UO students studying in Argentina got an up-close look at politics and the struggle for democracy in other nations as they met with a former president and spoke with a newspaper owner after his offices were ransacked.

Two groups of students are taking part in a study abroad program in the South American nation. One from the School of Journalism and Communication is looking a media in Argentina and another is focusing on human rights and social justice issues.

The latter group recently had a chance to sit down with the former president of Uruguay after crossing the border to visit the capital, Montevideo. They met for two hours with José “Pepe” Mujica to discuss politics, justice and the environment.

Students from the journalism and communications school also got a lesson in free speech and its challenges when they spoke with the owner of Tiempo Argentina, a local newspaper whose offices had just been broken into by “armed thugs” who destroyed equipment in an effort to silence its journalists.

Will Johnson, a study abroad instructor and policy advisor, and Peter Laufer, the J. Wallace Chair in Journalism, wrote an op-ed column in The Register-Guard about the meeting. Johnson and Laufer are traveling with the students.

For more, read “UO students get a ‘very real’ lesson in freedom of speech” in The Register-Guard and “Students dive into global social justice and human rights issues in Rosario, Argentina” on the Office of International Affairs website.