Silvio Cascione is the head of Eurasia Group in Brazil and has more than fifteen years' experience in analysis and reporting on political and economic issues. Before joining Eurasia Group in 2017, he was a senior correspondent for Reuters News in Brasília. He writes weekly for the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo as a columnist.

Susana Cordeiro Guerra is the vice president for the Latin America and the Caribbean region at World Bank.

In this role, she manages the Bank’s engagement with 31 countries across the region and oversees a portfolio of US$41.5 billion in ongoing operations. Under her leadership, the World Bank partners with governments and stakeholders to advance strategic priorities to deliver measurable results, jobs-driven development and stronger public–private collaboration across the region.

Canada’s leading expert on trade and tariffs, Steve Verheul is the preeminent advisor to government leaders and the nation’s largest, most powerful corporations and industry groups. As Canada’s chief trade negotiator, Steve was responsible for negotiating CUSMA/USMCA and the Canada-European Union trade agreement. Hailed by media and pundits as the “most important Canadian you’ve probably never heard of,” Steve’s network, expertise and relationships in domestic and international markets is unparalleled and his support for clients is game-changing.

Kate Kalutkiewicz, senior managing director at McLarty Associates, leads the firm’s trade practice and contributes to the Europe practice and McLarty Inbound. She has more than two decades of experience managing complex global trade, industrial, and investment policy challenges across government and the private sector, with particular expertise in Europe and South America.

Ambassador Jeffrey Goettman serves as the deputy U.S. trade representative for Africa, the Western Hemisphere, Europe, the Middle East, the Environment, Labor and Industrial Competitiveness.

The Honorable Jarrod Agen has over 20 years of unique experience in federal and state governments, media relations, international affairs and politics throughout several states. 

Agen now serves as a deputy assistant to President Trump and executive director of the National Energy Dominance Council, where is working at the President’s direction to unleash American energy and sell U.S. energy to our friends and allies.

Christopher Landau was sworn in as the 23rd deputy secretary of state on March 25, 2025. Deputy Secretary Landau served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 2019 to 2021 during President Trump’s first administration. Before and after his tenure in Mexico, he was engaged in the private practice of law in Washington, D.C. for more than three decades.

Ben Black serves as chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 2025.

Ariel I. Pereda is a pioneering U.S. businessman and the leading expert in exporting American brand-name food, beverage, and consumer goods to Cuba. For the past two decades, he has successfully navigated the complex regulatory, logistical, and political landscape between the United States and Cuba—always in full compliance with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations—opening doors that previously remained closed to most American companies.

Marcos Kantt is a seasoned financial executive with over 20 years of experience across high-growth technology platforms and global capital markets. Prior to Plata, Marcos served as CFO of Habi, one of Latin America’s leading real estate technology platforms, where he helped scale the company into a multi-hundred-million-dollar business, growing revenue more than 10x.