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In the eleven years since Hugo Chavez took office, foreign-owned companies have been nationalized, political opposition silenced, and crime has increased. His social programs have helped reduce poverty in some areas, but even modest improvements cannot be sustained with falling oil prices and declining foreign investment. Yet the perception that Chavez will continue to hold the reins of power even beyond his current term remains strong. Christopher Sabatini will discuss the political and economic climate in Venezuela and how long Chavez might retain the support of the Venezuelan people.
Christopher Sabatini is the senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas where he focuses on rule of law, economic development, and Cuba. Dr. Sabatini is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, the hemispheric policy magazine. He was previously with the National Endowment for Democracy, a Diplomacy Fellow working for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and an advisor to the World Bank. He has published numerous articles on Latin America and is regularly interviewed by The New York Times, PBS, NPR, The Miami Herald, and others. He has a doctorate in Government from the University of Virginia and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University.
This program is part of the Latin America Business Outlook series sponsored by Thompson & Knight.
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