[act-ma] 10/03 Venezuelan Oct-3rd event

[Charlie Welch]

Venezuela Today:

Challenges from Within and Abroad


*Steve Ellner-* author of numerous books and professor at Universidad De 
Oriente in Venezuela from 1977 to 2003, is touring the US to give a 
presentation on the recent events in Venezuela and how people there are 
coping with hyper-inflation as well as food and medicine shortages.

**

*Date: October 3^rd , 2018Time: 6:30 to 8:00pmOpen to the public.*

*Location: *

College of Arts and Sciences, Room B 12, Boston University

725 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215

Sponsored by: BU Center for Latin American Studies, Pardee School of 
Global Studies and US-Venezuelan Solidarity Committee

The Bolivarian Revolution, initiated by Hugo Chavez in 1999 and now led 
by President Nicolas Maduro, has been in the bullseye of attacks by the 
Trump administration and the European Union. The US and European 
sanctions have been an economic stranglehold that has caused the 
Venezuelan economy to crumble. Economic sanctions prevent the normal 
flow of payments for goods, causing shortages and hyper-inflation that 
has reached over 1,000%. Venezuelans have resorted to migration to 
neighboring countries to look for a better life. The exodus has created 
a shortage of human talent in Venezuela impairing infrastructure (water, 
electricity, gas). The main Venezuelan industry, oil, has also suffered 
due to lack of talented resources and disinvestments, leading to a 
production decline of over 50%.

The Venezuelan Solidarity Committee is organizing a delegation to 
Venezuela in November. Information on the delegation will be available 
at this event.

Steve Ellner earned his Ph.D. in Latin American history at the 
University of New Mexico in 1980. Since 1977 he has taught economic 
history and political science at the Universidad de Oriente in Puerto La 
Cruz. He has been a visiting professor at Georgetown University (2004), 
Duke University (2005), Universidad de Buenos Aires (2010), Australian 
National University (2013), and Tulane University (2015) and has taught 
at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins, all in the field of Latin 
American history and political science. Among his book publications are: 
/Venezuela's Movimiento al Socialismo: From Guerrilla Defeat to 
Electoral Politics/ (Duke University Press, 1988); /Organized Labor in 
Venezuela, l958-l991: Behavior and Concerns in a Democratic Setting 
/(Scholarly Resources, l993); /Rethinking Venezuelan Politics: Class, 
Polarization and the Chávez Phenomenon/. (Lynne Rienner, 2008).