Conference Nov. 30 To Examine Government of Venezuela Under Chávez

Yale Law School and the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies will host a public forum titled “Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution at Home and Abroad: A New Geometry of Power?” on Friday, November 30, at the Law School, 127 Wall Street.

This one-day event will bring together scholars, politicians and filmmakers from across the political spectrum to consider the challenges, liabilities and potential of the government of Venezuela under the leadership of President Hugo Chávez.

“We’ll go beyond the mainstream obsession with the controversial Chávez to consider the sources of his growing popular support, the successes and failures of his government at home and abroad, and prospects for the future,” said Gil Joseph, Farnam Professor of History and International Studies at Yale University. Professor Joseph is co-organizing the conference in collaboration with Greg Grandin, Professor of History at New York University.

The conference is sponsored by The Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School and The Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies at Yale. It runs from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. 

The program will consist of a morning panel discussion on Venezuelan foreign affairs—including a presentation by the Ambassador of Venezuela to the United States—and an afternoon panel discussion on Venezuelan domestic policy. There will be a screening of the documentary film, Puedo Hablar?/May I Speak?—a chronicle of the 2006 presidential elections in Venezuela—at 4:00 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session.

The event will feature presentations and comments by Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, Ambassador of Venezuela to the United States; Thad Dunning, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University; Seth Fein, Assistant Professor of History at Yale University; Sujatha Fernandes, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College, CUNY; Greg Grandin,  Professor of History at New York University; Gil Joseph,  Professor of History and International Studies at Yale University; Christopher Moore, film director at Sol Productions; Francisco Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of Economics and Latin American Studies at Wesleyan University; Miguel Tinker Salas, Professor of History at Pomona College; Alejandro Velasco, Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies at New York University; and Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

| The MacMillan Center's Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies |

The Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, founded in 1989 to honor the late Orville H. Schell, Jr., coordinates a diverse program of human rights activities that serve students and scholars at Yale and contribute to the development of the human rights community locally and internationally.

The Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies (CLAIS) at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale seeks to enhance the understanding of Latin America, Spain and Portugal and works to strengthen ties with institutions throughout those countries. The Council organizes a weekly lecture and film series, sponsors research abroad, coordinates outreach programs, convenes international conferences, and edits conference results for scholarly publication.