Our Contributors

Our regular contributors include experts from Columbia University; Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Buenos Aires; Georgetown University; Universidad de los Andes, Florida International University; Universidad Diego Portales; Rutgers University; National Defense University; American University, Webster State University; and New York University—along with well-known, leading  activists from leading universities, think tanks and NGOs.     

Articles and editorials from these experts and activists are written and edited for popular audiences, distilling research and in-depth analysis into easy-to-read short, opinion pieces. In addition to being posted on the Global Americans website, through its relationship with Grupo de Diarios America and other media, select pieces are republished in newspapers throughout the region.  Please bookmark us and sign up for regular e-mail updates to receive our expert analyses delivered to your mailbox.

Nicolas Albertoni is a professor at the Universidad Católica del Uruguay and Research Associate at The Security and Political Economy (SPEC) Lab at the University of Southern California, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations. His research broadly engages questions in international political economy and comparative politics with an emphasis on Latin America trade policymaking and economic integration. He has published three books about South American regional integration with a focus on the Southern Cone. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from USC, and a Master’s in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University.

Follow Nicolas on Twitter at @N_Albertoni.

Dr. Andrés Cañizález initially obtained a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and went on to complete two Master’s degrees: one in the history of Venezuela and another in political science. He has a Doctorate in political science. Dr. Cañizález is a political analyst and scholar of the media. He was a senior researcher at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela (2001-2020) and director of Comunicación magazine (2000-2008). His book, La Presidencia Mediática (2012), addresses the communications policy of the Hugo Chávez government. He has written many scholarly articles published by magazines in Venezuela, Spain, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, and Bolivia. He has combined academia with the defense and promotion of human rights in Venezuela. His analysis articles are published in five Venezuelan newspapers and a news website. He also conducts a national news radio show, “En Este País”, in Venezuela. Cañizález is the CEO of free speech and fact-checking NGO, Medianálisis.

Follow Andrés on Twitter at @infocracia.

Guy Edwards is a senior consultant in the Inter-American Development Bank’s Climate Change Division. He was formerly co-director of the Climate and Development Lab, a think tank at Brown University and an associate at the sustainability strategy group, Nivela. He previously worked as a consultant and resident manager of the Huaorani Ecolodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He has a Masters degree in Latin American studies from the University of London. Guy’s first book, A Fragmented Continent: Latin America and the global politics of climate change, was published by MIT Press in 2015. His work has been published by The New York Times, Project Syndicate, The Guardian, Brookings Institution, Americas Quarterly, El Universal, La Tercera, El Comercio (Ecuador) and Chatham House. 

Follow Guy on Twitter at @GuyEdwards

Dr. Evan Ellis is a research professor of Latin American Studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, with a focus on the region’s relationships with China and other non-Western Hemisphere actors, as well as transnational organized crime and populism in the region. Dr. Ellis has published over 270 works, including the 2009 book China in Latin America: The Whats and Wherefores, the 2013 book The Strategic Dimension of Chinese Engagement with Latin America, the 2014 book, China on the Ground in Latin America, and the 2018 book, Transnational Organized Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr. Ellis previously served on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff (S/P) with responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean (WHA), as well as International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) issues. In his academic capacity, Dr. Ellis has presented his work in a broad range of business and government forums in 27 countries four continents. He has given testimony on Latin America security issues to the U.S. Congress on various occasions, has discussed his work regarding China and other external actors in Latin America on a broad range of radio and television programs, and is cited regularly in the print media. Dr. Ellis has also been awarded the Order of Military Merit José María Córdova by the Colombian government for his scholarship on security issues in the region.

Follow Evan on Twitter at @REvanEllis.

Dr. Kevin P. Gallagher is a professor of global development policy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, where he directs the Global Development Policy Center. He is the author/co-author of six books: The China Triangle: Latin America’s China Boom and the Fate of the Washington Consensus, Ruling Capital: Emerging Markets and the Reregulation of Cross-Border Finance; The Clash of Globalizations:  Essays on Trade and Development Policy; The Dragon in the Room: China and the Future of Latin American Industrialization (with Roberto Porzecanski); The Enclave Economy: Foreign Investment and Sustainable Development in Mexico’s Silicon Valley (with Lyuba Zarsky); and Free Trade and the Environment: Mexico, NAFTA, and Beyond. Gallagher serves on the United Nations’ Committee for Development Policy and the T-20 Task Force on International Financial Architecture at the G-20. His is also the international team leader of the Greening the Belt and Road Task Force of the China Council for International Cooperation and Development. He previously served on the investment sub-committee of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of State and on the National Advisory Committee on the North American Free Trade Agreement at the Environmental Protection Agency. Gallagher has been a visiting or adjunct professor at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico, Tsinghua University in China, and the Center for State and Society in Argentina.

Follow Kevin on Twitter at @KevinPGallagher.

Sergio Guzmán is the Director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a political risk consultancy. He provides business intelligence, security, and political risk analysis for the Andean region. His expertise is in the Colombian conflict, the resolution of international conflicts, and international development. Before founding Colombia Risk Analysis, Sergio worked at Control Risks where he was an international consultant in political and security risks. He also worked at Accion International, where he was part of a team of global specialists promoting fair lending practices and standards in a project called The Smart Campaign. Sergio also has experience working for the U.S. Congress and regional think tanks and NGOs, such as the Inter-American Dialogue and the Institute for Policy Studies, and Oxfam America. Sergio holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelors in International Relations and History from George Washington University.

Follow Sergio on Twitter at @SergioGuzmanE

Dr. Teresa Kramarz is an Associate Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in the University of Toronto. She directs the Munk One undergraduate program, co-directs the Environmental Governance Lab, and is the co-convener of the Accountability in Global Environmental Governance Task Force of the Earth System Governance network. Her work focuses on environmental accountability, public-private partnerships, international organizations, and the governance of oil and mining industries in the Latin America. Dr. Kramarz is the author of two books, Forgotten Values: The World Bank and Environmental Partnerships (2020) and Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap (2019) both published by MIT Press. Her forthcoming book Populist Moments and Extractivist States in Ecuador and Venezuela is published by Palgrave Macmillan. Her most recent articles appear in Global Environmental Politics, Society and Natural Resources, Environmental Policy and Governance, and Review of Policy Research. She has been working on environmental policy and governance issues for over 25 years starting as an international civil servant in the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and now as an academic.

Follow Teresa on Twitter at @teresakramarz.

Scott B. MacDonald is the chief economist at Smith’s Research & Gradings. Prior to that, he was the head of research at MC Asset Management LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (2012–2015); head of credit and economic research at Aladdin Capital Management in Stamford, Connecticut (2000–2011); chief economist for KWR International (1999–2000); director of sovereign research at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (1994–1998); sovereign risk analyst and director at Credit Suisse (1992–1994); and an international economic adviser in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, D.C. (1988–1992). He is the author or editor of 18 books and numerous articles on economic affairs, covering events in the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and North America. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Connecticut, an M.A. in Asian studies from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and a B.A. in history and political science from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He has been an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Connecticut and is on the Board of Directors for El Centro Hispano, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to assist, support, and strengthen Hispanic families in Westchester County, New York.

Dr. Frank O. Mora is Professor of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University (FIU), and former Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (2013-2020) at FIU. Prior to arriving at FIU, Dr. Mora served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere from 2009-2013. He has held several teaching positions, including Professor of National Security Strategy and Latin American Studies at the National War College (2004-2009), Associate Professor, and Chair in the Department of International Studies, Rhodes College (2000-2004). During the last twenty-five years, Dr. Mora worked as a consultant to the Library of Congress, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), the National Democratic Institute, U.S. State Department, the Organization of American States, and U.S. Southern Command. He has spoken at numerous conferences in the United States, Latin America and Europe. His opinion pieces and other commentaries have appeared in U.S. and Latin American media outlets, including Americas Quarterly, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs. Dr. Mora is the author or editor of four books, including Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Policy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), Paraguay and the United States: Distant Allies (University of Georgia Press, 2008) and Neighborly Adversaries: U.S. Latin American Relations (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015); and over forty-five academic and policy articles, book chapters, and monographs on hemispheric security, U.S.-Latin American relations, civil-military relations, Cuban politics and military and Latin American foreign policy. He is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, Department of Defense (2012).

Follow Frank on Twitter at @FrankMora_FIU.

Dr. Patricio Navia is a professor of Liberal Studies and an adjunct professor at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University. He is also a professor of political science at Universidad Diego Portales in Chile. His research interests include democratization, electoral rules and democratic institutions in Latin America. Dr. Navia has published numerous scholarly articles and book chapters and been a visiting professor at Princeton, New School University, and Universidad de Salamanca and Universidad de Chile. Several of his books, including Diccionario de la politica chilena, El discolo, conversaciones con Marco Enríquez-Ominami, and Las grandes alamedas: El Chile post-Pinochet, have been best sellers in Chile. He is currently a columnist for El Líbero. He has previously penned columns for La Tercera, Revista Capital and Que Pasa.

Follow Patricio on Twitter at @patricionavia.

Dr. Christopher Sabatini is a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, and was formerly a lecturer in the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. Chris is also on the advisory boards of Harvard University’s LASPAU, the Advisory Committee for Human Rights Watch’s Americas Division, and of the Inter-American Foundation. He is also an HFX Fellow at the Halifax International Security Forum. He is a frequent contributor to policy journals and newspapers and appears in the media and on panels on issues related to Latin America and foreign policy. Chris has testified multiple times before the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2015, Chris founded and directed a new research non-profit, Global Americas and edited its news and opinion website. From 2005 to 2014 Chris was senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas (AS/COA) and the founder and editor-in-chief of the hemispheric policy magazine Americas Quarterly (AQ). At the AS/COA, Dr. Sabatini chaired the organization’s rule of law and Cuba working groups. Prior to that, he was director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Endowment for Democracy, and a diplomacy fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, working at the US Agency for International Development’s Center for Democracy and Governance. He provides regular interviews for major media outlets, and has a PhD in Government from the University of Virginia.

Follow Chris on Twitter at @chrissabatini.

Gabriel Salvia has served as a director of civil society organizations since 1992 and was a founding member of CADAL. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Democratic Solidarity project of Forum 2000 (Czech Republic) and is president of CADAL Foundation. His opinion columns on human rights issues in international relations and democratic governance are published in Clarín, Infobae, Perfil, La Nación and Global Americans. He has also published articles in El País (Spain) and has been interviewed several times by CNN en Español. He compiled four books and is the author of Dancing for a mirage: Notes on politics, economy and diplomacy in the governments of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. As a journalist, he carried out collaborations and investigations in the magazines “The legislative power and its people” and “Apertura,” he participated as a commentator on political and economic issues on “Radio América,” was a journalistic producer of the economic newscast of “CableVisión Noticias,” collaborated in the production of “El club de los giles” on Telefe, and conducted several interviews for “El Observador.”

Follow Gabriel on Twitter at @GabrielSalvia.

Dr. Greg Weeks is a professor of Political Science and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is editor of the academic journal The Latin Americanist, and he is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Military and Politics in Postauthoritarian Chile (2003), Irresistible Forces: Latin American Migration to the United States and its Effects on the South (2010), The Bachelet Government: Conflict and Consensus in Post-Pinochet Chile (2010), Understanding Latin American Politics (2014) and U.S. and Latin American Relations, 2nd Edition (2015). 

Follow Greg on Twitter at @GregWeeksUNCC.

Dr. Natasha Zaretsky is a cultural anthropologist focusing on human rights, genocide, migration, and the politics of memory and truth in the Americas. Her latest book, Acts of Repair: Justice, Truth, and the Politics of Memory in Argentina (Rutgers University Press) examines transitional justice and memory in Argentina. Currently, she is a Senior Lecturer at New York University and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University, where she leads the Truth in the Americas program.

Follow Natasha on Twitter at @nzaretsky.