On April 10, 2025, Perry Center Professor Celina Realuyo participated virtually in the “Crisis of Governance in Security and Development” forum, hosted by Simón Bolívar University (Unisimón) in Cúcuta, Colombia. The event, part of Unisimón’s Expert Lecture Series, was organized by the university’s Department of Outreach and External Services and brought together approximately 150 participants from across Colombia.

Professor Realuyo delivered a presentation entitled “The Convergence of Organized Crime and the Global Drug Problem,” addressing the increasing coordination among transnational criminal groups and its implications for border security and sovereignty. The forum was presided over by Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Major General (ret.) Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez – an alumnus of our sister regional center, the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

This forum provided a platform for reflecting on Colombia’s complex governance and security challenges, especially in porous border regions. It brought together representatives from government ministries, security forces, international organizations, and academic institutions to discuss urgent issues such as forced displacement, illicit crops, and trafficking in border regions. Perry Center alumni were also present, underscoring the Center’s ongoing role in fostering collaboration and advancing integrated, evidence-based solutions to regional security and development issues.