Please note that this event has been cancelled.

Since Hugo Chávez’s ascension to the presidency in 1999, Venezuela has witnessed the steady erosion of its democratic institutions. While the façade of democracy remains—opposition parties, an active press, elections—Chávez has consolidated power through controversial measures and increasingly uncompetitive electoral processes. His party now controls Venezuela’s legislature, its Supreme Court, its oil industry (and greatest revenue source), and its National Electoral Council.

Offering a new democratic vision, a revitalized opposition party is rallying behind a sole candidate, Manuel Rosales, to challenge Chávez´s hegemony in the December presidential elections. One of the key leaders in this initiative, vice presidential candidate Julio Borges, will speak about a new Venezuelan democracy, strategies for the presidential election, and the challenges that lie ahead for Venezuela and the opposition.