Vanessa is the Latin America and Caribbean editor for BBC News Online. She has been covering Latin America and the Caribbean for the past 14 years, first for World Service radio and for the past decade for the BBC’s news website.
She provides news coverage and analysis from her base in London and from the region (past deployments include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Panama and Venezuela).
While she covers news in the region in general, she has developed a particular interest in the role played by criminal networks, drug trafficking and the prison system. She holds a MA in Latin American Studies, North American Studies and Political Science from Freie Universität Berlin.
Dr Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho is Reader in Brazilian and Latin American Studies at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London (KCL). He received his PhD from the University of Passau, Germany and a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Command and Staff College of the Brazilian Army. At KCL, he has been the director of the Brazil Institute (2020-22), the Vice-Dean International of the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy (2021-2023), and currently is the director of the MA Strategic Communications.
Prior to KCL, Dr Carvalho was Associate Professor for Brazilian Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark. He is the founder of Brasiliana – Journal for Brazilian Studies and the Editor of the Anthem Brazilian Studies Series.
In 2022, Dr Carvalho created the Observatory of Democracy in Latin America (KODLA). He is also an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Strategic Studies of the Brazilian Navy. Parallel to his academic career, he is a music conductor and currently directs the King’s Brazil Ensemble.
In the fields of defence and security, Dr Carvalho specialises in Latin American and Brazilian armed forces, with reference to historical and contemporary issues. In his research and teaching, he covers aspects such as civil-military relations; the role of the armed forces in police tasks; strategic communications; maritime and naval strategy; United Nations peace operations; strategic thinking from a Latin American perspective and the relationship between the arts, music, and conflict. Currently, he leads the research project ‘Military in Politics in Brazil’. In 2023, he edited a special issue of the Journal Conflict, Security and Development on ‘The Development, Security and Defence Nexus in Brazil’.
Dr Carvalho is Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Brian Fonseca is Director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy and an adjunct professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University’s (FIU) Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He is the founding Executive Director of Cybersecurity@FIU, FIU's university-wide interdisciplinary emerging preeminent program. Brian also serves as a Cybersecurity Policy Fellow and International Security Fellow at the D.C.-based think tank New America.
His analysis has been featured in local, national, and international media and he serves as the on-air political analyst for South Florida’s WSVN-Fox News. Brian has testified before the U.S. Congress in 2019 and 2021. His recent publications include two edited volumes titled Culture and National Security in the Americas (Lexington Books, 2017) with Eduardo A. Gamarra and Democracy and Security in Latin America (Routledge, 2021) with Orlando Perez and Gabriel Marcella, and he is co-author of The New US Security Agenda: Trends and Emerging Threats (Palgrave, 2017) with Jonathan Rosen. Brian's technical expertise and publications focus largely on U.S. and Latin American governance, national security, and foreign policies, with particular focus on Venezuela, China, Russia, and cyberspace.
Brian joined FIU after serving as the Senior Research Manager for Socio-Cultural Analysis at United States Southern Command’s Joint Intelligence Operations Center South (JIOC-S). Brian holds degrees in International Business and International Relations from Florida International University in Miami, Florida, and attended Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, and National Defense University in Washington D.C. From 1997 to 2004, he served in the United States Marine Corps and facilitated the training of foreign military forces in both hostile theatres and during peacetime operations.
Lieutenant General John Griffiths-Spielman retired from the Chilean army in 2018, as the Chief of the General Staff of the Chilean Army, and currently he is the Director of Studies at AthenaLab.
LTG Griffiths has a Master´s degree in Military Sciences from the Chilean Army War College and a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies from Edmund Walsh, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington D.C. 2001- 2002. During 2008, he completed his doctoral program in International Affairs and was awarded the Doctor´s degree from the University of Santiago, Chile. He was visiting professor at Georgetown University in 2006-2007.
He is the author of several international publications regarding Latin American Security, (More than 20 indexed publications) as well as the book The Theory of Security and Defence in Latin America, published in 2011, by RIL Editions. Santiago de Chile; and the book Challenges for the Western Hemisphere States in the realm of Security and Defence (2020-2030). Athena Lab Editions 2020; and the book General Ramon Cañas Montalva, Pioneer of the Chilean Geopolitics. Athena Lab Editions 2024. He is a RUSI Distinguished Fellow.
Group Captain Rodrigo Grunert Mardones is a senior Chilean Air Force Officer. He graduated as an Aeronautical Systems Engineer (Hons) specialising as a Fighter Pilot. With extensive experience in multi-engine and heavy transport aircraft he has amassed over 5000 flying hours on DHC-6 Twin Otter and B-767.
Throughout his career he has held key leadership roles such as Air Officer Commanding Nr. 10 Squadron overseeing air operations and as Air Officer Commanding 'Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva' Antarctica Air Squadron, providing support in extreme environmental conditions.
He was Director of the Air War College until December 2024 when he became Air Attaché to the Embassy of Chile in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and as Air Attaché Concurrent with residence in London to the Kingdom of Sweden and the Portugese Republic on 10th December 2024.
Cathy is Director of the Organised Crime and Policing research group at RUSI, with expertise in serious and organised crime, illicit trade and development. Cathy is Chair of RUSI’s Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research, established in partnership with Research Councils UK’s Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security.
Prior to joining RUSI in 2012, Cathy worked in the international development sector as a Project Development Specialist in Madagascar, as well as spending five years in Italy, working with European publications on EU–African relations and migration.
Cathy has a particular focus on environmental crime, and has led fieldwork in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Malawi, Mozambique, Gabon and Sierra Leone. She is the editor of Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa: Myths and Realities (Routledge, 2016).
Cathy has contributed to a variety of publications and media outlets such as the BBC and CNN, and has provided briefings on key aspects of the organised crime threat to high-level fora from the G7 to the OECD, European Parliament and Global Counterterrorism Forum.
Mike Lavender spent 37 years in the Royal Air Force. After early tours in areas classic to his branch, and some operational deployments, he undertook increasingly diverse and more strategic roles. He gained an MA in Defence Studies from King’s College London (with a special project on UN peacekeeping) and, from 2006, he worked almost exclusively in the international environment.
In his time working overseas, Mike operated in many countries including the US, Germany, Cyprus, China, Argentina and Uruguay. He developed a large range of experiences, in and out of the military sphere. He was awarded an OBE for his work in Germany and, in this period, had responsibilities in around 10 European countries. In Cyprus, he was responsible for all personnel and families living on the British bases and managed 'decompression', a critical stop off point for those returning from challenging operational deployments.
Mike spent the latter part of his career in the defence engagement and international diplomacy settings. Having learnt Mandarin, he took up the role of Air and Deputy Defence Attaché in China at the outset of China's revolution in military affairs. He managed the first ever visit to China of the RAF's Red Arrows display team and was awarded a personal commendation for his work in the country.
He returned to the UK to study Latin American Spanish and then moved to Argentina as the Defence Attaché, overseeing UK and Argentine military relationships during a particularly challenging time and over the period of the 40th anniversary of the Falklands Conflict. Finally, having gained ministerial endorsement for his recommendation, he was asked to go to Uruguay as the UK's first ever resident Defence Attaché.
Francisco Lobo is a Military Ethics advisor and International Law expert. He holds a PhD in War Studies (King's College London), where he is also a Tutor at the KCL Centre for Military Ethics. He holds an LLM in International Legal Studies (New York University), an LLM in International Law and an LLB (University of Chile). He has worked as a legal practitioner in the private and public sectors, including at the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN International Law Commission. He is also a lecturer and academic.
He has trained military personnel in human rights and ethics standards at the Chilean War Academy in Santiago; at the Theresian Military Academy in Vienna; at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu; and at the Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania. He has also contributed to online training delivered by King’s College London to the Colombian armed forces. He has worked as an advisor for an international development project to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine in IHL and military ethics standards. His research focuses on international law, human rights, the laws and ethics of war, legal theory, moral philosophy, and post-colonial studies.
Dr Neil Melvin is Director, International Security at the RUSI. His current research is focused on emerging international security dynamics in key regions around the world, notably Europe and Eurasia, the Gulf and Middle East, East Africa and the Horn, and the Indo-Pacific.
His recent publications have focused on the new external security politics of the Horn of Africa and Indian Ocean, and the Black Sea region.
Prior to joining RUSI, Dr Melvin was Director of the Armed Conflict and Conflict Management Programme and then Director of Research at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He has held senior adviser positions in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Energy Charter, the European Union, and has been a consultant for the United Nations.
Dr Melvin has also held positions at the Centre for European Policy Studies and Chatham House, as well as several universities.
Dr Melvin holds a DPhil from Oxford University. He has been a visiting fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and the Department of Government of the London School of Economics.
Commander Vitor Bravo Pimentel was born in 1984, in Rio de Janeiro. He joined the Brazilian Navy in 1999, enrolling in the Naval High School. In 2002, he entered the Brazilian Naval Academy and, after four years, completed his officer training, graduating as a Midshipman. Throughout his career as a Hydrographer and Surface Warfare Officer, he served aboard several hydrographic and warships. Before his hydrography specialization, he served on the Brazilian Aircraft Carrier (2006–2007) and as a member of the commissioning crew of a Tank Landing Ship (2007–2008), participating in its reception into the Brazilian Navy in Portsmouth, UK. From 2010 to 2012, he worked in the Hydrography Division of a Hydrographic Ship, based in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2013, he served as Instructor of Astronomical Navigation aboard the Brazilian Training Ship. Between 2014 and mid-2015, he was assigned to the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center, working on bathymetric survey analysis and nautical chart updates. From 2015 to 2016, he was the Commanding Officer of a River Research Vessel operating in the Paraguay River Basin. After another assignment at the Hydrographic Center, he served as Chief of Operations on the Brazilian Polar Vessel from 2019 to 2021.
From 2021 to 2025, he once again served at the Navy Hydrographic Center, in the Cartographic and Hydrographic Survey Analysis Division. Throughout his career, Commander Pimentel has been deployed in a wide range of operational environments in Brazil, including the Pantanal and Prata River regions, the Brazilian coast, and Antarctica. He holds both MSc and PhD degrees in Earth and Ocean Dynamics from the Fluminense Federal University. Additionally, he has a postgraduate diploma in Science of Religion.
In September 2025, he joined the Strategic Foresight Team at Defence Futures and Force Design as an embedded officer, primarily supporting discussions on Oceans, Waterways, Poles and the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Jennifer Scotland is a Research Analyst in the Organised Crime and Policing team at RUSI. She holds an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Bristol.
Prior to joining RUSI, Jennifer was a Research Analyst on the Americas country intelligence desk at Janes, an open-source intelligence defence and security provider, where she monitored security threats in Latin America, including regional organised crime trends. Her research at Janes included investigations into illicit resource extraction driving deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, a deep-dive into organised crime-driven insecurity in Ecuador, monitoring of the Colombian peace process between the government and primary non-state actors, as well as a report exploring cocaine trafficking trends between the Americas and Europe in 2023. At RUSI, Jennifer is involved in the environmental crime portfolio, exploring issues such as the illegal wildlife trade and associated illicit finance in Africa and Latin America.
Dr Carlos Solar is Senior Research Fellow in the International Security Studies team at RUSI. His current research is focused on security dynamics in the Americas, notably on military, human security, and international relations issues that connect with the West.
He is the author of Cybersecurity Governance in Latin America (SUNY Press), Governing the Military (Manchester University Press), Government and Governance of Security (Routledge), and co-edited Violence, Crime and Justice in Latin America (Routledge).
Carlos' publications on democratic governance, security policy, and civil-military relations have appeared in several academic journals including the Journal of Strategic Studies, Global Crime, British Politics, International Politics, Current Sociology, Contemporary Politics, Bulletin of Sociological Methodology, and Journal of Cyber Policy, among others. He holds a PhD from the University of York, and has been a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Latin American Centre at Oxford University.
Juan Pablo Toro is the Executive Director of AthenaLab, a Chilean think tank dedicated to International Relations, Security and Defense, with special emphasis on issues in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Antarctica.
After more than two decades of working as a journalist in different countries and teaching at several national universities, he has concentrated his knowledge on politics and security in Latin America, as well as on geopolitical issues of the Asia-Pacific, irregular conflicts and drug trafficking. While his multiple trips have taken him from Singapore to the coast of Somalia, his journalistic activity also allowed him to make contact with leaders across the world.
He was previously International Editor of the Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio; Editor-in-Chief of the El Mercurio de Valparaíso; News Editor of the Associated Press in Mexico and correspondent for the Associated Press in Colombia. He has been Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Communications at the Catholic University of Chile since 2015. His articles have appeared in newspapers in the Americas and he has also published in specialised magazines such as Foreign Affairs in Spanish.
He was awarded an M.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Journalism from the Catholic University of Chile. He also holds a National Security Diploma from the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology and is a graduate of the Strategy and Defense Policy course at the Center for Hemisphere Defense Studies.
Dr Victoria Vdovychenko is a widely recognized and published expert on the issues of hybrid warfare, strategic communication, with particular emphasis on relations between Ukraine and the European Union as well as NATO. Victoria has a MSc and PhD in Foreign Policy and World History from the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine.
Victoria is currently a co-lead of the Future of Ukraine Program at the Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge. She is working on the future of the European security architecture, issues of deterrence and designing an academic concept of the strategic trilemmas.
She is a co-author of policy papers, “Ukraine Scenarios 2032” (2025), “Firewalling the Future” (2025), “Winning the Future: Strategies for Resilient Ukraine and Europe” (2025), Reinforcing the Legal Framework for Seizing the Russian Assets (2025), “Ukraine under Zelenskyy: Domestic, Foreign and Security Policy in Flux” (2022), “Willingness to fight for Ukraine: Lessons for the Baltic states” (2022), “Resilience Paper Review” (2022) and “Shaping up social resistance: Zelenskyy’s approach to rearranging Ukraine” (2023).
