This year’s CAF Conference was a standout version of the annual conference organized by The Inter-American Dialogue, CAF Latin American Development Bank, and the Organization of American States. The event included several panels with emphasis on what the future brings for Latin America and the Caribbean. Namely, there were panels on upcoming elections across the region, the future of finance, Colombia’s peace process, and the vision of LAC’s young leaders. Vice-President Joe Biden’s keynote address was a major highlight of this two-day event, for it directly put emphasis on the need for cross-regional cooperation as the key element for success of the Western hemisphere’s future.
Vice-President Biden pointed to a new era in Hemispheric affairs, one that is based on cooperation rather than influence or coercion. His speech highlighted the main developments in US-LAC relations over the last decade. In his own words, “It’s not about what we [the US] can do for you. It’s about what we can do with you. And it has to be based upon a respect that is across the board and sometimes has been lacking in the past 150 years”. Thankfully, the American Vice-President is not the only one thinking this way. New collaborations are arising amongst key institutions, and beyond supporting the region’s future they will also have a global significance on development.