Statement on Foreign Government Funding

Washington, DC – On September 7, 2014, The New York Times featured an article examining foreign government funding of US think tanks. While the article targeted the influence of foreign governments on the research and work conducted at a few particular think tanks, the Inter-American Dialogue was mentioned in a general info-graphic. It stated that our amount of foreign government funding was not disclosed and that our funding from countries like Colombia may have influenced our position on trade policy.

The purpose of this statement is to reiterate the Dialogue’s existing practices, commitment to transparency and intellectual independence, and our record of foreign government funding.

The Dialogue is deeply committed to intellectual independence in our work and analysis, which is also reflected in our agreements with donors. Our events and publications, whether on trade policy or any other issue, represent many views and diversity of opinions. Foreign government funding has never influenced the Dialogue’s independence or position, nor has our funding from other sources. We have never provided lobbying services for any donor to the Dialogue.

The Dialogue’s donors and funding sources are diverse. Foreign government funding has consistently represented a small portion of the Dialogue’s revenue – during the last 5 years it averaged one percent of our annual revenue.

The Dialogue was not contacted in the preparation of this article. The Dialogue is transparent in listing all donors in our Annual Report and on our website. The Dialogue’s 990s are readily available online and are, as stipulated by the IRS, available to any individual or organization by request.

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