Gastón Schulmeister – Director of the Department against Transnational Organized Crime, Organization of American States (OAS)
H.E. Jorge Fernando Quiroga – Former President, Plurinational State of Bolivia (2001-2002); Leadership Council Member, Concordia
Roberta Braga – Founder and Executive Director, Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA)
T.H. Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno – Former Ambassador to the U.S. & Former Minister of Defense, Republic of Colombia (2021-2022)
T.H. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen – Former U.S. Congresswoman, U.S. House of Representatives, FL-27 (1989-2019), Senior Advisor, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Dr. Julio Frenk – President, The University of Miami; Leadership Council Member, Concordia
Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez – President & CEO, Inter-American Dialogue
H.E. Juan Guaidó – Former President of the National Assembly, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (2019-2023)
Morgan Ortagus – General Partner, Mare Liberum; Senior Advisor, Concordia
T.H. Lindsey Graham – Senator, U.S. Senate (SC)
T.H. Manuel Castro – Commissioner, NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
T.H. Carlos A. Gimenez – Representative, U.S. House of Representatives (FL-28)
“It is important to talk about the external actors across our Americas, particularly regarding issues such as illegal mining. Organized crime is not just a question of police forces or the security agenda – at the end of the day, it’s a question of the institutions of democracy, the respect of the law, and the high potential of corruption among all our institutions.”
“In the next few weeks we are going to decide if we lose Venezuela forever, and then we will have three tyrannies: Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela.”
“The majority of people are not seeing or believing disinformation on the internet, and people are highly skeptical of it. So the majority of people are definitely not gullible, they’re not stupid – they just don’t know what to believe within the polluted environment we’re navigating on the Internet.”
“Latin America is currently being taken over slowly but steadily by organized crime.”
“I believe in the greatness of America, I believe in the promise of our nation, I believe that we are that shining city on the hill. I want to get rid of this growing disrespect we have for our institutions and face the challenges of media bias and confirmation bias – I am hopeful in the aim to build bridges.”
“This is a blessed hemisphere, with resources and talent, but cursed with all the problems and challenges it is facing. One solution is to bring students together. If we bring people with different perspectives and backgrounds together at this critical age – when they become both citizens and students – I think that through shared opportunities we will find elements for a more peaceful world.”
“We are currently seeing presidents, once in power, deliberately dismantling democratic institutions in Latin America. There is a need for early warning systems when there is a deterioration of democracies, and there needs to be a strong response. It is on us.”
“When you deteriorate the rule of law, you get poverty, which then leads to migration, and all that promotes disorder within the region. The sanctions in Venezuela are not what are causing migration. It’s the lack of rule of law and the lack of living conditions and dignity in Venezuela.”
“[Lack of rule of law, human rights, and insecurity] are the debates and the most important national issues that are happening in American society and Latin American society. They’re all happening right here at this table.”
“The most essential thing here is to identify the issue. If you can’t identify the problem you will never solve it. The issue of immigration is due to the magnets we have created.”
“In the context of migration, every time we visit, sit with, and talk to migrants, they all tell us they don’t want anything from us – they just want to have the ability to work. They want to have the ability to contribute to our city, to our country, and yes, send money back home in the hopes that their family members don’t have to migrate.”
“We need to start paying attention to our neighbors. Latin America is not our backyard, they are our neighbors. In terms of immigration, a political fact is that we can’t talk about immigration reform until we secure the border.”
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