Stephen Anderson joined the Royal Navy in 1998 as an aviator, subsequently qualifying on Lynx Helicopters in 2000, and as a Principal Warfare Officer in 2006. He was awarded an MLitt in Terrorism Studies from St Andrews University in 2016 whilst sponsored by the Royal Navy.
Most of his career has been spent at sea in Type 23 Duke Class Frigates, and Type 42 and Type 45 Destroyers. As an aviator he conducted back-to-back operational deployments including counter-narcotic and disaster relief tasking in the Caribbean, he supported the commencement of Op Enduring Freedom in the Indian Ocean in 2001, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and NATO maritime operations in the Mediterranean.
Leaving the cockpit in 2006 he remained at sea conducting a South Atlantic patrol as a Principal Warfare Officer, was second-in-command of a Type 45 Destroyer, and took Command of a Type 23 Frigate.
He has served with multiple headquarters at the tactical, operational, and strategic level including the UK Maritime Battlestaff, the UK Permanent Joint Headquarters, served ashore as an Instructor with Flag Officer Sea Training, was the desk officer responsible for future maritime aviation in Navy Command HQ, and in Ministry of Defence as a maritime lead in Crisis and Commitments.
He was previously the UK Liaison Officer to US Southern Command from July 2020 and took up his current role as an Exchange Officer as the Deputy Director for Allied Integration in August 2023
Dr Paul J. Angelo assumed his position as Director of the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies on June 21, 2022, following his selection by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. His previous work at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) included roles as Fellow for Latin America studies and as an International Affairs Fellow. There he focused on US-Latin American relations, transnational crime, security assistance, and immigration.
During his tenure as an International Affairs Fellow, he also represented the US Department of State at the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where he managed the ambassador's security and justice portfolio. In the Political Section, he provided technical assistance to the Honduran police reform commission; supported strategy development and agenda-setting for Afro-descendent, indigenous, and LGBTQ+ networks to improve civic engagement; and led policy and legal analysis on violence, crime, and migration trends.
His previous service in the Navy included tours in a United Kingdom-based NATO position, on board a destroyer deployed to the Asia-Pacific region, and as an instructor at the US Naval Academy, where he taught Spanish and Latin American politics courses. During his naval career, Angelo deployed to Colombia on three occasions over the course of more than a decade. During his longest mission in Colombia, he served as the US Embassy's principal liaison to the Colombian navy and police in the highly conflictive Pacific coast.
He was directly responsible for the planning of inter-agency missions focused on improving local governance, rule of law, and security in support of Plan Colombia, and he spearheaded the coordination and implementation of the Embassy’s largest bilateral humanitarian mission in 2011.
In 2022, President Biden appointed Dr Angelo to the US Naval Academy Board of Visitors in Annapolis, Maryland. Dr Angelo continues to serve as a Commander in the US Navy Reserve, supporting the US Naval Forces Southern Command as the executive officer of a Puerto Rico-based unit. Dr Angelo’s written commentary has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Miami Herald. He is also the author of From Peril to Partnership: US Security Assistance and the Bid to Stabilize Colombia and Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024).
Dr Angelo holds a BS in political science (with honours) from the US Naval Academy, where he was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, an MPhil in Latin American studies (with distinction) from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a PhD in politics from University College London. In 2022, the Guatemalan government awarded Dr Angelo the "Monja Blanca" medal (second class) for meritorious service in support of the Guatemalan people.
Pedro M. Burelli, an international corporate finance and strategy consultant, is the Managing Partner of B+V Advisors, LLC, a firm engaged mostly in advisory assignments in Europe and Latin America. He is also the co-founder of V5 Initiative, a 501c3, focused on issues of democracy, governance and transparency in Latin America.
Born in Venezuela, Pedro is an active member of the Venezuelan diaspora, and is a frequent commentator on matters dealing with his country, Latin America and Russia. He began his professional career at JPMorgan where he was among others: Head of Mergers & Acquisitions for the Iberian Peninsula, Senior Banker for the Andean Region, and Head of JPMorgan Capital Corporation for Latin America.
He was a Member of the Executive Board of Petroleos de Venezuela at the time the largest corporation in Latin America. Pedro is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Harvard’s Kennedy School. He is the Chairman of Georgetown University’s Latin American Leadership Programme.
Fiona Clouder has wide experience of Latin America, both as a diplomat and now through her work in the private sector. She continues to focus on Latin America, building business links and providing insight and advice on government relations and the wider political and economic context.
Fiona joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (now FCDO) in 2001, from the Research Councils (now UKRI) to build and lead the global Science and Innovation Network (UKSIN). Her career focus has included trade and investment, defence and prosperity, as well as science and innovation and environmental issues. She is also interested in the marine sector and maritime history and heritage.
From 2011, Fiona led the FCO’s strategy on Latin America (the Canning Agenda) to revitalise bilateral and business links. Fiona served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Chile, 2014 - 2018. In March 2020, Fiona was appointed as the UK Regional Ambassador, Latin America and Caribbean, COP26, driving diplomatic engagement at the top of governments and business, to build partnerships and influence for the UN Climate Change Conference - COP26 – outcomes. She sees the global ambition for Net Zero as a major opportunity, as well as challenge for the region and is particularly interested in the links between mining, energy and environment and related policy and security issues.
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.
David Gallagher was Chilean Ambassador to the UK between 2018 and 2022.
He was educated at the Grange in Santiago and then at Downside in Somerset. He took a First in Modern Languages (Russian main) at Oxford in 1965.
From 1968 to 1974, he was Oxford University Lecturer in Latin American Literature, Fellow of St Antony´s College and member of its Latin American Centre. From 1974, he pursued a career as an investment banker, first with Morgan Grenfell in London, where he became Director Morgan Grenfell International, and then, from 1982, in Chile, where he founded investment banking boutique ASSET-Chile S.A. He was Chairman of ASSET-Chile until selling his stake to his partners at the end of 2017. He was also on the Board of Latin American retailer Cencosud until 2018.
David is a frequent contributor to the TLS, the New York Review of Books, and various Chilean publications. He is the author of ‘Modern Latin American Literature’ (Oxford, 1973), ‘Improvisaciones’ and ‘Otras Improvisaciones’ (Santiago, 1992 and 2004).
He is on various Boards of non-profit foundations including Teatro del Lago, Fundación Conectado Aprendo, AthenaLab (Advisory Board) and Centro de Estudios Publicos (CEP), one of Latin America’s leading think tanks, where he is an honorary director and one of its original founders in the 1980s.
Until 2019, he was on the Advisory Board of the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation in Venice and in two 3-year stints, Chairman of its Executive Committee, and its representative on the Board of the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation in New York. He is a former director (2000-2018) and current member of the Chilean Council for International Relations. He is a frequent speaker on international affairs, politics, economics, and literature.
James Heappey was appointed as Minister of State (Minister for Armed Forces) at the Ministry of Defence on 7 July 2022. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Wells Constituency in May 2015.
Before entering politics, James served in the Army reaching the rank of Major. In a 10 year career in the Rifles, James served on operations in Kabul in 2005, Northern Ireland in 2006, Basra in 2007 and Sangin in Helmand Province in 2009. He also served in Kenya and across the United Kingdom.
James was appointed Minister for Defence Procurement on 16 December 2019, having previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.
David Lelliott was appointed Her Majesty´s Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador in August 2019. Prior to this, David was Deputy Head of Mission and Consul General at the British Embassy Khartoum.
David is a career diplomat with over twenty years of experience. He has previously worked in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, India and Europe, as well as two spells in London.
He has handled a wide range of portfolios, notably on conflict prevention and resolution, having served in Liberia from 2003-2006, immediately after the civil war there, and in Southern Sudan from 2008-09, with a spell in between as Conflict Prevention Team Leader at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.
From 2013-2017 he worked in India as British Deputy High Commissioner Chandigarh. He has also worked on trade promotion (in Mexico from 2000-2003); other appointments (in Iraq, Qatar and Gibraltar) have focused on political, governance and media work.
In 2006, following his return from Liberia, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He is accompanied in El Salvador by his wife and two children.
Pilar has a PhD in Government and Public Administration from the Complutense University of Madrid, a master’s degree in political science with a mention in International Relations from the Catholic University of Chile, a degree in Humanities with a mention in History and is a Journalist from the Adolfo Ibañez University. For more than 10 years she has held different positions in the public and private sectors. She has worked as a researcher in Libertad y Desarrollo and is a professor at the Adolfo Ibáñez University. Specialized in transnational threats, with a focus on drug trafficking, she has participated in courses and seminars at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies and the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in the United States. This year she was awarded as one of the 100 women leaders of Chile.
Vice Admiral Ignacio Mardones is Director of Institutional Relations at AthenaLab, a Chilean think tank dedicated to national security, defence and international relations. He is also a board member of several Chilean companies and a maritime consultant.
He completed a forty-year career in the Chilean Navy in June 2021, culminating in his appointment as National Maritime Authority. In that role, he was responsible for all maritime aspects of the coast guard services and its liaison with related authorities.
As a Rear Admiral, he served as Fleet Commander, with responsibility for fleet management and operations. He also was Commander First Naval Zone, with HQ in Valparaiso, and Director of Naval Education.
Earlier in his career, he saw active service in several ships, commanded the Patrol Cutter CASTOR, fast missile boat URIBE, the frigate BLANCO ENCALADA, and the Tall Ship ESMERALDA for the Bicentennial of the Chilean Republic in 2010.
Between 2011 and 2013, he was Superintendent of the Naval Academy and in 2014 became Director of Communications and Public Relations of the Navy.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Naval and Maritime Sciences from the Academia Politécnica and a master’s degree from the Academia de Guerra Naval. Vice Admiral Mardones graduated from the United States Naval War College and attended the International Programme of the Naval Command College (class of 2004-2005).
A specialist in international security cooperation, Karen has represented national institutions, advised senior authorities and led teams at regional, hemispheric and global levels.
After practising international law as an associate lawyer, she was appointed International Relations Advisor at the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security of Chile from 2015 to 2018.
She then worked at the National Prosecutor's Office of Chile from 2018 to 2022.
She currently holds the position of Head of International Affairs at the Ministry of Defence and teaches international security at several universities in Chile.
Karen is a lawyer and has a Master of Arts in International Relations from King's College London. And undertook postgraduate studies in international security and defence.
Vitoria is the head of the Immigration team at Vitoria Nabas and the International team, part of Gunnercooke LLP. Besides Immigration, which is her expertise field, she also deals with contracts, commercial and corporate advice. Her work covers immigration for both individuals and international businesses seeking advice on how to stablish themselves and their business abroad. Her support starts in immigration, prior to departure and, once they are in the UK, EU, and Americas, Vitoria is able to help them with commercial and corporate advice. She is qualified in Brazil, Portugal, and England & Wales. She has more than 25 years of experience working in law firms and financial institutions in Brazil, New York, and London. Vitoria has an impressive network which keeps her at the forefront of international business. She is a director of Law in Britain, a co-founder and treasurer of Lex Anglo-Brasil, the former Coordinator of the UK Brazilian Citizen Council, member of the Consulting Counsellors of CRBE Council of Representatives of Brazilians Abroad, Counsellor of the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in London, the President of the Legal Committee of the British and Colombian Chamber of Commerce and a trustee in the Canning House.
Vitoria is also involved in voluntary work as a Student Supervisor at Queen Mary University - Legal Advice Centre (having been honoured with a Fellowship for this work) and helping vulnerable people in diverse communities in the UK as a director of the charity Casa do Brasil. Her aim in life is very simple, to help people daily.
Antonio Patriota has been Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since August 2023. He served as Foreign Minister from 2011 to 2013, and Deputy Foreign Minister from 2009 to 2010. Patriota was Ambassador of Brazil to Egypt (2019-2023), Italy (2016-2019), and to the United States (2007-2009), as well as Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations (2013-2016).
During his period as Ambassador to the UN, Patriota was Chairman of the 60th and 61st Sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women and Chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission of the UN (2013-2014). During his diplomatic career, he was also posted in Geneva (1983-1987 and 1999-2003), New York (1994-1999), Beijing (1987-1988) and Caracas (1988-1990).
Randy Pestana serves as Director for Cybersecurity Policy at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy and the Director of Education and Training at Cybersecurity@FIU. In these roles, he is responsible for managing the institutes cyber-related partnerships to include U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, State, and Veterans Affairs, the Organization of American States (OAS), and numerous industry partners across the cybersecurity community.
His technical specialisation is in International Relations with focuses on US foreign policy, security studies, and cybersecurity. Most of his work has been linked to cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development, as well as international security threats facing the United States and its partners and allies. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor for the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs and Honors College. Prior to joining FIU, Mr Pestana attended the Platoon Leader’s Course in Quantico, Virginia for the United States Marine Corps where he received a favorable evaluation and top five ranking by his peers as a Candidate Platoon Sgt. and most recently served as a recruiting assistant where he helped train recruits prior to their departure to basic training. Mr Pestana holds a M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies with a Graduate Certificate in National Security Studies from FIU, and an Executive Certificate in Cybersecurity from Harvard University.
Maria Luisa is responsible for Eurasia Group's coverage of Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Based in our London office, she helps clients understand political dynamics and economic policy in these countries. Among other topics, she is currently focusing on widespread distrust of the political establishment in Latin America and its impact on elections. Her sectoral expertise includes energy and natural resources.
Maria Luisa previously worked as a political risk analyst for an Oxford-based analysis and advisory firm, focusing on the Andean region, Central America, and Mexico. Previously she was a correspondent for Reuters News, where she covered political events in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Maria Luisa holds master's degrees in comparative politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and in Latin American studies from Stanford University; she earned her bachelor's degree in communications from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. A native of Peru, Maria Luisa prefers not to comment on her views about the contested origins of pisco.
Ruslan Spirin was the Ambassador of Ukraine to Mexico from 2012 to 2020. Graduated from the Kyiv State Linguistic University (1991), the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2003) and the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine (2009).
In the system of the Foreign Policy Department of Ukraine — since 1996. He has experience working in foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in the following positions: Consul in the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Brazil (1997–2000); Head of the Branch of the Embassy of Ukraine in Brazil in Rio de Janeiro (2000–2002); the First secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Spain (2003–2004); Counselor of the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States of Mexico (2004–2006); Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in the United Mexican States (2006–2007).
He is currently Ukraine’s special representative to Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, Ruslan was appointed Ukraine's ambassador to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Belize (2012-2020).
Rob Tinline has been Director, Americas at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office since May 2022. He was previously Director COVID at FCDO from 2020 to 2022. He is a career diplomat, with overseas postings including to British Embassies in Bogota and Madrid, to the UK Mission to the UN in New York, to the Consulate in Basra and the (then) UK Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels.
Alison August Treppel has served as the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States since August 2016, where she is responsible for promoting the OAS’s counter-terrorism agenda throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and for leading OAS technical assistance efforts in such areas as cybersecurity, border management (air, land and maritime), the prevention of terrorism finance and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, among others.
A native of the United States, Mrs Treppel has nearly 30 years of experience working within the inter-American system, the last 15 of which have been dedicated to multidimensional security. As Section Chief and later Deputy Director of the OAS Department of Public Security from 2006 to 2016, she supported efforts to prevent and counter threats to citizen security, including firearms trafficking, human trafficking and other manifestations of transnational organised crime. She has also served as political liaison to numerous OAS security-related bodies, including the Committee on Hemispheric Security.
Mrs Treppel holds a BA degree in International Relations and Spanish from Dickinson College and completed an executive education program in international and national security from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Nick Zimmerman is a Founding Partner of Dinámica Americas.
Zimmerman served as Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, White House National Security Council Director for Brazil and Southern Cone Affairs, and Special Assistant in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He has also supported three of the last four U.S. presidential campaigns.
Since 2017, Zimmerman has had leadership roles in several strategic advisory firms, including as a senior advisor on the Americas at WestExec Advisors and as director of U.S. policy at Macro Advisory Partners. In these capacities, he has counseled Fortune 500 companies, philanthropies, and civil society on U.S. politics and policy, as well as on political, economic, and regulatory developments in the Americas. He is a global fellow at the Latin American Program’s Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
