Santo Domingo, September 18, 2025 – New York City will once again become the meeting point for international debate on the major challenges and opportunities facing Latin America and the Caribbean through the celebration of the “VII Global Forum: Latin America and the Caribbean 2025”, an annual event that this year is scheduled to open on September 24. The Forum will open in Lerner Hall, Columbia University.

Dr. Leonel Fernández, also president of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (Funglode), and the Fuerza del Pueblo political party, will lead the multiple sessions scheduled during the Forum. Participants in the Forum will be prominent political leaders, academics, and representatives of international organizations.

In this, its seventh edition, the Global Forum consolidates its position as a strategic space for discussion on the region’s role in a constantly changing world. Discussions will focus on the global and U.S. economies, development prospects in Latin America, the political and democratic situations facing the 2025–2026 regional electoral cycle, the importance of the Latino vote in the U.S. electoral processes, immigration and social integration, as well as the challenges of democracy in the era of Artificial Intelligence.

The Forum will bring together renowned experts from different areas of expertise, such as:

• Alicia Bárcena, Mexico Secretary of Foreign Affairs (she will be distinguished during the event).
• José Antonio Ocampo, Co-Director of the Economic and Political Development Program, Columbia University.
• José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC.
• Mauricio Cárdenas, former Colombian Minister of Finance and Energy.
• Albert Ramdin, Secretary General of the OAS.
• Adriano Espaillat, U.S. Congressman from New York’s 13th District.

In addition, academics and international experts from such institutions as the United Nations, Georgetown University, Florida International University, Latino Victory, Columbia University, and the University of Alicante, Spain.

The forum’s thematic goal will focus on democratic resilience, sustainable development, regional cooperation, and the impact of new technologies on political and social systems.

The Forum’s final goals are to provide a roadmap that will contribute to strengthen democracy, promote regional integration, and seizing the opportunities offered by technological and economic changes on the global stage.

The event will be broadcast live on Funglode and GFDD’s digital platforms, and will expand its reach to the entire international community interested in the present and future of Latin America and the Caribbean.

With former President Leonel Fernández heading the panel discussions, alongside renowned experts, the “VII Global Forum” once again reaffirms its standing as a high-level platform where experts can hold a pluralistic dialogue, thus consolidating New York City as the capital of hemispheric debate on the future of the region.