In this episode of Building the Future, Dan speaks with Sergio de la Peña, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs and a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army. The pair discuss Sergio’s immigrant background and his path through the ranks of the U.S. military and government, which included assignments in Venezuela and Chile. They also tackle some of the factors currently destabilizing de la Peña’s old stomping ground, including the refugee flows from Venezuela, drug trafficking, and illegal gold mining, as well as China’s growing political and economic influence on the region.