History of the

R W o n rld nio Le ral U NG banese Cultu O UN Ass GC- ociated with the D A ccr -UN edited at ECOSOC

World Lebanese Cultural Union 1959 - 2020 Dr Natalio Chidiac Havana -Cuba 1959 uJanuary 31st 1959: Dr Natalio Chidiac founded The Federation of Intercontinental Lebanese Entities (FIEL) in Havana, Cuba. It brought under its umbrella Lebanese entities from the Americas only. The origin of FIEL and WLCU The Lebanese Cabinet

August 29th 1959:

The Lebanese Cabinet decided at its meeting, to lay the ground for a “conference” that connects all the Lebanese living abroad. 1st FIEL Congress - 1960

u January 31st 1960: 1st FIEL Congress was held in Mexico City and founded the World Lebanese Union (WLU), an organization that embraces Lebanese entities from both inside and outside the Americas. Regions such as Australia and Africa would also be involved. A Lebanese presidential decree - 1960 u March 1st 1960: A Lebanese presidential decree number 3423 was issued creating a permanent central committee headed by the Lebanese Foreign Minister, its mission was to plan a Diaspora conference aiming to adopt a permanent “official institution” for the Lebanese emigrants worldwide. The 1st WLU Congress – 1960 u September 15th 1960: The 1st WLU Congress was held at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, . The World Lebanese Union is adopted as the sole official representative of the Lebanese Diaspora. The Congress was inaugurated by the Lebanese President of the Republic , the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister Philip Takla. The World Lebanese Union according to its first constitution, selected an executive office, headed temporarily by the Foreign Minister to oversee the Union until the future elections of a World President and World Council. 2nd FIEL Congress - Buenos Aires 1961 uNovember 1961: 2nd FIEL Congress took place in Buenos Aires. BOSTON 1962 - WLU BOSTON 1962 - October 21st, 1962 FIEL merging with the WLU. u October 21st, 1962: The WORLD LEBANESE UNION (WLU) and FIEL held a joint Conference in Boston, USA. u The meeting was headed by the Lebanese Foreign Minister Dr Philip Takla who then declared:” I hasten to make it clear that the Lebanese Government has no authority and does not want to have any authority over the Union and it does not supervise it nor restrict it to anything and when your World Conference is held next year in Beirut, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and his permanent office will hand over everything to your elected body and the government shall have nothing to do with the Union other than the relationship of love and assistance and encouragement”. u At this Congress, FIEL merged with the WLU. Beirut – Lebanon – President Fouad Chehab Beirut – Lebanon – President Fouad Chehab u August 20th 1964: The 2nd WLU World Congress was held in Beirut, inaugurated by the Lebanese President of the Republic, Fouad Chehab. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, then Fouad Ammoun, addressed the Congress as Head of the Permanent Office: “The government has made every effort to assist until the day you stand alone before the task and this day has come today." This statement confirmed the determination of the Government, in the presence of the head of State and all officials, that the “World Lebanese Union” has become an independent institution. The Congress elected the first WLU World President George Traboulsi and the first World Council. Lawyers & Businessmen Convention

1966 Magazine 1968 - 1973 u 1968: The 3rd WLU World Congress, Beirut, elected Nicholas Abboud from Australia as World President. u u 1969: WLU Congress is held in Miami, Florida and elected Jamil Dounya from Caracas, Venezuela as World President. u u 1970: WLU Congress is held in Mexico City and elected Jose Kamel from Mexico as World President. u u 1971: WLU Congress is held in Africa and elected Anwar ElKhalil from Lagos, Nigeria as World President. Badawi Bou Dib was selected as Secretary General. Beirut 1973

u Left to Right: Badawi Bou Dib - Anwar Elkhalil – DR Antonio Helou – Anthony Abraham 1973 - 1977 u September 1973: The 5th WLU World Congress elected Anthony Abraham from Miami, USA as World President u December 13th 1973: The WLU added the Word “Cultural” to its name. It registered in Lebanon as “World Lebanese Cultural Union” (registration 363/A.D.) during the term of the World President Anthony Abraham, Secretary General Malek Chalhoub and World Treasure Michel Gemayel. u 1974: The WLCU elected Selim Makhlouf from Colombia as World President. In November, 1975, 1976 with PM Saeb Salam

Anthony Braham - Anwar Khalil - Ali Sabbah 1977 - 1991 u 1977: The WLCU elected Daher El-Rahi from the USA as World President. u 1978: 7th World Congress, Santiago, Chile, elected Emilio Haron Tohme from Mexico as World President. u 1979: The WLCU elected Garibaldi Abboud from Argentina as World President. u 1981: The WLCU elected Sami El-Khoury from Equador as World President u 1982: The WLCU elected Ali Al-Sabbah from Ivory Coast as World President u 1985: The WLCU elected Nichola El-Khoury from Canada as World President 1991: 9th World Congress elected Anwar Kuri Adem from Mexico as World President 1994: 10th world Congress, Sao Paolo, elected George Antoine from Brazil as World President 1997: 11th world Congress, Los Angeles, elected Naji Naim from USA as World President 2000: 12th world Congress, Mexico City, elected Bechara Bechara of Mexico as World Council Chairman. 2002: 12th world Congress, Las Vegas, USA, elected Bechara Bechara from Mexico as World President. 2003: 13th world Congress, Miami, USA, elected Joseph Baini from Australia as World President 2005: 14th world Congress, Sidney, Australia, elected Anise Garabet from USA as World President u 2007: 15th world Congress, elected Elie Hakme from Brazil as World President 2009: 16th world Congress, Mexico City, elected Eid Chedrawi from Ghana as World President u 2012: 17th world Congress, in Mexico City, elected Michel Doueihi from Australia as World President 2014: 18th world Congress, Buenos Aires, elected Alejandro Kuri from Mexico as World President u 2016: 19th world Congress, Toronto, Canada, elected Elias Kassab from Canada as World President 2018: 20th World Congress, New York, held an Extraordinary Session (April). 2018: 20th World Congress Paris, held an Ordinary Session (September) and assigned a Presidential Council, headed by Elias Kassab, to lead the organization for seven months.

u 2019: 20th World Congress, closing session, Bogota, Colombia, elected Stephen Stanton from Australia as World President