XIX CAF Annual Conference

Carlos Casanova is an economist at BBVA in Hong Kong. His areas of expertise include economic developments in the Asia Pacific region and China, as well as the energy and commodity sectors. Previously, Casanova worked for the European Commission and as a senior consultant for an energy firm in Beijing.

Nancy Birdsall is founding president of the Center for Global Development. From 1993 to 1998, she was executive vice president of the Inter-American Development Bank, and previously served as senior associate and director of the Economic Reform Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Before joining the IDB, she spent 14 years working at the World Bank.

Alejandro Foxley is a Chilean economist and politician currently serving as president of Corporación de Estudios para Latinoamérica (CIEPLAN) in Santiago. Previously, he served as minister of finance, minister of foreign relations, and national senator. Foxley was also a senior associate of the international economics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a governor of the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank.

Félix Peña is director of the Masters in International Trade Relations Program at the National University of Tres de Febrero in Argentina and the director of the ICBC Foundation. He has previously served as undersecretary of foreign trade in the Ministry of Economy, undersecretary of economic integration and undersecretary of economic international relations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and manager for integration at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Michael Reid writes the Bello column on Latin America for The Economist and is the magazine's writer-at-large for the region. He previously served as Americas editor, South America bureau chief, and Mexico and Central America correspondent.

Rebeca Grynspan is secretary general of SEGIB, the Ibero-American General Secretariat. She was previously United Nations undersecretary general and associate administrator of UNDP. Before serving in the United Nations, Grynspan was vice president of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. She was also a director of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Jorge Familiar is vice president of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean. Familiar has served as vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group, CEO of Mexico's Instituto del Fondo Nacional para el Consumo de los Trabajadores (Instituto FONACOT), and executive director and alternative executive director for the World Bank Group.

Germán Ríos is director of strategic affairs for CAF - Development Bank of Latin America and a professor of macroeconomics at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas. Previously, he served as the director of public investment in Venezuela's Ministry of Planning and Development. He has consulted for the Inter-American Development Bank, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the World Bank.

Andrea Bernal, an Ecuadorian journalist and news anchor, is director of the opinion and debate program Zoom on NTN24.

Mario Bergara is president of the Central Bank of Uruguay, a position he also held from 2008 to 2013. He was previously minister of economy and finance from 2013 to 2015, deputy minister of economy and finance from 2005 to 2008, and director of Uruguay's Communications Services Regulatory Unit from 2001 to 2005.

Pablo Sanguinetti is chief economist at CAF - Development Bank of Latin America and professor of economics at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. He has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and CAF, and also served as a member of the board of the International Trade Commission of Argentina from 1996 to 2000.

Nora Lustig is the Samuel Z. Stone professor of Latin American economics at Tulane University, a member and non-resident senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, and a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development. At the Dialogue, she directs the Commitment to Equity Project, a joint initiative of the Dialogue and Tulane University's Center for Inter-American Policy and Research and Department of Economics.

Gustavo Fernández is a Bolivian lawyer and diplomat who served as minister of foreign affairs. He was also minister of the presidency from 1989 to 1993 and Bolivia's ambassador to Brazil from 1983 to 1984.

Enrique García has served as president and CEO of CAF - Development Bank of Latin America since 1991 and is co-vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Dialogue. Previously, he was Bolivia's minister of planning and coordination, head of the economic and social cabinet, and has also served as treasurer of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Alberto Trejos is a Costa Rican economist and professor at INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, where he has also served as dean and general director of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development. Previously, he was minister of foreign trade and president of the Costa Rican Investment Board (CINDE).

María Ángela Holguín is minister of foreign affairs of Colombia. She has held several high-level positions in the government of Colombia, including in the Office of the President of the Republic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of the Inspector General of the Nation. She also served as Colombia's permanent representative to the United Nations and ambassador to Venezuela.

Eladio Loizaga is a Paraguayan lawyer and diplomat currently serving as minister of foreign affairs. From 2001 to 2009, he served as Paraguay's permanent representative to the United Nations and has also represented his country before the World Trade Organization.

Carlos Malamud is a senior analyst for Latin America at the Elcano Royal Institute, professor at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, and director of the Latin America department at the Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset, where he also heads the Latin American Security and Defense Observatory (OSAL).

Guillermo Perry is a professor at the School of Economics at the University of the Andes in Colombia, a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development, and a senior external advisor to the president of CAF - Development Bank of Latin America. From 1996 to 2007, he was chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank and has also served as both minister of finance and public credit and minister of mining and energy of Colombia.

Vladimir Villegas is a Venezuelan journalist and politician currently serving as the news director of Globovisión. From 2003 to 2004, he was president of Venezolana de Televisión. Villegas has also served as Venezuela's ambassador to Brazil and Mexico, and deputy foreign minister for Asia, the Middle East, and Oceana.

Michael Shifter is president of the Inter-American Dialogue and adjunct professor of Latin American politics at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Shifter previously served as the organization's vice president for policy, and managed the Dialogue's programs on democratic governance and the Andean region.

Roberta Jacobson is assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs at the US Department of State. Her prior appointments include deputy assistant secretary for Canada, Mexico, and NAFTA issues; director of the office of Mexican affairs; deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Lima, Peru; and coordinator for Cuban affairs. In June 2015, Jacobson was nominated US ambassador to Mexico; her appointment is pending US Senate confirmation.

Santiago Levy is vice president for sectors and knowledge at the Inter-American Development Bank, and previously served as general manager and chief economist for the organization's research department. He was also general director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the deputy minister at the ministry of finance and public credit of Mexico, and the president of the FCC in Mexico.

Alfonso Quiñónez is former secretary of external relations of the Organization of American States. During his tenure at the OAS, he also served as executive secretary of the Summit of the Americas and executive secretary for integral development, as well as permanent representative of Guatemala. He currently chairs the finance committee of the UN Institute for Training and Research.

Ted Piccone is a senior fellow with the Project on International Order and Strategy and Latin America Initiative in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. During the Clinton administration, he held senior positions in the National Security Council, State Department, and Department of Defense. Piccone was also co-founder and served as executive director of the Democracy Coalition Project.

Marta Lucía Ramírez is a Colombian lawyer and politician. She has served as minister of defense, minister of foreign trade, and senator, and was a presidential candidate for the Conservative party. Ramírez has been a member of the Inter-American Dialogue since 2004 and sits on its Board of Directors. She has also served as CEO of multiple private sector companies and private associations, including ANIF (Financial Institutions Association), FEDELEASING, and the Coalition for Colombian Manufacturers Development.

Biliang Hu is professor of economics at Beijing Normal University, dean of the School of Economics and Resource Management, and president of the Emerging Markets Institute. Previously, he co-founded DoubleBridge Technologies, Inc. and was vice president and chief China economist for SC Securities Asia Ltd., as well as chief representative for the company's Beijing office.

Luis-Felipe López-Calva is lead economist and regional poverty advisor in the World Bank's Europe and Central Asia region. Prior to this, he was lead economist at the Poverty, Equity and Gender Unit in the Bank's Latin America and the Caribbean region. He has served as the chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations Development Program.

Leonardo Arízaga is the vice minister of foreign affairs and political integration of Ecuador, and previously the ambassador of Ecuador to China. He also served as the representative of Ecuador for the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the UN Office based in Vienna.

Hiroshi Watanabe is CEO and governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Previously, he served as Japan's vice minister of finance for international affairs. After leaving the ministry of finance, Watanabe became a professor at the graduate school of Hitotsubashi University.

Moisés Naím is a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a member of the Dialogue, the chief international columnist for El País and La República, a contributor to the Financial Times "A-List," and a contributing editor to The Atlantic. He is also the host and producer of Efecto Naím, a weekly television program on international affairs that airs throughout the Americas.

Rosa María Palacios is a Peruvian lawyer and journalist. She is a columnist for La República, runs an independent political blog, and hosts the program En el mismo punto on Espacio360. Previously, Palacios was director and host of the television show Prensa Libre from 2004 to 2011.

Martín Torrijos served as president of Panama from 2004 to 2009. He has been a member of the Inter-American Dialogue since 2010 and sits on its Board of Directors. As president of Panama, Torrijos oversaw the passing of a USD $5 billion expansion plan of the Panama Canal and negotiated the Panama-US Trade Promotion Agreement.

Marco Aurélio Garcia is foreign policy advisor to President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, a position he also held during the Lula administration from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was interim president and international secretary of the Workers Party (PT). Garcia is also a professor at the State University of Campinas.

Juan Triana is a graduate professor at the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy (CEEC) at the University of Havana. He speaks internationally at conferences on the Cuban economy, as well as at academic, government, nongovernmental and foreign institutions. 

José Antonio Ocampo is a professor at Columbia University, where he directs the School of International and Public Affairs' economic and political development concentration. Ocampo has served as United Nations undersecretary general for economic and social affairs and executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). He has also headed three national executive ministries in the government of Colombia.

Luis Almagro Lemes is the secretary general of the Organization of American States, and was the minister of foreign affairs of Uruguay from 2010 until March 2015. He also served as ambassador to China from 2007 until 2010 and represented Uruguay in UNESCO in 1998.

Luis Miguel Castilla is ambassador of Peru to the United States. From 2011 to 2014, he served as minister of economy and finance. Castilla was previously vice minister of finance, chief economist and vice president of public policies and competitiveness at CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, and an adviser at the World Bank.

Patricia Janiot is a senior anchor for CNN en España, and anchors the Emmy-winning evening newscast Panorama Mundial. She is president of the Colombianitos foundation, which helps children who are victims of the Colombian armed conflict.

Alicia Bárcena is the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). She has been a member of the Inter-American Dialogue since 2010 and sits on its Board of Directors. Bárcena previously served as undersecretary general for management under Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, cabinet chief to Secretary General Kofi Annan, and coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Sustainable Development Program of the UN Development Program (UNDP).

Is chief of mission of the Embassy of Cuba in the United States. He was previously director of Consular Affairs and the Cuban Resident Abroad Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He joined the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984 and two years later moved to the North American Division.

Enrique V. Iglesias was secretary-general of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) from 2005 to 2014. Previously, he served as president of the Inter-American Development Bank from 1988 to 2005 and as Uruguay's minister of foreign relations from 1985 to 1988. Iglesias was executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) from 1972 to 1985 and president of the Central Bank of Uruguay from 1966 to 1968.

Vilma Hidalgo is vice president of the Universidad de La Habana and professor in the faculty of Economics.

Sergio Berensztein is founder and president of Berensztein, a political and strategy consulting firm, and co-founder and former CEO of Poliarquía Consultores. He has served as an advisor to CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Bank. He also acted as the special advisor to the Institute for Business Development in Argentina (IDEA).

Harinder Kohli is president and CEO of Centennial Group International and the founding director and chief executive of the Emerging Markets Forum. Prior to joining Centennial Group, he spent 25 years at the World Bank in a series of senior positions. Kohli is also on the advisory board of the Asian Institute of Technology.