One-day conference co-organized with the Instituto de Empresa (Madrid) and Florida International University.
Venue: Latin American Centre, University of Oxford
Date: November 27, 2025
09:30 – 09:40 | Welcome and Opening Remarks
Eduardo Posada-Carbó, Director, Latin American Centre, University of Oxford
Carlos Díaz-Rosillo, Founding Director, Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom, Florida International University
Part 1 Authoritarianism and the Obstacles for Change
Chair: Armando Jiménez San Vicente (Adam Smith Center)
09:40 – 10.20 | Opening Keynote: The Challenges to Latin American Democracies
Jamil Mahuad, Former President of Ecuador
10:20 – 10:50 | Discussion and Q&A
10:50 – 11:40 | Coffee break
11:40– 12:10 | Autocratisation and democratic resistance in Latin America
Maryen Jiménez, Latin American Centre, University of Oxford
12:10– 12:40 | Discussion and Q&A
12:40 – 14:00 | Lunch
Part 2 – Development and Inequality
Chair: Belén Villegas Plá, University of Oxford
14:00 – 14:30 | The Challenge of Development in Latin America
Diego Sánchez-Ancochea, Professor of the Political Economy of Development, University of Oxford
14:30 – 15:00 | Discussion and Q&A
15:00 – 16:00 | Panel Discussion: How to confront inequality and promote development?
Rodrigo Aguilar (US Foreign Council), Baroness Gloria Hooper (UK Parliament, Latin America Expert), Germán Ríos (IE Latin American Observatory)
16:00 – 16:45 | Coffee Break
Part 3 – Latin America in the World
Chair: Julio Crespo MacLennan, Hispanic Observatory UK
16:45 – 17:15 | The Trump Administration and Its Impact on Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities
Carlos Díaz-Rosillo, Founding Director, Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom,
Florida International University, former White House Director of Public Policy, and Vice Minister of Defense during President Trump first administration
17:15-17:45 Discussion and Q&A
17:45 – 18:45 | Panel Discussion: Latin America in the World
Grace Livingstone (University of Cambridge), Christopher Sabatini (Chatham House), Felipe Krauser (Latin American Centre, University of Oxford)
