So many things were going through my mind as I sat down in his office and heard his speak with such patience and peace. I felt some type of admiration, inspiration and hope. I never heard some one like Charles my mentor talk the way he did about Latin America—especially Mexico. I forgot about the borders and colors dividing countries. I forgot about racism. The way he speaks about Mexico is the way we should express ourselves about other countries—respectful of people and their culture. I remember that my freshmen humanities teacher, Diana, told me “Charles is one of those guys that is all into ‘Viva la raza’ with out being Latino.” and the moment he shared his experience with me proved it.
I didn’t speak the language of math, I ended up learning Spanish and Portuguese,
Charles Pope was born and raised in San Diego. His parents were math teachers—his brother inherited the math gene, but Charles developed a greater interest in international relations, especially in Latin America. “I didn’t speak the language of math, I ended up learning Spanish and Portuguese,” Charles explained. “When I was in college I decided to study abroad in Spain and that really turned out to be a career decision.” After learning Spanish in Spain, Charles came back to California. In 2004 he graduated with a Masters from the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UCSD. He also wanted to contribute to future social justice in Mexico, his great interest in the Mexican culture and Spanish language brought him to the University of San Diego Institute of Peace and Justice’s Trans-Border Institute.

“If we are helping to educate and inform elected officials and the voting public I think that in the long run it is going to be very helpful and important.” The Trans-Border Institute is filled with people like Charles, trying to inform and educate people here in United States about problems such as immigration, drug violence, and corruption that are happening in Mexico that affect us “I feel we are making some small contributions to future social justice in México and into the border region”

Having the opportunity from his job to travel to different parts of México, such as Ciuada Juarez; one of the city’s that has been impacted the most from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the assembly plants, has made him realize that “ United States is responsible for some of the problems they have experienced and we have an obligation as neighbors to help them out.” Also while visiting Brazil he found similarities between México and Brazil, “They both have big economies, yet they are both categorized by high degree of inequality and they have a serious public security problem.”
“we have an obligation as neighbors to help them out”
Charles wants to work closer with Latin America so his career aspirations have changed. He knows that making good business can benefited the country’s environment and increase the growth of good paying jobs “I want to get into corporate social responsibility; which is how a business can make a profit and at the same time help the environment, labor and further social change by acting responsibility. “