President Óscar Arias Sánchez will make two trips to the United States starting next week in order to address the United Nations and to join with other Nobel Peace Prize laureates at a meeting in Denver, Colorado, of some 3,000 high school youngsters.

The first trip will be Sept. 13 when Arias will go to Miami, Florida, at the Conference of the Americas. This is an international forum, put on in part by the Miami Herald, to discuss the challenges of the hemisphere. This is the 10th annual edition. Arias is being asked to attend the inauguration ceremony.

After the ceremonies Arias will return to the country to participate in the 185th anniversary of Costa Rican independence Sept. 14, and Sept. 15, the Día de la Independencia.

Saturday, Sept. 16, Arias is back in the United States in Denver for the 10th anniversary of Peace Jam, billed as the largest gathering of Nobel Prize laureates outside of Oslo, Norway.

Peace Jam, according to organizers,  “is an international education program built around leading Nobel Peace laureates who work personally with youth to pass on the spirit, skills and wisdom they embody. The goal of Peace Jam is to inspire a new generation of peacemakers who will transform their local communities, themselves and the world.”

Arias received the Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to negotiate a resolution to wars in Central America.
Also attending the event will be the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and six other laureates. The event is held at the University of Denver.

From Sept. 18 to 21 Arias will be in New York at the United Nations. His address to the General Assembly is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 19. Casa Presidencial said that he would talk about the challenges of globalization and the need for countries to disarm. In addition, he will discuss the increasing gap between the industrialized countries and developing nations as well as the rising tide of protectionism that jeopardizes free trade.

During his visits, Arias will be meeting with executives in the United States seeking investments and commercial development, said Casa Presidencial. He will be accompanied by Marco Vinicio Ruiz, minister of Comercio Exterior and representatives of firms that already have facilities here.