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Georgetown Americas Institute

April 15, 2026

Hemispheric Security, Diplomacy, and Economic Cooperation

Event Series: Latin America and the Geopolitical and Economic Transition: How to Harness the Revolution

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The Western Hemisphere is undergoing rapid transformation as the United States recalibrates its national security priorities in Latin America amid shifting geopolitical pressures, making regional relations central to its broader strategy. Emerging security developments—including the new security coalition the Shield of the Americas, the U.S.-led capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and a deepening humanitarian and energy crisis in Cuba driven by disrupted oil supplies—are reshaping the regional landscape and intensifying policy challenges. At the same time, key questions have arisen regarding the role of trade and economic integration, including free trade agreements, amid growing great power competition between the United States and China in the region. Meanwhile, growing global insecurity, especially escalating tensions in the Middle East, are influencing U.S. strategic priorities and resource allocation in the Americas.

Against this backdrop, the Georgetown Americas Institute is pleased to host Juan Gonzalez, former national security advisor and GAI visiting fellow, for a conversation on hemispheric security, diplomacy, and economic policy in the context of U.S. national security and broader transnational security in the Western Hemisphere.

This is the fifth session in the event series Latin America and the Geopolitical and Economic Transition: How to Harness the Revolution, which aims to examine how shifting long-term currents are affecting the world, their potential impact on Latin America, and how the region should adapt and react. The region has historically lived in the shadow of the United States while drawing closer to China. It possesses vast natural resources yet continues to search for a path toward equitable and sustained prosperity. It is a heterogeneous set of countries with a shared history, split by deep rivalries, yet strengthened by the enduring idea of a regional identity. It is imperative that Latin American leaders confront these forces of transformation with clear eyes.

Featuring

Juan S. Gonzalez is a resident fellow at the Georgetown Americas Institute. He previously served in senior positions in the Obama and Biden Administrations at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation as senior advisor to the CEO, at the U.S. Department of State as deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, and at the White House as special assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for the Western Hemisphere. Gonzalez has an M.A. (with distinction) from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Eduardo Porter writes “Being There” on Substack and has a regular column in the Guardian. Porter worked for nearly two decades at the New York Times, and he also wrote for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Opinion, and the Washington Post. He has reported from Tokyo, London, São Paulo, and Mexico City. He is the author of American Poison (2020), on how racial hostility shaped the American social contract, and The Price of Everything (2011), an exploration of the cost-benefit analyses that underpin human behaviors and institutions. Born in Phoenix, he grew up in the United States, Mexico, and Belgium, and he now splits his time between Mexico City and Brooklyn.

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.