En este episodio de Global Stage, Alejandro González conversa con el padre Luis Fernando Múnera Congote, SJ, rector de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Colombia, sobre el papel de la educación y las universidades en la defensa de la democracia. A partir de su experiencia en temas de paz, reconciliación y justicia social, el padre Múnera reflexiona sobre la memoria histórica, la justicia transicional, la autonomía universitaria y la importancia de formar ciudadanos comprometidos con sociedades más democráticas.

In this special Global Stage episode from the 2026 Global Democracy Conference, Kellogg Doctoral Student Affiliate Patrick McQuestion speaks with human rights activist Jhanisse Vaca Daza and Kevin Sheives of the International Forum for Democratic Studies about how democracies can push back against authoritarianism. Drawing on cases from Bolivia, Venezuela, Ukraine, Iran, and beyond, the conversation explores elections under authoritarian pressure, nonviolent resistance, parallel vote counts, civic mobilization, foreign influence, and the importance of building strong local leadership before moments of democratic transition arrive.

This episode features Fernando Bizzarro, assistant professor of political science at Boston College, and Fernando Ojesto, Kellogg Institute guest scholar, exploring the “accountability dilemma” through the case of Brazil and the legal actions against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Drawing on survey data from 5,800 citizens, the conversation looks at how holding illiberal leaders accountable can reduce their public support – but also trigger backlash against democratic institutions. The episode highlights the difficult trade-offs democracies face when trying to defend themselves in highly polarized contexts.

This conversation explores the major challenges facing democracies across Latin America and the Caribbean today. It analyzes the strategies employed by increasingly authoritarian governments, and reflects on the institutional and political shortcomings within democratic systems. At the same time, the discussion highlights potential sources of resilience and emerging areas of hope for the future of democracy in the region.

In this episode of Global Stage, political scientist Alisha Holland, Gates Professor of Developing Societies at Harvard University’s Department of Government, describes elements of her book project on the rise and stall of infrastructure projects in Latin America. In conversation with Kellogg Doctoral Affiliate Patrick McQuestion, Holland describes the discursive transition from traditional public works to public-private infrastructure partnerships and the risks involved in financing and overseeing these projects today. In countries like Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, major infrastructure contracts can be leveraged by government executives to finance electoral campaigns and other political goals. But these high-level forms of corruption can be interrupted by scandals, inhibitory institutions, and civil resistance, stalling construction sometimes for years. Holland describes her approach to studying infrastructure in the field, providing valuable insight into multimethod research at work.

Venezuelan journalist and political activist Paola Bautista de Alemán joins Adriana Albanus, PhD student in Political Science and Kellogg Doctoral Student Affiliate, for a conversation on Venezuela’s long fight for freedom and democratic renewal. Drawing on her work as director of FORMA, Bautista de Alemán reflects on how democratic values are sustained under authoritarian pressure. The episode also examines the international aftermath of the recent U.S. operation that captured Nicolás Maduro and the competing debates it triggered and what external pressure can (and can’t) achieve for a democratic transition.

Jorge Ruiz Reyes, Research Associate at the Kellogg Institute, joins Ángel Muñoz Carpintero, JSD student and Kellogg Doctoral Student Affiliate, to discuss the role of open-source methods and technologies in documenting human rights violations. Ruiz Reyes, who holds a master’s in social data science from the University of Oxford, reflects on his work with Kellogg's Violence and Transitional Justice Lab (VT-J), developing tools to analyze disappearances and selective violence in Mexico.

En este episodio de Global Stage, la artista y profesora de arte visual en Harvard, Tania Bruguera, es entrevistada por Alejandro Giraldo Gil, afiliado doctoral de Kellogg, sobre sus obras y su filosofía sobre la performatividad y la expresión pública. Bruguera reflexiona sobre su trayectoria dentro y fuera de Cuba, el valor de la crítica en espacios comunitarios y su visión actual sobre la migración global. Bruguera reflexiona sobre las fuentes de la belleza en la experiencia del espectador, la oportunidad política (“political timing”) y el valor del diálogo crítico con las narrativas públicas en los espacios comunitarios.

In this episode, Gladys McCormick joins Kellogg Institute PhD Fellows Victoria Basulto (history) and Leon Heitler (political science) for a conversation about writing the history of Mexico’s “Dirty War.” McCormick discusses her new book, 'The Last Door: A History of Torture in Mexico’s War against Subversives,' and reflects on the challenges of documenting state violence through fragmented archives, contested memories, silences in the historical record, and the enduring legacy of forced disappearances and torture.