Juan Guaido was hired by Florida International University (FIU) to give a series of talks and mentor students. Guaido launched a coup attempt in Venezuela in 2019 but failed to gain any significant support within the country.
Former Venezuelan Coup Plotter Hired By Florida College to Speak on ‘Defending Democracy’
Related:
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is teaching at FIU. But it’s only for a while
In April 2023, Guaidó said Colombian authorities threatened to turn him over to Maduro after entering the country for a forum about the Venezuelan crisis. The Biden administration helped Guaidó leave Colombia and come to Miami.
Jamil Mahuad** [Fulbright Program, Harvard Kennedy School], president of Ecuador from 1998 to 2000.
Robin S. Bernstein*** [American University School of International Service, George Washington University School of Business]
Miomir Žužul [Harvard Kennedy School]
FIU and Florida lawmakers establish center to study free markets, economic policy on a global scale:
FIU has established the Adam Smith Center for the Study of Economic Freedom. The center, created by legislation in July 2020, will act as an independent, non-partisan think tank to study the impact of government and free markets on economic freedom and prosperity around the world, with a focus on the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The center will have a multidisciplinary approach and will report to FIU’s Office of Research and Economic Development.
Carlos Díaz-Rosillo, former director of policy and interagency coordination to President Donald J. Trump, will head the center. Díaz-Rosillo also served as senior deputy chairman and chief operating officer for the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C. He has two bachelor’s degrees from Tufts University, and two master’s degrees and a doctorate from Harvard University. He is also a former assistant dean and faculty member at Harvard and visiting lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and FIU.
“The Adam Smith Center will serve as a source of cutting-edge analysis on the critical role that free markets can play in national, state and community prosperity,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg*. “We are grateful to Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature for designating FIU with this important responsibility.”
The Adam Smith Center will create a platform for decision makers to discuss complex problems and solutions relating to political and economic systems and serve as a policy and decision lab for government officials to consult with both academics and experienced practitioners on the effects of economic policies, such as tax reform and regulation.
Under his leadership as president, FIU has increased enrollment to almost 54,000 students, improved graduation rates by nearly 10%, and hired over 500 new faculty. As President, Dr. Rosenberg has provided leadership to grow the institution’s budget, improve student graduation and retention rates, expand internships for enrolled students, and coordinate FIU’s emergence as a leading producer of graduates in priority national and state areas focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The university has been named as a Carnegie Engaged institution and has developed path-breaking partnerships with the Miami Dade County Public Schools, JP Morgan Chase, Florida Power & Light, and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Research expenditures have grown by nearly 30% to nearly $160 million, and over sixty new student advisers and counselors have been hired for a restructured and expanded student graduation initiative.
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Prior to becoming chancellor, Dr. Rosenberg was integrally involved in the expansion and development of FIU into a major public research university. As Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1998 to 2005, Dr. Rosenberg spearheaded the establishment of a law school in 2002 and a medical school in 2006. Under his leadership, FIU increased enrollment, implemented major campus construction projects, and was invited to join the select national honor society Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Rosenberg was also instrumental in moving FIU into the top tier of Carnegie Foundation research universities.
Dr. Rosenberg’s academic career began at FIU in 1976 as an assistant professor of political science. In 1979, he founded the FIU Latin American and Caribbean Center, which today is one of the nation’s premier federally-supported research and teaching centers focusing on the region. Dr. Rosenberg subsequently served as the Founding Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs and Vice Provost for International Studies. He has also been a Visiting Distinguished Research Professor at The Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, and a Visiting Professor at the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico.
Dr. Rosenberg earned a B.A. in 1971 from Miami University of Ohio and a Ph.D. in Political Science with a graduate certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976. He has written or co-edited seven books and numerous scholarly articles in leading journals. His latest book, The United States and Central America: Geopolitical Realities and Regional Fragility (2007), is a Harvard University project co-authored with Luis Guillermo Solis of Costa Rica. Governmental and media organizations have frequently sought Dr. Rosenberg’s expertise on Latin America. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has testified before Congress numerous times, and has served as a consultant to the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
**Jamil Mahuad:
In the final days of 1999, he announced the dollarization of the economy of Ecuador, along with a number of International Monetary Fund measures.
Mahuad was forced to resign after a week of demonstrations by indigenous Ecuadorians [CONAIE] and a military revolt led by Lucio Gutiérrez.
He proposed economic reforms that produced the “dollarization” of the economy. He declared a freeze in bank accounts in order to control rampant inflation. This caused massive unrest as the lower classes struggled to convert their now useless Ecuadorian sucres to US dollars and lost wealth, while the upper classes (whose members already had their wealth invested in US dollars) gained wealth in turn. Under Mahuad’s recession-plagued term, the economy shrank significantly, and inflation reached levels of up to 60 percent.
***Reported Trump Ambassador Pick Raises Conflict-of-Interest Questions:
Bernstein and her husband Richard have had a two-decade business relationship with Trump, serving him as a client at their health care and life insurance company for high-net-worth individuals. A successful businesswoman and political strategist in her own right, Bernstein had early roots in D.C. politics, working in administrative roles for Democrats Scoop Jackson, Hubert H. Humphrey and Jimmy Carter, including a presidential appointment from Carter to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 