Monday, February 24, 2025
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST
The Georgetown Americas Institute is pleased to host Jorge Argüello, former Argentine ambassador to the United States, for a presentation of the book The Challenge of the American Countries at the G20 (2024), compiled by the ambassador and featuring sherpas to the presidents of the five American G20 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States), along with distinguished academics from those countries. The book, a collaboration between CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, Fundación Embajada Abierta, and Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE), delves into the most pressing issues for the Americas in the post-globalization era, including inequality, a lack of leadership, and international conflict. This discussion will explore the role of American countries in the G20 and what can be done to strengthen regional cooperation. The event will feature Argüello, Alejandro Werner, GAI’s founding director, Christian Asinelli of CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, Luis Scasso of the Organization of Ibero-American States, Federico Pinedo, Argentine sherpa to the G20, and Cynthia Termorshuizen, Canadian sherpa to the G20.
This event will be livestreamed to the GAI YouTube channel.
Featuring
Jorge Argüello is a lawyer with a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires and a master’s degree in administration and public policy from the University of San Andrés. He is the president of the Embajada Abierta Foundation. He was the permanent representative of Argentina to the United Nations, ambassador to Portugal and Cape Verde, and twiceambassador to the United States of America. In 2011, he served as chairman of the Group of 77 + China, and between 2019 and 2023, he was Argentina’s sherpa in the G20. He has been national congressman on two occasions, city councilman and member of the Constitutional Convention for the City of Buenos Aires, and served two terms as a Buenos Aires city legislator.
Christian Asinelli is the corporate vice president of strategic programming at CAF-Development Bank of Latin America. Asinelli leads the strategy of sovereign financing, technical assistance, generation, and dissemination of knowledge, with a focus on environmental sustainability, gender, inclusion and diversity, physical and digital infrastructure, social development, and urban development, as well as the organization's relationship agenda for its countries and the incorporation of new members. He has previously served as undersecretary for the evaluation of externally financed projects with the chief of the Cabinet of Ministers of Argentina, deputy of the autonomous city of Buenos Aires, and alternate national director of the state modernization project for the chief of the Cabinet of Ministers. He has also been active in the leadership of the Partido Justicialista of Buenos Aires.
Federico Pinedo was the Argentina sherpa to the G20. Previously he served as provisional president of the Argentine Senate from 2015 to 2019 and as a national deputy for the city of Buenos Aires from 2003 to 2015. He has also held the posts of elected council for the Federal Capital (1987 to 1991) and inspector general for the city of Buenos Aires (1991). He obtained a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires in 1978.
Luis Scasso is the director of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) diplomatic representation in Argentina and director of the Ibero-American Chair of Regional Integration for all 22 member countries. Before joining the OEI in 2000, he served as program officer at UNESCO, official staff at the UNESCO Argentine National Commission, consultant at the Argentine National Directorate for International Cooperation, executive director at Integration Foundation and educational coordinator at the Forum of Mayors and Businessmen of Mercosur. He holds a bachelor degree in political science from the University of Salvador and a master’s degree in innovation and educational technology from the Complutense University of Madrid.
Cynthia Termorshuizen was appointed deputy minister for the G7 Summit and personal representative of the prime minister (sherpa) for the G7 and G20 Summits by Justin Trudeau on June 25, 2024. She previously served as associate deputy minister of foreign affairs (2022 to 2023). Before that, she held the positions of assistant deputy minister of security and emergency management (2020 to 2022), director general of international security policy (2018 to 2020), and deputy head of mission in China (2015 to 2018), under the umbrella of Global Affairs Canada. She also held prior roles in government departments specializing in trade and development, with geographical focuses in China and Afghanistan.
Alejandro Werner is the founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute and a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute. He recently completed almost nine years as director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund. Prior to that appointment, he was undersecretary of finance and public credit in Mexico’s Finance Ministry and held several positions in that ministry and the Central Bank. He also taught at leading universities in Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in economics from ITAM.