Fernando Henrique Cardoso - President of Brazil (1995-2003), Member and President (2003-2006) of the Club de Madrid wins the prestigious John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity awarded by the Library of Congress (United States).

The Club de Madrid expresses its sincerest congratulations on this occasion to Fernando Henrique Cardoso. As James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress, said when announcing the prize: “It’s not just that he’s the first person with a personal political career of consequence to win this award, it’s that he is also a full representative of what we call a social scientist. If you want to make an American comparison, he is like Jefferson, playing a key role in building a democracy on a scholarly foundation.” 

Yesterday took place in London a very interesting debate on whether or not to end the war on drugs. The event was organized by Intelligence Squared, broadcasted live on YouTube and open to everybody thanks to Google+. Our members Vicente Fox and Fernando Henrique Cardoso stood for the end of the war on drugs.

Former members of the Iranian Parliament and current opposition thanked the Club de Madrid for its March 16 letter to Ayatollah Ali Khāmene’I through which it expressed its concern about the abduction of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mr. Mehdi Karoubi, former Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker of Iran and prominent candidates to the presidential elections, together with their respective wives. “Having received considerable echo within international and national media, this initiative was felt as a crucial support for all those fighting for freedom in Iran”, they say.   

The main annual event of the organization, held in Madrid on 12-13 November 2009, concluded with a call for more and better democracy that delivers.