Our meeting will bring together the world’s most renowned economists, alongside academics, public policy decision-makers, and social scientists for a discussion on building economic alternatives and formulating programmatic proposals in response to the challenges of the current international economic order.

Convened by the Government of Colombia, the Progressive International —and with the support of the Centro de Pensamiento VIDA— the event will include keynote lectures, panels, plenary sessions, and a "Festival of the Economies of Life" which invites the Colombian public to engage in a dialogue on the Global South within the international order.

Sign up now to be part of the Festival of Ideas: “Economy for Life” and support the building of a new, more just and supportive international order.

The Festival is an event open to the public, featuring keynote speeches by prestigious international economists, academics, and authorities, and culminates with a closing address by President Gustavo Petro. Discover how to experience this important moment up close!

GUSTAVO PETRO

President of the Republic
of Colombia

ROSA YOLANDA VILLAVICENCIO

Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Colombia

GERMÁN ÁVILA

Minister of Finance
of Colombia

DANIEL ROJAS

Minister of Education
of Colombia

IRENE VÉLEZ

Minister of Environment
of Colombia

MARTA CARVAJALINO

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia

MARIA JOSÉ PIZARRO
Senator of Colombia

CLARA LÓPEZ
Senator of Colombia

MARÍA FERNANDA CARRASCAL
Member of the House of Representatives of Colombia

ERNESTO SAMPER
Former President of Colombia and former Secretary General of UNASUR

ADRIANA ABDENUR
Brazil

Academic and expert in international relations, currently works as a researcher on development and South-South cooperation issues.

ALBERTO GARZÓN
Spain

Economist and current political leader in Spain, former Minister of Consumer Affairs of Spain. His work focuses on market regulation, the defense of consumer rights, and criticism of the inequalities of the economic model.

ALICIA BÁRCENA

Mexico


Current Secretary of the Environment for the Government of Mexico and former Foreign Minister. Former Executive Secretary of CEPAL. Bárcena has led the agenda on equality, progressive structural change, and sustainable development in the region.

ANDRÉS ARAUZ
Ecuador


Economist specializing in financial systems and monetary policy, former director of the Central Bank of Ecuador, former minister, and former presidential candidate in Ecuador. Currently a researcher and leading voice in debates on monetary sovereignty in dollarized economies.

CAMILA DE CASO

Brazil

Economist, Master’s candidate in Economic Development at UNICAMP. Program Coordinator for Guilherme Boulos’s municipal campaigns in São Paulo in 2020 and 2024.

CECILIA RIKAP
Argentina

Economist, Associate Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London, and a leading global scholar in the political economy of digital capitalism. Author of Digital Dependency Theory: Sovereignty and Development in 21st Century Capitalism.

DANIEL CHÁVEZ
Uruguay - Netherlands


Ikerbasque Professor at the University of the Basque Country (EHU-UPV), Fellow at the Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam, and Director of the S-OIL project funded by the European Research Council (ERC). Specialist in energy, industrial policy, state-owned enterprises, and development theory, working with a wide range of social, economic, and political actors across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

DANIEL OSSA
Colombia


Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Denver. His research focuses on profitability, capital accumulation, technical change, income distribution, growth, and financialization, as well as business cycles and economic crises.

DAVID HARVEY

US - UK
(to be confirmed)

Professor Emeritus at the Graduate Center of the University of New York and one of the most influential intellectuals in the critique of contemporary capitalism. His work has been fundamental to understanding the dynamics of accumulation, inequality, and urbanization.

FADHEL KABOUB

Tunisia

President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Development. His work emphasizes monetary sovereignty, guaranteed employment, and the ecological transition in the Global South.

GUILLAUME LONG

Ecuador


Academic and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, with a background in diplomacy and geopolitics. His work focuses on regional integration, sovereignty, and international political economy.

ISABELLA WEBER

Germany


Economist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a global leader in the debate on inflation, particularly regarding price regulation and supply dynamics.

JAYATI GHOSH

India


Economist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her work focuses on global development, inequality, trade, and international finance. She has been an influential voice in debates on reforms to the global economic system and economic justice.

JOEL WAINWRIGHT

US


Professor at Ohio State University (USA), where he teaches political economy, climate politics, and Marxist philosophy. He is the author of the books: Decolonizing Development, Geopiracy, Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of our Planetary Future, and, most recently, The End: Marx, Darwin, and the Natural History of the Climate Crisis.

JOSÉ MIGUEL AHUMADA

Chile


Academic and former Undersecretary of International Economic Relations for Chile. A specialist in industrial policy and productive development, he has championed the debate on overcoming extractivism through structural reforms

KOHEI SAITO

Japan


Professor at the University of Tokyo, recognized for his contributions to contemporary ecological Marxism. His work has reinterpreted Marx through the lens of the climate crisis, highlighting the ecological limits of capitalism, degrowth, and inequality.

LUIS GODOY

Mexico


Economist and researcher with experience in international organizations and data analysis applied to development. He has worked with institutions such as UNDP, UN Women, and global academic centers.

MARCO ANTONIO ROCHA


Brazil


Renowned economist and professor at UNICAMP focused on industrial development. Specialist in industrial economics, science and technology policy, and productive development.

MARTIN ABELES

Argentina


Specialist in macroeconomics, international finance, and economic development, with a distinguished academic career and extensive experience in national and international public policy. He is currently Professor of Economic Development at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) and Regional Director for Research and Policy for Latin America and the Caribbean at the IDEAs network (International Development Economics Associates).

MATÍAS VERNENGO

Argentina


PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research (NSSR). He is currently Full Professor of Economics at Bucknell University and Director of the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy (BIPP). He previously served as Senior Research Manager at the Central Bank of Argentina. His research focuses on development macroeconomics, international political economy, and the history of economic thought.

MÓNICA BRUCKMANN

Peru - Brazil

Political scientist, professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Former Research Director of the UNESCO Chair and Network on Global Economy and Sustainable Development and current Coordinator of CLACSO’s Working Group on “Geopolitics, Regional Integration, and the Global System.”

PABLO VOMMARO
Argentina


Executive Director of CLACSO. Professor and researcher at the University of Buenos Aires. History professor, PhD in Social Sciences, and Postdoctoral Fellow in Social Sciences, Childhood, and Youth.

PEDRO ROSSI

Brazil

Economist and researcher at the Global Fund for a New Economy and professor at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). His work focuses on macroeconomics, the financial system, and development in emerging economies.

RENÉ RAMÍREZ

Ecuador


Academic, former Minister of Science and Technology, former Minister of State Planning; a leading figure in the development of the “Buen Vivir” paradigm. His work integrates knowledge, planning, and social transformation.

SERGIO CHAPARRO

Colombia

Economist and philosopher. Advocacy Lead at the Tax Justice Network and International Coordinator at Dejusticia. His work focuses on tax justice, climate justice, and global economic governance.

RIXI MONCADA

Honduras


Social scientist, rural teacher, university professor, and lawyer. Former presidential candidate in Honduras, former Minister of Finance, and former Minister of Defense.