FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

September 22, 2026 
Contact: Gemma Givens 
press@thedialogue.org 

Washington, DC – The Inter-American Dialogue has named Daniel L. Watson and Francisco J. Monaldi as non-resident senior fellows. Together they bring deep expertise in economic policy, trade, and energy to the Dialogue’s hemispheric work. Watson brings extensive experience in U.S. trade policy and negotiations across the Americas, while Monaldi is a leading expert on Latin America’s energy sector and resource policy. 

Daniel L. Watson brings more than twenty years of experience in U.S. trade policy. Until July 2026, he served as assistant U.S. trade representative for the Western Hemisphere, where he led negotiations with Mexico, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He oversaw implementation of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), including preparations for its first Joint Review. He also served as chief negotiator for the Agreements on Reciprocal Trade in the Western Hemisphere and led trade discussions under the Americas Partnership.  

Previously, Watson served as deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for North America and deputy chief negotiator for the USMCA, as well as a chapter lead for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He began his career at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, working on services trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization. He also worked at the Department of Homeland Security on asylum and refugee issues and on trade and employment-based immigration policy. Watson holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA from Indiana University Bloomington. 

Francisco J. Monaldi is director of the Latin America Energy Program and the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. He also lectures on energy policy in Rice’s Department of Economics and is a member of the international faculty at IESA School of Management in Venezuela and Panama, where he previously served as a professor and founding director of the Center for Energy and the Environment. 

Monaldi serves on the board of directors of Mercantil Servicios Financieros Internacional (Panama), the International Advisory Council of Global Americans, and the Education Advisory Board of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN). He has held academic positions at Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford’s Hoover Institution, Tufts’ Fletcher School, Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Universidad de los Andes, and Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. He has advised governments, multilateral institutions, and corporations and has published extensively on the political economy of energy and natural resources. Monaldi holds a PhD in political economy from Stanford University, an MA in international economics from Yale University, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas. 

“Daniel spent years across the table from Mexico, Canada, and governments throughout the region, giving him a deep understanding of how trade policy works in practice. Francisco has spent his career showing how energy markets and politics drive each other, and that lens matters well beyond Venezuela,” said Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez, president and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue. “Together, they will sharpen how we read the next phase of hemispheric trade and energy markets.”  

About the Inter-American Dialogue:  

Founded in 1982, the Inter-American Dialogue is the premier center for policy analysis, exchange, and communication on issues in Western Hemisphere affairs. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with a network of experts and fellows across the Americas, the Dialogue convenes global leaders and institutions to advance democratic resilience, shared prosperity, social inclusion, and sustainable development across the Americas. 

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