Erich De La Fuente
Politics and International Relations
Office: MMC, SIPA 213
Phone: 305-348-2226
Email: edelafue@fiu.edu
Bio
Dr. Erich de la Fuente is an adjunct professor of international relations and political science at Florida International University. His areas of expertise are press freedom, disinformation, democratic backsliding, and crisis management in global affairs. De La Fuente earned his Ph.D. in Governance and Policy Analysis at Maastricht University, where his research focused on how government policies influence news media freedom in democratic societies. He also holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a B.A. in International Relations from Florida International University. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese and proficient in Italian and Russian.
De La Fuente teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on a range of topics, including international relations, Latin America, international organizations, and reputation and crisis management in global affairs. He is also the author of the book “Limiting Media Freedom in Democratic States: How Governments Use Instruments to Curtail News Media Freedom” (2022).
In the area of international development, De La Fuente has over 25 years of experience serving as a lead advisor for USAID programs around the world, including in Armenia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jordan, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Rwanda, and Ukraine. He has also conducted training for organizations fighting corruption, including chapters of Transparency International in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Latin America. In addition, De La Fuente has counseled private sector companies in strategic communications, crisis management, and government affairs. As a political analyst, he is a frequent guest expert on English and Spanish television and radio news programs.
A firm believer in giving back, De La Fuente dedicates much of his personal time to various nonprofit organizations, including Operation Smile, an international children's medical charity that performs safe cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries, and Junior Achievement, a global nonprofit organization that offers work readiness, literacy and entrepreneurship programs to students.