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🟥Week of December 16: I’m shutting down most comms and meetings to finish a big project in the last few days before the holidays. I will be buried in that and difficult to contact. After that, I'm off work until January 6.
3 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Tuesday, December 17
11:30 at migrationpolicy.org: The Biden Legacy on Immigration: A Complex Picture (RSVP required).
Wednesday, December 18
2:00 on Border Network for Human Rights Zoom: Report from the Border: What to expect from the Trump’s Administration on Border Militarization and Immigration Enforcement (RSVP required).
Thursday, December 19
10:00-11:30 at csis.org: The Future of Democracy and Human Rights in American Foreign Policy (RSVP required).
10 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Monday, December 9
11:00 at the Atlantic Council and atlanticcouncil.com: Driving smart cities in Latin America and the Caribbean (RSVP required).
Tuesday, December 10
9:00-10:30 at the Inter-American Dialogue and thedialogue.org: Political Imprisonment and Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean (RSVP required).
3:00-4:00 at the Wilson Center and wilsoncenter.org: A Latin America Agenda for a New White House and Congress (RSVP required).
Wednesday, December 11
9:15-10:30 at the Inter-American Dialogue and thedialogue.org: Women, Financial Inclusion, and Family Remittances in Guatemala (RSVP required).
1:00-2:00 at WOLA and wola.org: La Paz Total, El Capitulo Étnico y la Hermandad Afro Americana (RSVP required).
2:00 in Room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building and online: Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations entitled The Communist Cuban Regime’s Disregard for Human Rights.
8 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Monday, December 2
10:00 at acleddata.com: Is ‘Total Peace’ still possible? A conversation on Colombia’s armed groups under Petro (RSVP required).
Tuesday, December 3
10:00-11:00 at CSIS and csis.org: Addressing Maduro’s Oil Lifeline in the Wake of a Stolen Election (RSVP required).
8:00pm at NACLA Zoom: Venezuela in the New Trump Era (RSVP required).
Wednesday, December 4
9:00-12:30 at the Brookings Institution and brookings.edu: The fentanyl epidemic in North America and the global reach of synthetic opioids (RSVP required).
10:30 at atlanticcouncil.org: El Salvador’s economic evolution: Investment insights and opportunities (RSVP required).
11:00-12:30 at insightcrime.org: Behind Bars, Beyond Control: The Fall of Ecuador’s Prisons and the Rise of Its Mafias (RSVP required).
10:30-12:00 at the Wilson Center and wilsoncenter.org: The Next President of the United States: Challenges and Recommendations for the US-Mexico Relationship (RSVP required).
10 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Monday, November 18
12:30-2:00 at George Washington University: Can Peru’s Democracy Survive? Insights from President Francisco Sagasti and Ambassador Stephen McFarland (RSVP required).
2:00-3:00 at refugeesinternational.org: Cartagena +40: Where Next for Refugee Protection in Latin America? (RSVP required).
Tuesday, November 19
1:00-2:00 at csis.org: Report Launch: Firearms Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean (RSVP required).
2:30 at atlanticcouncil.org: Building the future of cross-sector collaboration in the Summit of the Americas (RSVP required).
3:00-4:00 at the Inter-American Dialogue and thedialogue.org: Realizing the Economic Potential of Latin America and the Caribbean: A Fireside Chat with William Maloney and Kellie Meiman Hock (RSVP required).
1:00 at LAV Zoom: Mano Dura, la Receta Latinoamérica (RSVP required).
6:00 at GHRC Zoom: Democracy, Justice, and Territory (RSVP required).
Wednesday, October 30
9:30-11:00 at stimson.org: Assessing Global Arms Trade Transparency (RSVP required).
11:00-12:00 at thedialogue.org: A Conversation with Paul Simons on the US Election and the Future of Energy and Climate in Latin America (RSVP required).
11:00-12:30 at wilsoncenter.org: Nuclear Strain: Looking Back at Brazil-US Nuclear Diplomatic Relations (RSVP required).
5:00-6:30 at wola.org: Texas’s Operation Lone Star: Abuse on the Borderline (RSVP required). (Hey, I’m organizing this one. Don’t miss it.)
Thursday, October 31
10:00 at migrationpolicy.org: Charting a Smart Agenda for Managing Climate Migration (RSVP required).
10:00-11:30 at the Inter-American Dialogue and online: Social Media and Elections: Navigating Disinformation and Free Speech (RSVP required).
11:00-12:15 at wilsoncenter.org: Mexico’s Constitutional Changes: Energy Outlook and Implications (RSVP required).
2:00-3:00 at George Washington University: Crime and Policing in Brazil (RSVP required).
9:00-11:30 at the Inter-American Dialogue: Bolstering Latin America-Japan-US Cooperation on Energy Transition and Critical Minerals Supply (RSVP required).
9:30-10:45 at IRI: Advancing democracy: A fireside chat on US global leadership and priorities with Assistant Secretary Rand (RSVP required).
10:30-12:00 at the Wilson Center: Tackling the Root Causes: Food Insecurity and Forced Migration in Latin America (RSVP required).
12:00-1:30 at Georgetown University and online: Argentina: Finding the Center in the Age of Right-wing Populism (RSVP required).
Thursday, October 10
12:00-1:30 at WOLA Zoom: Responding Effectively to the Fentanyl Overdose Crisis: Evidence from the Border and Beyond (RSVP required).
Friday, October 11
9:00-10:00 at brookings.edu: The international aid architecture: Addressing development challenges in fragile and conflict-affected areas (RSVP required).
3:00-4:00 at wilsoncenter.org: Negotiated Inequality: Latin America and the Making of the Nuclear Club (RSVP required).
3:00 at Faith in Action Zoom: How Could the U.S. elections Impact Central America? (RSVP required).
3:00-5:00 at Georgetown University: 2024 Washington Brazil Conference – The Rise of the Far-Right: Challenges to Democracy in Brazil and Abroad (RSVP required).
4:30-6:00 at George Mason University Carter School: Innovations in Peacebuilding in Haiti (RSVP required).
Wednesday, September 25
10:00 at Alianza Regional Zoom: Violencia digital y libertad de expresión: un reto para el periodismo en América Latina y el Caribe (RSVP required).
2:00 in Room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building and online: Hearing of the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs on The Border Crisis: The Cost of Chaos.
3:00-4:15 at Georgetown University: Fiscal Redistribution in Latin America (RSVP required).
2:00-3:30 at the Woodrow Wilson Center: Supervising Democracy: Venezuela, Guatemala, and the State of Electoral Observation in the Americas (RSVP required).
3:00-4:20 at the Inter-American Dialogue and thedialogue.org: Casualties of Authoritarianism: Closing on Pluralism and the Fate of Nicaraguan Former Political Prisoners (RSVP required).
10:00 in Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building and online: Hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance on Oversight of Homeland Security Investigations.
2:00 in Room 2141 Rayburn House Office Building and online: Hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government on “The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Noncitizen Voting“.
Wednesday, September 11
1:00-5:00 at the Wilson Center and online: Mexico’s Constitutional Reforms Conference – Implications to US-MX Relations (RSVP required).
1:30-3:00 at Amnesty International Zoom: Technology at the US-Mexico Border: What Communities Need to Know (RSVP required).
11 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Monday, June 10, 2024
11:00-12:15 at the Inter-American Dialogue: Addressing the Root Causes of Migration: Insights from the US Strategy for Central America (RSVP required).
2:00 at the Atlantic Council: From competition to competitiveness: Unlocking growth and productivity in LAC (RSVP required).
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
9:45-11:00 at CSIS and csis.org: Report Launch: Friendshoring the Lithium-Ion Battery Supply Chain (RSVP required).
10:00 at the Brookings Institution and brookings.edu: The economics and politics of immigration (RSVP required).
10:00-11:00 at wilsoncenter.org: New Hurdles for Elections in Latin America (RSVP required).
3:00-4:15 at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Children at Risk at the Border Report Release (RSVP required).
10:05 in Room 2175 Rayburn House Office Building and online: Hearing of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education on The Consequences of Biden’s Border Chaos for K-12 Schools.
1:00 at Hope Border Institute Zoom: Reimagining Humanitarian Protection from the Border (RSVP required).
10:30-12:00 at wilsoncenter.org: Election Series | Freedom of Speech and Protecting Journalists in Mexico (RSVP required).
11:00-12:00 at pbiusa.org: Courageous commitment to LGBTQIA+ rights / Compromiso valiente con los derechos LGBTQIA+ (RSVP required).
3:00-4:30 at WOLA and wola.org: Argentina: Democracy and Human Rights Under President Javier Milei (RSVP required).
4:00-5:00 at atlanticcouncil.org: Journalists report: Preview of Mexico’s June 2 election (RSVP required).
Thursday, May 30, 2024
10:00-11:00 at wilsoncenter.org: The Dengue Epidemic: A New Test of Latin America’s Health Sector (RSVP required).
10:00-11:00 at refugeesinternational.org: Living in Displacement in the Climate Emergency: Refugees and Climate Shocks (RSVP required).
11:00-12:00 at wilsoncenter.org: Election Series | The Future of US-Mexico Security Cooperation (RSVP required).
12:00-1:15 at the U.S. Institute of Peace: Strengthening Democracy in the Americas (RSVP required).
Friday, May 31, 2024
9:30-10:30 at usip.org: Huawei’s Expansion in Latin America and the Caribbean (RSVP required).
10:00-10:45 at the Atlantic Council and atlanticcouncil.org: The road to COP16 in Cali with Colombian Minister of Environment Susana Muhamad (RSVP required).
1:30-2:30 at atlanticcouncil.org: Hurricane readiness: Building climate resilience in the Caribbean (RSVP required).
16 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Monday, May 20, 2024
3:00-4:30 at wilsoncenter.org: Election Series | Discussing Mexico’s Third Presidential Debate (RSVP required).
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
10:00-11:00 at wilsoncenter.org: The Dengue Epidemic: A New Test of Latin America’s Health Sector Preparedness (RSVP required).
10:00-12:00 at the Inter-American Dialogue and online: Medios y democracia en las Américas VI: El periodismo independiente ante el declive democrático en la región (RSVP required).
3:00-4:00 at the Inter_American Dialogue and thedialogue.org: Chile’s Foreign Policy Priorities (RSVP required).
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
10:00 in Room 2359 Rayburn House Office Building: Budget Hearing of the House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee on Fiscal Year 2025 Request for the Department of State.
2:00-3:00 at the Wilson Center and wilsoncenter.org: Bridging Histories, Forging Futures: Celebrating 200 Years of Brazil-US Relations (RSVP required).
Friday, May 24, 2024
8:15-9:45 at thedialogue.org: The Security Challenge for Democracies in Latin America (RSVP required).
10:00-11:00 at brookings.edu: Haiti on the brink: The prospects and challenges of the Kenyan-led MSS initiative (RSVP required).
10:00-11:00 at the Inter-American Dialogue and thedialogue.org: A Fireside Chat with Lourdes Melgar (RSVP required).
6 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
2:00-3:00 at CSIS and csis.org: Cooperative Approaches to Counter-Narcotics: Perspectives from the Director of National Drug Control Policy (RSVP required).
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
10:00-11:30 at brookings.edu: Ballots and bullets: Mexico’s 2024 elections (RSVP required).
12 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
10:00-11:15 at thedialogue.org: Is Peru’s Democracy at Risk? (RSVP required).
10:00 in Rayburn House Office Building Room 2172 and online: Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations on Brazil: A Crisis of Democracy, Freedom, & Rule of Law?
10:30-11:00 at the Heritage Foundation and online: Securing the Border and Keeping Americans Safe: How Illegal Immigration Leads to Preventable Crime (RSVP required).
10:30-11:45 at wilsoncenter.org: Election Series | Assessing Mexico’s Democracy (RSVP required).
10:00 at Cannon House Office Building Room 210 and online: Hearing of the House Budget Committee on The Cost of the Border Crisis.
11:00-12:30 at Kroc Institute Zoom: Launch of the Kroc Institute’s Eighth Comprehensive Report on Colombian Peace Accord Implementation (RSVP required).
Thursday, May 9, 2024
12:30-1:30 at wilsoncenter.org: No More Lost Decades: Opportunities From Nearshoring, the Energy Transition, and Other Drivers of Sustainable Growth (RSVP required).
2:00 at JRS Zoom: Webinar: Navigating the U.S.-Mexico Border (RSVP required).
Friday, May 10, 2024
10:30-11:30 at WOLA and online: Construcción de la memoria en Venezuela: una conversación con Lissette González (RSVP required).
11 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Monday, April 22, 2024
1:00-5:00 at George Washington University: Strengthening Ties: A Reflection On 200 Years of U.S.-Brazil Relations (RSVP required).
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
11:00-12:30 at Wilson Center Zoom: Mexico Election Series | Challenges and Opportunities in the Implementation of Health Policies 2024-2030 (RSVP required).
10:00 at MPI Zoom: Mapping Global Human Mobility in an Increasingly Complex World (RSVP required).
11:00 at Canning House Zoom: Opinion In Focus (RSVP required).
11:00-12:30 at Wilson Center Zoom: Mexico Election Series | Foreign Policy for the Future: Opportunities and Challenges (RSVP required).
1:00 at worldrelief.org: What Can Christians Do About the Border Crisis? (RSVP required).
1:00-2:30 at the Wilson Center and online: RAFDI Working Group Report Launch | US Leadership Matters in Addressing Forced Displacement Crisis (RSVP required).
2:30-3:30 at the Inter-American Dialogue: Security Challenges in Ecuador – A Conversation with Interior Minister Mónica Palencia (RSVP required).
Friday, April 26, 2024
11:15-12:30 at Wilson Center Zoom: Climate Resilience and Democratic Governance in Central America’s Northern Triangle (RSVP required).
Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border is a series of vignettes and character sketches about gun trafficking, organized crime, and migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Jusionyte makes the point that Mexico is not inherently a violent place, that the United States’ approach to firearms plays a role too.
I’ve given the book a very close read and am completely over-prepared. Looking forward to Thursday.
I liked this part:
I began following American guns south in order to understand what they were doing to Mexican society. From the stories migrants and refugees told me I already knew I would find communities scarred by gun violence and people who were living in fear, some of whom were choosing to leave their homes in search of safety and better lives. I knew that this journey would eventually take me back to the border, right to where I had started, that the plight of migrants and refugees running away from threats would only lead to further militarization and fortification of the barrier separating “us” from “them.” After all, the desire to prevent migrants from crossing is a strong political potion that reliably wins elections in the United States. And yet I was surprised by how few people recognize that it’s a circle. Even the language we use to talk about violence south of the border, using such terms as “narcos” and “cartels,” only reinforces the idea that Mexico is a dangerous country and we need to build a barrier lest those people coming from over there—not only Mexico, but also Honduras and Guatemala, Haiti and Venezuela, and many other places—would bring violence here.
Somehow, we fail to connect the dots: that the violence people are fleeing, the violence we are afraid they would spread in the United States is, in large part, of our own making—that the tools come from the factories in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Tennessee, some smuggled across the borders, others legally exported to foreign military and police forces with records of abuse. Even more: these guns come from the same regions where addiction to opioids has created demand for drugs that continue to enrich smugglers in Mexico; that the money Americans spend on fentanyl, heroin, or meth will be used to buy guns to arm those who supply this contraband. Nor do we realize that the US government’s pursuit of most prominent Mexican traffickers and their extraditions to face trials on this side of the border—the list that includes several leaders of the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas—have deprived communities that have suffered their brutality most directly from recourse to justice, further fraying the social fabric of the Mexican society.
11:00 at thedialogue.org: Consolidation of Power and State Capture in Nicaragua (RSVP required).
11:00-12:30 at iiss.org: Drug-trafficking, organised crime and electoral processes in Latin America (RSVP required).
8:00pm at Honduras Solidarity Network Zoom: Juan Orlando Hernandez, Guilty! Where is Accountability for his Enablers: the U.S. & Canada? (RSVP required).
10:00 in Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building: Hearing of the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs about How the Border Crisis Impacts Public Safety.
10:30-12:00 at the OAS: Book Talk and Discussion with Author Marie Arana (RSVP required).
12:00-1:00 at Global Americans Zoom: U.S.-Spain Cooperation and the Western Hemisphere with Ambassador Julissa Reynoso (RSVP required).
11:00-12:30 at Wilson Center Zoom: Border Policy, Organized Crime, and Migration Between Mexico and the US (RSVP required).
12:00-1:30 at the Institute for Policy Studies and online: Responding to Green Colonialism: Voices from Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (RSVP required).
3:00-4:30 at the Wilson Center and online: OECD Expansion in Latin America (RSVP required).
3:30-5:30 at New School Zoom: Indigenous Autonomous Governments and Decoloniality: Paths to (Re)Affirm, Defend, and Restitute Territories of Life (RSVP required).
4:00 at Georgetown University and online: U.S.-Mexico Presidential Elections: Insights from a Former Ambassador on the Critical Issues (RSVP required).
4:30 at LASA Zoom: Panel Discussion with Francisco Sagasti, Former President of Peru (RSVP required).
Thursday, April 11, 2024
9:00-10:00 at the Inter-American Dialogue: New Infrastructure—Emerging Trends in Chinese Investment in Latin America (RSVP required).
3:00 on Zoom: Im/Mobility in Migratory Contexts (RSVP required).
Friday, April 12, 2024
1:30 at the Atlantic Council and online: Local perspectives: Unlocking US-Colombia ties on development and democracy (RSVP required).
10:00-12:00 at the Brookings Institution and Brookings.edu: The 10th annual Breyer Lecture: Matias Spektor on the US, the West, and international law in an age of strategic competition (RSVP required).
Fourteen events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.
(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)
Monday, March 18, 2024
9:00-10:30 at csis.org: USAID/MujerProspera: Advancing Gender Equality in Northern Central America (RSVP required).
2:00-5:00 at CSIS and csis.org: From Terrestrial to Celestial: Unlocking the Potential to Enhance U.S.-Latin American B2B Collaboration (RSVP required).
10:00-11:00 at the Wilson Center and wilsoncenter.org: Navigating Brazil’s G20 Presidency: A Conversation with Ambassador Maurício Lyrio (RSVP required).
12:00-1:30 at Georgetown University and online: Mexican Cartels, Fentanyl, and the Global Synthetic Drugs Revolution (RSVP required).
12:00-1:30 at thedialogue.org: The Future Of Micro-Credentials in Latin America – Challenges And Opportunities (RSVP required).