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Political Finance and State Capture in the Americas

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Event Summary This event has passed.

Recent corruption scandals in Latin America reveal the extent to which dirty money finds its way into political campaigns in the region. There is no politics without money, but campaign finance without limits or transparency can corrode democracy and open the door to state capture by special interests. The infrastructure industry in particular, dependent as it is on lucrative government procurement contracts, has proven a recurrent source of illicit campaign contributions. Is this a problem of defective regulation or one of enforcement? Does Latin America need a new approach to campaign finance? And what lessons can be learned from other jurisdictions such as the United States? 

To analyze these questions, the Inter-American Dialogue and the Inter-American Development Bank are pleased to host “Political Finance and State Capture in the Americas.” This is the second event in an IDB/Dialogue symposia series that convenes leading anticorruption, transparency and integrity experts to identify targeted solutions to these issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Follow this event on Twitter at #PoliticalFinanceLAC and @The_Dialogue.

Welcome

Michael Shifter

President, Inter-American Dialogue (@MichaelShifter)

Opening remarks

Roberto de Michele

Modernization of the State Principal Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank (@rodemichele61)

Commentators

Ann M. Ravel

Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley; former Commissioner, US Federal Election Commission (FEC) (@AnnMRavel)

Delia Ferreira

Chair, Transparency International (@DeliaFerreira)

Eduardo Engel

Professor of Economics, Universidad de Chile; former President, Espacio Público 

Kevin Casas-Zamora

Senior Fellow, Inter-American Dialogue; former Vice President of Costa Rica (@KevinCasasZ)

Moderator

Michael Camilleri

Director, Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program, Inter-American Dialogue (@camillerimj)

A light breakfast will be served. Please note that this event will be held in English and Spanish, with interpretation provided.