Simón Bolívar and the Legacy of Latin American Unity - by Steve Ellner

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• published: 23 Nov 2015
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[PUBLIC LECTURE 2013] Venezuela’s “Liberator” Simón Bolívar promoted Latin American unity and although his proposal for a confederation of Latin American states did not prosper in his lifetime, the idea lived on. Professor Ellner’s talk will shed light on the influence of Bolívar’s vision of continental unity on recent developments. For instance, Latin American governments, without input from Washington, have acted collectively to help resolve major conflicts involving Bolivia’s nationalization of Brazilian oil and gas interests, a coup attempt in Ecuador and Colombia’s incursion on Ecuadorian territory. New organizations such as UNASUR and CELAC have facilitated collective action on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, ALBA, which was an initiative of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro and takes in the more radical Latin American governments, has acted as a bloc within UNASUR and CELAC, and the resolutions of both organizations have hardened the positions of Latin American governments vis-à-vis the United States. Speaker: Professor Steve Ellner has taught at the Universidad de Oriente in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela since 1977. He has been a visiting professor at Georgetown University (2004), Duke University (2005), Universidad Central de Venezuela (1994-2006), Universidad de Buenos Aires (2010) and the National University of Australia (2013) and has also taught at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University. Among his book publications are: Venezuela's Movimiento al Socialismo: From Guerrilla Defeat to Electoral Politics (Duke University Press, 1988); Organized Labor in Venezuela, l958-l991 (Scholarly Resources, l993); Rethinking Venezuelan Politics: Class, Polarization and the Chávez Phenomenon. (Lynne Rienner, 2008. His latest edited book “Latin America’s Radical Left: Challenges and Complexities of Political Power in the Twenty-First Century” will be released by Rowman and Littlefield in 2014. He has published on the op-ed page of the New York Times and Los Angeles Times and is a regular contributor to In These Times and NACLA: Report on the Americas.