News & Publications

Trip Reports by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

Written by Jimmy Carter, former U.S. president and Nobel laureate for peace, Carter trip reports provide detailed accounts of official meetings held and trips taken by the Carter Center founder.

 

25 November 2008
South Africa and Zimbabwe Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Nov. 20-24, 2008
As president, I worked actively with African leaders and the British to change the apartheid regime of Rhodesia into a democratic Zimbabwe in 1980.  Eight years later, The Carter Center established one of our first Global 2000 agriculture projects in Zimbabwe – so successful that we soon shifted our emphasis to more needy countries.

 

13 October 2008
Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Cyprus:  Oct. 7-10, 2008
Representing the Elders, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lakhdar Brahimi, and I visited Cyprus, hoping that our expression of interest would encourage the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders in their effort to resolve the long-standing dispute over the division of the island. I was involved in this challenging diplomatic task even before becoming president in 1977.

 

23 July 2008
Report of Trip to the Arctic Region by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Observations on Global Climate Change: July 10-18, 2008
We flew with Ted Turner and Sally Ranney from the Americus airport to Goose Bay, Newfoundland, where we re-fueled and then went to the northernmost airport in the world at Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, at 78º N latitude. We first visited the newly constructed seed storage vault, where 500 seeds of as many agricultural crop species as possible will be stored indefinitely, replaced as the germination time expires.
  

22 April 2008
Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan: April 13-22, 2008
Rosalynn, Jeff, and I arrived in Israel Sunday, 4/13/08, after a very exciting and successful election monitoring mission in Nepal (see prior trip report). Since Israel had declined to approve a previously planned visit by three of us Elders (Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson, and me), I expected a similar negative reaction when I substituted this trip on behalf of The Carter Center. Sure enough, all my requests to meet with ministers of the government were publicly rejected and, more seriously, three requests from our Secret Service detail to work with Israeli security were rejected.

 

15 April 2008
Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Nepal: April 6-14, 2008
The Carter Center has been deeply involved in Nepal since 2003 in attempting to assist with ending a 10-year revolutionary war and find a peaceful resolution of differences among the political factions. I visited Nepal in June and November 2007 to help encourage an election for a constituent assembly to write a new constitution, and our team gathered these last few days to monitor the twice-postponed event.

 

8 April  2008
Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Accra, Ghana, and Abuja, Nigeria: March 30 - April 3, 2008
The primary purposes of our trip were to enhance the long-stalled eradication of Guinea worm in Ghana, to conduct our annual Guinea worm eradication meeting in Nigeria, and to induce the Nigerian government to acquire 9 million treated bed nets to combat malaria and lymphatic filaria. In addition, I wanted to have political discussions with Presidents Kufuor and Yar'Adua concerning their electoral processes.

 

10 December 2007
Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to China, Dec. 2-8, 2007
As has been our custom every few years since leaving the White House, Rosalynn and I wanted to go to China to discuss ongoing projects of The Carter Center, plan for future ones, and especially to meet the new leaders recently chosen in the 17th National People's Congress.

27 November 2007
Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Nepal, Nov. 20-24, 2007
The Carter Center has had long-term observers in Nepal since last February, preparing for elections in June and then in November, both postponed.

15 October 2007
Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to London, Khartoum, Juba, Darfur, Luneburg: Sept. 28 – Oct. 5, 2007
Jeff and I arrived in London, joined Bob Pastor and Lakhdar Brahimi, and met with former Prime Minister Tony Blair at the home of DCM Richard LeBaron.  We then met with Baroness Shriti Vadera, Under-Secretary for International Development, especially for Sudan, and she is very eager to help. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called me from a meeting at Chequers to express his support and to request a future meeting.

27 June 2007
Nepal Visit, June 11-16, 2007: Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter 
The purpose of my visit to Nepal was to help support the peace process through a series of meetings with our Carter Center long-term observers, U.S., Indian, and U.N. officials, other diplomats, civil society leaders, "marginalized groups," and representatives of the many political factions.

19 Feb 2007
Trip Report of Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter:  Africa Trip, Feb. 6-16, 2007 (Ghana, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria)
From The Carter Center, Rosalynn and I were joined by Dr. John and Laura Hardman, John and Becky Moores, and Dr. Don and Ernestine Hopkins.


9 Nov 2006
Nicaraguan Elections: Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter November 4-7, 2006 
The purpose of this trip was for The Carter Center to monitor our fourth Nicaraguan election. The first was  in 1990, while the U.S. Contra War was still being waged. The Carter Center has had six delegations of pre-election observers in the country this year and seven long-term observers since September. A number of our major suggestions have been adopted by the Supreme Electoral Council.  


6 Nov 2006
Jimmy Carter's Trip Report:  India and Thailand, Oct. 25-Nov. 3, 2006 (PDF)
The purposes of our trip were to have diplomatic discussions with top Indian officials, to participate in an award ceremony for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Awards, to build Habitat homes near Mumbai, India, and to visit the tsunami damaged area on the east coast of India and Thailand. 

7 Jul 2006
Jimmy Carter's Nicaragua Trip Report: July 3-6, 2006
Returning to Nicaragua was almost like going home. The troubled nation presented an important political issue with the overthrow of the dictator Somoza during my administration as president, followed by the fragmentation of the revolutionary front into competing political factions that resulted in the election of the leftist Sandinistas in 1984. 

30 Jan 2006
Palestinian Elections: Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

For the third time, The Carter Center agreed to monitor the elections in the West Bank and Gaza, beginning in January 1996 with the choice of Yasir Arafat as president and 88 members of the Palestinian Authority.  

18 Oct 2005
Jimmy Carter's Trip Report: Liberia and Ghana, Oct. 8-15, 2005

Our earliest visit to Liberia was in 1978, which happened to be the first time an American president went to sub-Sahara Africa. We chose Nigeria and Liberia because Nigeria was and is the largest and most influential African nation and because Liberia was founded by freed American slaves in the early 19th century.

20 Sep 2005
President Carter's Africa Trip Report: Sept. 8-17, 2005

The purpose of our trip was to visit Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and London to assess the status of our health, education, economic development, and democracy programs in these African nations and to make plans for the future. 

19 May 2005
Ethiopia Trip Report: May 11-17, 2005

The Carter Center has had a long and deep involvement in Ethiopia, beginning in 1988 when I responded to a joint request from the International Red Cross and the UN High Commissioner on Refugees.  

12 Jan 2005
President Carter's Trip Report on the Palestinian Presidential Election

On January 6, I arrived in Jerusalem to join other observers representing The Carter Center and National Democratic Institute (NDI) in observing the Palestinian election of their president. At the airport I first met with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who seemed to take the most conservative and negative stance on issues. I then had a pleasant conversation with Shimon Peres. Although he will not have a specific cabinet post as compensation for Labor's support of the Likud party, Shimon will be one of the deputy prime ministers and responsible for the resettlement of Israeli settlers who will be removed from Gaza as part of Sharon's withdrawal plan. He estimates that about 30 percent will leave voluntarily (with generous monetary compensation), and the others will resist, perhaps a small number even with violence. The southern Negev (part of Israel) will be their primary destination. It will be a very difficult task, but Prime Minister Sharon is determined to succeed. A coalition with Labor and some small religious parties and the promised abstention of the more liberal (peace-seeking) parties will provide a narrow majority in the Knesset. (Sharon later won the no-confidence vote 58-56.) 

6 Dec 2004
President Jimmy Carter: Mozambique Election Trip Report, Nov. 28 - Dec. 4, 2004

Our purpose in going to Mozambique was to observe the election for president and parliamentary members on December 1 and 2. The Carter Center has been involved in the country for about eight years to monitor previous elections, to assist with long range planning, and to conduct a Global 2000 agriculture program involving maize and rice. 

19 Aug 2004
President Jimmy Carter: Venezuela Election Trip Report, Aug 13-18, 2004

After leaving Georgetown, I arrived in Caracas in the evening of 8/13 and was briefed by Ambassador Shapiro, Jennifer McCoy, Francisco Diez, Rachel Fowler, and other staff members of The Carter Center. I gave them an assessment of my visit to Guyana, and they reported high tensions in Venezuela with the approach of the referendum revocatorio scheduled for 8/15. The next morning I met with OAS Secretary General Gaviria, with presidents Alfonsin, Betancur, Carazo, and Duhalde, and then our Carter Center staff to discuss our common approach to our monitoring duties. Excluding the presidents, our group then met with President Chavez for about two hours. He appeared quite confident but pledged to resign immediately if he should lose the referendum vote and said in that case he would rest for a week and then resume campaigning for re-election. Toward the end of our meeting, I called on him to be gracious in victory, to make every effort to reunite the divided country, and to let us help in establishing a forum for dialogue between the government and opposition groups. He did not respond directly but was very quiet while I spoke and then said he had always wanted the nation to be united. Subsequently, he said he needed to spend more time with me and asked if we could have lunch together on Monday. 

19 Aug 2004
President Jimmy Carter Visits Guyana, Aug. 11-13, 2004

After arriving in Georgetown, I had a briefing from Jason Calder, David Carroll, other Carter Center staff, and U.S. embassy staff, and then met with President Bharrat Jagdeo for about 90 minutes. The main issues that I raised and his comments are summarized below. 

9 Jul 2004
President Carter's Trip Report on Indonesia , June 30-July 7, 2004

This mission to Indonesia happens to be the fiftieth election monitored by The Carter Center in different parts of the world, all of them in nations that were facing some kind of crisis or problem in their democratic institutions - either a form of dictatorship making a transition to democracy or an established democracy under serious threat.

4 Jun 2004
President Carter's Trip Report on Venezuela, May 29-June 1, 2004

The Carter Center has been deeply involved in Venezuela election processes for the past six years, having monitored the contest for president in December 1998 in which Hugo Chavez was elected. Subsequently, we observed the referendum that approved a new constitution and then a new election in July 2000 in which Chavez was reelected and governors, members of parliament and local officials were also chosen. Subsequently, in April 2002, a temporary coup removed the president from office for about 48 hours, and domestic turmoil persisted after that political crisis. A belief that the United States gave at least tacit support for the coup attempt and harsh statements by President Chavez have strained relations between the two countries.

9 Feb 2004
Africa Trip Report: Feb. 2-7, 2004

In many ways, this fairly rapid visit to Togo, Ghana, and Mali has been typical of our excursions to Africa during the past two decades. We almost always make brief visits to a number of countries, have access to the highest officials, and have either problems to resolve, a new project to undertake, or an election to monitor. 

30 Jan 2004
Venezuela Trip Report: Jan. 25-27, 2004

Except for nations ripped apart by civil war, for several years Venezuela has been the most divided country in which The Carter Center is involved, and there are few evident means by which this division can be healed from within. We have been deeply involved in electoral and other matters in Venezuela since the general election of 1998, when Hugo Chavez was elected overwhelmingly as president, defeating candidates from major parties that had become almost totally discredited among citizens.

23 Dec 2003
President Carter's Bolivia Trip Report: Dec. 16-21, 2003

Bolivia is a small landlocked country in South America that has been torn apart by poverty and political strife. Following public disturbances and harsh responses in February and October of this year, during which about 60 demonstrators were killed, President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (known as 'Goni') was forced to resign and leave the country two months ago, after being elected in 2002. With about 65 percent of the population, the indigenous people have demanded greater participation in the political process and a more equitable share of the country's wealth. 

3 Dec 2003
President Carter's Geneva Trip Report

For a number of months, we at The Carter Center have been monitoring and sup-porting the peace initiative between some of the same negotiators who participated in the final Clinton effort at Camp David and later in Taba, Egypt. They concentrated their efforts when all peace talks were terminated between the government of Israel and Palestinian authorities. 

16 Sep 2003
President Carter's Japan and China Trip Report

Rosalynn, John Hardman, Melissa Montgomery, and I departed for Tokyo on Wednesday September 3. The primary purposes of this trip were to promote the development of agriculture in Africa and to further political democratization in China, to build upon the ongoing projects of The Carter Center in these important arenas. 

22 Jan 2003
President Carter's Trip Report: Venezuela

Visit to Caracas, Venezuela: January 20-21, 2003. After three days of fishing for Peacock Bass on the Orinoco River in Southern Venezuela, we returned to Caracas. It was the fifty-first day of a nationwide strike, with constant demonstrations, some violence on the streets, and devastating consequences to the economy and social structure of the nation, with oil production reduced drastically. 

21 Oct 2002
President Carter's Jamaica Trip Report

The Carter Center has monitored more than three-dozen elections in nations around the world, including those in Latin America, North America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. We accept this responsibility only when the elections are apparently too controversial to generate full confidence among the citizens. Sometimes, as in the case of Indonesia, it is the first move from an authoritarian government to a democracy. 
 
12 Jul 2002
President Carter's Trip Report on Venezuela

The Carter Center has been deeply involved in Venezuela during recent years, having monitored two national elections, the drafting of a new constitution, and the referendum for public approval. We also have attempted to reduce tension in this sharply divided country, with the charismatic and unorthodox President Hugo Chavez confronted by a phalanx of opposition forces concerned about his revolutionary policies. The Carter Center received an invitation from the government of Venezuela, dated June 4, 2002, requesting we visit the country and facilitate a process of dialogue.  

21 May 2002
President Carter's Cuba Trip Report

Having received several verbal invitations from President Fidel Castro to visit Cuba, I accepted an official one in January, and we made arrangements for the trip through the Cuban Interest Section in Washington. Our key request was for me to speak directly to the Cuban people, preferably in the evening and with live television coverage, and this was granted.

2 Mar 2002
Africa Trip Report: March 2002

Rosalynn and I and Carter Center staff flew from Atlanta via Frankfurt and Cairo, and at the latter stop received a briefing on Egypt's perspective of the Sudan situation. Egypt has been working in concert with Libya, and their primary goal has been a united Sudan. This pleases Khartoum and contradicts the Sudan People's Liberation Movement's (SPLM) position of retaining the right to independence for the south if their other primary goals are not realized.

26 Nov 2001
Trip to Mexico City

The primary purpose of this brief trip was to attend an Inter-American conference on onchocerciasis, a tropical disease that The Carter Center has been targeting for about 12 years.

2 Nov 2001
Trip to Nicaragua

For 100 years, the United States' relations with Nicaragua have always been interesting and filled with drama. For me, they began during my term as president. In 1977, Nicaragua was controlled completely by a dictator, Anastazio Somoza, who enjoyed a firm working relationship with the U.S. government and some very influential American corporations. We condemned Somoza's human rights abuses with some effect.

1 Sep 2001
China, Mongolia Trip

At the invitation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, for the last four years The Carter Center has helped monitor and improve elections in the small villages of China. Best estimates are that there are 800,000 of them, within which 900 million peasants live. For the first time in the history of China, about 600 million of these villagers are now experiencing at least some aspects of real democracy. 

 
31 Jul 2001
Washington, D.C., Bangladesh, and South Korea

Bob Pastor of Emory University and I flew from Americus to Washington and joined Bob Michel and Phil Zelikow at the White House to give President Bush and his staff a summary of the Federal Election Commission recommendations. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. Smaller than Georgia, its population is 130 million, amounting to about 2,400 people per square mile. Its recent political history is tortured, beginning with a successful struggle for independence from Pakistan in 1971. I then went to Seoul, South Korea, and drove about two hours south to Hoseo University, in Asan, which is near one of our six Habitat building sites and where we had a room. 

4 Jun 2001
Uganda & Kenya

This trip was made possible by the generosity of Richard Blum, who offered his G-4 for transportation. After refueling stops in the Azores and Marakesh, we arrived in Uganda to assess our Guinea worm eradication efforts, river blindness treatments, agriculture projects, and the peace process between Uganda and Sudan.

20 Apr 2001
United Arab Emirates

After being awarded the Zayed International Prize for the Environment, I decided to go to Dubai to accept the $500,000 award for The Carter Center.

5 Apr 2001
Peru

Monitoring this election was a labor of love. Rosalynn and I have been involved with Peru for many years, beginning in 1948 when I was in submarine school in New London Connecticut. 

 
16 Mar 2001
Guyana Trip Report: March 2001

Rosalynn, John Hardman, Chuck Costello, and Nancy Konigsmark accompanied me from Albany, Georgia, to Georgetown, Guyana, on Friday, March 16, on J.B. Fuqua's Challenger. Michael Ashcroft provided the funding that made it possible for us to participate as election monitors.  

22 Aug 2000
Aspen and Alaska

Rosalynn and I went first to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Aspen Institute. I was asked to make the final address and to answer questions in a conference titled "Globalization and the Human Condition." We then flew to Anchorage, where I was honored on the 20th anniversary of the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA), which we finally got passed into law in December, 1980.  

26 Jul 2000
Venezuela

After the scheduled May 28 elections were abruptly but wisely postponed, The Carter Center maintained a small staff in Caracas. We organized another observer delegation for the rescheduled elections on July 30.

30 Jun 2000
Trip to Mexico and Nigeria

Rosalynn and I flew to Mexico City to observe the election, the first time government officials have invited me personally. 

27 Nov 1999
S. Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Kenya

Our primary goals for this trip were to visit our grandson Jason in S. Africa, to travel through Swaziland, to monitor the elections for parliament and president in Mozambique, and to respond to a request from Presidents Museveni and al Bashir to mediate the long-standing dispute between Uganda and Sudan.  

5 Oct 1999
Switzerland, England, Norway, The Netherlands, Mali

During the past two weeks, we have visited the World Health Organization in Geneva; public officials and potential private donors in London, Oslo, and The Hague; and Bamako, Mali, for an assessment of our health and agriculture programs in Africa.  

1 Jun 1999
Visit to Indonesia

Following a preliminary visit to Jakarta in March-April of this year, we decided that The Carter Center should monitor the election in Indonesia, with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as a partner. 

18 Mar 1999
Trip to Philippines, Taiwan, and Indonesia

After careful briefings by experts on both the Peoples' Republic of China and Taiwan and an assessment of the situation in Indonesia, Rosalynn, Chip, Jeff, Annette, and I left Atlanta on March 18 for the Philippines, where we were to join other volunteers and build Habitat houses. 

25 Feb 1999
Visit to Nigeria

Rosalynn and I flew to Nigeria with Richard Blum in his Gulfstream. We joined Chuck Costello of The Carter Center and Ken Wollack of the National Democratic Institute, who headed our joint teams that have been in Nigeria since October to observe local elections in December, state elections in January, and the election on February 20 for the National Assembly. On this visit our purpose was to observe the presidential election on February 27.

18 Jan 1999
Trip Report on Nigeria

I have been visiting Nigeria for 20 years and have an affinity for the nation and appreciation for its great potential. Since its independence in 1960, Nigerians have enjoyed civilian governments for less than 10 years, and for 28 years some benevolent but mostly oppressive and corrupt military regimes. Despite this, Nigeria has been the most influential country in West Africa, and often very helpful in recent years in maintaining stability and even promoting democracy in the region. We have seen this in the disarmament of military factions and support of democratic elections in Liberia in July 1997.

4 Dec 1998
Visit to Venezuela

The Carter Center and our Council of Freely Elected Heads of State were invited by the major candidates and the National Electoral Council to serve as observers for the elections on December 6, when a new president was to be chosen.

25 Nov 1998
Oman and Abu Dhabi Trip Report

Our fairly rapid visit to Oman and Abu Dhabi had two basic purposes, to express our thanks to the two leaders and to seek financial assistance for our health program in Africa. 

2 Nov 1998
Trip to Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua

The purpose of our trip was to set the stage for monitoring elections in Venezuela and to prepare for our anti-corruption conference next May. 

31 Mar 1998
Visit to Africa

With Rosalynn, Jeff, Annette, Gordon Streeb, and Nancy, we had a great trip made possible by John and Becky Moores, who furnished their airplane. Our overall purpose was to help expedite the eradication of Guinea worm, to examine and enhance our Sasakawa-Global 2000 agriculture projects, to help resolve some problems with democracy, and to explore the possibility of inaugurating Global Development Initiatives similar to ours in Guyana. 

18 Dec 1997
Jamaica Election

When we visited Jamaica last January, the two opposition political parties(JLP and NDM) asked The Carter Center to monitor the next parliamentary elections. However, they felt there would be less of a need to do so if a high technology system of voter registration and polling was installed.  

21 Aug 1997
Visit to Africa: Malta, Ethiopia, and Lalibela

After refueling in Bermuda and the Azores, we spent the afternoon and night in Malta. Although brief, it was a surprisingly interesting and delightful visit. There are few countries on earth that have had a more varied history, and with English an official second language, it is very easy for American visitors to experience what Malta has to offer. 

23 Jul 1997
Visit to China

After leaving Liberia, we traveled to Beijing, where we met Sam Nunn (direct from Pyongyang and Seoul) and Mike Oksenberg, who was my National Security Advisor on China.  

16 Jul 1997
Visit to Liberia

I returned to Liberia about two weeks after my previous visit, this time accompanied by Rosalynn. Of an original population of 2.4 million, there have been 200,000 deaths, 600,000 refugees, and 800,000 displaced persons now living in camps near Monrovia. Despite this, we found that 751,000 people had registered to vote. Earlier this year, UNOMIL and ECOMOG forces completed a successful disarmament of warring factions and were maintaining almost perfect order, while the Nigerians and other ECOWAS leaders orchestrated and implemented the electoral process we were there to observe.

25 Jun 1997
Visit to Liberia and Nigeria

The primary purpose of this trip was to complete the long search for peace and democracy in Liberia, an effort in which The Carter Center has been deeply involved for the last six years.

18 Apr 1997
Visits to Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, and Ethiopia

I made a brief visit to East Africa from April 18 to 21, and had a chance to consult with Presidents Moi and Museveni and with Prime Minister Meles. I also visited Khartoum, where I had extensive meetings with President Omer al Bashir, Foreign Minister Taha, Peace Minister Khalifa, Dr. Turabi, and some rebel leaders who, I understand, signed a Peace Agreement (PA) with the government yesterday.