During my junior year (Aug. 2005 to June 2006), I assembled the essays, reference letters and application forms for the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study for one year abroad to receive my master’s degree in human resources or international relations. I had to research and choose my top five universities, located in a Spanish-speaking country. Venezuela and Argentina looked like my best bets; I knew some people from these countries and they did nothing but praise their homeland.
I finally turned in my ’life’ (application) on a hot and sunny June afternoon. I felt incredibly and utterly relieved. When I was selected as a finalist and invited for ‘the big interview’ to decide the winner, my relief had changed to apprehension and I realized this was no longer what I wanted. I declined the offer.
My passion for learning and living the Spanish culture made it difficult to listen to my inner-self when making this decision. However, that little voice always seems to be right.
A Mar. 7, 2007, article of ABC News, “Human Rights Report Faults Latin America,” discusses the “corruption, detainee abuse and deplorable prision conditions in Latin America last year” focusing on Venezuela and Cuba.
This doesn’t sound like the beautiful, coastlined-country I dreamt about. But if you follow current events, you know that President Hugo Chavez and his “regressive” government have given President and Mrs. Bush a reason to make a seven-day trip to South America–and it’s not a vacation.
It’s All In How You Look, BabySo how does a country get such a bad rep? Well, if you’re Chavez it might have to do with people suddenly disappearing off the streets or the random torture of detainees. However, this isn’t the case for all countries.
Just as corporations need to build strong relationships with their publics, so do countries. So how does the United States rate? WorldPublicOpinion.org says that during the 1990s, views of the United States were considerably favorable. However, views started to drop in 2003.
Interestingly enough, positive perceptions of the U.S. did not decline exactly when the U.S. entered the war in Iraq but have declined gradually over the past four years. “Negative views have risen from 46 percent in 2005 to 52 percent in 2007.” Not good.
So what do we do? What can we do as the upcoming generation of PR professionals? I really don’t know. It’s important to understand countries are like any other type of corporation. Building strong relationships is necessary, and as statistics show, the U.S. and other coutries could use a little help–and hope.
The world is something big, but never too big for change. For the meantime, I’m glad my suitcases are empty.
