Around the world, democracies have come under increasing pressure from authoritarian movements, disinformation campaigns, attacks on independent institutions, and political leaders willing to undermine democratic norms for power.
The Democracy Defenders Roadshow connects U.S. audiences with leaders who have lived through these struggles — not as abstract observers, but as people who have fought to defend democratic systems under attack. By bringing these voices directly to communities across the country, the tour aims to empower audiences in protecting democratic institutions before it is too late.
Our mission
To elevate the voices of international leaders who have defended democracy under threat and to share the lessons their experiences offer at a moment when democratic institutions around the world — including in the United States — face growing pressure.
Our vision
A world where democratic societies learn from one another to prevent the rise of authoritarianism and protect the institutions that safeguard freedom.
The Democracy Defenders Roadshow is presented by Global Exchange, an international human rights organization that has spent more than three decades building people-to-people connections to advance democracy, justice, and human rights around the world. Since 1988, the organization has worked alongside grassroots movements in the United States, Latin America, and beyond to strengthen civic participation, defend human rights, and challenge systems of inequality and authoritarianism. Through public education, international exchanges, and community organizing, Global Exchange helps connect local struggles to global movements, grounded in the belief that democracy is strongest when people learn from one another across borders.
The Democracy Defenders Roadshow reflects this long-standing commitment to cross-border dialogue and civic learning, bringing experienced democracy defenders from Latin America into direct conversation with communities across the United States. By creating spaces for public dialogue, strategy exchange, and community learning, the Roadshow builds on Global Exchange’s history of organizing international delegations, speaking tours, and solidarity exchanges that help people better understand the challenges facing democratic societies and the role citizens play in defending them.
At a time of rising polarization, disinformation, and distrust in public institutions, strengthening democracy requires more than policy solutions—it requires relationships, shared experience, and the courage to learn from those who have defended participation under difficult conditions. Through the Democracy Defenders Roadshow, Global Exchange continues its mission of linking communities across borders, amplifying the voices of frontline democracy advocates, and helping people build the knowledge, trust, and solidarity needed to sustain democratic life for the long term.
Lucía Vijil is a researcher and defender of Honduran democracy affiliated with the Center for the Study of Democracy (CESPAD). She has coordinated and analyzed the CESPAD–Youth Electoral Platform Election Observation Mission during the 2021 and 2025 general elections, developing methodologies for continuous monitoring, assessment of institutional risks, and technical oversight of polling station closure, vote counting, and vote traceability. Her work has helped document structural failures, political pressures, and operational weaknesses that affect public trust, electoral transparency, and democratic legitimacy in contexts of high institutional fragility. Her strategic approach links electoral integrity, socio-territorial conflict, and democratic governance. She analyzes how institutional capture, structural inequality, and conflicts over land and natural resources directly affect the exercise of voting rights and political stability. From this perspective, she advances research and coordination with civil society aimed at strengthening accountability, protecting civic space, and contributing rigorous evidence for democratic reconstruction in Honduras and the region.
Mynor Alonzo is a political analyst, strategist, and co-founder of FOCO, a Guatemalan social research organization. With a trajectory that began in student activism at the University of San Carlos (USAC), the country’s only public university, and in the creation of the democratic observatory Chalán (www.chalanusac.org), his work brings together rigorous political analysis and civic organizing. Through FOCO, Mynor fosters spaces for critical reflection to translate the country’s complex current context into strategic tools. His work connects the demands of historically marginalized communities with national debates on social justice and transparency, providing them with tools to influence decision-making and strengthen democratic resilience in Guatemala.
Alí Bantú Ashanti is a lawyer, human rights defender, and strategist in high-impact litigation involving state crimes. He is the founder of Colectivo Justicia Racial, a network of lawyers and humanists dedicated to dismantling structural racism in Colombia. Born in Timbiquí, Cauca, a historically marginalized territory in Colombia’s Pacific region, his legal work is deeply rooted in community experience. He advocates for abolitionism and reforms in justice, drug policy, and security. He has led strategic litigation related to police and military violence, as well as the defense of people unjustly convicted by the justice system. His work has placed special emphasis on the mobilization, organization, and defense of the internationally and constitutionally recognized rights of Afro-descendant peoples. Beyond the courts, Bantú Ashanti promotes grassroots organizing campaigns to strengthen Afro-descendant political representation, develop youth leadership, and connect local struggles with international human rights frameworks. His work brings together legal defense, movement strategy, and global solidarity, placing racial justice at the center of democratic reform in Latin America.
Elena Gutierrez is affiliated with Global Exchange in Mexico and collaborates with the People’s Movement for Peace and Justice to advance community-based peacebuilding initiatives and strengthen international solidarity networks. Her work focuses on building cross-border alliances that connect local organizing efforts with broader advocacy platforms. She has accompanied dialogue processes, community organizing strategies, and coordination efforts among movements aimed at promoting nonviolence, accountability, and democratic participation. Her work links grassroots organizing with international solidarity frameworks, reinforcing the importance of collective action beyond national borders. Through this collaboration, she contributes to strengthening regional networks committed to human rights, social justice, and democratic resilience.
Alex Sierra is an anthropologist and socio-legal researcher with more than two decades of experience analyzing the armed conflict in Colombia, and the role of justice and governance in Latin America. As Project Director at CESJUL, he leads research initiatives on issues such as violence, drug policy, police abuse, and arms trafficking. His work has addressed youth vulnerability, forced displacement, paramilitary structures, and the long-term impacts of conflict on local governance systems, including from a human rights and electoral-process perspective in the countries of the region. Through rigorous research and participation in advocacy spaces, he contributes to the development of evidence-based strategies that strengthen accountability and promote inclusive democratic reforms. He has collaborated with academic institutions, civil society coalitions, and international observation missions to document structural patterns of violence and support reforms grounded in empirical analysis. His approach integrates fieldwork, community testimony, and legal analysis to understand how democratic institutions can be rebuilt after prolonged conflict.
Ernesto Ledesma is an investigative journalist and founder of Rompeviento TV, an independent digital platform dedicated to human rights journalism, democratic accountability, and analysis of social movements in Mexico. His journalistic work has addressed issues such as corruption, state violence, socio-environmental conflicts, and community resistance. Rompeviento has established itself as an independent voice that amplifies civil society perspectives often marginalized in mainstream media. Ledesma’s work positions journalism as a democratic safeguard, essential for exposing abuses of power and defending freedom of expression. Through rigorous investigations and multimedia storytelling, he contributes to public debate on transparency, state accountability, and citizen oversight in Mexico’s changing democratic landscape.
Dayana Mosquera is a Global Exchange consultant in Colombia whose work analyzes the intersection of United States foreign policy, international security frameworks, and their impact on Colombian civil society. Her research focuses on how external political and economic pressures influence internal democratic processes, particularly in contexts marked by armed conflict transitions and electoral volatility. She has collaborated with grassroots organizations, peacebuilding initiatives, and regional advocacy networks, helping build bridges between local and international actors. Her work examines patterns of political violence, threats against social leaders, and the challenges of implementing peace agreements in contexts of institutional fragility. Through policy analysis, public education, and the coordination of delegations, Mosquera plays an important role in strengthening alliances between Colombian civil society actors and advocacy networks in the United States. Her work helps translate local realities into international conversations on accountability, democracy, and human rights.
Alberto Solís Castro is a peacebuilder and human rights specialist now working with Global Exchange, where he brings more than two decades of experience in conflict transformation and civic accompaniment. He previously served as Executive Director of Serapaz (Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz), the organization founded in 1996 by Bishop Samuel Ruiz García to support mediation in the armed conflict between the EZLN and the Mexican government, the same peace process that shaped Ernesto Ledesma's early career in Chiapas. Over his career he has coordinated more than 80 conflict-transformation processes, accompanying movements organized around land rights, justice for the disappeared, indigenous autonomy, and democratic accountability. He holds degrees in Political Science and Public Administration from UNAM and teaches History and New Paradigms of Peace at the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana in Mexico City.
Omar Gómez Trejo is a Mexican human rights lawyer internationally recognized for his work as Special Prosecutor in the Ayotzinapa case in Mexico, one of the most emblematic forced disappearance cases in contemporary Latin America. His leadership in reopening and restructuring the investigation challenged previously established official narratives and confronted institutional obstruction within state structures. Under his direction, investigative efforts focused on forensic truth, victim-centered justice, and dismantling the so-called “historical truth” that had protected impunity. Omar has more than 20 years of experience working in the United States, Mexico, and Central America. He has worked for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and international and Mexican organizations on complex cases.
Groundwork Institute Minnesota
Join Participatory International Policy (P-PIP) & Minnesota Democracy Defense Table (MNDDT) for the Democracy Defenders Roadshow on June 26th for the kick-off event. The lunchtime event will include a panel with experts from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, along with time for questions and more informal exchange.
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The Douglass Community Association
Across Borders: Communities Against Gun Violence and Voter Suppression will bring together leaders, community members and advocates for conversation on how gun violence impacts our communities as well as the threat of voter suppression in our BIPOC communities.
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St. Joseph Public Library
"Democracy in Black: Reparations, Repair, and Black Movements Across the Americas" brings together organizers, advocates, and community members to examine the growing threats facing Black communities under the current U.S. American political administration across the Americas.
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Muhammad Ali Center Louisville, Kentucky
Defending Our Democracy: Community, Voice & Participation for All is a full-day, family-friendly gathering that brings together community members, civic leaders, youth, nonprofit organizations, and international democracy advocates to explore how we strengthen democracy through participation, dialogue, and collective action.
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Kean University STEM Building
As young Americans confront questions about democracy, representation, and the future of their communities, these international perspectives offer valuable lessons in civic courage, community engagement, and collective action. By learning from those who have defended and strengthened democracy around the world, participants will discover practical ways to become more engaged citizens and help build a stronger, more inclusive democracy at home.
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Recorded sessions, conversations, and future event replays will live here once the first resources are ready.
Stories of Resistance is a new podcast featuring vignettes pulled from journalist Michael Fox’s 20 years of interviews, research, and reporting from across the Americas. Co-produced by Global Exchange and The Real News Network , each week we’ll bring you stories that remind us of the struggles that have come before, and the ones we are living now. Inspiration for dark times.
A timely conversation uniting movements at borders to confront the “iron flow” of weapons from the United States that is fueling violence in communities around the world.
**PANELISTS:
John Lindsay-Poland, Stop US Arms to Mexico
Christina Delgado, National Coordinator of Organization, Community Justice
Ben Dooley, Reporter, ICIJ
Grace Fernández, Movement for Our Disappeared, Mexico
Sergio Aguayo, Professor, El Colegio de México
As U.S. military escalation, economic warfare, and media narratives converge, communities across Latin America are once again being forced to pay the price. This webinar brings together voices from the region to unpack what’s at stake, challenge dominant narratives, and discuss paths forward rooted in solidarity and resistance.
Panelists:
Alex Sierra (CESJUL, Colombia)
Ernesto Ledesma (Rompeviento.tv, Mexico)
Francesca Emanuele (CEPR)
Moderated by: Dayana Mosquera (Global Exchange)
Meet Alex Sierra, a Colombian anthropologist and socio-legal researcher with more than two decades of experience analyzing the armed conflict in Columbia, and the role of justice and governance in Latin America. Alex stresses the intersectionality of global imperialism and calls for allyship with those in other countries as a way to accomplish global peace.
Meet Alí Bantú Ashanti, a Colombian lawyer and human rights defender, and strategist in high-impact litigation involving state crimes. Born in Timbiqui, Colombia, Alí founded Justicia Racial, an organization defending victims from state crimes and injustices. Alí underlines the importance to stand up against global fascism, the injustices that come from it, and the decay of democracy.
Meet Ernesto Ledesma, an investigative journalist and founder of Rompeviento TV, an independent digital platform, dedicated to human rights, journalism, democratic, accountability, and analysis of social movements in Mexico. Ernesto was involved in humanitarian aid flotilla operations for Palestine and Cuba, and speaks about his experiences with mutual aid and calls for solidarity and allyship to defend democracy and bring mutual aid to those vulnerable to atrocities.
Downloadable materials and practical organizing tools will be published here in an upcoming update.
Coming Soon
The Democracy Defenders Roadshow brings people together for an honest, real-world conversation about what’s happening in their communities and what they can do about it.
Each stop along the Roadshow will bring a unique event, organized by a local host organization.
You’ll hear from local leaders, organizers, and neighbors, along with democracy and human rights activists from across Latin America to learn practical lessons on staying engaged, organizing locally, and defending peaceful participation.
We focus on issues many people are already feeling in their daily lives — like growing distrust in institutions, rising division, and concerns about safety, opportunity, and stability. These challenges may look different from place to place, but they often lead to the same outcomes: less trust, more tension, and fewer ways to work things out together.
This isn’t about telling people what to think or comparing one country to another. It’s about learning from lived experience. The focus is on what’s working, what isn’t, and what people can try in their own communities.
The goal is to help people connect, share ideas, and find ways to move forward together. It’s about strengthening trust, supporting safer and more cooperative communities, and building habits of participation and problem-solving that work even when people disagree.
Participants explore practical questions like how to stay involved when trust is low, how communities can protect fair elections and keep civic space open, how to reduce fear and prevent conflict, and what democracy looks like in everyday life — not just during elections. The aim is to make these big ideas feel real, relevant, and actionable.
Anyone who cares about their community is welcome, and all Roadshow events are nonpartisan. If you care about fairness, safety, opportunity, and people being able to live and work together peacefully, this event is for you.
No — there is no cost to attend any of the Roadshow events. Register to reserve your spot today.
Just bring yourself. We recommend wearing comfortable clothes and bringing a jacket in case the room gets cold. We’ll provide everything else you need, including materials like pens and paper, as well as water and snacks.
Each Roadshow is a little different, because it’s co-created with local host organizations to reflect the needs and priorities of the community. That said, you can expect a thoughtful mix of small group conversations, shared discussions, and time to reflect and connect with others.
We build in breaks and keep a steady, welcoming pace so everyone has a chance to participate without feeling rushed. The goal is to create a space that feels engaging, flexible, and grounded in the local experience.
