On February 20, we brought together experts to launch the book América Latina: La Visión de Sus Líderes, fostering a critical and constructive reflection on the region's social, economic, and political dimensions.

During his presentation, Andrés Rugeles, author of the book and Vice-President of the Colombian Council on International Relations (CORI), emphasized a key question guiding his work: Where is Latin America headed? The book compiles 30 interviews with regional leaders to address this question and features 55 articles written by distinguished authorities, experts, and academics.

According to Rugeles, the book aims to contribute collectively to reflections on Latin America's present and future, addressing the region's key challenges across six fundamental themes: poverty and inequality, growth and productivity, environment, democracy, regional integration, and international insertion. "It is essential to understand each of these issues in their uniqueness so that we can effectively tackle challenges at national, regional, and global levels," he stated.

The author also highlighted the need for Latin America to forge its path—a central message of the book. "In an increasingly globalized world, regional integration should not be seen as an option but as a political and strategic imperative capable of generating positive impacts across nearly all dimensions of regional development," he pointed out.

The importance of regional cooperation was reinforced by Talita Tanscheit, a postdoctoral researcher at PUC-Rio, who stated: "Only through integration and cooperation among our countries can we be competitive and relevant on the international stage." Her remarks were followed by Gianpiero Leoncini, Vice-President of the Latin American and Caribbean Development Bank (CAF), and Lourdes Casanova, Gail and Rob Cañizares Director at the Emerging Markets Institute and Senior Lecturer at the Cornell S.C. Johnson College of Business, who joined the discussion online. Both emphasized the urgency of strengthening regional ties to boost trade, expand internal markets, and consolidate institutions.

Closing the event, Marianna Albuquerque, Senior Fellow at CEBRI and professor at the Institute of International Relations and Defense at UFRJ, offered a reflection inspired by a recent interview with Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres. "When she [Fernanda Torres] says that the word 'coração' evokes deep emotion, while 'heart' is just a word she learned, we can extend this idea to Latin America. For an outsider, it is just a region, but when seen from within, as you [Andrés Rugeles] have done in the book, it gains true meaning."

Watch the entire event HERE.