Research Talk – How Venezuela Got Here: From Model Democracy to Authoritarian Kleptocracy
📅 February 24, 2026
⏰ 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
📍 Mckenzie Hall, Room #125, at the University of Oregon
Over the past half-century, Venezuela has experienced one of the most dramatic political and economic collapses in the modern world. Once considered a model developing democracy, the country is now widely characterized as a failed state—its economy devastated and its political system dominated by an authoritarian kleptocracy, or “rule by thieves.”
In this research talk, Dr. Reuben Zahler will examine how Venezuela’s democratic institutions eroded over time, the political and economic forces that drove this descent, and the consequences for Venezuelan society today. The talk will also explore the country’s evolving relationship with the United States, tracing how nearly two centuries of generally positive relations have given way to a moment in which Venezuela appears increasingly vulnerable to external control and influence.
This event offers historical context and critical insight into one of Latin America’s most consequential contemporary crises.
Speaker:
Dr. Reuben Zahler, Associate Professor of History, University of Oregon
This event is presented by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) in collaboration with the Department of History at the University of Oregon.