Internationalism has come to Nevada with a vengeance.
Although tourism and gaming remain the state's major industries,Nevada's exports overseas are surging, and citizens' interest in world affairs is also growing, as evidenced by the proliferation of international-related organizations such as the Northern Nevada World Trade Council, the Northern Nevada International Center, the Nevada Committee on Foreign Relations, the Las Vegas World Affairs Council, and the Nevada Consular Corps.
I serve as honorary consul of Uruguay for the State of Nevada and currently hold the position of vice dean of the Nevada Consular Corps.
When I was appointed to my consular post in 1999 by Uruguayan President Julio Maria Sanguinetti, our corps numbered seven.
Today, 17 nations are represented,with at least two more countries set to appoint Nevada consuls later this year.
Consular Corps members are Nevadans who have distinguished themselves in the law, medicine, business, and politics.
Former Gov.
Bob Miller, for example, is honorary consul of Bulgaria, former Lt.
Gov.
Lonnie Hammargren represents Belize, and former Nevada GOP Chairman Lea Roberts is honorary consul of Romania.
Working in conjunction with Nevada Chief of Protocol Gayle Anderson, who also serves as Global Trade Representative for the Commission of Economic Development, our corps is headed by Dean Andre Yves Portal, honorary consul of France and a Las Vegas hotel executive.
Fourteen of the consuls live in the Las Vegas area, and three of us are northerners.
The other two Reno-area diplomats are industrialist Dr.
Rudolph W.
Gunnerman, honorary consul of Honduras, and Bernard Brady, M.D., honorary consul of Ireland, who has been of great assistance to me in helping commemorate the 100th anniversary of Fallon's founding by Irish-born Mike Fallon.
Appointment to a consular post requires the selection and approval of the sponsoring nation's government and the U.S.
Department of State.
Once approved, consuls receive State Department identification cards, official Nevada license plates which bear the words "Consular Corps,"and are accorded diplomatic privileges under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations such as limited diplomatic immunity and the right to display their respective flags and coats of arms on their offices, residences, vehicles, and vessels.
Many of us receive no salaries from our governments.
Some are paid stipends for postage, stationary, telephone, and office rent.
Honorary consuls' responsibilities range from representing their nations in cultural, educational, trade, social, education and tourism promotional activities.We also assist nationals of our nations who become ill or die while in Nevada.And we are charged with visiting citizens of the countries we represent who have been jailed and have immigration and wide-ranging legal problems.
Sometimes our work takes us out of state, and I have attended regional consular conferences in Mexico, California, and Arizona during my tenure.
Recently, I traveled to Orange County, Calif., where I serve as a member of the board of trustees of Chapman University.
Along with Dr.
Carlos Gitto, career Uruguayan Consul General, who represents Uruguay in the Western United States from his office in Los Angeles,we presented Chapman President James Doti, the "Global Ambassador Award" for his efforts in spreading international understanding.
Dr.Doti's paternal grandparents emigrated to Uruguay in 1910 before coming to the U.S.
several years later, and he received the citation before more than 100 university administrators, faculty, and students.
The life of an honorary consul in Nevada is rewarding and challenging, and the growth of our consular corps reflects the state's concomitant rising interest in international affairs.
Publisher Emeritus of the daily Lahontan Valley News and Fallon-Eagle Standard and a current featured columnist of the newspaper, David C.
Henley with his wife, Ludie, owned the publication for 28 years before selling it last year to the Renoheadquartered Swift Newspapers.
Henley is a former president of the Nevada Press Association and a retired brigadier general in the Nevada National Guard.
