Contacts
Versión en Español
   
    

Eduardo A. Gamarra
Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center
gamarrae@fiu.edu

Mercedes M. Ponce
Assistant director of LACC’s Institute for International Professional Services (IIPS).
poncem@fiu.edu

Sandra E. Giraldo
Graduate Assistant for IIPS – LACC - FIU
sgira003@fiu.edu

Elena Bell
Graduate Assistant for IIPS – LACC - FIU
ebell003@fiu.edu

Eduardo A. Gamarra PhD.
He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1987.  He has been affiliated with Florida International University since 1986 where he is currently the director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center, a full professor in the department of political science, and the editor of Hemisphere, a magazine on Latin American and Caribbean affairs. Gamarra is the author, co-author, and editor of several books including Revolution and Reaction: Bolivia 1964-1985 (Transaction Publishers, 1988); three volumes of the Latin America and Caribbean Contemporary Record (Holmes and Meier Press); Latin American Political Economy in the Age of Neoliberal Reform (Lyne Rienner Publishers 1994); Democracy Markets and Structural Reform in Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico (Lyne Rienner Publishers, 1995); and Entre la Droga y la Democracia (Freiderich Ebert Foundation, 1994). The author of over forty articles on Latin America, he has testified in the US Congress on drug policy toward Latin America. His current research focuses on the political economy of narcotics trafficking in the Andean region and the Caribbean, democratization, and civil-military relations.
    

   

Mercedes M. Ponce
Mercedes Martha Ponce is assistant director of LACC’s new Institute for International Professional Services (IIPS). Prior to joining IIPS, she served as a consultant to the European Social Fund of the European Commission of the European Union. She also held management positions at Brazilian and Italian banks in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where she resided from 1987 to 1999. Ponce holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history, international relations, and the economics of European integration from American and European universities. Her relationship with LACC goes back to 1996-1997, when she held a visiting position as managing editor of Hemisphere magazine.
   

Sandra E. Giraldo

   

Elena Bell 
Elena Bell is currently working on her Masters degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies with a concentration in History at Florida International University. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and raised within the United States, she is in the process of rediscovering her rich cultural history. Before starting at FIU, Elena was a reporter and editor for the features department of the Fayetteville Observer, “North Carolina’s oldest newspaper.” During her time there she was able to introduce and develop a special Hispanic section that was designed to serve the Spanish speaking population within the local community. This section, called “La Voz,” focused on key issues of relevance to the growing Hispanic/Latino population. Working on this project was the catalyst in rekindling Elena’s interest in her Puerto Rican heritage, and the development and history of Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole.