Speakers:

• Mercedes de Freitas, Executive Director, Transparencia Venezuela 
• José Ignacio Hernández, Special Prosecutor, Interim Government of Venezuela 
• Geert Aalbers, Senior Partner, Control Risks
• Roberto Simon, Senior Director for Policy and Head of the Anti-Corruption Working Group, AS/COA (moderator)

As AS/COA launched the Capacity to Combat Corruption Index, the first instance of an annual tool co-developed by its Anti-Corruption Working Group and Control Risks, Roberto Simon presented the Index's results and moderated a discussion on the fight for transparency in Venezuela. The event included Mercedes de Freitas, the recipent of AS/COA's inaugural Anti-Corruption Leadership Award.

• Learn more about AS/COA’s Anti-Corruption Working Group.

Speakers:

• Arturo Sarukhan, former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. 
• Earl Anthony Wayne, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico 
• Ann Wilson, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association
• Eric Farsnworth, Vice President, Council of the Americas (moderator)

Amid tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose escalating tariffs on Mexican imports, Council of the Americas brought together experts on trade and diplomacy for a timely panel to discuss the repurcussions of such actions and how Mexico should respond. Ann Wilson said that, per MEMA's calculations, $457 million worth of auto parts cross the U.S.-Mexico border every single day, meaning a huge cost for U.S. consumers seeking to purchase vehicles. But the costs don't stop there: even for consumers who don't own cars, costs will go up as truck and transport prices rise. Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne pointed out that tying tariffs to migration flows and expecting immediate results is not reasonable, given overburdened immigration agencies in both countries, saying that it is "not a problem you can turn on and off in a week." Meanwhile, Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan predicted that the Trump administration will seek to proceed with the 5 percent tariffs slated to go into effect on June 10, noting that the president is looking for a trophy, not an agreement. 

• Learn about the COA Trade Advisory Group.
• COA Statement: Tariff Proposal Threatens U.S. and Mexican Economies
• Get the numbers on migration and Mexico tariffs.

Walls of Air: The Brazilian Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale arrived at Americas Society depicting the complex relationship between people and urbanization in Brazil. The exhibition maps contemporary Brazil beyond its frontiers and brings the conversation proposed at the architecture event to a wider audience.

"We decided to inquire about the idea of free space in Brazil by researching the opposite: What prevents Brazil from being free?" explains Gabriel Kozlowski, one of the four architects curating the exhibition. The ten maps address topics ranging from immigration to climate change to housing, and the curators say the research exercise could be applied to other countries in Latin America and the world.

At Americas Society, the work was expanded with a video that gathers interviews with experts who are part of an interdisciplinary group of over 200 experts who provided data and research for the maps.

"We believe this is perhaps the perfect place to actually show this research project because the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas have been doing a great job in broadening this dialogue between the Latin American countries," says Laura González Fierro another co-curator of the project.

• Learn more about Walls of Air: The Brazilian Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, on view at the Americas Society Visual Arts gallery through August 3, 2019.

Video by Luisa Leme.
Exhibition photography by Beatriz Meseguer/On White Wall.
Soundtrack by Hermeto Pascoal and Cliff Korman. Performed at a Music of the Americas event in New York.