Ivan Briscoe Program Director, Latin America and Caribbean Bogotá, Colombia Please submit all media inquiries to ibriscoe@crisisgroup.org and media@crisisgroup.org or call +57 1 2565769 ext 101 Crisis Group Role Ivan Briscoe joined Crisis Group in June 2016 as Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. He has worked on Latin American politics, conflict and crime since 1996. Before joining Crisis Group, Ivan worked as a senior research fellow in the Clingendael Institute of the Netherlands and in the Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE) in Spain, where he specialised in the study of illicit networks in Latin America, new forms of armed violence and the effects of inequality. Prior to that, he worked for over a decade as a journalist and editor in Argentina, France and Spain, where he edited the English edition of El País. He has carried out fieldwork-based research in various Latin American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, and has written for numerous media in the region and in Europe. He graduated from Oxford University with a First Class Honour's Degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, studied as a Frank Knox Fellow at Harvard University, and also holds a Master's Degree in Development from the Complutense University of Madrid. Professional Background Senior Research Fellow, Conflict Research Unit, Clingendael Institute (2009-2016) Senior Researcher, Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE) (2006-2009) Editor, English language edition of El País (2004-2006) Reporter, English language edition of El País (2002-2004) Reporter, UNESCO Courier magazine (2000-2001) Reporter, Buenos Aires Herald (1996-1999) Researcher, Demos (1994-1996) In The News 2 Apr 2019 A troubling aspect of Trump’s move to sever aid for Central America isn't its limited economic impact & counter-productive effects. It's the contradiction with long-standing U.S cooperation in the region. Twitter Ivan Briscoe Program Director, Latin America and Caribbean 4 Jul 2018 [In Mexico] you have civilians affected by extortion and murder, ... you have criminal groups fighting one another, for drug trafficking routes, extortion rackets, theft of oil. You have state security forces fighting criminal groups, which will often lead to shootouts involved in the security operations as well. And you have extrajudicial killings by state forces involved in the fight against organised crime. TRT World Ivan Briscoe Program Director, Latin America and Caribbean 29 Jun 2018 It’s essential that the state will take responsibility for [FARC fighters] basic needs so that they can become an integrated part of Colombian society. [The healthcare issue] raises the fundamental question that goes through the whole implementation of the peace process, which is: how much has the Colombian state oversold itself? News Deeply Ivan Briscoe Program Director, Latin America and Caribbean 21 Jun 2018 In areas where there is a very great concentration of Central American migrants you are seeing a xenophobic reaction similar to what you see … in any other part of the world where you see an intense influx of migrants with very few resources Statesman Ivan Briscoe Program Director, Latin America and Caribbean 13 Mar 2018 Increased prices can be charged to [Venezuelan] migrants because of their sheer desire to cross [the border to reach Colombia]. IRIN Ivan Briscoe Program Director, Latin America and Caribbean 5 Mar 2018 There is a massive diversity of views [in Colombia]. But the sense that only through compromise can you bring about peace tends to be much stronger in those areas that suffered the worst violence. U.S. News Ivan Briscoe Program Director, Latin America and Caribbean Latest Updates Commentary / Latin America & Caribbean 9 April 2019 Will Pressure Bring Down Venezuela’s Government? In Venezuela, the lights go off nearly every day, and there is little for most families to put on the dinner table. Amid the growing misery, will the government’s social base abandon it for the opposition challenger? And will the government itself crack under pressure? Also available in Español Op-Ed / Latin America & Caribbean 28 February 2019 Will Maduro’s Supporters Abandon Him? Originally published in Foreign Affairs Commentary / Latin America & Caribbean 5 April 2018 Addressing the Migration Bottleneck in Southern Mexico Mexico is not doing “nothing” to curb northward migration, as U.S. President Donald Trump claims. In this Q&A, Crisis Group's Latin America & Caribbean Program Director Ivan Briscoe says Washington should help Mexico meet the challenge of migrant and refugee flows from Central America, which are now concentrated in its troubled southern states. Also available in Español Op-Ed / Latin America & Caribbean 6 November 2017 Colombia’s Coca Boom Over the last seven years, the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has worked strenuously to dissociate the country from its image as a cocaine exporter. In 2016, Santos struck a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the guerrilla group that for years stood watch over coca farms and had become the wholesaler and arbiter of the cocaine trafficking business. Originally published in Foreign Affairs Commentary / Latin America & Caribbean 22 June 2017 A Misguided Cuba Roll-back President Trump’s new measures against Cuba preserve diplomatic relations and the right to most U.S. trade and group travel. But aggressive U.S. atmospherics risk hardening Cuba’s domestic politics and making it harder for Havana to play its mediating role in regional crises and conflicts. Also available in Español Load more