Perspectives in Times of Change

Mexico, a country of extraordinary cultural richness, is a place where ancestral roots intertwine with the present in a unique way. I remember a childhood where even the names of streets evoked history and tradition.

Beneath the comal, the flames swayed with a gentle warmth, mirroring the graceful cooking style of my late maternal grandmother, Emilia Velazquez, as she artfully crafted her tortillas. The tortillas puffed up, releasing an aroma known only to those who truly appreciate and understand the art.

I remember being in the school patio. My grandfather had been arrested the day before. I didn’t say anything about what had happened. I didn’t understand. I wanted to tell someone something, but I knew no one would understand what I was saying. In my school in 2002, they didn’t teach us anything about the history of contemporary Argentina

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni faced a dilemma: she didn’t want any more immigrants, but she was facing severe population decline in her country. She needed young people who wanted to start families to settle in Italy; however, she didn’t favor those immigrants arriving from Africa.

“The lake was our mother and father. Now, we are orphans,” said Don Rufino Choque, whose words echo through the desolate, windswept salt flat that had once been the thriving shore of Lake Poopó, Bolivia.

Everywhere we went in Guatemala, we saw shops with Hebrew names—Eben Ezra Pharmacy, El Shadday Fertilizer.

As implausible as it may seem, the news is hard and true. We have closed our wonderful campus in Managua with first-class facilities in the world in which we train local leaders with a global mentality to contribute to sustainable development – so needed – in our countries.

We come from a beautiful country, with abundant natural, archaeological and cultural wealth. Despite its splendor and Mayan heritage, our country suffers from its colonial legacies.

Peruvian citizens have been on the streets since December 2022—protests and strikes are calling for the resignation of the current president, Dina Boluarte, and new elections.

In my work at the INCAE business school, I get to interact with presidents and business leaders (CEOs) from our region.