LIVE: prominent officials, lawyers and journalists participate in the 7th Annual Conference on Hemispheric Security

The 7th Annual Conference on Hemispheric Security begins this Tuesday in the halls of the Graham Center, at Florida International University (FIU), in Miami, United States.

The event will feature the participation of prominent political officials, diplomats, lawyers, and journalists from the Americas, and will have a hybrid format, as there is the option to attend in person, as well as to do so virtually. The virtual broadcast will have simultaneous interpretation in Spanish and Portuguese.

“The Hemispheric Security Conference (HSC) is an annual conference that brings together experts from academia, government organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to examine the most pressing security challenges facing the Western Hemisphere,” explains the FIU on its website.

The HSC is led by the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy and the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, both part of the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University. In this year’s edition it will also be sponsored by Infobae.

The topics that the different panels will address will be: the impact of cybersecurity on the Western Hemisphere; the future of the armed forces in Latin America; reviewing the declaration on security in the Americas; disinformation, democracy and the inter-American system; institutional challenges to democracy in the Americas; and examining democracy in the Americas.

For his part, among the panelists stand out Juan S. González (Special Assistant to President Biden and Principal Director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere); Daniel P. Erikson, Under Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere; Kerry-Ann Barrett (Director of the Cybersecurity Program of the Organization of American States); Craig Faller (retired US admiral and senior fellow at Florida International University); and José Miguel Insulza (President of the Public Security Commission and member of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chilean Senate), among others.

One of the panels will be dedicated to the crisis in Venezuela

Below is the full tentative schedule (Miami times, Eastern United States):

Tuesday May 17

1:00 – 1:15 pm

Welcome to the HSC conference

Kenneth A. Jessell, Interim President, Universidad Internacional de Florida (FIU)

Luis Guillermo Solís, Director, Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, FIU

1:15 – 2:15 pm

charla

Juan S. González, Special Assistant to President Biden and Senior Director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere

Moderator: Brian Fonseca, Director, Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, FIU

Juan S. González, Special Assistant to President Biden and Senior Director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere

2:15-3:00: Social break

3:00 – 4:00 pm

Summit of the Americas Preview with Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Special Advisor for the 2022 Summit of the Americas

4:00 – 5:15 pm

The Impact of Cybersecurity on Western Hemisphere Security

Kerry-Ann Barrett, Director of the Cybersecurity Program, Organization of American States

Eric Walsh, Director General de North America at Global Affairs Canada

Arturo Cabañas, Security Lead, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Robert “Bob” Gordon, director ejecutivo de Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX)

Moderator: Randy Pestana, Deputy Director, Jack D. Gordon Institute of Public Policy, FIU

Wednesday May 18

9:00 – 9:15 am

Welcome to the second day of the conference

9:15 – 10:00 am

Opening speech

Daniel P. Erikson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere, United States Department of Defense

10:00 – 11:15 am

The future of the Armed Forces in Latin America

Alberto José Mejía Ferrero, Ambassador of Colombia to Australia and former Commander General of the Colombian Military Forces

Admiral Craig Faller, retired United States admiral and senior fellow at Florida International University

Lieutenant General Rocky R. Meade, former Chief of the Defense Staff of Jamaica

Moderator: Barbara Fick. Americas Program Director/Instructor, Department of Homeland Security and Strategy, US Army War College

Admiral Craig Faller, former head of the US Southern Command

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

Geopolitical convergence in Venezuela

David Voght, General Director of IPD Latin America

Michael Penfold, Institute for Advanced Management Studies

Celina Realuyo, Professor of Practice, William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

Brian Fonseca, Director, Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, FIU

Moderator: Dr. Eduardo Gamarra, Director of the Latino Public Opinion Forum, Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, FIU

Thursday May 19

9:00 – 9:15 am

Welcome to the third day of conference

9:15 – 10:00 am

Opening speech

Ricardo Zúñiga, Principal Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle

10:00 – 11:15 am

Review of the 2003 Declaration on Security in the Americas

José Miguel Insulza, Chilean Senator, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, former Secretary General of the OAS

Rebecca Bill Chavez, President of the Inter-American Dialogue and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director of the Center for United States-Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego

Anthony Phillips-Spencer, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to the US.

Moderator: Ryan Berg, member of the Board of Directors of the Americas Program and head of the Initiative on the Future of Venezuela at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CISA)

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

Disinformation, Democracy and the Inter-American System

John Feeley, former United States Ambassador to Panama

Carlos Dada, Founder and Director, El Faro

Pedro Vaca Villareal, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States

Roberta Braga, Director of Disinformation Strategies, Equis Research

Moderator: Alejandro Alvarado, Associate Professor and Director of the Master’s Program in Journalism in Spanish, Florida International University

Friday May 20

Welcome to the fourth day of conference

Dr. Scott Tollefson, Dean of Academic Affairs, William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

9:15 – 10:00 am

Opening speech

Matthew D. Steinhelfer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Office of Conflict and Stabilization Operations

10:00 – 11:15 am

Institutional challenges for democracy in the Americas

Gabriel Marcella, Professor, US Army War College

Jonathan Rosen, Adjunct Professor, City University of New Jersey

Tatiana Kostadinova, Professor, Florida International University

Moderator: Orlando J. Pérez, Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of North Texas at Dallas

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

Examining democracy in the Americas through case studies

John Polga-Hecimovich, Associate Professor, United States Naval Academy

Maiah Jaskoski, Associate Professor, Northern Arizona University

Luis Bitencourt, Professor, William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

Moderator: Brian Fonseca, Director, Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, FIU

---

Source