From October 14th to 16th, the National University of Asunción (UNA) hosted the Jean Monnet Network Policy Debate “BRIDGE Watch: Values and Democracy in the EU and Latin America.” Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, this project is among the largest Jean Monnet initiatives currently underway in Latin America.

Under the coordination of Professor Roberto Ruiz Díaz Labrano, UNA welcomed network members and distinguished guests for a series of academic sessions and presentations featuring more than 43 speakers from Latin America and Europe. The hybrid event, held in Asunción, Paraguay, attracted over 400 participants, both in person and online.

The event began with an internal meeting for project beneficiaries, focusing on project implementation. Later, at 6 PM, the seminar “Paths to Democracy: Lessons from the European Union and Latin America” took place at UNA’s Faculty of Law and Social Sciences. Notable contributors included Carlos Francisco Molina del Pozo (University of Alcalá, Spain), Diego Moreno Rodríguez (Inter-American Court of Human Rights), Jorge Enrique Bogarín González (Superior Court of Electoral Justice of Paraguay), Marcela Ríos Tobar (Former Minister of Justice and Human Rights of Chile, 2022–2023), José María Costa Ruiz (Journalist and Director of Transparency and Public Access to Information at the Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay), and María Elodia Almirón Prujel (Civil, Commercial, and Labor Court of Appeals of Central, Paraguay).

On October 15th, project beneficiaries reconvened to discuss the administrative aspects of the BRIDGE Watch Report. In the afternoon, the training course “Building Democracy in Latin America” commenced at 4:30 PM at the Superior Court of Electoral Justice of Paraguay, open to public officials, legal professionals, and interested attendees, both in person and online, reaching around 150 people. The course featured Manuel Becerra Ramírez (National Autonomous University of Mexico), Roberto Ruiz Díaz Labrano (UNA), Ena Carnero Arroyo (National University of Trujillo, Peru), and Beatriz Campuzano Díaz (University of Seville, Spain).

The final day, October 16th, began with the formal signing of an Interinstitutional Cooperation Agreement between the Secretariat of the Mercosur Permanent Review Court and the BRIDGE Watch Project. This was followed by a workshop on “Building Democracy in Latin America,” which featured 15 selected papers from the Call for Papers, alongside the winner of the 4th Jean Monnet Prize for Social Sciences. Contributions were received from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Portugal, and Spain.

This seminar was the second of six events planned over the three-year duration of the BRIDGE Watch Project. Led by the University of Lisbon and the Federal University of Santa Catarina, in collaboration with 14 universities across Latin America and Europe, the project aims to strengthen ties and promote mutual understanding between the European Union and Latin America.

The Organizing Committee thanks all participants, speakers, moderators, and team members whose efforts ensured the success of this event. The next BRIDGE Watch Project event will be held in April at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina.