We have heard a lot about the political crisis in Venezuela in the news over the past few months: How did a once-prosperous and advanced country has degenerated in a single generation into a dystopian quagmire with rampant inflation, food shortages and widespread power outages? Today, the regime appears to be teetering on the edge and might soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. Yet Venezuela is only an early and exaggerated version of a phenomenon we are seeing around the world these days. Populism is on the rise on on both the left and right of the political spectrum, and this poses challenges to Canada and the existing world order.

This is a free event. Everyone is welcome. Please feel free to invite your friends and colleagues to join us, even if you can’t.

Speaker’s Bio
Our branch is pleased to welcome new CIC National Director, Ben Rowswell, who will share his insights on what it is like to live under a populist regime, and his actions as Canadian Ambassador to Venezuela from 2014 to 2017 to promote a democratic dialogue in that country. Ben will use the example of Venezuela to look at the resurgence of populism in a number of countries and the challenges it poses for Canadian foreign policy.innipefinn