Podcast appearances and mentions of adrienne arsht center

In a powerful tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we bring you a special episode taped at the Adrienne Arsht Center during our annual Reclaim the Dream event—held each year on April 4 at 6:01 p.m., the same moment Dr. King was assassinated. The event honors his enduring legacy and reminds us to continue that legacy. This year's celebration featured soul-stirring performances from gospel greats and Grammy Award-winners Hezekiah Walker and The Clark Sisters. Join us as we sit down with Hezekiah Walker and Jacky Clark Chisholm for a heartfelt conversation on music, faith, and the ongoing work of justice and unity.

How can a classic performance like “Fiddler on the Roof” be reimagined to resonate with contemporary audiences? The trend of reviving and restaging classic plays and musicals with a modern twist is giving new life to cultural hubs like Miami, Chicago, and New York City. In this Cut to the Chase: Podcast, you'll meet Sandra Portal-Andreu, an Interdisciplinary Artist, Choreographer, and entrepreneur based in Miami, Florida. Sandra joins the show to discuss her latest project—a captivating re-envisioning of the timeless classic "Fiddler on the Roof" with Zoetic Stage. (Learn more about them in our last episode - linked below!) Sandra's modern approach to "Fiddler on the Roof" not only incorporates traditional Jewish and Russian dances but also infuses a unique minimalistic and geometric staging that adds a fresh twist to the narrative. Tune in to hear all about it! And if you're in the Miami area this month, be sure to check out “Fiddler on the Roof” live at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts! What to expect in this episode: Supporting Local Theater Talent: Learn about Zoetic Stage's mission to nurture and showcase Miami's local theater talent. Reimagining Classics: 'Fiddler on the Roof' at Zoetic Stage – Explore the creative process behind Zoetic Stage's fresh take on classic plays like Fiddler on the Roof, opening in March 2025. The Impact of Professional Theater on Miami's Arts Scene: How Zoetic Stage and other professional theaters contribute to Miami's cultural landscape. Upcoming Productions at Zoetic Stage: Get a sneak peak into Zoetic Stage's exciting new productions and their approach to fresh, compelling storytelling. Key Actionable Takeaways: Diversify Team Interests to Enrich Workplace Culture: Foster a more dynamic and inclusive workplace by encouraging diverse interests and passions among your team. Support Local Arts to Strengthen Community Ties: Build deeper connections with your community by supporting local arts and cultural initiatives. Collaborate with Creative Sectors to Expand Networks: Explore opportunities for collaboration with the creative industry to broaden your influence and network. Leverage Personal Passions to Boost Innovation: Tap into employees' personal passions to drive innovation and enhance your company's approachability.   Stay tuned for more updates, and don't miss our next deep dive on Cut to The Chase: Podcast with Gregg Goldfarb! Subscribe, rate, review, and share this episode of the Cut to the Chase: Podcast!   Resources: Get tickets to Fiddler on the Roof & other shows (hurry, tickets are going fast!): https://www.zoeticstage.org/tickets.php Listen to our last episode with Zoetic Stage's Co-Founder: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-curtain-15-years-of-zoetic-stage-with/id1551362164?i=1000698848925 Learn more about Zoetic Stage: https://www.zoeticstage.org Follow Zoetic Stage on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoeticstagemia Visit Sandra's website: https://www.sandraportal.com Follow Sandra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandra.portal.andreu Connect with Sandra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-portal-andreu   This episode was produced and brought to you by Reignite Media.

Brittney Brave, who will become the first local comedian to headline at the Adrienne Arsht Center this weekend, joins Billy Corben in studio to co-host today. John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan shares his thoughts about the election results. And immigration attorney Ada Pozo will talk about the extent of mass deportation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This month, we're on location again at the beautiful Adrienne Arsht Center with guest Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Lt. Tina Guiler. In celebration of International Firefighter's Day earlier this month, we chatted about the lack of visibility and acknowledgment of women in fire rescue across the nation. Yet, in Miami-Dade County, there are 262 female firefighters, making it the number one leading department for women in fire service. Because of this notion that many people and children don't realize that women can be firefighters, Lt. Guiler created a series of female firefighter dolls so that "if they can see it, they can be it."

April marks the month for our annual 'Reclaim the Dream' Candlelight Memorial and Gospel Concert  where we commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a celebration of his enduring legacy as we reignite his dream of justice and equality for all. Headlining the event was gospel singer and actress Tamela Mann who was kind enough to join us for this very special podcast episode on location at the Adrienne Arsht Center. We talk about the essence of life, the power of God/faith, the pursuit of liberty, and the resilience in chasing our dreams.

Una conversación de viejos amigos. Andrea, Héctor y Kike recuerdan viejas anécdotas de los comienzos de sus carreras y hablan de los preparativos para la gira por EE.UU y Canadá que se avecina en abril 2024. La fecha en Miami es el 20 de abril en el Knight Hall del Adrienne Arsht Center. ¡No te la puedes perder! https://bit.ly/aterciopeladosmiaEscucha, entre otras cosas:- Cómo es llevar una vida profesional después de haber sido pareja romántica, hoy en día cada uno con sus familias.-Qué representa ser vigentes y relevantes en un mundo cada vez más antagónico a su sonido y mantenerse activos en giras y creativamente después de los 50.-Haber creado un sonido y lenguaje propio, símbolo de un país. -¿Qué es la libertad en un mundo como el de hoy? ¿Están en peligro nuestros derechos humanos? Mucho a que conocer, disfrutar y recordar con este para que son un Clásico de la música Latina. Disfruta y apóyanos! Síguenos en https://linktr.ee/boomkike#aterciopelados #setlist #kikeposada #elquijotedelamusica #eldorado #baracunatana #elestuche #gozopoderoso #tropiplop #claroscura #caribeatomico #pipadelapaz #cositaseria #florecitarockera #mujergala #bolerofalaz #andreaecheverri #hectorbuitrago #antidivaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/boom-radio-con-kike-posada--3201320/support.

Carlos Frías is joined by director Gladys Ramírez. She's the executive director of City Theatre in Miami where she's directing the Miami debut of the play "La Gringa" at the Adrienne Arsht Center.

With less than 12 months to go until the US presidential election, five Republican candidates took to the stage to promote their candidacy. The frontrunner for the selection, former President Donald Trump, missed the debate, instead attending a rally in Miami. Sam Fenwick hears the latest from the debate, and discusses other business stories from around the world with Steven Bertoni, Senior Editor with Forbes in New York, and Rachel Pupazzoni, Business Reporter with ABC news in Perth, Australia. (Picture: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) listen at the third Republican candidates' U.S. presidential debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 8, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Fresh off a tour opening for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dion shares his takes on musical exploration, genre development, and collaboration. Dion Kerr is a forward-thinking, multi-dimensional artist (multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, songwriter, photographer, and videographer) born and raised in South Florida.  Kerr's work reflects a broad range of influences and mediums.  He has toured and recorded worldwide as a leader and a sideman to various groups spanning multiple genres. Dion Kerr displays his unwavering talent as a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and conceptual artist.  Utilizing acoustic and electric elements, he blends a wide range of influences and styles into a cohesive sound that expands the limitations of genre-bound music. There are hints of Dion's eclectic taste in his records' melodic groove-based instrumentals. Experimentation is essential in Dion's process and is always represented in vivid fluidity. Dion can be seen at some of the most renowned festivals, venues, studios, and galleries with many great young and upcoming artists of all art forms.  Kerr has shared the stage with Ignacio Berroa, Nicholas Payton, Lillias White, Godwin Louis, Jean Caze, Emmet Cohen, Immanuel Wilkins, Justin Brown, Tivon Pennicott, and most recently Marcus Strickland coming off of their European tour of festivals and venues such as Ronnies Scott's in London.  Dion co-founded the band The Smoogies, who released their debut album Planet Smoogies with trumpeter Nicholas Payton and People Music; they are set to release their next record, a live album, in 2024.  Dion was the lead engineer and co-producer of Seafoam Walls record XVI; he also played guitar (formerly bass) in the live incarnation, released on Thurston Moore and Eva Printz's label Ecstatic Peace Library, which was recorded and produced in his home studio.  They recently got off tour, opening up for Unknown Mortal Orchestra for their US tour dates, and have secured a sponsorship with Fender.  He is also a key member in many other highly sought-after bands in South Florida and New York art scenes.   His musical career began early on by being billed with the Dave Leibman quartet while he was still in High School, leading them to reconnect at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in NY, where he attended school on scholarship.  He has been seen at venues and festivals such as The Blue Note, Sevilla Jazz Festival, Martinique Jazz Festival, Ground Up Festival, Guatemala Jazz Festival, Quebec City Jazz Festival, Young Jazz Festival, Casa Del Jazz, and Adrienne Arsht Center. He has toured North America and Europe extensively with different bands.  Dion has scored music for films featured at SXSW, New Orleans Film, and Miami Film Festivals.   Dion Kerr's new solo record, set to be released in 2023, follows up his latest releases, Ivy, which also features Jeff Parker, Bubby Lewis, Adam O'Farrill, Reptile Ground, Echoes of Lost Time, and Ruby.  His new record showcases his expansive musical knowledge and arranging abilities, featuring himself on bass, vocals, recording, production, and mixing.  His YouTube series Dialogues has been his most recent outlet, which features a wide variety of musical artists that he performs together in an intimate duo setting, which showcases the individuality of each featured artist and how a musical conversation can take place in hopes of bringing people more together. Check out his Dialogues here - https://youtube.com/@dionkerrdialogues And check out Scoobert Doobert's music at - https://scoobertdoobert.pizza Podcast Produced by Beformer --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scoobertdoobert/message

In a strategic move away from traditional campaign activities, former President Donald Trump is said to be shifting gears. Instead of participating in the upcoming third Republican primary debate, his focus seems to be firmly set on direct engagement with supporters. Plans for a rally in bustling Hialeah, South Florida, about half an hour away from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami-Dade County where his Republican rivals are expected to convene, are reportedly in the works. Part of his strategy, it appears, is predicated on his significant lead over his competitors in the polls. This confidence has led him to question the real benefits of debating against candidates he views as far in his rearview mirror. Several prominent figures within the party have qualified for the third Republican presidential debate on November 8, including Sen. Tim Scott, Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, Gov. Nikki Haley, and Governor Ron DeSantis. As we approach the deadline set by the Republican National Committee (RNC) for podium qualification, and with 74 days left until the Iowa caucuses, some interesting stories are developing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On episode 28, Dr. Amy Sapola and Farmer Lee Jones talks with long time friend of the farm, Chef Bradley Kilgore. Chef Bradley Kilgore was born and raised in Kansas City. After relocating several times to work and train in Denver, Italy and Chicago, Chef Kilgore worked at world renowned restaurant Alinea In Chicago before leaving to open L2o under Chef Laurent Gras. Later, both restaurants garnered the honor of 3 Michelin Stars. He has now planted his feet in the beautiful city of Miami. In the summer of 2015, Chef Kilgore opened Alter in the art focused Wynwood district of Miami. There, he offered Progressive American Cuisine, garnering National and International recognition for his work. At Alter he highlighted indigenous Floridian ingredients and up to 15 course tasting menu and wine pairings. The wine program was named Top 100 in America by Wine Enthusiast several years in a row. Alter received 4 stars from the Miami Herald within a few months of opening, making Chef Kilgore the only Chef in the history of the Miami Herald to receive 4 Stars two times. Alter was also named restaurant of the year by Eater, and Chef Kilgore was named Chef of the Year by the same publication in both 2014 and 2015. Shortly after, and on a meteoric rise, his cuisine was rapidly gaining national attention. From this, Bradley was named Best New Chef in America by Food & Wine Magazine in 2016. later that year Alter was named semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard awards in the category "Best New Restaurant", and Chef Kilgore in the category "Rising Star chef of the year" twice in 2016 and 2017. At Alter, he became well known for his hyper creative presentations and genius flavor combinations. The 15 course tasting menu and wine pairings were unlike any the region had ever seen. In 2018, The James Beard foundation named him a finalist as "Best Chef South". Alter was Internationally recognized twice as a "Diners Discovery" by the prestigious voters of San Pellegrino's "The World's 50 Best". For five years he was the Culinary Director for the Adrienne Arsht Center and had a signature restaurant, Brava, by Brad Kilgore. Chef Kilgore and his team oversaw all Culinary production in the world class performance hall and the fine dining restaurant. In late 2018 and 2019 he opened the first of two new restaurants in the Design District, Kaido, an Asian and Japanese Cocktail Lounge and Restaurant with Internationally Renown Mixologist. Worlds 50 Best recognized Nico de Soto and Ember a Wood-Fire American Bistro. In 2020 Kilgore Culinary teamed up with Trilogy Developers to design and operate an incredible world class, private, members only racetrack resort called The Concours Club. Found there is the Modern American restaurant, Verge. Currently under construction, he will oversee all of the Culinary operations for the soon to be built Concours Events Center designed by Pininfarina Design House coming in late 2023. His team's most recent project is as Culinary Director with the first hotel in the history of Wynwood, the Arlo. Chef Kilgore is the Culinary Director of the entire property which boasts three different venues and all of the catering offerings as well. MaryGold's Brasserie is the signature restaurant where his culinary creations shine. He has also collaborated with BarLab Hospitality, one of the World's 50 Best Bar Operators on all Food & Beverage services for the property. The hotel opened in November 2022.

Mike's daily visit with legendary Dallas/Ft. Worth talk show host Mark Davis of 660AM The Answer has become appointment listening. Here's today's segment: Hamas hospital bombing misinformation sparked worldwide protests and GOP House failed to elect Congressman Jim Jordan yesterday.  President Donald Trumps message is still strong for our country today.We hope to see him at the November debate. Republican National Committee (RNC) has selected NBC News, Salem Radio Network, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and Rumble as partners for the third Republican presidential primary debate, which will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, 2023.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike's daily visit with legendary Dallas/Ft. Worth talk show host Mark Davis of 660AM The Answer has become appointment listening. Here's today's segment: Hamas hospital bombing misinformation sparked worldwide protests and GOP House failed to elect Congressman Jim Jordan yesterday.  President Donald Trumps message is still strong for our country today.We hope to see him at the November debate. Republican National Committee (RNC) has selected NBC News, Salem Radio Network, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and Rumble as partners for the third Republican presidential primary debate, which will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, 2023.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a two-part podcast looking at one topic: exploring ways arts are being encouraged in communities.  First up, philanthropist Adrienne Arsht.  Arsht discusses her long-term support for the arts-- at The Kennedy Center, at Lincoln Center, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and reflecting upon her decision to make a sizable donation to sustain the performing arts center in Miami ---now the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami-Dade County which had been about close. Arsht also discusses  the importance of having a performing arts center in every great city and highlights how Miami's diverse community was reflected in the center's programming from the beginning. Arsht also discusses her commitment to arts education through the flagship program "Learning Through the Arts" at the Adrian Arsht Center and her ground-breaking funding of paid internships at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Adrienne Arsht Center, emphasizing the importance of breaking down barriers that prevent talented individuals from pursuing internships and the positive impact of these programs.  Then we hear from Debbie Shapiro the artistic director of the Marie Rader Presenting Series at Rowan University. The series brings award-winning and emerging artists to South Jersey, emphasizing transformative engagement that goes beyond performances which includes direct interactions between world-class artists and students, as well as partnerships with community organizations in the region.  Shapiro discusses the series and its curation which is unique in that it's integrated within the College of Performing Arts at Rowan University, allowing for close collaboration with faculty and a focus on aligning the artist selections with the educational offerings of the university. The programming  reflects the diversity of the audience which comprises community members, Rowan students, university employees, faculty from various area colleges, and families of the students.

It's a two-part podcast looking at one topic: exploring ways arts are being encouraged in communities.  First up, philanthropist Adrienne Arsht.  Arsht discusses her long-term support for the arts-- at The Kennedy Center, at Lincoln Center, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and reflecting upon her decision to make a sizable donation to sustain the performing arts center in Miami ---now the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami-Dade County which had been about close. Arsht also discusses  the importance of having a performing arts center in every great city and highlights how Miami's diverse community was reflected in the center's programming from the beginning. Arsht also discusses her commitment to arts education through the flagship program "Learning Through the Arts" at the Adrian Arsht Center and her ground-breaking funding of paid internships at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Adrienne Arsht Center, emphasizing the importance of breaking down barriers that prevent talented individuals from pursuing internships and the positive impact of these programs.  Then we hear from Debbie Shapiro the artistic director of the Marie Rader Presenting Series at Rowan University. The series brings award-winning and emerging artists to South Jersey, emphasizing transformative engagement that goes beyond performances which includes direct interactions between world-class artists and students, as well as partnerships with community organizations in the region.  Shapiro discusses the series and its curation which is unique in that it's integrated within the College of Performing Arts at Rowan University, allowing for close collaboration with faculty and a focus on aligning the artist selections with the educational offerings of the university. The programming  reflects the diversity of the audience which comprises community members, Rowan students, university employees, faculty from various area colleges, and families of the students.

Vanessa talks with her creative partner, Victoria Collado about their new collaboration on #Graced, alongside wonderful people like director Sarah Hughes and organizations like the Adrienne Arsht Center for the performing Arts in Miami, Zoetic Stage, and our podcast producer, Matt Corey! This episode is all about the nest that is the theatre – the artistic nest that catches us all, and how we all make it work, cast after cast – family after family. 

Get ready for an exhilarating conversation that will leave you inspired!

Looking for a great getaway that also includes an incredible show? Then look no further than the new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. On this episode we chatted with Victoria Collado (Co-Director/Producer), and Vanessa Garcia (writer/producer) about their new work #Graced. We chatted about the inspiration behind the show, the journey of getting it produced, and some of their favorite theatre memories. So don't miss out on this fabulous conversation!Zoetic Stage and Adrienne Arsht Center present #GRACED in collaboration with Abre Camino CollectiveMay 5th-21st@Adrienne Arsht CenterTickets and more information are available at www.arshtcenter.orgAnd be sure to follow our guests to stay up to date on all of their upcoming productions and projects:#Graced:@GracedPlay@abrecaminocollectiveabrecaminocollective.comVictoria:@itsvickylinvictoriacollado.comVanessa:@vanessagarciawritervanessagarcia.com

We are delighted to be speaking with Johann Zietsmann today! Johann is the President and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. He joins us to share his unique and fantastic journey and talk about servant leadership, the philosophy of Ubuntu, and the arts. We even sing a little bit!   We hope you enjoy listening to today's captivating conversation with Johann Zietsmann! Bio: Johann Zietsman:  Born in the 1950s in South Africa, Johann Zietsman grew up under the Apartheid regime and first got involved in the arts as a brass player in his high school band. That led to his lifelong passion for the transformative value and role of the arts in a community. After serving in the military, he graduated as an architect, and Johann and his wife, Tharrie, moved to Ithaca, New York, where he completed a Master's degree in music. After returning to South Africa in 1982, Johann started a 20-year career in various executive arts management positions, including a music school, two orchestras, an opera, and music theatre company, a community arts center, a large multi-theatre performing arts company, and a commercial communications company. During this time, he was actively involved in the political transformation of his homeland through pioneering work in the arts, resulting in recognition from Mr. Nelson Mandela's government. As a volunteer, he launched and directed two community youth initiatives, which currently serve about 4000 at-risk children (annually) in townships. Johann and his family moved to the United States when he was recruited in 2002 by the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), based in New York City. Since June 2007 he served as Executive Director of the Mesa Arts Center, and Director of Arts and Culture for the city of Mesa, Arizona. In December 2009, Johann accepted the position of President and CEO of Arts Commons in Calgary, Canada. He took up the role of President & CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami in December 2018. Johann's journey Johann was born in South Africa during the apartheid. As with many other white South Africans, he grew up with the idea things were normal. In time, however, he realized how terrible and wrong apartheid was and tried to do something about it.  The military At eighteen, he got conscripted into the military to keep the “terrorists” (black people organizing resistance against apartheid) out of South Africa. He spent many years with other white South African soldiers in guerrilla warfare on the northern border between Namibia and Angola. He was also studying architecture and playing the French horn in a local symphony orchestra for pocket money at the same time. A difficult journey It was a difficult journey for people like Johann, who questioned apartheid and worked against it.  A music degree After graduating as an architect, Johann married and went to Ithaca, New York, where he did a Master's degree in music.  Returning to South Africa Johan and his wife returned to South Africa to be part of the struggle for democracy, and Johann spent the next twenty years working in arts management. Emigrating In 2002, Johann got recruited to a job in New York, so he and his family emigrated. He has lived and worked in various places in the US since then and has been in Miami for the last three-and-a-half years. Arts are universal Arts are universal because all humans have similar dreams, desires, and aspirations. We all laugh when we're happy, cry when we're unhappy, and dance when we hear music. The universality of the arts ultimately brought Johann to the profession he decided to pursue. A lesson learned from the arts One night, while at a shabeen (a bar/nightclub in a South African “township”) with some friends, Johann was fortunate enough to see the famous South African actor, John Kani, and another actor performing a play called The Island. It was written by South African playwright Athol Fugard and is about two Robben Island prisoners discussing what they want to do after their release. Johann did not know who John Kani was back then, but he loved the experience! A decision for life Watching The Island was the first time Johann fully understood that black and white people were the same emotionally. The understanding conveyed to him via the arts prompted him to become involved with the arts for the rest of his life. Nelson Mandela Johann met Nelson Mandela three times. He was a true leader, and Johann found him even more wonderful than everyone said he was! Teaching black kids Johann taught black kids over weekends while running the music school in Cape Town, even though he was not supposed to do so. He also visited Robben Island several times to do music demonstrations for the prison guards' children when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there.  The Adrienne Arsht Center The Adrienne Arsht Center was started 20 to 25 years ago by members of the Mami community. The famous Argentinian architect, Cesar Pelli, designed the building and shaped it to look like two big mountains. The concert hall and the ballet house are both world-class venues. There are also smaller performance venues and other venues for education. The center is now in its 16th operating season. It typically does about 430 shows each year and attracts about 400,000 people. Miami Miami keeps on changing. To Johann, it appears to be a city that always wants tomorrow to be better than today. He finds the energy intoxicating! Covid Covid hit the Adrienne Arsht Center very hard. It was one of the first types of business to close down and one of the last to re-open. When it happened, Johann said the center lost its voice.  The Community Throughout Covid, Johann and his team wanted to improve the lives of everyone in their community in any way they could. They launched many different online programs. They also launched Arsht On the Road, a pop-up show that appeared in hotels, hospitals, and shopping centers.  Local artists Johann and his team did whatever they could to engage local artists and help them make some money because the gig scene had dried up. Online monetization Johann believes that there are more opportunities for online monetization in brand new work that has never been seen before and work that people are unlikely to see live. Ubuntu Ubuntu is an ancient African philosophy very close to Johann's heart. The philosophy embodies our inter-dependency as humans and is lived authentically in the African community. It means that if you are unhappy, I cannot be happy. Or if I have food, you will not go hungry. (Directly translated, it means that a person is a person through other people.) Great South African leaders like Nelson Mandela and the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu were advocates for Ubuntu.   Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website   Connect with Johann Zietsman The Adrienne Arsht Center Johann Zietsmann on LinkedIn  

Si en 17 minutos pudiera mostrarte cómo mejorar la velocidad (y calidad) de tu articulación en los próximos 30 días o menos... ¿te interesaría saber cómo? Entonces Regístrate aquí y Accede Ahora a esta Clase Gratuita para descubrir cómo mejorar tu articulación En el episodio de hoy tenemos como invitada a Ona Cardona, Solista Internacional y Catedrática de Clarinete en el Conservatorio Superior de Música de Málaga Ona Cardona es una intérprete de gran sensibilidad que combina la actuación solista con la música de cámara, disfrutando de un amplio repertorio que va desde el clasicismo hasta los estrenos contemporáneos. Ha tocado en las principales salas españolas, como Palau de la Música y L'Auditori de Barcelona, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Palau de la Música de València, Auditorio de Zaragoza, y ha actuado en los Festivales Internacionales de Granada, Segovia, Castell de Peralada, Úbeda, Al-Kalat, Santa Cristina d'Aro, Schubertíada de Vilabertran, Quincena Donostiarra. También ha realizado conciertos en relevantes salas europeas (Wigmore Hall, St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Barbican Hall, Glyndebourne Opera, Berlin Konzerthaus, Elbphilarmonie) así como en Estados Unidos (Carnegie Hall, Adrienne Arsht Center) y China (Nanjing Music Hall). Como solista, se ha presentado junto a orquestas tales como Radiotelevisión Española, Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, OCAZ Enigma, Orquesta de Córdoba, Nacional de Cambra d'Andorra o Simfònica de les Illes Balears, entre otras. Apasionada de la música de cámara, habitualmente comparte escenario con artistas de la categoría de Alexandar Madzar, Gerold Huber, Denis Pascal, Enrique Bagaría, Juliane Banse, Mojca Erdmann, Maximilian Hornung, Ramón Ortega, The Soloists of London o los cuartetos AmarArt y Casals. En el ámbito orquestal, colabora con prestigiosas agrupaciones (Orquestra de Cadaqués, Camerata 432, Arts Symphony Orchestra) y, vinculada a sus raíces, es clarinete solista de la Orquesta de Cambra Illa de Menorca. Ha trabajado con reconocidos directores como Adrian Leaper, Vassily Petrenko, Salvador Mas, Virginia Martínez, Peter Rundel, Christian Curnyn, Jaime Martín, Eva Ollikainen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Nuno Coelho o Vladimir Ashkenazy. Muy comprometida con el arte de creación actual, ha estrenado numerosas obras y le han dedicado sus partituras compositores como Carles Santos, Alberto García-Demestres, Gabriel Brnčić, Jesús Rodríguez-Picó, Julian Philips, Cimeon Ellerton, Pedro Faria Gomes, Solfa Carlile, Mark Wolf, Rhian Samuel o Henrik Goldschmidt. Ha grabado para Radio Nacional de España, Catalunya Música, Televisión Española, D+3 Artmusic Project, Tritó y Anacrusi, siendo sus interpretaciones retransmitidas internacionalmente. Destaca en su discografía el CD para Columna Música que incluye la World première “Suite for Solo Clarinet” de Michel Camilo, así como la grabación del disco Chiaroscuro para Eudora Records con obras de Johannes Brahms, Robert y Clara Schumann junto al pianista Josep Colom, con quien actúa regularmente. Graduada por la Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya con las máximas calificaciones, obtiene el Máster with Distinction en la Guildhall School of Music and Drama of London. También se ha formado en el Royal College of Music of London, cursando hoy en día el doctorado en la Universitat Rovira i Virgili de Tarragona. Su calidad musical ha sido reconocida con numerosos galardones (Concurso Nacional Intercentros de Grado Superior, Concurso Permanente de Juventudes Musicales de España, Concurso Internacional El Primer Palau, entre otros) y en la actualidad es solicitada con frecuencia como miembro de tribunales. Con una amplia experiencia docente, imparte cursos y clases magistrales en las que integra los principios del Método Trager®. Ha desarrollado su labor pedagógica en el Conservatori Superior de Música de les Illes Balears y el Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, y recientemente ha sido nombrada Catedrática de clarinete del Conservatorio Superior de Música de Málaga. Para leer su biografía completa y saber más sobre Ona, puedes visitar su web aquí: www.onacardona.com En el episodio de hoy hablaremos de... Su trayectoria musical Método Trager De dónde provienen la gran mayoría de tensiones que generamos con el cuerpo y los peligros de tocar en piloto automático Cómo utilizar el Método Trager para sentirnos más cómodos a la hora de tocar y de la importancia de la respiración Rutina de estudios Grabaciones de CD´s, futuros proyectos Y muchas cosas más... Y ahora déjame preguntarte algo: Si en 17 minutos pudiera mostrarte cómo mejorar la velocidad (y calidad) de tu articulación en los próximos 30 días o menos... ¿te interesaría saber cómo? Entonces Regístrate aquí y Accede Ahora a esta Clase Gratuita para descubrir cómo mejorar tu articulación

Matt Wigler is an entrepreneur, musical artist, and public speaker in Miami, Florida. He is the Founder & CEO of MHW Live Music and Wigler Group. Matt has an active career as a jazz & blues artist and performs with his trio at venues and festivals worldwide. He also speaks on entrepreneurship, business-to-business sales, and building strong company culture in a remote work environment.Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Matt began his music career at the young age of 13, releasing his first studio album. In 2009, Matt's second album, “Epiphany,” was nominated for Best Jazz CD by the Washington DC Area Music Association. Matt has performed at major venues as a musical artist, including The Kennedy Center, Strathmore Music Center, Adrienne Arsht Center, Detroit Music Hall, Blues Alley, Birdland Jazz Club, and the Monterey Blues Festival, and Motor City Blues & Boogie Woogie Festival. Matt attended one year of college at Manhattan School of Music in New York City before transferring to the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he completed his BA. Matt received his MBA from the University of Miami Herbert Business School. In 2016, Matt founded MHW Live Music, which provides entertainment for dozens of luxury hotel food & beverage outlets around the United States.In 2020, Matt founded Wigler Group, which provides business-to-business sales consulting, prospecting, and appointment setting services for many clients, including software companies, advertising agencies, universities, and more.Support the show (https://paypal.me/pencilleadership)

 Bianca Jade is a Cuban-Jamaican powerhouse RnB/Soul singer and songwriter from Miami, Florida now based in New York City. Her music focuses on bringing light and empowerment to her listeners, especially women. Influenced by soulful female artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys, Bianca Jade began developing her craft the young age of nine years old. She later taught herself to play piano by ear and wrote songs at her piano starting at the age of fifteen. Bianca has become a seasoned performer with experience on stages from Miami to New York City such as the Adrienne Arsht Center and International Music Festival in Miami, Florida to the legendary SOB's and the Bowery Electric in New York City. She has also been interviewed and performed on iHeart Radio and TV shows such as BET's 106 & Park and NBC6 in the Mix South Florida. Bianca has recorded two projects including her debut album “B-Light” and her latest EP “JADE Vol. 1” which has reached over 180,000 listeners on Spotify. Through her following on social media, Bianca Jade encourages self-love and empowerment to her followers and has endorsed brands like Rhythm Superfoods and celebrity skin care guru, “Elizabeth's Secret Beauty Bar.” Purchase "Everything I've Got" on Amazon https://amzn.to/3oGaOWz Listen to "Everything I've Got" now on Spotify. https://spoti.fi/3rP9Pp6 Connect with Bianca Jade online: Twitter: https://twitter.com/biancajademusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancajademusic/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biancajademusic Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biancajademusic? YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuE9SwKVUGbYCHhhCefxQ0Q

Today's guest is Rosie Herrera. Rosie is a Cuban-American dancer and choreographer working within the fields of modern dance, opera, cabaret, theater and film. She is the artistic director of Rosie Herrera Dance Theater in Miami. Rosie has been commissioned by such groups as The Miami Light Project, The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Ballet Hispanico, Jose Limon Dance Company, and the American Dance Festival (ADF) in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018.  Her company, Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, has been presented by the Northrop Dance Series, New World Symphony, Baryshnicov Arts Center, Texas A & M University, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Dance Place, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, The Yard at Marthas Vineyard, Gotham Dance at Skirball and Focus Dance at The Joyce as well as by The American Dance Festival at the Joyce NYC in 2016 and 2018, among others.  Rosie is a 2016 USArtist Sarah Arison Choreographic Fellow, a 2010 and 2018 MANCC choreographic fellow, a 2014 Bates Dance Festival Artist in residence, a 2016 Bessie Schoenberg Fellow and a 2011 and 2016 Miami Dance Fellow. She was awarded a Princess Grace Choreographic Fellowship for her work with Ballet Hispanico in 2013. For more on Rosie and the podcast: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

This is the first of two episodes featuring leaders still in the early phases of their trajectories. Entrepreneurs who founded their businesses fairly young, in underserved niches, and who are only a few years into their journey. Matt Wigler is a jazz musician who saw an opportunity in a specific entertainment market and launched a successful business. When that market was hit by the pandemic, he turned the sales experience he gained running his first business into a sales consulting business, and now he is the founder and CEO of two thriving companies.    In this insightful conversation, he talks about how he spotted the opportunities, and the philosophy he followed in building his businesses. He offered some interesting parallels between the process of making music in a band and building and running a team. And he shared plenty of insight on how to build a bootstrapped business without any outside financing. Finally, as a jazz musician, he talked about one of his favorite recordings and what he learned from it.   BIOGRAPHY   Matt Wigler is an entrepreneur, musical artist, and public speaker based in Miami, Florida. He is Founder & CEO of MHW Live Music and Wigler Group. Matt has an active career as a jazz & blues artist, and performs with his trio at venues and festivals around the world. He also speaks on topics including entrepreneurship, business-to-business sales, and building strong company culture in a remote work environment. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Matt began his music career at the young age of 13, with the release of his first studio album. In 2009, Matt's second album, “Epiphony”, was nominated for Best Jazz CD by the Washington DC Area Music Association. As a musical artist Matt has performed at major venues including The Kennedy Center, Strathmore Music Center, Adrienne Arsht Center, Detroit Music Hall, Blues Alley, Birdland Jazz Club, Monterey Blues Festival, and Motor City Blues & Boogie Woogie Festival. Matt attended one year of college at Manhattan School of Music in New York City before transferring to University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he completed his BA. Matt received his MBA from University of Miami Herbert Business School. In 2016, Matt founded MHW Live Music, which provides entertainment for dozens of luxury hotel food & beverage outlets around the United States. In 2020, Matt founded Wigler Group, which provides business-to-business sales consulting, prospecting, and appointment setting services for media, advertising, and PR agencies.    LINKS http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwigler (linkedin.com/in/mattwigler) http://www.mattwigler.com/ (mattwigler.com) http://www.wiglergroup.com/ (www.wiglergroup.com) http://www.mhwlivemusic.com/ (www.mhwlivemusic.com) This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

ALI is the bold all caps fashionista and local super volunteer who has a lot to teach each of us about developing a more complete sense of agency. Born in Long Beach, Long Island, into a Brooklyn based family with roots in Miami, Vegas, & Cuba, she won an academic scholarship to study education & conceptual art at NYU, getting her MFA and also studying a bit at Parson's School of Design. She was a design director at Limited Express (now known as Express) in its early days, and even started her own fashion company, with an exciting life traveling everywhere from Hong Kong to Milan to the Middle East. After moving to Florida for 4 years ago, Ali has discovered how to live a fulfilling life here, filled with volunteer work in spaces and worlds she cares about, from the Miami Beach Botanical Garden to the Perez Art Museum, to the Adrienne Arsht Center, to the New World Symphony, and even to the local jazz station WDNA. She is an inspiration both to other retirees, and to each one of us who has yet to schedule a weekly time for service in our busy calendars. Open to some help finding a fun and rewarding volunteer opportunity? Text DOWNTOSERVE to our Local Voices (Miami) Volunteer Hotline at (833) 901-0927, to figure out what opportunities might sync with your vibe and schedule. Find out what you love and go serve there. We look forward to hearing from you.

Real estate investor Matt Picheny joins the podcast to discuss his career as an actor, real estate investor, and Broadway producer. Matt is the managing partner at MJP Property Group, a real estate investment company. He has invested in over 6,000 apartment units with a focus on acquiring and repositioning multifamily communities. He is a real estate agent, a Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac approved buyer, and spent over a decade in the marketing departments of Fortune 500 clients. Matt and his wife are Tony-nominated producers having produced David Byrne’s American Utopia and Moulin Rouge. They have also invested in an international tour of Wicked and in Hamilton. Matt's Real Estate Site:https://mjppg.com/ Matt's LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/public-profile/in/picheny?challengeId=AQG9O8jzgw24bQAAAXduyAlC8FcfpdpiDa1QouzZDGJ4IjJlUwQNMPXkIsnauj9K0ZCpnNDp4MBYcNwwJbE4P1lLh6fdn-7b1Q&submissionId=133c99bc-23a6-6016-7edf-895f6a2ff87c Matt's IBDB.com profile:https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/matt-picheny-522684 GameStop Short Squeeze:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameStop_short_squeeze Fiat Currency:https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fiatmoney.asp#:~:text=Fiat%20money%20is%20a%20government,U.S.%20dollar%2C%20are%20fiat%20currencies. Arsht Center - Florida Theatre Complex:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Arsht_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts Rent - Broadway Musical:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_(musical) AMDA - American Musical and Dramatic Academy:https://www.amda.edu/ Salvador Dali:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD Peter Lik - Photographer:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lik David Byrne's American Utopia - Broadway Musical:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Utopia QRP - Qualified Retirement Plan:https://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/qrp.asp Sophisticated Investor:https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sophisticatedinvestor.asp Accredited Investor:https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accreditedinvestor.asp Links From The Patreon Only Episode: Curtains - the last Kander and Ebb musical:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtains_(musical) Salvador Dali Museum - Spain:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal%C3%AD_Theatre_and_Museum Salvador Dali Museum - Florida:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD_Museum The Investors Podcast:https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/we-study-billionaires/ Interview by Ethan Steimel Become a patron at:www.patreon.com/artisticfinance www.artisticfinance.comwww.patreon.com/artisticfinanceinstagram.com/artisticfinancetwitter.com/ethansteimelfacebook.com/artisticfinanceyoutube.com/artisticfinance

While the focus of the world has been on the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has been busy preparing a war authorization for the incoming Joe Biden administration. In this episode, we examine the advice given to Congress in nine recent hearings to learn which countries are on the World Trade System naughty list, as Jen prepares to read the NDAA that's soon to become law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Click here to contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Click here to support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536 Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Episodes CD208: The Brink of the Iran War CD195: Yemen CD191: The Democracies of Elliott Abrams CD190: A Coup for Capitalism CD186: National Endowment for Democracy CD167: Combating Russia NDAA CD131: Bombing Libya Bills H.R.526: Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019 Congress.gov H.Res.751: Reaffirming the partnership between the United States and the African Union and recognizing the importance of diplomatic, security, and trade relations. Congress.gov H.Res.1120: Urging the Government of Tanzania and all parties to respect human rights and constitutional rights and ensure free and fair elections in October 2020, and recognizing the importance of multi-party democracy in Tanzania Congress.gov H.Res.1183: Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging continued democratic progress in Ethiopia, and for other purposes. Congress.gov Articles/Documents Article: Belarus Will Be an Early Challenge for Biden, By Gregory Feifer, Slate, December 18, 2020 Article: Expanded "America Crece" Initiative Launch Event, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, December 17, 2020 Article: Court Finds Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity in the Philippines, By Jason Gutierrez, The New York Times, December 15, 2020 Article: 2,596 Trades in One Term: Inside Senator Perdue’s Stock Portfolio, By Stephanie Saul, Kate Kelly and Michael LaForgia, The New York Times, December 2, 2020 Article: Africa: From caravan networks to investment projects, By Ahmet Kavas, Daily Sabah, November 25, 2020 Article: Ethiopia’s Problems Will Not End with a Military Victory, By Aly Verjee, United States Institute of Peace, November 24, 2020 Article: Tanzania: Repression Mars National Elections, Human Rights Watch, November 23, 2020 Article: DoD Policy Chief Quits As Leadership Vacuum Expands, By Paul McLeary, DefenseNews, November 10, 2020 Article: Biden landing team for Pentagon announced, By Aaron Mehta, DefenseNews, November 10, 2020 Article: Africa in the news: Unrest in Ethiopia, contentious elections results in Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire, and a new UK-Kenya trade deal By Payce Madden, Brookings, November 7, 2020 Article: US doing its best to lock China out of Latin America By Vijay Prashad, Asia Times, November 4, 2020 Article: Ethiopia Proposes Holding Postponed Vote in May or June 2021: FANA By Addis Ababa, Reuters, October 30, 2020 Press Release: Crisis in Mali, By Alexis Arieff, Congressional Research Service, October 21, 2020 Article: América Crece: Washington's new investment push in Latin America By Jeff Abbott, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, October 8, 2020 Article: Ethiopian Region Holds Local Elections in Defiance of Prime Minister By Simon Marks and Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times, September 10, 2020 Article: IRI Expert Discusses COVID-19, Protecting Democracy in Europe and Protests in Belarus in Testimony to House Foreign Affairs Committee International Republican Institute, September 10, 2020 Article: Nile dam row: US cuts aid to Ethiopia, BBC News, September 3, 2020 Press Release: Belarus: An Overview, By Cory Welt, Congressional Research Service, August 24, 2020 Press Release: Rep. Omar Leads Letter to Condemn Trump Administration’s Plan to Invest in Controversial Projects in Honduras, Ilhan Omar, August 13, 2020 Article: China Dominates Bid for Africa’s Largest Dam in New Pact By Pauline Bax and Michael Kavanagh, Bloomberg Green, August 7, 2020 Article: Nile dam row: Egypt fumes as Ethiopia celebrates By Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC News, July 29, 2020 Article: Remarks by CEO Boehler at the América Crece Event With President Hernández of the Republic of Honduras U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, July 21, 2020 Article: Can Malian President Keita survive growing anti-gov’t protests? By Hamza Mohamed, Aljazeera, July 10, 2020 Article: Pundits with undisclosed funding from arms manufacturers urge ‘stronger force posture’ to counter China By Eli Clifton, Responsible Statecraft, May 14, 2020 Article: The Three Seas Initiative explained By David A. Wemer, Atlantic Council, February 11, 2020 Article: FORMER OBAMA OFFICIALS HELP SILICON VALLEY PITCH THE PENTAGON FOR LUCRATIVE DEFENSE CONTRACTS By Lee Fang, The Intercept, July 22, 2018 Article: Is John McCain's Pick to Lead the International Republican Institute a Strike Against Donald Trump? By Timothy J. Burger, Town & Country, August 10, 2017 Article: The River That Swallows All Dams By Charles Kenny and John Norris, Foreign Policy, May 8, 2015 Document: The Grand Inga Illusion By David Lunde, University of Denver, 2014 Article: Can DR Congo's Inga dam project power Africa? By Maud Jullien, BBC News, November 15, 2013 Article: A New Take on the 1961 Murder of Congo’s Leader By Slobodan Lekic, Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2006 Article: How Biden’s Foreign-Policy Team Got Rich By Jonathan Guyer, The American Prospect Article: Christopher Fomunyoh Grabs Man Of The Year Award By Bama Cham, Eden Newspaper Article: Reform in Ethiopia: Turning Promise into Progress, Yoseph Badwaza and Jon Temin, Freedom House Article: Beijing and Wall Street deepen ties despite geopolitical rivalry, Financial Times Article: THE HISTORY OF DR CONGO TIMELINE, Welcome to the Congo Reform Association Article: Business: The Big Dreamer, By LOUIS EDGAR DETWILER, TIME, August 01, 1960 Additional Resources About The Jamestown Foundation Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. African Union Alyssa Ayres Council on Foreign Relations DEREK MITCHELL National Democratic Institute Douglas Rutzen International Center for Not-For-Profit Law Daniel Serwer, LinkedIn Daniel Serwer, Middle East Institute Daniel Twining LinkedIn Dr. Daniel Twining International Republican Institute Elbridge Colby, LinkedIn Elbridge Colby, The Marathon Initiative Elbridge Colby, Senior Advisor, Westexec Advisors Employment Timeline: Albright, Madeleine K OpenSecrets.org Eric Farnsworth, LinkedIn Eric Farnsworth Americas Society Council of the Americas Flagship Projects of Agenda 2063 African Union History: IDEA TO REALITY: NED AT 30 National Endowment for Democracy Investing in Development U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Jamie Fly The German Marshall Fund of the United States Jamie Fly U.S. Agency For Global Media Janusz Bugajski, The Jamestown Foundation Jon Temin Freedom House Joshua Meservey, LinkedIn Lauren Blanchard, LinkedIn Michael Camilleri, The Dialogue Mission Statement, Growth in the Americas Monica de Bolle International Capital Strategies Our Experienced Team McLarty Associates Philip Reeker, LinkedIn Summary: Albright Stonebridge Group OpenSecrets.org Susan Stigant, United States Institute of Peace Team, The Beacon Project, October 2020 Team ALBRIGHT STONEBRIDGE GROUP Therese Pearce Laanela, Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Yoseph Badwaza, Freedom House Sound Clip Sources Hearing: THE BALKANS: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION, Committee on Foreign Affairs, December 8, 2020 Watch on C-SPAN Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Madeleine Albright Chairman of the National Democratic Institute Chairman of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm Chairman of Albright Capital Management , an investment advisory firm Member of the Council on Foreign Relations 2003-2005: Member of the Board of Directors of the NYSE 1997-2001: Secretary of State 1978-1981: National Security Council Staff Daniel Serwer Director of American Foreign Policy and Conflict Management at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Former Vice President at the US Institute of Peace Former Minister Counselor at the State Department during the Clinton years Janusz Bugajski Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation Former Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) Hosts a tv show in the Balkans Transcript: 40:03 Rep. Eliot Engel (NY): Serbia has been importing Russian fighters and tanks and conducting military exercises with the Russian Army. A US Defense Department report told us that Belgrade's drift towards Moscow has mostly occurred since President Vučić took power. The same time democratic space in Serbia has shrunk in recent years. Freedom House describes Serbia as a, 'hybrid regime', not a democracy because of declining standards in governance, justice, elections and media freedom. If Serbia wants to become part of the European Union, and the North Atlantic family of nations, it needs to get off the fence and embrace a Western path. 56:17 Madeleine Albright: As you know, Mr. Chairman, the President Elect has been personally engaged in the Balkans since his time in the Senate. And he was one of the most outspoken leaders in Congress calling for the United States to help end the complex and I was honored to work closely with him throughout my time in office. And I know that he understands the region and its importance for the United States. The national security team that President Elect Biden is putting in place is deeply knowledgeable and committed to helping all the countries of the region move forward as part of a Europe that is whole free and at peace. And that's important, because today this vision is in peril. The nations of the Western Balkans are suffering deeply from the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Corruption remains a serious problem, and nationalist leaders continue to stoke and exploit ethnic tensions. China and Russia are also exerting new influence in the region, with Serbia in particular the target of much anti Western propaganda. As the pandemic eases there will be an opportunity for the United States and Europe to help the region build back better, particularly as Western European countries seek to bring supply chains closer to home. And as new funds become available to invest in energy diversification and environmental protection. 59:36 Madeleine Albright: The answer is for the United States and the EU to work together to champion initiatives that help custom Bosnia and others build economic ties to Europe and the neighborhood while also pushing for needed political reforms. 1:00:00 Madeleine Albright: On Bosnia, the Dayton accords stopped a war and continue to keep the peace. But the governing arrangements are not captured by leaders among the three groups that negotiated the peace. They want to hold on to power even if it means holding their society back. While Bosnia is neighbors move toward EU membership, the United States and the European Union must focus their efforts in Bosnia on the abuse of government and state owned enterprises. Taking away the levers of power that keep the current system in place. 1:05:30 Daniel Serwer: Europe and the United States want a post state in Bosnia, they can qualify for EU membership. That Bosnia will be based not on ethnic power sharing, but rather on majorities of citizens electing their representatives. [?] entities as well as ethnic vetoes and restrictions we'll need to fade. the Americans and Europeans should welcome the prospect of a new Civic constitution. But no one outside Boston Herzegovina can reform its constitution, a popular movement is needed. The United States along with the Europeans needs to shield any popular movement from repression while starting the entities with funding and redirecting it to the central government and municipalities. 1:12:07 Janusz Bugajski: Moscow views Serbia in particular, and the Republic of Srpska in Bosnia as useful tools to subvert regional security and limit Western integration. 1:12:40 Janusz Bugajski: Western Balkan inclusion in the Three Seas Initiative and its North South transportation corridor will enhance economic performance and help provide alternatives to dependence on Russian energy and Chinese loans. 2:00:41: Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA): Why do you think longer term in the Balkans its Chinese influence we need to be focused on? Janusz Bugajski:Thank you very much for that question. Let me begin with why Russia is not a longer term danger. Russia is a country in serious decline, economic decline. Its economies size of a medium sized European state. China has the second largest economy in the world. Russia has internal problems with its nationalities with its regions, with increasing public unrest with increasing opposition to put in them even be power struggles during the succession period over the next four years, Russia faces major internal problems. China, on the other hand, unless of course, there is opposition to the Chinese Communist Party from within, is in a different stage. It continues to be a very dynamic country in terms of its economic growth. It doesn't face the sort of internal contradictions and conflicts that Russia does. And it's increasingly.. China's always looked at the longer term. In other words, they don't even have to look at succession cycles, because of the dominance of the Communist Party. They are looking eventually to replace Russia as the major rival of the United States. And the best way to do that is to increase their influence not only militarily in East Asia, South Asia and other parts of the world, but economically, politically, diplomatically, culturally, and through the media and that's precisely what they're doing, not only in Europe, but in other continents. 2:18:38 Madeleine Albright: I think that democracy and economic development go together also. Because as I put it, people want to vote and eat. Hearing: THE UNFOLDING CONFLICT IN ETHIOPIA, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, December 3, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Yoseph Badwaza Senior Advisor for Africa at Freedom House Former Secretary General of Ethiopian Human Rights Council Susan Stigant Director of the Africa Program at the United States Institute of Peace Former program director at the National Democratic Institute, focused on South Sudan Tsedale Lemma Editor in Chief and Founder of Addis Standard Magazine Lauren Ploch Blanchard Specialist in African Affairs at the Congressional Research Service Former East Africa Program Manager at the International Republican Institute Transcript: 35:32 Yoseph Badwaza: The devastating developments of the past four weeks have brought inmeasurable human suffering and the destruction of livelihoods and appear to have returned to yet another protracted civil war and nearly 30 years after it emerged from its last. These tragic events have also dealt a deadly blow to what would have been one of the most consequential democratic transitions on the African continent. 37:09 Yoseph Badwaza: A series of missed opportunities in the last two and a half years led to the tragic derailment of a promising democratic experiment. A half hearted effort at implementing reforms by a ruling party establishment reluctant to shape its deeply authoritarian roots. Roots stands in the way of a genuine inclusive political process. Hearing: U.S. DEFENSE POSTURE CHANGES IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER, Committee on Armed Services, September 30, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Dr. James Anderson Former Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Department of Defense (resigned the day after Trump fired DoD Secretary Mark Esper) 2006-2009: Director of Middle East Policy for the Secretary of Defense 2001-2006 - Gap in LinkedIn resume 2000-2001: Associate at DFI International, a multinational consulting firm 1997-1999: Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation Lt. Gen David Allen: Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy, Joint Chiefs of Staff Transcript: 17:14 Dr. James Anderson: As we continue to implement the NDS or efforts at enhancing our European posture beyond Eucom Combat Command Review, have shown recent successes, including the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with Poland in August that will enable an increased enduring US rotational presence in that country of about 1000 US military personnel. Hearing: DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, September 30, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Christopher Fomunyoh Senior Associate for Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs Has been at NDI since 1993 Has worked for the Cameroon Water Corporation and Cameroon Airlines Corporation Dorina A. Bekoe, PhD Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses Jon Temin Director of the Africa Program at Freedom House Freedom House gets most of its funding from the National Endowment for Democracy 2014-2017: U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff Director of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Africa Program Member of the Council on Foreign Relations Non-resident Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Joshua Meservey Senior Policy Analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation since 2015 Former Associate Director of the Atlantic Council Former Field Team Manager for the Church World Service Resettlement Support Center Former Volunteer with the US Peace Corps Former intern for the US Army Special Operations Command Former Loss Prevention Coordinator for Dollar Financial Corporation Transcript: 7:13 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): I fear that 2020 may see an even greater decrease in democracy on the continent. Today's hearing is also timely, as elections are approaching next month in Tanzania and the Ivory Coast, both countries which appear to be on a downward trajectory in terms of governance and respect for civil and political rights. And I want to note that Chairwoman bass has introduced legislation with respect to Tanzania, and I'm very proud to be a co sponsor of it and I thank you for that leadership. 8:37 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): For example, was quite obvious to outside observers in the DRC that the declared winner of the latest presidential election held in late 2018. Felix Tshisekedi received less votes than Martin Fayulu low because of a corrupt bargain between the outgoing strongman Joseph Kabila Tshisekedi. The Constitutional Court packed by Kabila declared him to be the winner. What happened next was troubling, as our State Department issued a statement that said and I quote, 'the United States welcomes the Congolese Constitutional Court certification of Felix Tshisekedi as the next president of the DRC,' which was apparently driven by a handful of diplomats, including our ambassador. 9:26 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): Elections in Nigeria were first postponed by sitting President Buhari and marred by irregularities in advance of the election date, quitting arson attacks on the independent national Electoral Commission offices in opposition strongholds in Buhari's his removal of Supreme Court Justice Walter Onnoghen. 10:40 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): Before Sudan is delisted as a state sponsor of terrorism, I also believe there must be justice for all victims of its past bad acts including the victims of 911, many of whom live in my home state of New Jersey and in my district. 14:44 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): Most concerning is the situation in Tanzania, which I recently addressed in House Resolution 1120 where current leadership is repressing the opposition and basic freedoms of expression and assembly in a blatant attempt to retain power. 15:00 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): We see similar patterns in Cote d'Ivoire as the executive branch legalizes the deviation in democratic institutions to codify non democratic actions. We have similar concerns about Guinea and are going to be very watchful of upcoming elections there. And in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and Somalia. 15:57 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): What concerns me most is the democratic backsliding is not limited to Africa and we seem to be in a place of retreat from democracy that I only hope is an anomaly. In Europe, we see the egregious behavior of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed success in a disputed August 9 election and sought support from extra national resources such as Russia to justify his claim to power. 17:28 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): President Duterte of the Philippines is accused of lawfare, or weaponizing the law to deter or defeat freedoms, personalities and establishments that promote human rights, press freedoms and the rule of law while also cracking down on individual freedoms. 24:39 Christopher Fomunyoh: NDI has over three decades of technical assistance to and support for democratic institutions and processes in Africa and currently runs active programs in 20 countries. 26:09 Christopher Fomunyoh: Notably, West Africa, previously commanded as a trailblazer region has seen serious backsliding, as Mali experienced a military coup, and major controversies have arisen about candidacies of incumbent presidents in Guinea, Conakry and Cote d'Ivoire. The Central Africa region remains stocked with the three with the highest concentration of autocratic regimes with the three longest serving presidents in the world. In that sub region, notably Equatorial Guinea forty one years, Cameroon 38 years, and Congo Brazzaville 38 years. 26:50 Christopher Fomunyoh: In southern and East Africa, continued persecution of political opposition and civil society activists in Zimbabwe and similar worrying signs or patterns in Tanzania since 2016 seriously diminished citizen participation in politics and governance and also stand my prospects for much needed reforms. 31:31 Dorina A. Bekoe: Mali's 2012 coup took place even though there was a regularly scheduled election just one month away. And the coup in August of this year took place despite the fact that in 2018 there was a presidential election and last year there were legislative elections. 38:44 Jon Temin: The United States should consider changes to term and age limits that allow incumbent leaders to extend their time in office as essentially a coup against the constitution and respond accordingly. These moves by leaders who have already served two terms are an usurpation of power, that deny the country and its citizens the many benefits of leadership rotation. 40:07 Jon Temin: In Sudan the long overdue process of removing the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism may soon conclude, but that is not enough. The United States needs to support the civilian component of Sudan's transitional government at every step of the long road toward democracy and do all that it can to revive Sudan's economy. 40:25 Jon Temin: In Ethiopia, there are deeply concerning signs that the government is reaching for tools of repression that many hoped were relegated to history. Nonetheless, Ethiopia remains on a tentative path to democratic elections that can be transformative. In this context, the decision by the United States to withhold development assistance from Ethiopia in a quixotic and counterproductive effort to influence Ethiopia's negotiating position concerning the grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is bad policy that should be reversed. 41:00 Jon Temin: Nascent democratic transitions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gambia and Angola also call for strong US support. 1:10:21 Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN): I want to start with Dr. Fomunyoh. In your testimony you discuss the massacres committed in the Anglophone region of Cameroon. Did the United States provide training funding or arms to the Cameroonian security forces who committed those massacres? 1:12:20 Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN): Did the Millennium military officers who led the recent coup [??] receive US military training? And if you can just say yes or no, because I have a few more questions and we have limited time. 1:29:23 Jon Temin: Freedom in the world, which we do every year rates every country in the world that includes the United States, the United States score was decreasing before this administration, we have seen a slow slippage of democracy in America for some time, rating based on our scores. That decrease has accelerated under this administration. 1:30:00 Jon Temin: I think part of it has to do with freedom for journalists. I believe there's been some concern there. Part of it has to do with corruption and some of the indications that we've seen of corrupt activity within government. I'll leave it there. We're happy to go dig into that and provide you more detail. And I'm sure that when we look at the scores again later this year, there will be a robust conversation on the United States. Hearing: THE ROLE OF ALLIES AND PARTNERS IN U.S. MILITARY STRATEGY AND OPERATIONS, Committee on Armed Services, September 23, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Christine Wormuth On Joe Biden's presidential transition team 2018- present: Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation 2017-2018: Founding Director of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience at the Atlantic Council 2017-2018: Senior Advisor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies 2010-2014: Various DoD positions, rising to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy 2004-2009: Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies 2002-2004: Principal at DFI Government Services, an international defense consulting firm Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges Center for European Policy Analysis Board of Advisors for the Spirit of America (not listed on hearing bio) Board of Directors is made up of CEOs of mulitnational corporations Board of Advisors is full of corporate titans and big names, including Michelle Flournoy, Jeh Johnson, Kimberly Kagan, Jack Keane, James Mattis, Stanley McChrystal, H.R. McMaster, & George Shultz 2014-2017: Commanding General of the US Army in Europe Elbridge Colby Principal and co-Founder of the Marathon Initiative Formed in May 2020 Senior Advisor to WestExec Advisors (not listed on hearing bio) Co-Founded by incoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Michelle Flournoy, who told the Intercept in 2018, "we help tech firms who are trying to figure out how to sell in the public sector space, to navigate the DOD, the intel community, law enforcement." 2018-2019: Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security Northrup Grumman is one of its biggest donors, also gets funding from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Bell Helicopter, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Boeing, and DynCorp. 2017-2018: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Lead official in the creation of the 2018 National Defense Strategy 2010-2017: Center for a New American Security GWB administration (not listed on his LinkedIn) 2005-2006: worked with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2004-2005: President GWB's WMD Commission 2003: worked with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq Transcript: 17:14 20:08 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: Second point of emphasis requires us to place importance on the greater Black Sea where. I believe the great power competition prevents great power conflict, failure to compete and to demonstrate interest and willingness to protect those interests in all domains, power vacuums and miscalculations which can lead to escalation and to actual conflict. This is particularly true in the greater Black Sea region, where Russia is attempting to maximize its sphere of influence. The Black Sea region should be the place where the United States and our NATO allies and partners hold the line. The Black Sea should matter to the west in part because it [was to the Kremlin.] taking the initiative away from the Kremlin denies the ability to support the Assad regime in Syria and then to live will reduce the flow of rich into Europe, or General Breedlove called the weaponization of refugee. Limit the Kremlin's ability to spread his thoughts of influence in the Balkans which is the Middle East and North Africa. 21:28 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: We must repair the relationship between Turkey and the United States. And see Turkey [?] as an exposed ally at the crossroads of several regions and challenges. Turkey is essential for deterrence of the Kremlin in the Black Sea region. And it is a critical both against ISIS and Iran we need to consider this relationship to be a priority, [but] condone or excuse several mistakes or bad choices about the Turkish Government. There are times are very quiet, but we think long term. The current Turkish administration will eventually change. But the strategically important geography of Turkey will never change. 23:31 Elbridge Colby: Allies and partners are absolutely essential for the United States in a world increasingly defined by great power competition, above all with China. Indeed, they lie at the very heart of the right US strategy for this era, which I believe the Department of Defense's 2018 National Defense Strategy lays out. The importance to the United States of allies and partners is not a platitude, but the contrary. For the first time since the 19th century, the United States is not far and away the world's largest economy. More than anything else, this is due to the rise of China. And that has become very evident. Beijing is increasingly using its growing power for coercive purposes. 24:08 Elbridge Colby: United States faces a range of other potential threats, including primarily from Russia against NATO, as well as from transnational terrorists, Iran and North Korea. In other words, there exists multiple challenges to US national security interests. Given their breadth and scope, America can no longer expect to take care of them essentially alone. Accordingly, we must address this widening shortfall between the threats we face and the resources we have to deal with them by a much greater role for allies and partners. 24:59 Elbridge Colby: Because of China's power and wealth, the United States simply must play a leading role in blocking Beijing's pursuit of hegemony in Asia. This means that the US defense establishment must prioritize dealing with China and Asia and particularly vulnerable allies and partners such as Taiwan and the Philippines. 25:24 Elbridge Colby: In particular, we will not be able to dedicate the level of resources and effort to the Middle East and Europe that we have in the past. We will therefore need allied partners to do their part not just to help defend our interests and enable a concentration on Asia but to defend themselves and their interests. 26:00 Elbridge Colby: The contemporary threats to us interest stem from China across Asia. Transnational terrorists largely in the Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe, Persian Gulf area and North Korea in Asia. 26:11 Elbridge Colby: Yet the United States is traditional, closest and most significant allies are largely clustered in Western Europe in Northeast Asia. Many of these countries, especially Europe feel quite secure and are little motivated to contribute to more distant threats. This leaves wide areas such as South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East, for which long standing US alliances are of minimal help. The natural way to rectify this is for the United States to add partners and form necessary alliances to help address these gaps. 35:13 Elbridge Colby: In this effort, though, we should be very careful to distinguish between expanding our formal alliances or [?] alliances from expanding our partnerships, the former should be approached derivatively while the latter can be approached more liberally, when we extend an alliance commitment or something tantamount to it as in the case of Taiwan, we tie our credibility to that nation's fate. We should therefore be [cheery] about doings. In light of this, we should seek to expand our partnerships wherever possible. In particular, we should focus on increasing them in South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, where China otherwise might have an open field to [subordances] and add them to its pro hegemonium coalition. 27:41 Elbridge Colby: I do not see a near term need to add any allies to the US roster. But I do think we will increasingly need to consider this as the shadow of Chinese power darkens over the region. 27:53 Elbridge Colby: Our effort to expand our network of allies and partners should really be focused on states with shared threat perceptions. It has become something of a common place that shared values form the bedrock of our alliances. It is true that such values help allies, but the most useful alliances generally proceed from shared fears. The best motivator to fight is self defense. The states that have a shared interest in preventing Chinese or Russian or Iranian hegemony selves have a natural alignment with our own. This is true whether or not they are democracies. 29:00 Elbridge Colby: In Asia, given the scale proposed by Beijing, we should concentrate most of our allies like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan on readying to defend themselves alongside US Armed Forces and provide access to US forces in the event of a contingency. 29:16 Elbridge Colby: Meanwhile, we should assist partners like Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, with whatever means available to enable their defense against an ever more powerful China while concurrently seeking greater access and logistics support for US and other allied forces. 29:39 Elbridge Colby: Europe Finally, the overall us goal should be while preserving the fundamental us commitment to NATO's defense to have Europeans especially in northern and eastern Europe shoulder more of the burden of defending the Alliance from Russia assault. The reality is that given the stakes and consequences, the United States must prioritize Asia. United States must therefore economize in its second theater Europe. 35:13 Elbridge Colby: And move away from using these tools as leverage for key partners for domestic political reform or secondary geopolitical objectives. United States should always of course, stand proudly for free government that treats its people with dignity. We must keep our eye on the prize though China is the primary challenge to our interest in the world, including our government, both at home and abroad. Our top priority must therefore be to block its gaining predominance in Asia, which is a very real prospect. This means strengthening states in the region against Chinese power, whether or not they are model democracies. 35:15 Rep. Adam Smith (WA): When we should we just say, look, we're not going to worry about your domestic politics. We want to build the Alliance, however possible. How would we deal with extreme human rights abuses, as are alleged in the Philippines in terms of extra judicial killings, or in the case of India, and of course, we're dealing with this with Turkey and Europe as well, as you know, doing the arm sales with Russia, should we significantly back off on our sort of sanctions policy for those things? And if so, how do we signal that without without undermining our credibility? 40:55 Elbridge Colby: In a sense, what we're going to need to do to leverage this greater power of this network, you know, allies, partners, whatever their role is going to be interoperability, the ability to work to different standards to communicate with each other. That's partially a technical problem and an equipment problem, but a lot of it is human training and an organizational issue. And Taiwan, I think I'm very enthusiastic about the arms sales to Taiwan. And I know that one was recently reported, I hope it goes through because it's the kind of equipment that we want to see this kind of A2AD denial kind of capabilities to Taiwan, but actually, where I think would be really valuable to move forward with. And that's a sensitive issue, but I think this would be within the context of our trade policy would personally be on training, you know, and that's something we could think about with Vietnam as well. Obviously, the Indians have a very sophisticated military, but they're maybe we can offer there too. So I think that's a real sort of force multiplier. 42:00 Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX): Turkeys geography, history, critical role is always going to be important is certainly valid. And yet, not only are there human rights and governance issues, the current leader of Turkey has policies that contradict the, in many ways the best interests of the United States. So, take that specific example. We don't want to make enemies of Turkey forever. But yet, what do we do now? To to preserve that future when there's a different government, but yet make clear or in some way help guide them on a better policy path? 57:50 Christine Wormuth: We need to make adjustments to our posture in the region to be able to better deal with China. And so the announcement by Palau, for example, that it's willing to host US airfields and bases could be quite helpful to us. Even though they're relatively small. We do need to diversify our footprint. 1:24:52 Christine Wormuth: The challenge is that the many of the countries in the indo Pacific don't want to have to choose between the United States and China. They want to engage with China for very clear economic interests, while most of them lean towards the United States for security interests, and I think they're trying to sort of thread that needle. 1:32:07 Christine Wormuth: Turkey is a very challenging geostrategic problem. I was in the Obama administration when we were fighting ISIS, and we knew there was tension between the necessity to have partners on the ground and the Syrian Democratic Forces were what we had. We knew Turkey had issues with that. In my experience, however, the United States worked very hard and very closely with Turkey to try to assuage their concerns and nothing was ever enough for them. So we do have a challenge, they are very important in terms of where they are located, but the authoritarianism that Erdogan has turned to is concerning. So I think we have to keep the dialogue open and continue to try to keep turkey inside the fold, but at the same time, communicate that doing whatever they want is not acceptable. And the the S400 for example, is a key example of that. 1:34:07 Christine Wormuth: AFRICOM’s Zero Based review, I hope will shed light on which kinds of activities are helping us and helping our African partners. 1:35:36 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: The UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain all have extensive efforts going on in Africa. So this is an opportunity once again, where we can work with allies to achieve what our objectives are. 1:40:00 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: What for sure brings a lot of military capability air landed forces to the a lot and that if for some reason, you know that it would have to be filled by us or the state or other allied to then that's a problem right? Sorry. But more importantly is control the strokes that can help the blacks in the Mediterranean. And so having a NATO ally has control and sovereignty over the strait we have the mantra. Hearing: Stemming a Receding Tide: Human Rights and Democratic Values in Asia, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation, September 22, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Derek Mitchell President of the National Democratic Institute Returned to NDI in September 2018 after leaving in 1997 2012-2016: Former US Ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) 2011-2012: U.S. Department of State’s first Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma 2009-2011: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA) 2001-2009: Senior Fellow and Director of the Asia Division of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) 1997-2001: Special Assistant for Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense 1993-1997: Senior Program Officer for Asia and the former Soviet Union at the National Democratic Institute 1986-1988: Foreign policy assistant for Sen. Ted Kennedy Dr. Alyssa Ayres Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations Consultant for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation Senior Advisor for McLarty Associates A global consultant firm "at home in corporate board rooms & government cabinet rooms, anywhere in the world" Member of the United States Institute of Peace 2010-2013: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia 2008-2010: Founding director of the India and South Asia practice at McLarty Asssociates 2007-2008: Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Daniel Twining President of the International Republican Institute since 2017 Picked by outgoing President, Sen. John McCain 2009-2016: Former director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund 2007-2009: GWB State Department Policy Planning staffer 2001-2004: Foreign Policy Advisor to Sen. John McCain Transcript: 16:12 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: Last year I introduced the bipartisan Cambodia democracy act which passed the House overwhelmingly, it would impose sanctions on those in Cambodia responsible for undermining democratic rule of law in the country. We must be especially cognizant of democracies in Asia in danger of backsliding into autocracy, with China's help with their alternative to Western democracies, and that is Chinese socialism with Chinese characteristics that is communism, regardless of how they paint it and try to rename it. 21:10 Derek Mitchell: For nearly four decades, my organization, the National Democratic Institute, working alongside our partners at the International Republican Institute, and the National Endowment for Democracy has assisted the spread and institutionalization of democracy around the world. Let me say at the start that we can only do this work thanks to the sustained bipartisan support of Congress, including from this subcommittee. So for that we are truly grateful. 21:50 Derek Mitchell: Today NDI maintains nearly a dozen offices in the Indo-Pacific region. And last week we just received clearance from the Taiwan government to open an office in Taipei, which we will do soon. 30:07 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: Sri Lanka after a five year period of improvement is now moving in the other direction with the return of the Rajapaksa government. The new political configuration will not pursue progress on reconciliation and accountability for the end of the Civil War, and the newly elected parliament is already hard at work, the constitutional amendment to expand presidential powers. 34:21 Daniel Twining: Beyond China the past year has seen countries once viewed as bright spots for democracy like Malaysia and Sri Lanka, regress due to political infighting, personality politics and failure to deliver promised reforms. 1:48:50 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: I do believe that the creation of the DFC is important. It is my understanding that it is not quite up and running 100%. So we have yet to really see what it can do as a potential alternate to these kinds of infrastructure under writings. The other piece of the DFC is that is it in part designed to help crowd in private sector engagement and private sector investments. So that's another part of the story. I think we may need more time before we're able to see how effective this mechanism can be. 1:49:22 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: I would note that we also had another very effective source of US government assistance that depends on, his premise on good governance indicators. And that's the Millennium Challenge Corporation. And I would just caution that in the South Asia region, we have now seen two examples in Nepal and in Sri Lanka, were the long process of engaging toward a Millennium Challenge compact agreement, large investments, about 500 million in each case towards transportation and power infrastructure. These have actually been held up in both of those countries because of political concerns. The Nepali government doesn't want to be part of the US-Indo Pacific strategy or feel that it is somehow being brought into the Indo-Pacific strategy. The Rajapaksa government is suspicious of the US MCC. So I would just offer those two examples of cases where we've got a terrific tool, but it's run into some challenges for political reasons and the countries of concern. 1:50:29 Daniel Twining: Thank you, Congressman, you've been such a leader, including with your Cambodia democracy act. And you know, that's a reminder that we do have the tools and, and leverage. The Europeans in Cambodia have suspended trading privileges that they had offered to Cambodia. Cambodia is very reliant on our GSP still. So some of these economic instruments matter in both a negative sense, but also in a positive sense. When countries do well, we should be working with them on new trade and financial arrangements, the Chinese do come in and do this in their own way. And we should get back to that as a country. Sir, you mentioned, do we withdraw support when a country backslides, on democracy? You know, I would argue that most of our support for country should not go directly to their governments, should go to independent civil society, free media, independent institutions and not just go into a central coffer that disappears. In the past, we've gotten a lot smarter about this as a country, but in the past, a lot of us development assistance disappeared because we were giving it to friendly autocracies in some cases, who did not have any means of accounting for it. So let's make sure that we invest in these democracy and governance instruments because we want to make sure that US taxpayer money is being used well. Hearing: U.S. ENGAGEMENT IN THE INDO-PACIFIC AND BEYOND, Committee on Foreign Relations, September 17, 2017 Watch on C-SPAN Read Transcript Witnesses: Julie Chung Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department Philip T. Reeker 2019 to present: Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs 2017-2019: Civilian Deputy to the Commander of the US European Command 2014-2017:Principal Officer and Consul General at the US Consulate General in Milan, Italy 2011-2014: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State fo rEuropean and Eurasian Affairs 2008-2011: US Ambassador to Macedonia 2007-2008: Counselor of Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Iraq 2004-2007: Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Hungary 1999-2004: Spokesman for the US State Dept David R. Stilwell Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department Transcript: 17:44 David R. Stilwell: For years, we in the international community credited Beijing's commitments that facilitating China's entry into the rules based international order would lead to increasing domestic reform and opening. Beijing's persistent flouting of these commitments has shattered those illusions. It is now clear to us and to more and more countries around the world that PRC foreign and security policy seeks to reshape the international environment around the narrow interests and authoritarian values of a single beneficiary. That is the Chinese Communist Party. 22:19 David R. Stilwell: We sincerely appreciate congressional leadership in establishing the new counter China influence fund in fiscal year 2020 Appropriations Bill. This very important provision provides the department with a flexible mechanism that will bolster our efforts to strengthen our partners resiliency to Chinese malign influence worldwide. The initial round of CCIF funding solicitation resulted in over 400 project submissions from around the globe, with demand far outstripping the appropriate funding. 29:57 Philip T. Reeker: By using platforms like the One Belt One Road initiative, the Chinese Communist Party endeavors to create dependencies and cultivate client state relationships through the 17 Plus One initiative which involves 12 countries that are both NATO and EU members primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, China aims to achieve access and ownership over valuable transportation hubs, critical infrastructure, ports and industries. 31:09 Philip T. Reeker: Using authorities granted by legislation members of this committee introduced, as mentioned the bipartisan Build Act and the European Energy Security and Diversification Act, we've been able to begin leveraging the New Development Finance Corporation to try to catalyze key investments in strategic projects. Most notable I'd point to Secretary Pompeo. His pledge at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year of $1 billion, a commitment to the Three Seas Initiative in the Czech Republic which Secretary Pompeo visited just last month, they have transformed from a target of Chinese influence to a leader in the European awakening. 33:29 Philip T. Reeker: Although China's GDP is about eight times the size of Russia's, Russia remains the primary military threat to Europe and the strategic priority for most of our allies and partners, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe. Russia and China are more closely aligned strategically than at any point since the 1950s. And we see growing cooperation across a range of diplomatic, military, economic and information activities. 46:15 Julie Chung: In terms of [cepheus], and investment screening, we have extensive engagements in the region. We have been sending technical delegations to countries in the region to explain how public procurement processes and transparent processes work. We have helped governments build that capacity through the America Crece initiative. We have 10 mo use now signed with countries throughout the region. And that's part of the the tool to use in addressing the corruption issues that China is bringing to the region. How do we ensure the countries have the right tools in place, the practices in place, the procurement practices and regulatory framework to the private sector companies want to come and invest in those countries and ensure they have a level playing field to be working through the America Crece initiative. 47:17 Julie Chung: DFC has been a wonderful tool and resource that we've been able to now utilize more than ever, in from the former OPEX utilities, not expanding that broader base in Latin America and the Caribbean. So DFC in our region has already invested and has pledged to invest $12 billion in just the Western Hemisphere alone, and in Central America, $3 billion. So it's already invested in Central America, in El Salvador, for instance, on an LNG project, and other projects that are forthcoming. 1:17:16 Philip T. Reeker: Three Seas Initiative was developed by countries dozen countries in the Central and Eastern European region to provide alternatives particularly in a north-south direction for trade and infrastructure, and we have stepped in to support the Three Seas not as a member, but as an interested partner. And Secretary Pompeo outlined, as I mentioned, that the development Finance Corporation is offering up to a billion dollars in matching investment funds for opportunities throughout that region. 1:35:00 Julie Chung: Taiwan and the United States are working together in Latin America. So they announced financing to provide SME loan support for Latin American Central American region through the kabe. The Central American Bank of Government Integration. So that's one example of where we're providing that funding into the region. There's also a $26 million loan that DFCS provided to provide telecom towers in Peru and Ecuador 500 telecom towers, and this addresses both our strategic interest as well as a 5G telecommunications interest that where China is trying to take over and really control that that sector. 1:50:29 Julie Chung: In terms of DFC and working on digital authoritarianism, there's no better example in the region then in Maduro's regime, the authoritarian regime of Maduro and working in close concert with China, and China's ZTE has long had a relationship with the Maduro regime and providing the carnet de patria which spies on civil society and opposition leaders and determines how who gets what food allocations within that country. And so right now, of course, we are not engaging in DFC in Venezuela. But in a democratic future. When we have a democratic transition in that country. We would love to bring DFC into it and help rebuild. Hearing: THE HEALTH, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL CHALLENGES FACING LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade, September 15, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Monica de Bolle, PhD Professor of Latin American Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Advisor with International Capital Strategies (not listed on her hearing bio) Former professor of macroeconomics at the Pontifical Catholic Universtiy of Rio de Janeiro Managing partner of Galanto MBB Consultants, a macroeconomic consultancy firm based in Brazil Former economist at the International Monetary Fund Michael Camilleri Director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program for Inter-American Dialogue Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors since February 2018 (not listed on his hearing bio) The firm founded by the incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken Former Western Hemisphere adviser on Obama's Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and Director for Andean Affairs at the National Security Council from 2012-2017 Former human rights specialist at the Organization of American States Former senior staff attorney at the Center for Justice and International Law Member of the Council on Foreign Relations Eric Farnsworth Vice President of the Council of the Americas since 2003 Former Managing Director of ManattJones Global Strategies, a consulting firm from 1998-2005 Former member of the global public policy division of Bristol-Meyers Squibb, a multinational pharmaceutical company Former Senior Policy Advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1995-1998 Former Foreign Affairs Officer at the State Department from 1990-1995 Former Services and Investment Industry Analyst at the Office of the US Trade Representatives in 1992 Transcript: 25:10 Rep. Francis Rooney (FL): US international development Finance Corporation will play a crucial role in investments in the region, which I believe can help the recovery and also as long term economic well being 2:08:13 Eric Farnsworth: Notably, Washington is taking actions to build a forward looking economic recovery agenda. Among them the Americas Crece, a program announced at the end of 2019 and enhanced financing facilities through the newly minted Development Finance Corporation. 2:09:21 Eric Farnsworth: Economic Recovery must be at the forefront of the pending summit of the Americas. Latin America already suffers from one of the lowest levels of intra regional trade worldwide, for example. The gains from expanded intra regional trade would establish sounder economic footing while helping to moderate the cyclical nature of commodities markets, as well. Nations across Latin America and the Caribbean can focus more attention on improving their respective investment climates. Mr. Rooney, the ranking minority member has made this case effectively many, many times. For its part, the United States should come to the 2021 summit with a robust economic expansion initiative. Absent a massive economic financial package of debt relief and new lending, renewal of a hemispheric trade and investment agenda will be the best way to promote regional recovery, support US and regional economic interests and renew a regional strategic posture that China has begun to challenge. 2:11:03 Julie Chung: So how does the United States continue to advocate democracy in Venezuela? I say sham of legislative election and the end of Guaido's mandate are rapidly approaching. How do we do that? Well, I don't if know if [inaudible] wanted this question. 2:13:03 Eric Farnsworth: There are huge amounts of illicit money being made and moved in Venezuela through illegal activities, illegal gold mining, drug trafficking and the like. And one of the best ways I think to get at the regime is to stanch the flow of those financial resources. And frankly, to identify and to freeze those funds and then also to begin to seize them and take them back at once the economic incentives for illegal behavior are removed or at least reduced, perhaps the political dynamic in Venezuela will change that people will begin to see that they really have to find a way out from this mess frankly, that Nicolas Maduro has created. 2:14:14 Monica de Bolle, PhD: It will be very hard to get other Latin American countries to focus on the issues in Venezuela given that they have runaway epidemics in their own countries. And we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that amongst the 10 countries that have the largest or the highest per capita death rate in the world right now are all in Latin America. 2:16:00 Michael Camilleri: Unfortunately, the Guaido interim government, the the National Assembly, the G4 are not in the same position they were in a year or your half ago, the balance of forces on the ground in Venezuela has tilted in favor of the Maduro regime. And so that will that will require us to calibrate our own efforts and invite view we need to be realistic about the fact that some sort of negotiated pathway to free and fair elections ultimately is the most realistic and the most peaceful, frankly, path out of the the awful situation that the country finds itself in. 2:23:21 Monica de Bolle, PhD: Apart from corruption, which is certainly a problem in the oil sector as well as in other parts of the Venezuelan economy, there's also been dramatic underinvestment in the oil industry, which has now led the country to this situation where, rather than being a very big net oil exporter, as they used to be in the 1980s in the 1990s, they've now become a net oil importer, which shows exactly how much you can squander your country's resources and just basically run an economy to the ground. 2:33:58 Eric Farnsworth: And what we're seeing is some concern in the investor community about actions that have been taken perhaps on the backtracking on the reform agenda around energy in particular, but in other sectors as well, canceling contracts that have been previously agreed, and some other actions like that and the investment community is very cautious. Hearing: PROTECTING DEMOCRACY DURING COVID–19 IN EUROPE AND EURASIA AND THE DEMOCRATIC AWAKENING IN BELARUS, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment, September 10, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Douglas Rutzen President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Professor at Georgetown University Law Center Advisory Board member of the United Nations Democracy Fund Therese Pearce Laanela Head of Electoral Processes at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Joanna Rohozinska Resident Program Director for Europe at the Beacon Project at the International Republican Institute Senior program officer for Europe at the National Endowment for Democracy at least as of 2019. She has worked there for about a decade Jamie Fly Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund and Co-Director of the Alliance for Security Democracy Senior Advisor to WestExec Advisors Co-founded by incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken Former President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2019 & 2020 Former counselor for foreign and national security affairs for Sen. Marco Rubio from 2013-2017 Former Executive Director of the Foreign Policy Initiative from 2009-2013 Former member of GWB's National Security Council from 2008-2009 Former member of GWB's Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005-2008 Transcript: 53:30 Joanna Rohozinska: Lukshenko must be held responsible for his choices and actions. Word mating strategies with transatlantic allies should be priority and to call for dialogue, immediate release of political prisoners and support for the political opposition's demands for holding elections under international supervision and beginning negotiations on a Lukshenko transition. 53:56 Joanna Rohozinska: Support for democracy requires patience as well as long term commitment and vision. This has been made possible with the support of Congress to IRI and the family. Thank you and I look forward to your questions. 1:03:05 Therese Pearce Laanela: Institutions that are as strong...What we are seeing... those that are able to safeguard and against disinformation for example, they are working in innovative ways because this isn't a challenge that existed really as much before social media and one of the things that we're seeing is a kind of interagency cooperation, a partnership between private and public. That's really hasn't been seen before. Let me just take Australia as a case, but the working together with social media companies and government agencies and security agencies and election officials for rapid reaction to anything that comes in and that kind of seamless communication between agencies, that is one of the ways in which we can protect. 1:04:15 Jamie Fly: We have tools. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty has a Bella Russian language service Radio Svoboda which has significant of followers inside Belarus. The problem is that Lukashenko like many other authoritarians have realized that when they face significant pressure, they should take the country offline. And Belarusian authorities have done that on a regular basis, which makes it much more difficult to communicate and allow information to spread freely. So what they really need outlets like Svoboda and other independent media are access to internet circumvention tools, which are also funded by the State Department and the US Agency for Global Media. 1:09:57 Douglas Rutzen: China is providing surveillance technology to countries including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Serbia. They also provided a $2 billion dollar loan to Hungry to construct a railway which Hungry then classified as a state secret in terms of the construction. 1:19:28 Brian Fitzpatrick: In 2013, in 2000, and he saw large scale protests in Ukraine, following what many believed to be a falsification of elections by their federal officials. So my first question for the entire panel, do you believe that Belarus protests could lead to a revolution similar to the one we saw in Ukraine and secondarily, on Tuesday, President Lukashenko, refused to rule out the idea of holding new elections, and acknowledge that he may have overstayed his time at office, whether or not you see revolutions similar to Ukraine, do you think that these protests could lead to an actual change in leadership? Joanna Rohozinska: So I take it as a question to me. I mean, I think that things have been building up and I would say that with this similarity to Ukraine was that there was also a deep seated frustration with corruption. Here, it's less about corruption. But it's still meets, where you have the accountability and transparency aspect of it that I was mentioning in my testimony. And I think that the frustration with the lack of responsive government and being treated like animals, frankly, is what they say, is what finally boiled over, but there's been, there's been an uptick in protests in Belarus, if you watch these kinds of things over the past two years, over the parasite tax, for example, which was also was a special tax that was put on unemployment, and on to penalize people who are unemployed, is trying to target civic activists, but it ended up reaching far farther than that. So you can see things percolating below the surface for quite a long time. Now. You never know when it's going to blow. Here, I think that there was just the COVID, underlay everything and it mobilized such a broad swath of society, that the trigger event was finally the elections, which again, demonstrating a degree of hubris they decided not to put off right, they figured that holding the elections at the beginning of August was the best thing to do, because there is always a low torque turnout and all this, frankly, because people tend to go out to the countryside. So they simply miscalculated. They did not understand how the people were feeling

Bassoonist Jonathan Sherwin discusses the existential meaning behind Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony - Resurrection; “Why am I here, what am I doing, and what gives my life meaning…”Featured Music:MAHLER – Symphony no. 2 (Resurrection)5. Im Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of the scherzo)The Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorJoélle Harvey, sopranoSasha Cooke, mezzo-sopranoCleveland Orchestra ChorusRecorded live at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on January 26, 2019The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

At age 21, in his second week with The Cleveland Orchestra, Principal Horn Nathaniel Silberschlag played Mahler’s 5th for a packed house, exceeding expectations. Even his own.Featured Music:MAHLER - Symphony No. 53. ScherzoThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded live at  the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in 2020The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

En este episodio, Sol Picón, Chair de Women United, una división de United Way de Miami-Dade, comparte la labor que realiza esta organización de mujeres voluntarias comprometidas a hacer un cambio significativo en la comunidad, su visión del liderazgo y el balance trabajo + familia. Licenciada en arquitectura por la Universidad de Belgrano en Buenos Aires, fue la Directora de Recaudación de Fondos del Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts y miembro de la junta directiva del Bass Museum.

Want to know what is happening in Palm Beach and South Florida? Here is a taste of this week and coming attractions. Legendary Singer/songwriter Paul Simon is playing in Sunrise September 8th, Bluegrass Music comes to MacArthur Beach State Park 9/16, A big Photo Exhibition in West Palm Beach at the Photographic Centre through October 27th, Wellington rocks out at the Amphitheater September 8th, Wanna go Retro? the W Hotel Ft. Lauderdale presents Neon Lights every Saturday night, and don't miss Jerry Seinfeld in Miami September 21st at the Adrienne Arsht Center, listen to our blog for full details, LISTEN, LIKE, SUBSCRIBE & SHARE! Thank you for your support. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/byrdmans-palm-beach/message

Meet someone who is the epitome of wisdom and service. Alina de la Paz is a hidden gem in our community. A wise woman with a big heart, Alina is involved in several organizations in Miami including The Sacred Space, Unity on the Bay , Adrienne Arsht Center and “Stop, Breathe, and Smile”. In this episode we dive into Alina’s incredible journey from Matanzas, Cuba to the suburbs of Chicago, all the way to her time in Miami, where she now lives. In this deeply insightful conversation, we explore free will vs pre-determination, how to discern the voice of the mind from the voice of intuition and how to begin separating thought from self, among many other topics. For more on Alina, visit our show notes on www.wakingupinthe305.com

Ana Mendez is a professional dancer, performance artist and Bodytalk practitioner from Miami. She has been commissioned by the Adrienne Arsht Center through Miami Light Projects’ Here and Now Festival, the de la Cruz Collection, Miami Art Museum, ArtCenter/South Florida, the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami and Bas Fisher Invitational. She is an artist fellow for the Artist in Residence in the Everglades program. http://www.anamendez.info/

As ¿Que Pasa, U.S.A.? Today rolls up to it's 2nd (and final) weekend at the Adrienne Arsht Center's Sanford & Dolores Ziff Operahouse it's a celebration of all that our Cuban community in South Florida is and has been. Gen ñ founder Bill Teck spoke to fantastic actresses Martha Picanes and Vivian Ruiz about their standout roles as Violeta's momther and aunt, Encarnacion and Asuncion - their lives and careers in theater and on screen, and Gonzalo Rodriguez, who's been directing ground breaking theater in Miami for decades - about bringing their craft to both Que Pasa and the South's greatest stage.  Martha has starred in Spanish language versions of plays like Uncle Vanya and The Women among many more and national soap operas like Mariaelena, Anita no te rajes, and plus her show a radio show on Radio Marti for over 20 years to her scores of fans in Cuba and her show on Radio Caracol cement at her reputation. She has a leading role in Tric o tri , a Spanglish film premiering this Halloween. Vivian has also been acting on stage all her life, she was the voice of Cartman, Kyle and Chef on South Park in Spanish, starred in A Dolphin's Tale with Morgan Freeman and Pain and Gain with The Rock as well as appearing as Soladad Diaz on the Netflix series Bloodline. Gonzalo Rodriguez has staged acclaimed Spanish language productions of works like The Diary of Anne Frank, Steel Magnolias, Agnes of God and groundbreaking productions of Man of La Mancha and Cecelia Valdes and his adaptation of the Cuban film Fresa y Chocolate was greatly lauded. With interests in the world of production, lighting and post production, in this conversation we celebrated his side as maverick and visionary theater director.