Latin America

Featured News

News

Penumaka and Lodoen, 2025 Guillemin Prize winners, conduct dissertation research abroad

January 29, 2026

Our programs across Latin America

Latin American countries are harnessing the power of new and developing technologies, such as AI, to reach key development goals and address climate, inequity, and other urgent challenges.

Working alongside partner institutions in the region, CIS researchers and faculty apply their knowledge in the areas of democratization, politics, regime change, and capitalist development to finding new solutions to these and other critical issues. And to support ongoing efforts combatting climate change in Latin America, we’ve also launched the MIT-Amazonia Program, which investigates climate solutions and opportunities to sustain the rainforest for the long term.

Our Experts

Staff

Griselda Gomez

Assistant Director, MISTI Student Health and Safety

Managing Director, MIT-Mexico Program

Staff

Eduardo Rivera

Assistant Director, MISTI Data Systems

Managing Director, MIT-Chile Program, MIT-Peru Program

Staff

Gabriela Diaz Quinones

Program Assistant, MISTI

Staff

Brenna Ketchum

Program Assistant, MISTI

Staff

Zairo Cheibub

Strategic Initiatives Specialist

MIT-Brazil Program

Faculty and Researchers

F. Daniel Hidalgo

Faculty Director, MIT-Brazil Program

Associate Professor, Political Science

Faculty and Researchers

Paulo Lozano

Faculty Director, MIT-Mexico Program

Miguel Alemán Velasco Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Director, Space Propulsion Lab

Faculty and Researchers

Bradley Olsen

Associated Faculty, MIT-Brazil Program

Alexander and I Michael Kasser (1960) Professor Department Executive Officer, Chemical Engineering

Faculty and Researchers

Mihaela Papa

Director of Research

Principal Research Scientist

Director, BRICS Lab

Faculty and Researchers

Ben Ross Schneider

Faculty Director, MIT-Chile Program, MIT-Peru Program

Ford International Professor of Political Science

Faculty and Researchers

Jim Walsh

Senior Research Associate, Security Studies Program

m3latinamerica

m3 is an effort to strengthen ties with colleagues across the Institute who share research interests in a particular region or discipline. We invite you to join our mailing list if you'd like to receive news and updates on research in Latin America in all disciplines and research topics, but especially around global challenges such as climate and sustainability, health, AI and computing, democratic stability, inequality, and human development.

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Events

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Sep 28

Starr Forum: Housing the World: Inequality, Informality, and the Future of Cities

Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

Bish Sanyal, Associated Faculty, CIS

CIS Faculty Council, Ford International Professor of Urban Development and Planning

Starr Forum: What Would the US Do in a Middle Power Order?

4:30pm - 6:00pm

Location

Building E51 - 115, Wong Auditorium

Nov 18

Starr Forum: AI and Global Power: Democracy, Competition, and Control

4:30pm - 6:00pm

Location

Building E51 - 115, Wong Auditorium

Opportunities

See all opportunities

MISTI Global Experiences

MISTI matches students with internships, teaching, research and study opportunities across Latin America, including in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

Explore MISTI programs

Global Seed Funds

The MIT Global Seed Fund grant program enables new collaborations between faculty and research scientists at MIT and their counterparts around the world.

Browse seed funds

Launch a new research collaboration

The next round of the MIT Global Seed Funds opens in September.

Learn more

Program Spotlights

CIS makes it possible for MIT students and researchers to experience the world while advancing knowledge, tackling tough challenges, and preparing for lives of impact, service, and leadership in an interconnected global society.

Donny's story

Mathematics '25

Donny Stralkus '25 collaborated with a professor on deep learning research at UTEC in Lima, Peru.

Bella's story

Chemical-Biological Engineering '26

Bella Aparicio interned at Vinos y Licores, using her skills in biochemistry and engineering to develop new non-alcoholic fermented beverages.

Jaden's story

Chemistry '25

During the summer of 2024, Jaden Anderson traveled to Manaus, Brazil. He worked with research groups; one focusing on clinical trials against malaria and the second focused on investigating natural compounds extracted from Amazonian fungi and plants, with potential applications in medicine.

Kira's story

Biological Engineering '23

Kira, a biological engineering major and minoring in Spanish and computer science, went to Chile during the summer of 2022. Kira worked with a set of datasets of TARA Ocean data which gave more insight to ocean microbiomes.

Nina's story

Engineering '24

Nina Gerszberg interned at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, where she contributed to an assistive robotics project focused on enabling individuals with disabilities to control a robotic arm using gaze tracking.

Opportunities

Publications

See all publications

Book

Petersen, Roger. “People’s War in the 20th Century.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Military History, edited by Alexander Watson. New York: Oxford Academic, 2026.

2026

Paper

Petersen, Roger. “People’s War in the 20th Century.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Military History, edited by Alexander Watson. New York: Oxford Academic, 2026.

July 2026

Paper

Adamson, Fiona B., and Kelly M. Greenhill. "Organized Forced Migration and Human Security." (2026).

June 2026

Paper

Charnysh, Volha, Jared S. Kalow, Evan Lieberman, and Erin E. Walk. “Race, nationality, and partisanship shape US public support for climate disaster aid: Evidence from two survey experiments.” PLOS One 21, no. 5. (2026).

May 2026

Report

Papa, Mihaela, Gustavo de Carvalho, Akshay Mathur, et al. Envisioning Global Leadership: The G20 and BRICS in 2026. Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, 2026.

March 2026

Paper

Park, Sojun, and Minju Kim. "International bureaucrats under transparency: The case of the WTO TRIPS Council." The Review of International Organizations (2025): 1-30.

November 2025

Report

Papa, Mihaela, and Evan S. Lieberman. “Global Climate Adaptation: Overcoming Political and Policy Challenges.” MIT Center for International Studies, Post-Workshop Report (April 2025).

April 2025

Book

Accelerating Innovation: Competitive Advantage through Ecosystem Engagement

MIT Press

2025

Accelerating Innovation: Competitive Advantage through Ecosystem Engagement

Paper

Lieberman, Evan, and Michael Ross. "Government Responses to Climate Change." World Politics 77, no. 1 (2025): 179-190.

January 2025

Paper

Papa, Mihaela, and Zhen Han. “The Evolution of Soft Balancing in Informal Institutions: The Case of BRICS.” International Affairs (London) 101, no. 1 (2025): 73–95.

January 2025

Featured News

New propulsion system could make tiny satellites both fast and fuel-efficient

MISTI students accept 2026 Fulbright awards

“I have yet to meet a professor that cares more for their students”

Rivera receives Infinite Mile Award

Coelho wins People Helping People award

CIS awards 17 PhD research grants

Connecting climate and sustainability: Synergies and tradeoffs

BRICS and rising power alliances

Not just oil, the Venezuela invasion is about preserving the petrodollar

Penumaka and Lodoen, 2025 Guillemin Prize winners, conduct dissertation research abroad

Our programs across Latin America

Our Experts

Griselda Gomez

Eduardo Rivera

Gabriela Diaz Quinones

Brenna Ketchum

Zairo Cheibub

F. Daniel Hidalgo

Paulo Lozano

Bradley Olsen

Mihaela Papa

Ben Ross Schneider

Jim Walsh

Events

Starr Forum: Housing the World: Inequality, Informality, and the Future of Cities

Starr Forum: What Would the US Do in a Middle Power Order?

Starr Forum: AI and Global Power: Democracy, Competition, and Control

Opportunities

Program Spotlights

Donny's story

Bella's story

Jaden's story

Kira's story

Nina's story

Publications

Petersen, Roger. “People’s War in the 20th Century.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Military History, edited by Alexander Watson. New York: Oxford Academic, 2026.

Petersen, Roger. “People’s War in the 20th Century.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Military History, edited by Alexander Watson. New York: Oxford Academic, 2026.

Adamson, Fiona B., and Kelly M. Greenhill. "Organized Forced Migration and Human Security." (2026).

Charnysh, Volha, Jared S. Kalow, Evan Lieberman, and Erin E. Walk. “Race, nationality, and partisanship shape US public support for climate disaster aid: Evidence from two survey experiments.” PLOS One 21, no. 5. (2026).

Papa, Mihaela, Gustavo de Carvalho, Akshay Mathur, et al. Envisioning Global Leadership: The G20 and BRICS in 2026. Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, 2026.

Park, Sojun, and Minju Kim. "International bureaucrats under transparency: The case of the WTO TRIPS Council." The Review of International Organizations (2025): 1-30.

Papa, Mihaela, and Evan S. Lieberman. “Global Climate Adaptation: Overcoming Political and Policy Challenges.” MIT Center for International Studies, Post-Workshop Report (April 2025).

Accelerating Innovation: Competitive Advantage through Ecosystem Engagement

Lieberman, Evan, and Michael Ross. "Government Responses to Climate Change." World Politics 77, no. 1 (2025): 179-190.

Papa, Mihaela, and Zhen Han. “The Evolution of Soft Balancing in Informal Institutions: The Case of BRICS.” International Affairs (London) 101, no. 1 (2025): 73–95.