Lecture | Violence in Latin America: Field Perspectives from Mexico and Venezuela

With Jonathan Kalaher and David Donelo. Moderated by Austin Long.

Jonathan Kalaher is a Senior Consultant in Control Risks' Crisis & Resilience practice. His areas of expertise include evaluation of client risk exposure and designing global risk mitigation solutions; and pre-incident planning, training and management of acute crisis response. His projects include comprehensive crisis management program development and implementation, as well as tailored support to existing programs for private, public and nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Prior to joining Control Risks, Kalaher worked with the New York Police Department's Intelligence Division as a counterterrorism intelligence research specialist on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and South Africa. At NYPD, he supported the City of New York's comprehensive counterterrorism programs post 9/11. Projects included development of full spectrum intelligence analysis and exploitation, incident response plans to combat homegrown terrorism, and developing risk mitigation strategies to prevent catastrophic events. Earlier in his career, Jonathan served with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment as an infantry officer and as a liaison to the Joint Special Operations Command where he conducted highly sensitive missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and served in a joint interagency capacity on behalf of the United States led alliance.

David Danelo is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. In 2007, he wrote The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide, an investigation into a region that has rapidly become a conflict zone. The first literary exploration of the 1,952 mile US-Mexico border from coast-to-coast, The Border includes interviews with Border Patrol agents, local politicians, police officers, immigration activists, deported migrants, and religious officials from the region. His first book, Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq, was published in 2006 and was awarded the 2006 Silver Medal (Military History) by the Military Writers Society of America. It was also named a Notable Book of 2006 by the U.S. Naval Institute and is on a mandatory reading list created by General James Mattis for Marines deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. From 2006-2007, Danelo edited ON Point, an internationally-themed website specializing in news and analysis of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. That year, the Naval Institute selected Danelo as "Co-author of the Year" for his work as their first foreign correspondent. He has also written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Marine Corps Gazette, Military.com, and Parade Magazine. Danelo graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1998 and served seven years as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. In 2004, Captain Danelo served near Fallujah with the First Marine Expeditionary Force as a convoy commander, intelligence officer and provisional executive officer for a rifle company. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a commendation for valor during his tour in Iraq.