March 6, 2006 Former Ambassador to Costa Rica to Discuss Book on Honduras on March 24

Thomas J. Dodd, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica in 2001-2005 and in Uruguay in 1997-2001, will discuss his book "Tiburcio Carías: Portrait of a Honduran Political Leader" at the Library of Congress at noon on Friday, March 24, in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.

The event, which is sponsored by the Hispanic Division and the Center for the Book, is free and open to the public; no reservations are required. A book signing will follow the presentation.

Dodd will discuss the rule of Tiburcio Carías, Honduras’ longest-serving head of government, who ruled from 1933 to 1949 and was a major political figure in the country’s history. Dodd analyzes the consolidation and modernization of Honduras under Carías. The book has been widely praised by historians. In the foreword, historian Douglas Brinkley said Dodd achieves a balanced assessment of domestic order and political and social stability during the Carías era.

Dodd is adjunct professor in the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University. He previously taught at the Escuela de Estudios Superiores in Mexico, Georgetown’s Department of History and American University’s School of International Service. He is the author of "Managing Democracy in Central America: A Case Study, U.S. Election Supervision in Nicaragua, 1927-1933" and "The Panama Crisis, 1909-1904; Letters of Thomas Herrán.”

The Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress is a center for the study of Latin American, Iberian and Caribbean culture and societies. Its reading room is the oldest foreign-area reading room of the Library, established in 1939. For more information about the Library’s Hispanic collection, public events and other programs, visit the reading room’s Web site at www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic.

The Center for the Book, established in 1977 as a public-private partnership, uses the resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading. For information about its activities, visit its Web site at www.loc.gov/cfbook.