The Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) and Global Americans hosted a timely webinar in mid-January examining the removal of Nicolás Maduro and the political implications for Venezuela and the region.
The thought-provoking conversation on the state of Venezuela, moderated by GSPM Legislative Affairs Program Director, Dr. Casey Burgat, featured three panelists and former Congresswoman and GSPM Executive Director, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Webinar recap trailer: GSPM Executive Director, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
Meet the Moderator & Panelists
- Dr. Casey Burgat - Moderator
Dr. Casey Burgat is the director of the Legislative Affairs program at the Graduate School of Political Management and host of its Mastering the Room podcast. Prior to joining GSPM, Dr. Burgat was a Senior Governance Fellow at the R Street Institute, where his research focused on issues of congressional capacity and reform. In this role, Casey wrote regularly for both scholarly and journalistic publications, including CNN, the Washington Post, and Politico, and appeared on a variety of television and radio outlets. Dr. Burgat coauthored Congress Explained: Representation and Lawmaking in the First Branch, a textbook on all things Congress, published by the Sage/CQ Press in the fall of 2022.
- Diego Area
Diego Area is the President and CEO of Global Americans. Previously, he spent six years at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, leading strategic development efforts and securing partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, foundations, and governments. His work focused on advancing hemispheric cooperation in energy security, great power competition, trade and investment, technology, and health.
At the intersection of security and democracy, Diego spearheaded major initiatives addressing geostrategic rivalry in the Western Hemisphere. His leadership also extended to launching key initiatives in Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Europe. Before joining the Atlantic Council, he worked as a graduate research assistant at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.
Forced to leave Venezuela, Diego had played a pivotal role in electoral politics. As campaign manager for the 2015 parliamentary elections, he led a successful strategy that flipped a historically pro-Maduro district in Caracas. Before that, he was actively involved in local, regional, and national campaigns, leading voter mobilization and digital grassroots engagement.
- José R. Cárdenas
José R. Cárdenas is a consultant based in Washington, D.C, with nearly forty years of experience in the Washington political process and inter-American relations. He has served in senior positions in the U.S. Department of State, the National Security Council, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he served as Acting Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean.
He has also served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States and as a Senior Professional Staff Member of U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In addition to testifying before both the Senate Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs Committees, Mr. Cárdenas has written scores of op-eds, spoken at numerous venues in Washington and around the country, and has been interviewed widely on hemispheric issues in national and international media outlets.
He has also served as a Course Coordinator at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute and has been a participant in the State Department’s overseas Speakers Program.
- Adelys (Ade) Ferro
Adelys (Ade) Ferro is a Venezuelan-American activist with more than 15 years of experience in advocacy and humanitarian work. She serves as Director of Partnerships and Outreach at Latino Victory and Executive Director of the Venezuelan American Caucus. A leading voice on immigrant rights and Venezuelan democracy, she has worked closely with the White House, Congress, and federal agencies to help secure Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole for Venezuelans, benefiting more than 600,000 people.
- Francisco (Frank) O. Mora
Francisco (Frank) O. Mora is a Professor of Politics and International Relations and Senior Research Scientist at the Jack D. Gordon Institute, Florida International University (FIU), and former Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (2013-2020) at FIU. Prior to his return to FIU in January 2025, Dr. Mora served as U.S. Ambassador (Permanent Representative) to the Organization of American States (OAS) and National Summit of the Americas Coordinator (2023-2025). He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere from 2009-2013. Ambassador Mora has held several teaching positions, including Professor of National Security Strategy and Latin American Studies at the National War College (2004-2009), Associate Professor, and Chair in the Department of International Studies, Rhodes College (2000-2004).
Dr. Mora is the author or editor of four books, including Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Policy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), Paraguay and the United States: Distant Allies (University of Georgia Press, 2008) and Neighborly Adversaries: U.S. Latin American Relations (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015); and over forty-five academic and policy articles, book chapters and monographs on hemispheric security, U.S.-Latin American relations, civil-military relations, Cuban politics and military and Latin American foreign policy. His opinion pieces and other commentaries have appeared in US and Latin American media outlets, including Americas Quarterly, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs.
Dr. Mora graduated with a B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University in 1986. He received his M.A. in Inter-American Studies and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. He also completed studies at universities in Peru and Costa Rica. He is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, Department of Defense (2012).
Watch the Webinar Recording
January 13, 2026 Webinar Recording: Venezuela After Maduro: Power, Politics, and the Path Forward (1 hour). Moderated by GSPM's Dr. Casey Burgat.