VENEZUELA AFTER CHAVEZ<br><br> Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society and Ray Walser, Senior Policy Analyst specializing in Latin America at The Heritage Foundation, discuss the legacy of Hugo Chavez with host Carol Castiel and what his death means for the future of Venezuela and US – Venezuela relations.

KENYA ELECTIONS<br><br> Richard Downie, Deputy Director and fellow with the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Bronwyn Bruton, Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, preview the issues and continuing tribal tensions in the upcoming Kenyan elections with host Carol Castiel. They discuss implications for U.S. policy in Kenya and the region in the first election since the 2007 vote devolved into ethnic violence.

PREVIEW IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS IN KAZAKHSTAN<br><br> Alex Vatanka, non-resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute, and Emanuele Ottolenghi, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, preview next week’s crucial talks with world powers in Almaty, Kazakhstan over the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program as well as discuss the political stakes and implications of Iran’s upcoming presidential election (June) with host Carol Castiel.

DRONES DEBATE<br><br> The use of drones and targeted killing, key elements of the Obama Administration’s counter-terrorism strategy, have come under growing public scrutiny and criticism due to the program’s increasing lack of transparency and oversight. On this edition of Encounter, Danya Greenfield, Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, and Thomas Lynch, Distinguished Research Fellow for South Asia and the Near East at the National Defense University, spar over the scope and the future of the drone program as the United States seeks to balance both national security concerns and civil liberty values.

IMMIGRATION REFORM<br><br> Having garnered 70 % of the Hispanic vote in the 2012 elections, US President Barack Obama, along with a bi-partisan group of senators, are motivated more than ever to propose a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws. On this edition of Encounter hosted by Carol Castiel, Lia Parada, Legislative Director at the pro-immigration reform group “America’s Voice” spars with Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies over the substance and politics of immigration reform.

CURBING GUN VIOLENCE<br><br> In the aftermath of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, the Obama administration and the US Congress have proposed a series of measures to curb gun violence. Jim Kessler, co-founder and Senior Vice President for Policy at Third Way, and Harry L. Wilson, Director of the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College and author of “Guns, Gun Control, and Elections: The Politics and Policy of Firearms,” spar over the prospects for and impediments to federal gun laws with host Carol Castiel.

MALI / ALGERIA CRISIS<br><br> Host Carol Castiel talks with William Lawrence, North Africa Director for the International Crisis Group, and J. Peter Pham, Director of the Africa Program at the Atlantic Council, about French and allied efforts to combat al Qaida linked militants in Northern Mali, the recent hostage crisis in Algeria and what steps must be taken by the international community, especially by regional players, to help Mali regain its sovereignty and to defeat al Qaida linked militants throughout the Maghreb and West African region.