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The diverse group of sea turtle specialists from Latin America continues to grow by leaps and bounds! Thanks to the vision of 19^th Annual Symposium President, Dave Owens; financial support of the Latin American Program, Office of International Affairs, US Fish and Wildlife Service (through the administrative feats of Earl Possardt); and the boundless hospitality and organizational skills of Pat Burchfield and Carol DeMoss, the facilities at Camp Lula Sams, Brownsville, Texas, were made available during the four-day meeting (as well as earlier for a score of early arrivals).

The setting, a natural history oasis of 86 acres on the outskirts of Brownsville, provided ample space for both indoor and outdoor meetings, walks, relaxation and socializing. Registration was managed by Randall Arauz (Costa Rica); standardized forms for presentation of national summaries were produced by Diego Amorocho (Colombia), and the entire event was proficiently coordinated by Didiher Chacón (Costa Rica). Many other people helped in the planning and supporting of the reunion, not the least of which was the team of volunteers, coordinated by Sam Sadove and Jaime Peña, many of whom drove endlessly across southeastern Texas picking up people from 4 different airports, in 2 different countries.

Although not as many people attended as the year before at Mazatlán, there was a significant turnout. A total of 57 people registered; they work in the following countries: Belize (1), Brazil (2), Chile (1), Costa Rica (6), Colombia (1), Cuba (2), El Salvador (1), Guatemala (6), Honduras (1), Mexico (13), Nicaragua (8), Panama (1), Puerto Rico (2), Venezuela (6), and region-wide (6). Not only nationals of Latin America participated; in addition to the USA there were people from Australia, Belgium, India, South Africa, and Spain. Even among Latin Americans there is some "mixing," with a Chilean working in Colombia, and two Uruguayans working in Mexico. During the meeting, numerous visitors sat in for different activities.

Most people arrived on Friday the 26^th and spent the day catching up, networking and in last minute preparation. The morning of Saturday the 27^th was devoted to national summaries, with a representative from each country providing a brief synopsis of the species present, conservation problems at various levels, conservation actions, legislation and public education. In the afternoon the gathering divided into six working groups: sustainable use, interactions with fisheries, coastal development, investigation, the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, and regional legislation (these last two groups later merged).

Each group discussed a series of issues, and then presented a synopsis of the advances during the plenary at the end of the day. Sunday the 28^th, there were again several national reports, followed by extended sessions in working groups. In the evening several resolutions were considered, including: support for the Inter-American Convention, a request to Nicaraguan authorities to regulate development activities along the coast of Chacocente, and a request to Venezuelan authorities to reinstate monitoring and research activities on Aves Island. The first two resolutions were later presented and approved during the plenary session of the 19^th Symposium.

At least one person from each of the Signatory countries of the Inter-American Convention will provide follow-up activities for the ratification process (*in cases where no representative was present, the name of a person who has been active and helpful was proposed): Belize - Alfonso Avilez; Brazil - Joca Thomé; Costa Rica - National Sea Turtle Network (Randall Arauz, Rolando Castro, Didiher Chacón, Patrick Opay, and Roxana Sillman); Ecuador - (*Melania Yañez); Honduras - National Sea Turtle Network (notably Carlos Molinero); Mexico - (*CEMDA, Gustavo Alanís); Netherlands - (*Niels Valkering and Tom van Eijck); Nicaragua - National Sea Turtle Network (notably Cecilia Gutierrez); Peru - Roxana Sillman; Uruguay - Alejandro Fallabrino; USA - Marydele Donnelly; and Venezuela - Hedelvy Guada.

Final business was concluded on Monday, the 1^st of March, and then the participants moved to South Padre Island, to attend other meetings and prepare for the Symposium.

A US$10 fee was charged for registration, and the proceeds will help defray costs of communications during the organization before the reunion, as well as the printing and distribution of a final report containing the national summaries and results from each of the discussion groups.

In addition to the usual organizational aspects, a protocol for the resolution of conflicts was developed by the reunion coordinator. The meeting was a huge success, greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all those participants dedicated to the formation of networks and regional collaboration for the promotion of sea turtle conservation.

The Latin American group has built a major regional network, and it has grown to have a significant political force at the Symposium (for the past four years, this group has been a primary generator of resolutions). Plans for the VII Reunion, to be held immediately before the 20^th Annual
Symposium in Orlando, Florida, are now afoot, and should soon appear in this Newsletter. The reunion will be coordinated by Hedelvy Guada (Venezuela), Hector Horta (Puerto Rico) and Lesbia Montero (Puerto Rico); and six committees will be headed by the following volunteers: finances - Didiher Chacón (Costa Rica); communications - Alejandro Fallabrino (Uruguay) and Vicente Vera (Venezuela); equipment - Anabella Barrios (Guatemala) and Roxana Silman (Peru); registration - Cecilia Gutierrez (Nicaragua) and Marco Garcia (Venezuela); facilitation - Alfonso Aviles (Belize); and proceedings - Ana Barragan (Mexico).

Hopefully, specialists from other regions, such as the Mediterranean and Asia, will have similar success by taking advantage of time immediately before the Annual Symposium to promote regional cooperation and networks.