6 December 2021
Summit for Democracy–Side Event Authoritarian States’ Illicit Finance and Kleptocracy: Threats to Democracy, Peace and Security
Overview:The one-hour long webinar consisted of two sessions aimed at discussing possible ideas, solutions, and recommended actions to S4D, the United States, and S4D communities.
Session one, The Corruptive Influence of Authoritarian States: A Kleptocracy Security Threat to Democracy and Human Rights, featured Dr. Louise I. Shelley, director of TraCCC and Claudia Escobar, former Judge of the Court of Appeals of Guatemala and a respected legal scholar. The first session was moderated by David M. Luna, Co-Director, TraCCC-AITI.
Session two, Illicit Financing of Crime, Violence, and Insecurity in Authoritarian States, featured two internationally-recognized experts and instructors of the TraCCC-AITI ongoing program on authoritarianism, John Cassara and Lakshmi Kumar, Global Financial Integrity (GFI). Session two was moderated by Dr. Layla Hashemi.
The event also featured Corina Rebegea from the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
Find more information about the TraCCC-AITI event for the Summit of Democracy including the Final Chairs’ Report:
Event Recording (Video)
Find all civil society side events for the Summit for Democracy:
For more information, click here
21 October 2021
David Luna’s keynote address at the Countering Corruption and Illicit Trade to Secure Greater Prosperity in Central America event, organized by the American Chamber Costa Rica
8 September 2021
Free Trade Zones: How to Combat Illicit Trade and Counterfeiting
Given the scale of cross-border threats posed by the multi-trillion dollar illicit trade and illicit economies globally, we need to recalibrate our past approaches and pivot to newer strategies, innovations, and capabilities to ensure greater transparency and enforcement in free trade zones (FTZs).
Criminals and corrupt officials exploit FTZs when there are weaknesses in governance, poor oversight, and a lack of information sharing and coordination processes.
To combat risky and unruly illicit spaces in Free Trade Zones, we need to address not only corruption and organized crime within these unique hubs for trade and economic growth, but also extend our focus across source, transit, and demand markets where money laundering is occurring, including counterfeits, drugs, opioids, endangered wildlife, and humans. To learn more click here.
