(online) CAF Conference: Iberoamerica 500+. Cities with a legacy for the future

Opening

Participants:

• Antonio Silveira – Vice President of the Private Sector at CAF
• Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir – Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia

Panel 9. Strengthening the Fiscal Capacities of 500+ Cities

This panel will explore how to move forward in building local capacities, recognizing the need to empower these cities so they can manage their own development and make the most of their territorial potential.

Participants:

• Javier Pincay – Mayor of Portoviejo, Ecuador
• Juan Mauricio Ramírez – Expert in Public Finance and Territorial Development
• Ramiro López Ghio – IDB Representative in Colombia
• Walter Rosales – Center for Public Finance Studies, National University of La Plata (CEFIP UNLP)
• Lea Giménez – Advisor to the Executive President, CAF (Moderator)

Panel 5. Ibero-America: 500 Years of Flavors

A journey through the region’s culinary evolution—ingredients and flavors that remain alive and are reinterpreted, positioning some countries as world‑class gastronomic destinations.

Participants:

• Amora Carbajal – Researcher

• Gonzalo Figari – Founder and Creative Director, Candy Store

• Manuel Martínez – Colombian Chef and Researcher

• Teremar Londoño – Secretary of Tourism of Cartagena de Indias

• Natalia Bayona – Executive Director, UN Tourism (Moderator)

Talk 3. RED – Local Solutions: The Role of Local and Regional Governments in Latin America and the Caribbean

Panel 10. 500+ Cities: Innovative, Productive, and Competitive

The 500‑Year Cities have traditionally been hubs of commercial and cultural exchange. In today’s context, they face the challenge of boosting their productivity while staying true to their essence. This panel will explore innovative strategies to energize their economies, strengthening key sectors with territorial added value and new technologies.

Participants:

• Alberto Lora – Director of Productive Transformation, Physical Integration and Services, CAN
• Omar Vera – Mayor of San Antonio, Chile
• Hugo Kantis – Founder and Director of Prodem and the Latin American Intelligent Ecosystems Group (GEIAL)
• Paula Cortés – President, ANATO
• Antonio Pulido – President, Cajasol Foundation
• Ángel Cárdenas – Manager of Infrastructure for Development, CAF (Moderator)

Panel 11. 500+ Cities: Planned Growth and Housing

The sustainable development of 500‑Year Cities requires planning for orderly growth, as well as proper management to provide housing and infrastructure that ensure quality of life for their residents and enhance their economic competitiveness.

Participants:

• Alfonso Vegara – Fundación Metrópoli
• Elizabeth Añaños – President, National Infrastructure Commission, MEF
• Alfredo Bateman – CEO, UrbanPro
• Ana Maria Badel – Head of the Office of International Relations, Mayor’s Office of Barranquilla
• Julián Suárez Migliozzi – Manager of Sustainable Territorial Development, CAF (Moderator)

Panel 12. Cities That Look to Their Rivers in Harmony with Biodiversity

Many of the 500‑Year Cities have become disconnected from their natural foundations and now face challenges with environmental quality and the availability of natural resources. This panel will highlight the importance of restoring the natural base in these cities, giving water its rightful priority, and promoting nature‑based solutions to ensure quality of life and sustainability—drawing on the work of the BiodiverCities Network.

Participants:

• Sandra Vilardy – Former Deputy Minister of Environmental Policy and Standardization, Colombia
• Mario Pardo – Executive President, BBVA Colombia
• Miguel Zarzuela Gil – Former General Coordinator of Ebrópolis
• Leonardo Boto – Mayor of Luján
• Génesis Abreu – Director of Urban Conservation Partnerships, New York Botanical Garden
• Alicia Montalvo – Manager of Climate Action and Positive Biodiversity, CAF (Moderator)

Signing of the Protocol Act for the Structuring of a Loan for the Tourist, Cultural and Historical District of Santa Marta

Participants:

• Carlos Pinedo – Mayor of Santa Marta
• Sergio Díaz-Granados – Executive President, CAF

Opening Remarks

Participants:

• Mamo Camilo Izquierdo Villafañe – Arhuaco Council
• Carlos Pinedo Cuello – Mayor of Santa Marta
• Francisco Flórez – Director, National Archives of Colombia
• Susana Sumelzo – Secretary of State for Ibero‑America, the Caribbean, and Spanish in the World
• Sergio Díaz-Granados – Executive President, CAF

Panel 1. Ibero-American Cities 500+

Participants:

• Andrés Allamand – Secretary-General, SEGIB
• Sergio Díaz-Granados – Executive President, CAF
• Susana Sumelzo – Secretary of State for Ibero‑America, the Caribbean, and Spanish in the World
• Andrea Bernal – Journalist, RCN (Moderator)

Signing of the Ibero-America 500+ Cities Alliance

Panel 2. Documentary Memory to Reinterpret the Past

This panel invites us to reflect on how archives are not merely data repositories, but living tools to reinterpret the past and shape a more inclusive future. Well‑managed documentary memory helps us put single narratives into perspective and build a more complex, diverse, and enriching vision of our cities and territories.

Participants:

• Esther Cruces – Director, General Archive of the Indies
• Francisco Flórez – Director, National Archives of Colombia
• Joaquín Viloria – Manager, Banco de la República Cultural Center in Santa Marta (Moderator)

Panel 3. Active Indigenous Peoples

This session will explore how the historic centers of centenary cities serve as both reminders of the past and spaces of opportunity for conservation, local economic revitalization, and cultural tourism.

Participants:

• Inkarri Kowii – University Professor and Columnist, Ecuador
• Pablo Vera Salazar – Rector, University of Magdalena
• Daniela Díaz – Journalist, El País (Moderator)

Lunch Break

Panel 4. Historic Centers: Traces of the Past with Great Opportunities

This panel will explore the historic centers of century‑old cities, which stand as traces of the past while offering great opportunities for conservation, revitalizing the local economy, and boosting tourism.

Participants:

• Vagner José Rocha – Manager of Cultural Heritage, Salvador de Bahia
• Santiago Trujillo – Secretary of Culture, Bogotá
• Fabiola María Morales – Councilwoman of Lima
• Pabel Muñoz – Mayor of Quito
• Óscar Rueda – Director of Sustainable Tourism, CAF (Moderator)

Panel 6. Alliances to Rethink the Future of 500+ Cities

This panel invites us to reflect on how city twinnings and inter‑urban alliances can become real tools to rethink and transform the future of our cities.

Participants:

• Juan Bueno – First Deputy Mayor of Seville
• Carlos Pinedo – Mayor of Santa Marta
• Francisco Mugaburu – Deputy Director of International Relations and Cooperation, UCCI
• Taliana Vargas – Social Manager
• Rodrigo Peñailillo – CAF Representative in Colombia (Moderator)

Talk 1. Living Heritage

Living heritage, made up of a set of tangible and intangible assets, traditions, knowledge, and cultural expressions, is a key pillar of our collective identity, passed down from generation to generation. It is essential to research, document, preserve, and promote these expressions from a critical and participatory perspective, with the aim of fostering intercultural dialogue and training professionals committed to cultural diversity. Strengthening the link between academia and the community is a way to ensure the transmission of living heritage to future generations.

Speaker:

• Luis Méndez – Director General of Culture and Heritage at the University of Seville

Panel 7. Innovative Strategies for Financing Territorial Development in 500+ Cities

This panel will discuss innovative financing strategies for 500‑year cities, bringing in the private sector, national development banks, and multilateral organizations as key players to complement governments’ investment capacities—helping them bring their territorial visions to life and unlock the value of their heritage.

Participants:

• Lina Mondragón – Vice President of Strategy and Sustainability, Corficolombiana
• Lamine Sow – Director for Colombia, French Development Agency (AFD)
• Silvia Medina – President, Chamber of Commerce of Santa Marta
• Elsa Noguera – Former Mayor of Barranquilla
• Abelardo Daza – Senior Executive, Vice Presidency of Finance, CAF (Moderator)

Talk 2. Commemorations and Urban Transformation

This Talk invites us to reflect on how 500+ cities can, through their anniversaries, spark transformative projects that honor the past while meeting the needs of the present and the future.

Speaker:

• Julio Cuesta – Commissioner of the Commemoration of the 100 Years of the Seville Expo 1929

Panel 8. From Guapa to Güepa

Participants:

• Carlos Vives – Musician
• Faustino Núñez – Musicologist