Venezuela’s cocaine revolution – Virtual panel

Sebastiana Barráez – Journalist specialized in covering border dynamics and public security forces in Venezuela.

Barráez is a columnist for Venezuelan magazines and newspapers such as Frontera Viva and Punto De Corte. She has provided regular lectures across Latin America and Europe on Venezuelan political, social and communication issues. She regularly writes on her blog sebastianasinsecretos.com.

Angélica Durán-Martínez – Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of PhD in Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Durán-Martínez is an expert in political and criminal violence and the relationship between illicit economies, the State and democracy. She is also the author of the multi-award-winning book, “The Politics of Drug Violence: Criminals, Cops, and Politicians in Colombia and México.” She has a PhD in political science from Brown University, and a Master’s Degree in Latin American studies from New York University. She has published numerous chapters and articles for national and international journals.

Jeremy McDermott – Co-director, InSight Crime

McDermott leads the team at the organization’s headquarters in Medellín, Colombia. He has more than two decades of experience reporting in Latin America and formerly worked as a correspondent for the BBC, The Daily Telegraph and The Economist. He is the author of “The Invisible Drug Lord: Hunting ‘The Ghost,’” which won the Simón Bolívar prize for investigative journalism.

Javier Mayorca – Consultant, columnist and editor of Crimes Without Punishment

Mayorca is a Venezuelan journalist with more than 20 years of experience, specialized in criminalistics and security matters. He has been a columnist for several Venezuelan media outlets such as El Nacional, Runrunes and Analítica. He has also taught journalism and ethics at various higher education institutions. He is the author of several books on Venezuela’s criminal actors and dynamics.