News & Publications

• Carter Center Witnesses Transfer of Prisoners in Colombia
• Donald Hopkins Elected to National Academy
• William Foege Joins Faculty at Emory University
• Carter Museum Presents Exhibit on Presidential Fitness Memorabilia

"I am so happy to know the end of this nightmare has become a reality," a mother sobbed as she held her freed son in a remote area of Colombia.

He was among 60 Colombian soldiers and 10 marines released on June 15 by the guerilla group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). FARC captured the men last year but agreed to release them to a group of international observers as "an act of humanity."

Robert Pastor, Ph.D., director of The Carter Center's Latin American and Caribbean Program, witnessed the delivery along with members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, ambassadors from six countries, and representatives of the Colombian National Conciliation Commission. The prisoners were flown by helicopter to Cartagena del Chairá, a town in the nation's southern region, where they were freed to the arms of their families.

"After nine months of negotiations, the agreement to release the Colombian soldiers is welcome, not just for them and their families, but for all those who hope for peace and justice in Colombia," Dr. Pastor said.

The release occurred as part of the government's recent agreement to end the yearlong clash by evacuating its military and ceding temporary control of an area the size of Connecticut. Colom-bia's government has struggled for nearly 50 years to end guerrilla movements such as FARC.

Last September, Jimmy Carter, together with Dr. Pastor and other Carter Center senior officials, met at the Center with Colombia's former Foreign Minister Augusto Ramirez Ocampo, now a leader of the Conciliation Commission, and former Presidents Belisario Betancur and Alfonso Lopez Michelsen, who are members of the Center's Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government. They discussed Colombia's guerrilla war and possible negotiations to end the conflict.

In Colombia, Dr. Pastor met with President Ernesto Samper and Foreign Minister Maria Emma Mejia Velev. He also had extensive conversations with FARC's commander, Joaquin Gomez, who was responsible for capturing and subsequently releasing the soldiers.

"All expressed appreciation for The Carter Center's assistance in negotiating the release of the soldiers and hope that the Center would facilitate future talks that could end the longest-running guerilla war in South America," Dr. Pastor said.

Donald Hopkins Elected to National Academy

Dr. Hopkins heads the Center's global and domestic health efforts as associate executive director for the control and eradication of disease. Among his accomplishments is leading the Center's Global 2000 campaigns to eradicate Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) and to control river blindness (onchocerciasis). Dr. Hopkins first witnessed Guinea worm 14 years ago. Since then, he has worked with global partners to teach people in Asia and Africa how to filter their drinking water to avoid the disease. As a result of their efforts, the number of Guinea worm cases decreased 95 percent, from 2 million in 1989 to about 150,000 in 1996.

To mobilize funding for the Center's Guinea worm eradication initiative, Dr. Hopkins, with the support of former President Jimmy Carter, organized a donor conference in Nigeria, which raised $10 million. They also persuaded DuPont Co. and Precision Fabrics Group Inc. to donate the materials necessary for filtering larvae-infested water. American Home Products (formerly American Cyanamid) also contributes Abate, a nontoxic chemical that kills Guinea worm larvae.

While The Carter Center foresees eradication of Guinea worm (except from Sudan) in the next two to three years, Dr. Hopkins will continue his efforts to improve public health throughout the world. "I'm going to run out of breath long before we run out of diseases," he said.

William Foege Joins Faculty at Emory University

William Foege, M.D., has stepped into the classroom as a professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. He will continue as The Carter Center's senior health policy fellow while teaching and writing about international health at Emory.

Dr. Foege served as executive director of The Carter Center from 1987-92. Before coming to the Center, he established The Task Force for Child Survival and Development and served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he worked to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s. He also has worked to bring injury control, tobacco-related diseases, and other issues to the forefront of domestic and international health policy.

"Dr. Foege was critical in helping The Carter Center give life to President Carter's dream of an institution that improves the world through knowledge application," said William Chace, president of Emory. "As the Center and Emory grow even closer, Dr. Foege's presence as a professor cannot help but enhance this relationship."

Carter Museum Presents Exhibit on Presidential Fitness Memorabilia

A soccer ball from Poland adorned with images of President Jimmy Carter and an old pair of President Bill Clinton's running shoes are among the fitness memorabilia on display in "Flexing the Nation's Muscle: Presidents, Physical Fitness, and Sports in the American Century" at The Museum of the Jimmy Carter Library this summer.

More than 110 artifacts with accompanying texts and photographs illustrate how 20th century presidents have used the executive office as a "bully pulpit"—borrowing Theodore Roosevelt's phrase—to encourage the nation toward health and strength through fitness and sports.

"The objects also reveal how the emphasis on physical activity grew during this century as the United States rose to become a world power," said Don Schewe, director of The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum. "American presidents often have served as role models for physical fitness, but they also have been avid fans of the nation's outstanding sports stars."

The National Archives and Records Administration and the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports created the exhibit, which premiered last year at the White House Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. More than a quarter of a million people viewed it. For more information, call (404) 331-0296.