Democracy, Migration, and Climate Change: An Assessment of the Intersectional Crisis in Latin America with Rebecca Bill Chavez, President and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue

The Burn Bag is collaborating with the Climate Migration Council to conduct several episodes on the security risks surrounding climate change, amidst severe heat and climate-related crises that are gripping the country and the world.

This week, A'ndre spoke with Rebecca Bill Chavez, the President and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue, on the migration crisis in Latin America -- discussing why democratic decay across the region has factored in, and how the effects of climate change intersect. Rebecca, who worked on Latin American issues at the Department of Defense during the Obama Administration, talks about the key drivers of migration in Latin America and the internal dynamics of countries that are both the sources and receivers of migrants. We discuss why anti-democratic political cultures have exacerbated migration, and touch on how governments (across the right and left) have leveraged militarized law enforcement arms. Rebecca then outlines how climate change has intensified these relevant challenges, but provides some examples of hope on international cooperation, particularly highlighting how local and municipal leaders (such as Mayors) across Latin America are aiming to collaborate via dialogue in engaging with climate change and climate-driven migration.