We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World (watch again)

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced a crisis that decimated its economy. How then the socialist system manages to survive? This is what Helen Yaffe examines in her new book: We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World.

Tuesday 24 November 2020

Infrastructure in Latin America: from the investment gap to spending efficiency (watch again)

Latin America has the second lowest rate of infrastructure investment as a share of GDP among developing regions - less than 3 per cent compared to 4-8 per cent elsewhere. How do we overcome this?

Thursday 22 October 2020
 

Policies to Fight the Pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean (watch again)

A panel of experts from the Inter-American Development Bank and the LSE have discussed  the 2020 Latin American and Caribbean Macroeconomic Report and its diagnosis of a rapidly changing environment and policy recommendations aimed to bring relief, maintain economic stability, and keep the core of the economy intact in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Tuesday 07 July 2020

COVID-19 in Latin America: the lessons for public policy, inequality, and innovation (watch again)

How has government policy in the region responded to the pandemic – both the successes and failures in terms of vector control, but also impacts? What lessons have been learned from previous epidemics? What is the importance of pharmaceutical innovation, trust, and institutional resilience?

Thursday 2 July 2020

All about politics? Explaining differences in inequality within the most unequal region

What explains the variance in income distribution in Latin America? Are the factors driving inequality in the whole region the same as those determining country differences?

Wednesday 4th March 2020 16:00 to 18:00
Room 9.05, Fawcett House

Is a politics without violence imaginable and realisable? 

The event saw the official launch of Professor Jenny Pearce's (Research Professor, LSE LACC) new book, Politics Without Violence? Towards a Post-Weberian Enlightenment' in a panel debate with experts from cross-cutting disciplines to address the question: Is a politics without violence imaginable and realisable or is it a utopian project?

Tuesday 28th January 2020 18:00 - 19:30
The Vera Anstey Room, Old Building

An IMF for the 21st Century

José Antonio Ocampo, Professor at Columbia University SIPA and a member of the Board of Directors at the Colombian Central Bank, looked at the different dimensions of IMF reform based on his book, Resetting the International Monetary (Non)System.

Thursday 5th December 18:30 - 20:00
Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building

Indigenous rights and climate change at Brazil's agroindustrial frontier

Indigenous activist Ângela Kaxuyana debates on how to protect local peoples’ rights in the context of an expanding agroindustrial frontier.

Friday 15th November 18:00 - 19:30
The Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building

Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Brazilian Women in the UK

Luiza Helena Trajano, co-founder of the Women of Brazil Group and successful Brazilian businessperson, discusses the gender gap in business and education and launches the London branch of the Women of Brazil Group, which aims to tackle the vulnerabilities of female Brazilian immigrants in the country.

Thursday 17th October
Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building

The rise and fall of the Brazilian economy

Renowned Brazilian economist, Laura Carvalho, explores the relationship between the economic and political crisis in Brazil.

Monday 7th October
Pethick-Lawrence House, Room 9.04

Governance, Crime and International Security: testing innovations in policy, practice and research

The workshop will introduce early career researchers and PhD students to research on governance and security, using Sao Paulo as a laboratory to examine the institutional setting of Brazil.

Monday 23rd - 27th September
Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo 

Long-run Development in Latin America 

Following the inaugural conference in Stanford in May 2017 and the second annual conference in LSE in May 2018, this multi-disciplinary event is coming to the Universidad de los Andes to probe the institutional, political, and economic drivers of long-run development in the region. 

Thursday 30th - 31st May
Universidad de Los Andes 

Brazil: fostering entrepreneurship 

Join the Centre and the LSE Brazilian society in conversation with Edu Lyra, Social Entrepreneur and founder of the Gerando Falcões Institute, to discuss his work and the fostering of entrepreneurship in Brazil. 

Thursday 6th June, 18:30 - 20:00
Alumni Theatre, New Academic Building

International, Transnational, and Global Histories of the Nicaraguan Revolution, 1977-1990

To encourage scholarly collaboration, take stock of what is known to date, and to delineate new areas of research in the future, this one-day workshop will bring scholars together to engage dialogue and debate with each other. It aims to advance understanding of the international, transnational, and global dynamics of the Nicaraguan Revolution.

Wednesday 15th May, 9:30 - 18:00
Fawcett House, 9.05

Brazil Forum UK 2019 

With the theme “Dialogues towards a constructive agenda”, Brazil Forum UK 2019 looks to the future: what challenges do the new government and civil society face to solve structural problems and create a path towards sustainable and inclusive development in Brazil, and what solutions do they propose?

Saturday 18th May, 09:00 - 18:30
Old Theatre, Old Building 

In Conversation with Sergio Fajardo

For decades Medellín has been stigmatised by corruption, violence, and drug trafficking. In an effort to renew the way politics is done in Colombia, Sergio Fajardo aims to bring real social, economic and political change to Medellín, with his political career focussing on education, reconciliation and the fight against corruption.

Tuesday 14th May, 18:30 - 20:00
Lincoln's Inn Fields, Room 103

Brazil: the politics of life and death

The focus of this symposium is to bring together perspectives on the new scenarios of the increasing role of Brazilian police and criminal collectives in changing the borderlines of inclusion and exclusion in society.

Wednesday 8th May, 14:30 - 18:00
Fawcett House, 9.05

Argentina in an Election Year: an update

Join former Argentine Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay for a discussion of recent economic developments in Argentina and the prospects for this year’s presidential elections. 

Thursday 25th April, 18:30 - 20:00

LSE-NEV Workshop

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre recently hosted a joint workshop in São Paulo with the Núcleo de Estudos da Violêcia (NEV-USP).

25th - 26th March 2019

Cuba-US relations in the 21st century 

This seminar looks at the processes underlying the normalisation of Cuba-US relations, which ended 54 years of hostility between the nations.

Friday 22 March 2019, 14:00-16:00

Pigment and Power: seeing Latin America through street art

This afternoon symposium brings together six scholars to ask how the creative expressions of street art challenge and expand the way we make sense of Latin American cities. Drawing on diverse disciplinary backgrounds, the panel considers how the materials, aesthetics, and practices of these urban arts, as well as public discourses about them, illuminate dynamics of social relations and cultural politics in contemporary Latin America.

Wednesday 27th February, 14:30 - 18:00

Registration for this event with open in February. Please email lacc@lse.ac.uk if you wish to attend.

The Future of UK-Latin American and Caribbean Trade After Brexit

This event, co-hosted by the British Foreign Policy Group and LSE looks at what shape engagement and trade relations with Latin America and the Caribbean could take. Building on the BFPG’s event on Latin America last year and subsequent report (Revitalising UK-Latin America Engagement post-Brexit), the panel will analyse the opportunities available and address key questions.

Uncertain Citizenship: everyday practices of Bolivian migrants in Chile 

Uncertain Citizenship explores how Bolivian migrants to Chile experience citizenship across borders in their daily lives. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic research, this book contributes to debates on the meaning and practice of citizenship in Latin America and for migrants throughout the world.

The Left in Latin America: Mexico

Join us as we look at some of the main features of Andrés Manuel López Obrador's election campaign and the issues he now faces as Mexico's new leader. 

Beyond populism: the rise of Bolsonaro in Brazil

5th December, 6:30pm, room 9.04, Fawcett House (formerly TW2)

The embracing of nationalistic & authoritarian discourses in Brazil with Bolsonaro is the result of a combination of trends deeply embedded within Brazil's political & economic landscape. Join us to discuss what led us to this far-right turn in Brazil.

Trafficking in Trust: Armoured Cars in Guatemala City

This event is part of a three-year international research collaboration on Traffic in the Americas, which will explore the varied relationships between two different understandings of the word traffic.

Forever on the brink: crisis in Venezuela

What does the future hold for this nation, and how will political and economic developments unfold? Professor Ricardo Hausmann, Director of the Centre for International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, offers his insight and analysis.

Open Data in Latin America: accountable governments in a digital age 

This event will look at some of the most prominent Open Data initiatives, showcasing promising results, as well as the challenges the movement faces, addressing the limits these new approaches present in order to improve the relationship between government and societies. Finally, in light of recent political developments in Latin America we ask how far can the open movement can go in an increasingly volatile political environment?

Doing More with Less: efficient spending for better lives

As part of the annual LSE-IDB conference the evening public lecture will be led by Alejandro Izquierdo, Chief Economist a.i. at the Inter-American Development Bank.

The lecture is based on the IDB’s flagship publication Development in the Americas, 2018 edition, “Better Spending for Better Lives: how Latin America and the Caribbean Can do more with Less”.

Better Spending for Better Lives

The 2018 LSE-IDB conference focuses on how governments can spend better in order to improve livelihoods and build trust in the legitimacy of public institutions. The conference will bring together members of the IDB, LSE and think tanks to examine how governments can allocate resources efficiently in fiscally challenging circumstances, specifically how they can promote economic growth, raise peoples’ living standards and improve public policy outcomes in sectors such as education, health and security. 

The Left in Latin America: Nicaragua & Venezuela 

Join us for the first in of a series of events on the left in Latin America to be hosted by LACC this year, this panel will discuss the left in Nicaragua and Venezuela. It will ask what the origins and basis for protests against self-proclaimed left-wing governments are in both countries and why these have been met with force. Is the left the face of authoritarianism? What does "the left" stand for today? If ballot boxes return centre-right parties to power, how has the left responded and how should it? 

Third workshop of the ‘Social Entrepreneurship 360’ series

The Innovation Co-creation Lab, the Latin America and Caribbean Centre and LSE Generate were delighted to jointly host the third workshop of the ‘Social Entrepreneurship 360’ series, sponsored by Santander. 

The third event brought together a new group of successful social entrepreneurs to explain their journey, their business models, golden nuggets for success and also discuss their failures and lessons learned.

The First Great Divergence: how culture transformed our species
Professor Robert Boyd (Arizona State University)
17th May 6:30pm, Old Theatre, LSE

This public lecture was part of the 2nd Annual LSE-Stanford-Universidad de los Andes Conference on Long-Run Development in Latin America.

Professor Boyd shows that while people are smart, we are not nearly smart enough to have solved the vast array of problems that confronted our species as it spread across the globe. 

Mind the Middle Income Trap! 
Thursday 26 April | CLM.2.02 Clement House, LSE

The emerging world is facing the massive dual challenge of transforming itself into advanced economies in a sustainable way and adjusting to technological change and the increasingly binding environmental and social constraints. Academic work has been underway in a joint policy research initiative titled "Avoiding the Middle Income Trap". This public event will present new research results in the areas of regional patterns of reform; risks of reform reversals, and global investment and their local enablers at the regional and city level and financing channels.

The Pacific Alliance: lessons & challenges of integration in a changing world
8 March 2018 | Vera Anstey Room

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre and the LSE SU Colombian, Chilean, Peruvian, Mexican and Latin American Societies were delighted to co-host a roundtable discussion entitled "The Pacific Alliance: lessons and challenges of integration in a changing world." This roundtable brought together Ambassadors of Colombia, Chile, Peru and Mexico, the four Pacific Alliance member-states, and Mr Enrique Garcia Rodriguez, former Executive President of CAF Development Bank of Latin America, to discuss regional integration, the lessons learned and the upcoming challenges, it was followed by a questions and answers session with participation from audience.

Fixing food: insights from the Food Sustainability Index
5 March 2018 | Tower Two, Floor 9, Room 4

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre and the LSE Global South Unit were delighted to host Dr Irene Mia, Global Editorial Director of The Economist Intelligence Unit, to discuss the prominent issue of food sustainability.

Social Entrepreneurship 360° - second workshop
1 March 2018 | Tower Two, Floor 9, Room 5

The Innovation Co-creation Lab, the Latin America and Caribbean Centre and LSE Generate were delighted to jointly host the second workshop of the ‘Social Entrepreneurship 360’ series, sponsored by Santander. 

The second event brought together a new group of successful social entrepreneurs who explained their journey, their business models, golden nuggets for success and also discuss their failures and lessons learned.

Urban growth and access to opportunities: a challenge for Latin America
27 February 2018 | Tower Two, Floor 9, Room 5

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC) and the LSE Global South Unit are delighted to host Dr Pablo Sanguinetti, Chief Economist, CAF Development Bank of Latin America for a panel discussion with Prof Anthony Venables (Oxford University) and Prof Gareth A Jones (LACC Director) that seeks to understand the most critical development challenges currently faced by Latin American cities. Special attention is given to the concept of accessibility, that is the capacity of households and firms to reach the opportunities offered by a city. 

Citizenship without walls in contemporary Mexico
13 February 2018 | Tower Two, Floor 9, Room 4

With cries of ‘Build the Wall’ the sound track to the 2016 US presidential election and immigration policy likely to be a key theme for the 2018 Mexican elections, what does it mean to be a citizen in contemporary Mexico? The panel brought together three internationally-renowned social scientists to reflect on diverse aspects of citizenship within the space constituted by Mexico and across its border with the US. In a context of on-going globalisation, marketisation and geopolitical change, the main focus is on shifts in understandings, representations and everyday experiences of citizenship by different constituencies of Mexican people, according to gender, socio-economic and labour market positioning, and migrant status. The presentations raised issues pertinent to current scholarly and policy debates and agendas, not only in and for Mexico, but the Americas more generally, and beyond. 

How can the private sector help reform global governance?
29 January 2018

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre, the Institute of Global Affairs and the Embassy of the Argentine Republic to the UK are delighted to co-host Dr Funes de Rioja for a public lecture at the LSE.

Dr Funes de Rioja, B20 Chair under G20 Presidency of Argentina, will discuss how the private sector and the B20 process can help reform the international financial system and Argentina’s G20 priorities.

Visualising Resource Extraction in Colombia
11 January 2018, Seligman Library, Old Building, 6th Floor

Join us for the screening of two films relating on resource extraction in Colombia, followed by a question and answer session with their directors and a panel discussion on the aesthetics and politics of representing resource extraction.

Buenos Aires as a Global City
6 November 2017, Room 4, Floor 9, Tower Two

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre and the LSE Global South Unit are delighted to be hosting Mr Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Mayor of Buenos Aires for a public lecture on the city’s urban environment and global vision, given that In the following months, Buenos Aires will be hosting four major global events, namely the ILO Global Conference, the WTO Ministerial Conference, the 2018 Youth Olympics and the G20. 

Skills for Development in a Changing World
4 October 2017

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre and the Inter-America Development Bank are jointly hosting the ‘Skills for Development in a Changing World’ conference on October 4th, 2017 at The Law Society in London. The conference will address the defining issue of the age, the relationship between the acquisition of skills that are suitable for the rapidly changing conditions of contemporary labour markets, technological transitions and innovation frontiers. 

Register for your ticket here.

Reform to Recovery: Where Next for the Brazilian Economy?
25 September 2017

The LSE Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC) is pleased to welcome the Brazilian Minister of Finance, Mr Henrique Meirelles. Mr Meirelles will present a talk on recent reforms and future challenges of the Brazilian economy. 

Register for your ticket here.

Colombia Inside Out 2017 Conference
13 June 2017, LSE

Colombia Insideout Conference 2017

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre and LSE Enterprise, supported by The Colombian Securities Exchange will co-host the ''Colombia Insideout conference'' on June 13th to meet Colombia ́s decision-makers, business leaders and senior government officials at the LSE. The conference, with the participation of the Colombian Minister of Finance, Mauricio Cardenas, Governor of the Central Bank, Juan Jose Echavarria, UK ministers and LSE academics, will discuss new developments in investment, trade and regulation in Colombia and the potential role of UK companies.

LSE-Stanford Conference on Long Range Development in Latin America
11-12 May 2017, Stanford University

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC), with the support of the LSE Annual Fund, and led by Jean-Paul Faguet and Alberto Diaz-Cayeros will co-sponsor the first LSE-Stanford conference on Long Range Development at Stanford University in May 2017. The multi-disciplinary conference will probe into the institutional, political, and economic drivers of long-run development in Latin America and beyond. this conference will mark the start of a series of conferences, including the 2018 conference at the LSE and the 2019 conference at Universidad de los Andes in Bogota.

More information here.

Pathways to Peace in Colombia
4 May 2017

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre and LSE Ideas are joinlty hosted Joshua Mitrotti, Director of Colombia Agency for Reintegration. Mr Mittrotti presented a talk about the challenges and achievements of a ground-breaking approach to absorb thousands of former paramilitaries and guerrilla fighters into productive employment as part of the country’s post-conflict transition.

The event was chaired by Dr  Mary Martin,  Senior Research Fellow in LSE IDEAS (United Nations at LSE) and the LSE Department of International Relations.

#LSEColombia

Reforming the Mexican oil sector
23 March 2017, LSE
Guest Speaker: Mr Juan Pablo Newman Aguilar, CFO of PEMEX

Mr Newman presented a talk on the reform of the Mexican oil sector, followed by a Q&A. 

Mr Newman has been Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) since January 2016. Previously, Mr Newman served as CFO at Nacional Financier, and as Deputy Director of Risk Management of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit in Mexico. Mr Newman is an LSE alumnus, and holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and a master's in Operational Research. 

From Fear to Hope: a new Colombia in the making
16 March 2017
Guest speaker: Dr Sergio Fajardo

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre and the LSE SU Colombia Society jointly hosted a public lecture with Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellin, Colombia. Dr Fajardo presented a talk on his experience transforming Medellin and Antioquia, two of the most violent regions of the world, into international referents of social innovation. The lecture was followed by an informal discussion with Dr Fajardo in Spanish.

Before going into politics, Dr Fajardo was an academic. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as a BSc from Universidad de los Andes. 

More information here.

LSE Mexican Week 2017

6-8 March 2017, LSE

The LSE Latin America and Caribbean Centre, the LSE Department of Government and the LSE SU Mexican Society, with the support of the Mexican Embassy in the UK, jointly hosted the 17th LSE-Mexican Week. The event was a three-day series of conferences and roundtables whose theme this year - The challenges of Entangled Inequalities - was chosen by the Mexican students at LSE. The 17th Mexican Week followed the efforts and success of previous conferences. Overall its objective is to provide a venue for the discussion of the challenges faced by Mexico in a global context and to engage our students in an exchange of ideas with our guest lecturers. Over the past sixteen years, the Mexican Week has brought together senior practitioners, policy makers, governors, ministers and other officials and academics interested in Mexican and Latin American issues.

More information here.

''Unhappy Anniversary (?): 25 years after El Salvador's Peace Accords''
9 February 2017

On January 26, 1992 El Salvador's government signed a peace accord with the country's querrillas to end the 12-year conflict that caused the death of 75,000 people. The agreement, which included a general amnesty and a commission to investigate the atrocities committed, then became a model for similar conflicts in the region. 

To comemorate the 25th anniversary of the accord, the LSE Su Latin American Society hosted a public lecture about the agreement, its problems and limitations, the implications of the declaration of unconstitutionality of the amnesty, and the current situation of the country. 

Seminar: Kirsten Sehnbruch presents 'Informal Institutions and Multi-level Politics: Understanding Institutional Change in Chile'
9 February 2017

Kirsten Sehnbruch is the Director of the Public Policy Institute at the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile, and am Associate Researcher and founding board member of the Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion (also in Chile) with responsibility for the Centre's interntional relations. She is also visiting Senio Fellow at the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics, and an Affiliated Lecturer at the Centre for Latin American Studies at Cambridge University. 

'Has Argentina left populism behind? Apositive view'
18 January 2017
Guest speaker: Jaime Campos, President of the AEA

Jaime Campos presented a lecture on populism in Argentine politics, followed by a Q&A.

 Jaime Campos is the President of Argentine Business Association (AEA), an organization that represents the diverse views of the business community in Argentina. Jaime is responsible for the coordination of a range of specialized and expert activities specific to business. Previously, Jaime was the Executive Director of the Argentine Investment Foundation, an institution aimed at the promotion of productive investments in Argentina. He holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology from the Argentine Catholic University (UCA) and a master's in Economic Development from Yale University, USA, and he worked as a Professor of Argentine Economy at UCA.

Reception with LSE Colombian Alumni Association and launch of the Observatory on the Colombia Peace Process
15 December 2017

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC) hosted a reception for the LSE Colombia Alumni Association in Bogota, Colombia, at the Residence of the British Embassy. The reception followed the launch of the LSE-Universidad de los Andes Observatory on the Colombian Peace Process. 

More information here.

Workshop: 'Work, Poverty, and Vulnerability in Mexico from the ''lost decade'' of the 1980s to the present'
10 November 2016

A masterclass in Spanish with Mercedes Gonzalez de la Rocha, CIESAS Occidente, Guadalajara for LSE Staff and students.

Moderator: Sylvia Chant, LSE Department of Geography and Environment

'The Legacy of Peace'
2 November 2017
Guest speaker: President Juan Manuel Santos

The Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC) and LSE Ideas welcomed President of Colombia, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and LSE alum, Juan Manuel Santos to LSE. President Santos presented a talk entitled 'The Legacy of Peace'. The event took palce as part of his state visit to the U.K., the first ever by a Colombian President. 

More information here.