Michael Shifter: The Chaos in Venezuela

Abstract

The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is affecting millions of its citizens. It is also having a profound impact on neighboring countries. It is the most visible manifestation of the institutional breakdown in the country. Many Venezuelans as well as the international community are mobilizing humanitarian assistance and trying to distribute food, medicine, and medical supplies under extremely challenging circumstances, with the Maduro government hindering their efforts.

Mr. Shifter, President of The Dialogue, will speak about the gravity of the situation in Venezuela and what needs to happen to overcome the catastrophe. Is it only possible with political change? How and when will that change take place? And will the international community help facilitate the change?

Biography

Michael Shifter is president of the Inter-American Dialogue. Since 1993, Mr. Shifter has been adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he teaches Latin American politics. Mr. Shifter writes and talks widely on U.S.-Latin American relations and hemispheric affairs. His recent articles have appeared in major U.S. and Latin American publications such as The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Journal of Democracy, Harvard International Review, Clarin, O Estado de S. Paulo, and Cambio, and he is co-editor, along with Jorge Domínguez, of Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Prior to joining the Inter-American Dialogue, Mr. Shifter directed the Latin American and Caribbean program at the National Endowment for Democracy and, before that, the Ford Foundation’s governance and human rights program in the Andean region and Southern Cone where he was based in Lima, Peru, and subsequently, in Santiago, Chile.