Experts Discuss the Intersection of Growth and Sustainability in Latin America
On March 7, 2025, the Institute of Latin American Studies, the Institute of Global Politics, and the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University hosted a conference titled “The Interconnection of Latin American Policy Challenges,” with support from IDEA International, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme. The conference brought together scholars, policymakers, and experts for three panel discussions on Latin America’s key policy challenges. Participants focused on the intersection of economic growth, poverty reduction, climate action, democracy, and state capacity.
In the first panel, chaired by SIPA Professor and IGP Affiliated Faculty member Mauricio Cárdenas, experts from SIPA, scholars from Latin America, and representatives from NGOs and the industry discussed the opportunities and trade-offs in balancing growth, poverty reduction, and climate action in the region, exploring the unique socioeconomic challenges to addressing climate change prevention and mitigation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Panelists included Jackson Schneider, adjunct SIPA professor and the chair of the High Council for Foreign Trade at FIESP; Laura Carvalho, director of economic and climate prosperity at Open Society Foundations; Elisa Belfiori, professor and director of undergraduate studies at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; Jeffry Frieden, SIPA professor and IGP affiliated faculty member; José Antonio Ocampo, SIPA professor of professional practice and IGP affiliated faculty member; and Martín Guzmán, William S. Beinecke Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Columbia SIPA and IGP affiliated faculty member.
SIPA Professor Vicky Murillo chaired the second panel, “Inequality, Democracy, and the Rule of Law,” in which participants discussed the connections between inequality and democratic and effective governance, as well as other topics related to democratic quality and resilience in the region. This panel included Steven Levitsky, David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University; Antonia Urrejola, former Foreign Minister of Chile and former Inter-American Commissioner for Human Rights; Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; and Viridiana Ríos, journalist, columnist for Milenio, and political analyst for El País.
The last panel, chaired by Eduardo Moncada, professor of political science at Barnard, was titled “Crime and State Capacity.” Experts from the World Bank, US and Latin American universities, and practitioners debated the topics of organized crime and prison reform, exploring trends in the region and potential solutions to address crime and violence. Panelists included Beatriz Magaloni, Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University; Verónica Zubillaga, Mellon Visiting Scholar at the University of Illinois-Chicago; María Alejandra Vélez, professor at the Universidad de los Andes; Salvador Guerrero Chiprés, General Coordinator of C5 of Mexico City; and Alejandro Eder, mayor of Cali, Colombia.
Throughout the day, policies and strategies to overcome social fragmentation, democratic erosion, and environmental challenges were debated, with the goal of generating actionable recommendations. The conference fostered interdisciplinary exchange and highlighted the importance of integrating theory with practical implementation approaches in the region.