizens, a exhibits, documentary movies about th United States, and many other diversifie extra-curricular activities, the Tico Cu tural Center supplements its seventy-si weekly classes in English, the better t acquaint Costa Ricans with the activitie of the people of the United States. What is the history of this beehive of cultural activity of which the Costa Ricans are so proud? How did it come about? Who sponsors it? What is its future? Briefly, the Center in San José represents the outcome of a desire on the part of some far-sighted Costa Rican and United States citizens residing in San José to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two nations, and to meet the local demands that an institution be established for the interchange of their language, ideas, and literature. Plans for the founding of such a center crystallized on April 20, 1945 when a committee composed of five Costa Ricans and four Americans held its first meeting. This group decided that a campaign should be launched to raise the initial funds necessary to provide a building with adequate facilities for the Center. Soon the proposal had gained the wholehearted support of the Costa Rican Government, the American Embassy, and the United States Department of State. The dream of the committee became a reality on October 12, 1945 when the Center was officially opened to the public. By this date a director had been appointed by the Department of |