\nThe presentation will address the deep and global crisis Venezuela is undergoing. This crisis has its roots in structural problems that are related to the oil-dependent and rent-seeking economy that has shaped society and the political order since the first decades of the 20th<\/sup> Century. The oil economy has made Venezuela extremely vulnerable to the international market of hydrocarbons and its price fluctuations. This helped to build a highly consumerist society and an inefficient and corrupt Petro-state<\/em>. These features were present when Hugo Ch\u00e1vez won the 1998 elections. His agenda proposed to overcome these problems through a deep transformation that implied, first, moving towards a \u201cparticipatory and protagonist democracy\u201d and, in his second term, towards a \u201crevolutionary democracy\u201d that would transform Venezuela into a 21st<\/sup> Century socialist country. Today, three years after his death, this project shows all its shortcomings and the Venezuelans have sunk into poverty and all kinds of social and political troubles.<\/p>\n
Margarita L\u00f3pez Maya, historian, PhD in Social Sciences at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV, 1996). Professor at the Center for Development Studies (CENDES-UCV). Her researches focus on the socio-historical and socio-political processes in contemporary Venezuela, more recently studying popular protests, new political parties and social actors and the political conjuncture. L\u00f3pez Maya was director of the Venezuelan Journal of Economy and Social Sciences (1999-2004), member of the Board of Directors of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO \u2013 2006-2009) and president of the Venezuelan Studies Branch of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA \u2013 2012-2014). Among her books and publications are (in Spanish): United States in Venezuela: 1945-1948 (disclosure of US archives) <\/em>(UCV, 1996), \u201cHugo Ch\u00e1vez Fr\u00edas: his movement and presidency\u201d in Steve Ellner and Daniel Hellinger, Venezuelan Politics in the age of Ch\u00e1vez: classes, polarization and conflict<\/em> (Nueva Sociedad, 2003), From Black Friday to the recall vote<\/em> (Caracas, Alfadil, 2005), Ideas to debate XXI century socialism<\/em> (Caracas, Grupo Alfa, 2007) and Participatory Democracy in Venezuela. Origins, laws, perceptions and challenges<\/em> (Centro Gumilla, 2011). De-Communal State: an interview with Margarita L\u00f3pez Maya<\/em> (David Gonz\u00e1lez, 2012). To be published this year: The decline of Chavismo: 2005-2015<\/em> (Caracas, Grupo Alfa, 2016).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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