‘The Collapse of Venezuela and its Lessons’ Topic of IBC Bank and Commerce Bank 2018-2019 Keynote Speaker Series March 6

Venezuela, once recognized as one of the richest countries in Latin America, and one of its most established democracies, is now riddled by an economy in collapse and rule by an authoritarian regime. Daily news accounts share the horrors of a country and people under siege.

On Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. at Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) Student Center Ballroom, Dr. Francisco J. Monaldi, Fellow in Latin American Energy Policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, will discuss Venezuela’s dizzying decline for the IBC Bank and Commerce Bank 2018-2019 Keynote Speaker Series.

A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Translation services will be available.

In his presentation, titled, “The Collapse of Venezuela: Lessons for México and U.S. Policy in Latin America,” Dr. Monaldi will discuss subtopics such as roles that the socialist-nationalist ideology plays in Venezuela, oil dependence, and lessons to be learned for México, the rest of Latin America, as well as the United States. 

Monaldi is a leading scholar on the politics and economics of the oil industry and oil wealth management in Latin America and developing countries, and has consulted with numerous international institutions, governments and companies.

In addition to his role at Rice University, he is a non-resident fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, a member of the executive session on the politics of extractive industries at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, and a visiting professor at the School of Government at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in México.  

Monaldi is the founding director and a professor at the Center for Energy and the Environment at IESA in Venezuela. From 2013 to 2016, he was a visiting professor of energy policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, an associate of the Geopolitics of Energy Project, and the Roy Family Fellow at the Environment and Natural Resources Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. 

From 2012 to 2013, he was the Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor in Latin American Studies at Harvard University. He has also been a visiting lecturer at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, and Universidad ESAN in Lima, Perú. 

Monaldi is on the board of directors of Mercantil, Venezuela’s leading financial group, and other Venezuelan companies and Institutions.

He holds a Ph.D. in political science (political economy) from Stanford University, an M.A. in International and Development Economics from Yale University, and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, in Caracas, Venezuela.

For more information, contact Amy Palacios, associate director, Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade, at 956.326.2820, or amy@tamiu.edu or visit offices in Western Hemispheric Trade Center, room 221.

Additional information is available at facebook.com/tamiucswht

University office hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.