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The Inter-American Dialogue Welcomes Six Distinguished New Members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

October 30, 2024  
Contact: Gemma Givens  
press@thedialogue.org    

 WASHINGTON, DC – The Inter-American Dialogue welcomes the addition of six eminent individuals to its membership, further enhancing its diverse and influential network of leaders from across the Americas. These new members represent a diverse range of expertise and backgrounds, spanning government, international organizations, media, and academia. 

  • Marisol Argueta, from El Salvador, is the head of Latin America and Member of the Executive Committee at World Economic Forum. A distinguished lawyer and career ambassador, she previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador. Her extensive diplomatic career includes roles such as general director of foreign policy, chief advisor to the foreign minister, and minister counsellor at the Embassy of El Salvador in Washington, DC. She has also held various diplomatic positions at the Salvadoran Mission to the United Nations in New York. 
  • Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado, from Panama, brings extensive international experience working in multilateral organizations, government, and the private sector. She is the former vice president and minister of foreign affairs of Panama and was the first woman to be elected vice president and appointed foreign minister in her country. Currently, she is senior policy adviser to the administrator of the United Nations Development Program and a member of the board of trustees of the International Foundation for Reporting Standards (IFRS). 
  • Lilia Luciano, from Puerto Rico, is an award-winning national correspondent and anchor at CBS News. She is a documentary film director, producer, podcaster, and speaker. Luciano was the only US network correspondent on the ground in Venezuela covering the 2024 election and the violent protests that followed. She has led major breaking international stories for CBS News, including coverage from Israel on the fall of 2023 of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and the release of the first Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as well as the assassination of Presidential Candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito, Ecuador. 
  • Juan Carlos Pinzón, from Colombia, is currently a visiting professor at Princeton University. He was previously Colombia’s minister of defense and ambassador to the United States on two occasions.  He also served as president of ProBogotá, a private non-profit entity for the promotion of public policies and long-term strategic projects for Colombia’s capital region. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Colombia’s youngest minister of defense at a critical moment in the country’s history. 
  • Oliver Stuenkel, from Brazil, is a professor of International Relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) in São Paulo and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC. He is also a columnist for Foreign Policy, Americas Quarterly and Estado de São Paulo and a regular commentator on Brazilian television and radio. Stuenkel advises some of Latin America’s major companies on geopolitical risk. 
  • Antonia Urrejola, from Chile, is a Chilean lawyer with extensive experience in various legal fields, including international law, human rights, and constitutional law. Her professional experience has mainly focused on the field of human rights, working in international organizations, NGOs, and government entities. She has held positions as a researcher, lawyer, advisor, project coordinator, commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and minister of foreign affairs of Chile for one year during the government of President Gabriel Boric. 

These new members join a prestigious group of over 100 experts from the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain. The Dialogue’s membership boasts an impressive roster, including former presidents, former cabinet members, as well as other leaders in government, business, and financial institutions.  

“We are honored to welcome these accomplished individuals to the Dialogue,” said Rebecca Bill Chavez, PhD, President and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue. “Our vast and diverse membership is a unique pillar of our organization.”  

Dialogue members actively engage in the organization’s work and represent views from across the ideological spectrum. Members share a commitment to the Dialogue’s mission of advancing democratic governance, social equity, and shared prosperity.   

With the addition of these distinguished individuals, the Inter-American Dialogue continues to strengthen its role as a leading forum for exchange, policy analysis, and problem-solving in Western Hemisphere affairs. 

About the Inter-American Dialogue:  

The Inter-American Dialogue engages our network of global leaders to foster democratic governance, prosperity, and social equity in Latin America and the Caribbean. Together, we work to shape policy debate, devise solutions, and enhance cooperation within the Western Hemisphere. 

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