FIU Venezuela experts list

Florida International University has a number of professors who study Venezuela and issues relating to the Latin American country. This is a list of experts willing to offer their insight to media and the public. This list is being updated continuously.

For assistance reaching any of these professors, please call the FIU Office of Media Relations at 305-348-2232.

Political Science/International Relations
Jose Miguel Cruz, Ph.D.
Jose Miguel Cruz is director of research in the Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) and a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations. He was the director of the University Institute of Public Opinion at the University of Central America in San Salvador from 1994 to 2006, and have worked as a consultant for organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the UNDP, and the World Bank.
305-348-2556 (office)
jose.cruz6@fiu.edu

Frank Mora Ph.D.
Frank Mora is the newly named director of FIU’s Latin American and Caribbean Center. He previously served as the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, where he oversaw policy issues and defense relations, U.S. government funding of hemispheric defense cooperation, and the integration of U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command. Dr. Mora has spent nearly 30 years as an academic and government official focused on Latin America and the Caribbean. He is available for interviews regarding political economy of Venezuela, social aspects of the elections, as well as military issues.
For interviews, please contact the Office of Media Relations at 305-348-2232.

Eduardo Gamarra, Ph.D.
Political Science Professor Eduardo Gamarra has done research on the regional dynamics of Latin America, including Cuba’s role. As an expert in Bolivia and the Andean region, he has followed closely the alliances formed by Fidel Castro, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Gamarra has also studied drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the effects of American policies in the regional dynamics. He has testified in front of the U.S. Congress several times and is the author of more than half a dozen books and more than forty academic articles on Latin America.
305-348-1718 (Office)
786-253-4898 (Cell)
Eduardo.Gamarra@fiu.edu

Astrid Arrarás
Astrid Arrarás is a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations in FIU´s School of International and Public Relations. She has been with FIU for the last 13 years and has an expertise in Latin American politics, democratization, and political development.
305-348-1692(office)
astrid.arraras@fiu.edu

Brian Fonseca
Brian Fonseca is the  Director of Operations for the Applied Research Center (ARC) at Florida International University. Fonseca is a professor in Energy and Environmental Policy Issues, Contemporary International Problems, Comparative Politics, and Internationla Relations of Latin America at Florida International University. He has overseen, as the Principal Investigator, editions of Army College´s Western Hemisphere Security Colloquium series, and currently oversees the FIU-SOUTHCOM Academic Partnership and Strategic Culture Program at FIU´s Applied Research Center.
305-348-7420(office)
fonsecab@fiu.edu

Law
Victor M. Uribe-Uran, J.D., Ph.D.
Victor M. Uribe-Uran holds a joint appointment as associate professor of history and law with a specialization in Latin American. After earning his law degree at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, he served as a lawyer and then director for the Project of Legal Aid and Legal Research, Centro de Investigacion y Educacion Popular, Bogotá. In 1997, he received the prestigious Tibesar Prize from the Conference on Latin American History, American Historical Association, for best article published in The Americas. He has received fellowships and research awards from, among others, the Fulbright Program, the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities; and has served on the board of editors of journals like the Law and History Review.
305-348-2961 (office)
Uribev@fiu.edu

Manuel A. Gómez, J.D.
Law Professor Manuel A. Gómez has years of law teaching experience, both in the U.S. and in Latin America, and professional practice in Latin America. He currently serves as an associate professor, as coordinator of international legal projects and leads the Global Legal Studies Initiative. Gómez teaches, conducts research and writes academic papers in a variety of areas including the impact of social networks on dispute processing, private order, international arbitration, complex litigation in Latin America, legal and institutional reform in Latin America, legal education reform and the globalization of the legal profession. Before joining FIU, Professor Gómez was a Lecturer in Law and a Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School. Since 1995 he has also been a member of the Faculty at the Universidad Central de Venezuela Law School (Caracas, Venezuela). Gómez’s latest book, Law in Many Societies (Stanford U. Press 2011, co-edited with Lawrence M. Friedman and Rogelio Pérez-Perdomo) has already received several accolades in the academic world.
(305) 348-1158 (office)
magomez@fiu.edu

Economics
Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, Ph.D.
Economics Professor Jorge Salazar-Carrillo is director of FIU¹s Center of  Economic Research.  His areas of interest include international trade and economics,;economic development; macroeconomics; and the economics of Asia and Latin America, including Cuba. Salazar is also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a consultant for both the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He has conducted research and published extensively on Latin America’s labor markets and Venezuela’s oil sector, including Oil and Development of Venezuela during the 20th Century (2004) and The Economic Development of Venezuela and the Oil Sector: 1910-1990 (1994). Salazar-Carrillo is He is a nationally recognized commentator in the Spanish-language media on economic matters. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
Jorge.Salazar-Carrillo@fiu.edu
305-348-3283 (Office)

Media Law
Leonardo Ferreira
Leonardo Ferreira is a professor at FIU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He is an expert on Latin American communication law, comparative media law, and journalism ethics and new technology. Professor Ferreira has been recognized by the Latin American and Caribbean community for his extensive knowledge on the current state of media law and freedom of expression in Latin America. After earning his Ph.D. in mass media from Michigan State, he became an expert consultant for UNESCO, OAS, CIESPAL, UNICEF, IAPA, Bloomberg News, and Grupo de Diarios América.
305-919-4169(office)
leferrei@fiu.edu