Council of the Americas Announces Former President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso as 2016 BRAVO Honoree

MercadoLibre, Inc. Founder, President, and CEO Marcos Galperín, Arca Continental CEO Francisco Garza Egloff, and the City of Medellín complete this year’s roaster of outstanding winners

Miami, September 16, 2016—Council of Americas (COA) announced today the names of four honorees that will be recognized at the 22^nd BRAVO Business Awards, which take place on October 28 in Miami. The Bravo Awards recipients are the Brazilian president from 1995 to 2002; the CEOs of two leading multilatinas, one focused on technology and the other on manufacturing and distribution; and a Colombian city with a remarkable transformation that has become a model of urban development. Together with a group of four winners announced previously, these honorees will receive a distinction that is synonymous with excellence and leadership in business, policy, and social development in the Americas.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil, will be bestowed with the BRAVO Legacy Award; Marcos Galperín, Founder, President, and CEO of MercadoLibre, Inc., will receive the BRAVO award as the 2016 Visionary CEO of the Year; Francisco Garza Egloff, CEO of Mexico’s Arca Continental, will be recognized as the 2016 CEO of the Year; and the City of Medellín will be awarded the inaugural Transformational City of the Year Award, which will be accepted by Mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga.

BRAVO Legacy Award
Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, widely regarded as a thought leader and global voice on democracy, development, and social inclusion, will be recognized for his lifelong impact on and contributions to the Americas. A prominent sociologist, professor, and researcher, Cardoso was a senator, minister of foreign relations, and finance minister before becoming president of Brazil for two consecutive terms—the first ever Brazilian president to do so. The policies pursued during his eight-year tenure generated unprecedented stability in Brazil, and set the country on a path to an era of modernization and economic growth. The improvement of the country’s social indicators during his presidency earned him the Mahbub ul Haq Award for Notable Contribution to Human Development from the United Nations in 2002.

Visionary CEO of the Year
Marcos Galperín has influenced e-commerce and entrepreneurism in Latin America through his strategic leadership at MercadoLibre and his vision for the digitalization of the region. From Mexico City to Buenos Aires, entrepreneurs are following his lead using developments in technologies and communications to change the commerce landscape of the region. Galperin’s leadership has been at the forefront of this movement, helping Latin America come of age in the digital world.

MercadoLibre has become the premier online marketplace in Latin America, providing economic opportunities to millions of entrepreneurs who use the platform to exchange goods in the 13 countries where the company operates. For many small businesses, the ability to sell goods on MercadoLibre offers access to millions of consumers who traditionally were accessible only through large-scale retailers.

CEO of the Year
CEO of Arca Continental, Francisco Garza Egloff will be recognized for leading the company's impressive performance as one of the largest Coca-Cola bottlers in the world, with presence in Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. Under Garza's leadership, Arca Continental has maintained a leading market position in the territories where it operates through an extensive distribution network, a diversified products portfolio, and continuous innovation. Despite economic uncertainty facing Latin America, in 2015 Arca Continental increased assets by 63 percent and net sales by 23 percent. Additionally, this year Arca Continental is set to become the first Mexican company to acquire territory from the soft drink giant in the United States by taking over Coca-Cola's distribution rights in Texas and parts of Arkansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, in joint venture with the Coca-Cola Bottling Company United.

Transformational City of the Year
Mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga will receive the award on behalf of Medellín for the city’s impressive track record of social innovation and dedication to continued modernization and internationalization. Medellín is transforming itself into a global destination for business and recreation, not only by improving the conditions for foreign and local investors, but also by giving a better quality of life to its inhabitants; it is becoming a city for trust. The city’s Innovation District is already home to more than 135 companies from 22 countries and is on its way to becoming Latin America’s tech hub.

Medellín has become a center for global competitiveness and is home to some of the largest and most successful multilatinas born in Colombia, including Grupo Sura, Nutresa, Grupo Argos, and Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), and representing sectors as diverse as technology, food, infrastructure, and finance, among others.

“These winners round out an exceptional group of leaders,” said Americas Society/Council of the Americas President and CEO Susan Segal, “We are delighted to host our first Miami BRAVO awards gala to celebrate those behind some of the most extraordinary and successful stories in business, public service, and the non-profit sector in the Americas.”

In recent weeks, COA announced the names of four distinguished leaders who will also be honored at the 2016 BRAVO Awards:

• José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, Mexico’s Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Innovative Leader of the Year Award.
• Ali Moshiri, President of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company, Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, President of Miami Dade College, Civic Leader of the Year Award.
• Patricia Villela Marino, President of the Humanitas360 Institute, Humanitarian of the Year Award.

This year marks the first time the Bravo Awards gala ceremony will be hosted by half-century-old hemispheric institution Council of the Americas. In 2016, eight outstanding recipients will be recognized with the BRAVO Business Awards. Preceding the BRAVO Business Awards, the Council of the Americas Symposium gathers 400 influential business and policy leaders for a one-day conference that is considered one of the most important forums on economic and social development in the region. For more information on the BRAVO Symposium and Awards, please visit bravobusiness.com and follow the conversation via #BRAVObiz.

Sponsors of the Council of the Americas Symposium and 22nd BRAVO Business Awards include: HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Burson-Marsteller, AES, CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, The Boston Consulting Group, Bombardier, Chubb, Emerson, Microsoft, and Softtek. Partners include CNN, Financial Times, and ProMéxico.

The Symposium is organized in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank.

Press inquiries:
Victoria Peris | victoria.peris@bm.com | 1-305-347-4343
AS/COA Media Relations | mediarelations@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8384 or 1-212-277-8333

Council of the Americas (COA) is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Council's membership consists of leading international companies representing a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, consulting services, consumer products, energy and mining, manufacturing, media, technology, and transportation. Its sister organization, Americas Society (AS) is the premier forum dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue in the Americas. Its mission is to foster an understanding of the contemporary political, social, and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas and the importance of the inter-American relationship.