Latin America (Video)

The Institute of the Americas is pleased to present the US-Ecuador Bilateral Relations Post COVID: Build Back Better Together forum to help catalyze expanded private sector engagement, investment and economic development in Ecuador. The forum includes keynote addresses by senior officials from the Lasso Administration with presentations on Ecuador’s trade and economic agenda, as well as US-Ecuador bilateral relations on energy and climate change. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Show ID: 37414]

The Institute of the Americas presents the US-Ecuador Bilateral Relations Post COVID: Build Back Better Together forum to help catalyze expanded private sector engagement, investment and economic development in Ecuador. The forum includes keynote addresses by senior officials from the Lasso Administration with presentations on Ecuador’s trade and economic agenda, as well as US-Ecuador bilateral relations on energy. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 37407]

The Institute of the Americas is pleased to present the US-Ecuador Bilateral Relations Post COVID: Build Back Better Together forum to help catalyze expanded private sector engagement, investment and economic development in Ecuador. The forum includes keynote addresses by senior officials from the Lasso Administration with presentations on Ecuador’s trade and economic agenda, as well as US-Ecuador bilateral relations on energy and climate change. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 37406]

Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador (The Northern Triangle) are experiencing a historic Diaspora to the US southern border. The precipitants of this migration are an unprecedented economic contraction occurring after back-to-back major hurricanes compounded by a pandemic and further complicated by heightened crime, violence and corruption.

Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA-35), Co-Chair of the Congressional Central America Caucus and a native of Guatemala, shares her perspective on the importance of addressing corruption and promoting good governance as key preconditions of future direct foreign assistance by the United States.

Then, Congress members Juan Vargas (CA-51) and Scott Peters (CA-52) discuss the Biden Administration’s proposed four-year, $4 billion regional strategy for the Northern Triangle region to address security and economic factors driving migration from Central America to the US. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 37083]

The two-time Governor of New Mexico (2003-2010) and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1997-1998) and Secretary of Energy (1997- 2000) Bill Richardson shares his perspective on the challenges and opportunities confronting the Biden Administration on a wide range of issues across the Western Hemisphere including national security, migration, trade and investment, energy policy, regional cooperation as well as climate change. He also share his thoughts about the challenges ahead in rebuilding America’s soft power influence in Latin America and the Caribbean amidst the growing influence of China and Russia in the region. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 37036]

Explore economic perspectives for Mexico, the country’s energy sector outlook, work force development and local content with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Tatiana Clouthier. The conversation is moderated by Richard Kiy, President of the Institute of the Americas (IOA) and Jeffrey Davidow, former US ambassador to Mexico and Member of the IOA’s Hemispheric Advisory Board. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36882]

With the Biden Administration there is the growing prospect of a potential reversal of sanctions and regulations imposed by the Trump Administration that resulted in restricting travel, investment and remittances. At the same time, President Biden faces a challenging political landscape with Cuba as human rights abuses continue to be a serious problem in the country, its intelligence service continues to support Venezuela’s autocratic leader Nicolas Maduro, and unanswered questions about the strange brain trauma injuries experienced by U.S. diplomats and their families in Cuba linger. Additionally, pressure from the American Cuban community against a possible détente between Washington and Havana remains, adding a domestic political dimension. The recent San Isidro Movement led by Cuba’s artistic community provides hope that a new re-set in U.S-Cuba relations could lead to social and political changes on the island that would otherwise not be possible if current sanctions remain.

Panelists: Richard Feinberg, UC San Diego; Michael Bustamante, Florida International University; Javier Corrales, Amherst College; Ted Henken, Baruch College, CUNY; William LeoGrande, American University. Moderator: Margaret Crahan, Colombia University. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36855]

The People’s Republic of China has become a major investor, lender and actor across the energy sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. Indeed, loans and investments from China have financed an impressive array of projects in infrastructure, energy and mining. Cecilia Aguillon, Energy Transition Initiative Director and Jeremy M. Martin, Vice President, Energy & Sustainability at the Institute of the Americas present an overview of the Energy & Sustainability program’s report followed by a discussion with Matt Ferchen, Head of Global China Research at Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and Michael Davidson, Assistant Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) at UCSD. Series: "Hemisphere in Transition" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36789]

Sonia Nazario is an award-winning journalist whose stories have tackled some of this country's most intractable problems -- hunger, drug addiction, immigration -- and have won some of the most prestigious journalism and book awards. She is best known for "Enrique's Journey," her story of a Honduran boy's struggle to find his mother in the U.S. Published as a series in the Los Angeles Times, "Enrique's Journey" won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2003. It was turned into a book by Random House and became a national bestseller. Her recent humanitarian efforts to get lawyers for unaccompanied migrant children led to her selection as the 2015 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award recipient by the Advocates for Human Rights. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35141]

David Mares, the director of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies at UC San Diego, looks ahead to how a Trump presidency will impact Latin America. Series: "What's Next for Washington?" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 31744]