Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former president of Costa Rica and professor of practice and diplomacy at Tufts University: “With 193 delegations jostling to get their message across, even the best-crafted speeches and agendas gather limited momentum. Hence, although there was significant participation from Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) heads of state during the U.N. General Assembly, the dispersion of the agenda pushes the region into a dangerous zone in the background of the global debate. In LAC, we ought to observe with respect and interest the example of the African countries and their leadership, which, in the face of severe challenges—including coup d’états—managed to convene the Africa Climate Summit. Most importantly, they politically align their voices in a powerful signal for the rest of the world. Common challenges unite LAC’s agenda: the failed war on drugs affecting the entire region and drug cartel violence that has expanded to countries that did not previously have…”