Lecture presented by David Smolansky.

Venezuela moved towards a socialist dictatorship when Hugo Chavez took power in the late 1990s and worsened when Nicolás Maduro did so in 2013. More than 8 million people have fled Venezuela due to Maduro’s regime — with accusations that the government has committed human rights violations through persecution, repression, illegal detentions, killings and torture.

David Smolansky, who served as mayor of El Hatillo City in Caracas, Venezuela, shares his story about how the country’s leadership became a dictatorship and how the people are fighting back to return freedom to Venezuela.

Smolansky’s lecture is presented by the Sigmund Weis School of Business. It is free and open to the public.