Provoking adoration and revulsion in equal measure, Hugo Chavez is a leader like no other. In October last year his loyal supporters came out to vote him back into office for his fourth presidential term.
In his new book, Comandante, acclaimed journalist Rory Carroll sheds light on the inside story of Chavez’s life and his political court in Caracas. He will join the The New Yorker‘s Jon Lee Anderson and others to ask, after more than 13 years in power, what Chavez’s legacy will be.
With his inauguration indefinitely postponed and the severity of his medical condition unclear, we will be looking back at Chavez’s rule, examining his time in power and what the future holds for Venezuela.
Chaired by Richard Lapper, the director of Brazil Confidential, the FT‘s research service on Brazil. He was Latin America Editor at the FT newspaper between 1998 and 2008, during which time he visited and reported from Venezuela regularly.
The panel:
Rory Carroll is the Guardian‘s US West Coast Correspondent based in Los Angeles and author of Comandante: Inside Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. For the past five years, throughout the writing of his book, Carroll has been stationed in Caracas as the Guardian‘s chief correspondent in South America.
Jon Lee Anderson is foreign correspondent for The New Yorker, and is the author of many books including The Fall of Baghdad and Guerrillas: Journeys in the Insurgent World.
Diego Moya-Ocampos is a senior political risk analyst for Venezuela for IHS Global Insight and IHS Jane’s. He previously worked as a lawyer for a private firm in Venezuela advising government agencies and private businesses on constitutional, regulatory and environmental issues, and as Chief Secretary at the Venezuelan Attorney-General’s Office.
