Margarita R. Seminario sits down with Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian, director of the department of social inclusion at the Organization of American States (OAS). They discuss food insecurity, poverty, gender disparities, and other barriers to social inclusion in the region. Betilde outlines how the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations, including women, indigenous peoples, Afro-Latinos, and people with disabilities. She shares her vision for how the OAS can work with other organizations to achieve greater equity and social inclusion in the region.

Margarita R. Seminario sits down with Luis Felipe Duchicela, Senior Advisor for Indigenous Peoples' Issues for the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance at USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance. They discuss how Luis Felipe's background brought him to this leadership position, and USAID's new Policy on Promoting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Luis Felipe outlines the barriers that the international development community has historically faced in assisting indigenous communities, and how those barriers helped shape USAID's new policy.

Moises Rendon sits down with Elisabeth Pramendorfer, Senior Human Rights Officer at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. They discuss how the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) applies to the case of Venezuela, particularly considering the report of the United Nations Human Rights Council Independent fact-finding mission. Elisabeth outlines common misconceptions about the use and scope of R2P and discusses next steps for the international community to protect human rights in Venezuela.

Margarita R. Seminario sits down with Ambassador John C. Richmond, the United States Ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons. They discuss trafficking in persons in the Andean region, and particularly in the context of the informal mining sector. Ambassador Richmond outlines the progress that has been made in the past 20 years to identify, monitor, and combat trafficking in the region, as well as how these efforts have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

This is a special Spanish-language episode of 35 West hosted by Dan Runde, Senior Vice President and the Director of the CSIS Americas Program. Dan sits down with María Eugenia Vidal, the former Governor of the Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. They discuss how she got her start in politics, as well as key policy issues she prioritized during her time as governor, including crime reduction and poverty. They also discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in key sectors, such as education.  

Cómo Reducir el Crimen y la Pobreza: Una Conversación con María Eugenia Vidal

Este es un episodio especial de 35 West presentado por Dan Runde, Vicepresidente y director del Programa de las Américas en CSIS. Dan conversa con Maria Eugenia Vidal, la ex gobernadora de la provincia de Buenos Aires en Argentina, sobre cómo ella se inició en la política y sobre temas en materia de política pública durante su mandato, como la reducción del delito y la pobreza. También conversan sobre cómo se ha acelerado la transformación digital en sectores como, por ejemplo, la educación, a causa de la pandemia de Covid-19.  

Margarita R. Seminario sits down with Felipe Buitrago Restrepo, Viceminister for Creativity and the Orange Economy in the Colombian Ministry of Culture. Viceminister Buitrago shares his experience in designing policies to promote the orange economy in Colombia. They discuss the untapped potential of the creative economy in Latin America, as well as how creative industries have been transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Moises Rendon sits down with John Barsa, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). They discuss how Venezuela fits into Administrator Barsa's global vision for USAID, the challenges the agency has faced in providing critical humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people, and the United States' perspective on Venezuela's upcoming parliamentary elections. 

Maria Moreno, Head of Private Sector Engagement and Head of Operations at USA for IOM, sits down with Moises Rendon to talk about the private sector's response to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. They discuss the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform established by IOM and UNHCR, as well as the important role of the Venezuelan diaspora in addressing the immediate and long-term needs of Venezuelan migrants. 

In the final episode of the series, Moises talks to CSIS Senior Advisers Juan Cruz and Mark Feierstein about the United States' strategy toward Venezuela. They discuss the successes and shortcomings of the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign and consider how this policy may evolve after U.S. presidential elections in November. 

In this episode, Moises discusses political persecution and human rights violations with Tamara Taraciuk Broner of Human Rights Watch. They hear from two Venezuelans—Rafaela Requesens and Jose Arocha—who were persecuted by the Maduro regime, and discuss what the international community needs to do to protect Venezuelan political prisoners and restore human rights in the country. Tamara is the acting deputy director of the Americas Division at Human Rights Watch.

Voices of Venezuela is a ten-episode miniseries produced by The Future of Venezuela Initiative (FVI) in partnership with the Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS. Voices of Venezuela is a unique narrative-based podcast that weaves together stories recorded on the ground with commentary from CSIS experts, who will offer their insights from a broader policy perspective. Note: As the Covid-19 pandemic changes rapidly, the quality of this series may vary over the next couple of months. We are still in production remotely so you won't miss out on any new episodes of Voices of Venezuela.