Does Democracy Have a Future in Latin America?
May 3rd, 2019 12:00PM -1:30PM
This program is part of a series that the World Affairs Council has convened to explore threats to democracy and the liberal international order around the globe. Our partner Folio is undertaking complementary programs exploring “Democracy in Danger.”
Michael Camilleri is Director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue. An international lawyer and former diplomat, he served in the Obama administration from 2012 to 2017 as the Western Hemisphere adviser on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and as Director for Andean Affairs at the National Security Council.
Prior to joining the U.S. government, Michael was a human rights specialist at the Organization of American States and a senior staff attorney at the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL). He also worked with a coalition of civil society organizations in Guatemala and at a large international law firm.
Michael’s commentary and analysis on legal and policy issues in the Americas have appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Americas Quarterly, BBC, Fox News, Univision, NTN24, and CNN en Español. Michael is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he has been an adjunct professor of law and international affairs at the George Washington University, American University, and the University of Baltimore. He holds a B.A. in history from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Dr. Roberto Dondisch is currently Principal at INTIVIS and until recently served as Head Consul of Mexico in Seattle. He was previously Director-General for Global Issues within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served as the Chief Negotiator for Mexico for the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Climate Change processes. He also was Chief Negotiator for Mexico for the Arms Trade Treaty, where, he was elected Vice President of the UN negotiating process. Also he was the Special Advisor for International Security, General Coordinator for the Youth-20 Summit the youth segment of the Mexican G20 presidency, Alternate Coordinator of the COP-16/CMP-6 climate meetings in Cancun and focal point for the Mexican participation as elected member of the UN Security Council. Mr. Dondisch holds a PhD in International Relations and Master’s in International Economics (Johns Hopkins SAIS); a Master of Science in Foreign Service (Georgetown University) and a Bachelor Degree on International Relations (Universidad Iberoamericana). He has authored diverse articles on political risk, multilateral negotiations, security and democratic governance and is editor of “Mexico in the Security Council of the UN 2009-2010 The Story Behind the Scenes” (Random House 2012). He has taught at Universidad Iberoamericana, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica. Also, he was a Jr. Fellow at the Center for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and researcher at Fundación PENT (Argentina).
About the Moderator:
Barbara Olagaray Gatto was born in Palma Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Spain. Barbara joined Microsoft in January 2002 as General Counsel for the Microsoft Spanish subsidiary covering both Portuguese and Spanish markets working on a wide range of issues involving the intersection between law and technology including privacy, security, IP, Cloud and providing front line support to the Licensing & Services sales force. She moved to the Microsoft Redmond Campus on 2013 as Senior Director in the Global Government Affairs division where she provides strategic support and advice to Microsoft’s government affairs professionals across the world on key company’s policies and strategies around Cloud and Artificial Intelligence. Prior to joining Microsoft Barbara worked as in-house counsel for Viajo,com, travel agency online based in Miami Fl. Barbara grew up in Mexico City where she spent 20 years and where she considers to be home. She got her law degree from the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City and also a diploma in Criminology and Execution of Sanctions. Barbara also works on a series of pro bono cases from KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) organization.