Caracas Chronicles

Come to watch this roundtable on Wednesday (day after tomorrow) at 4:00 pm:

Latin America in the Spotlight & 40th Anniversary of IDS

Roundtable

Politics in Latin America: deconstructing the meanings of the Left and the implications for the region’s development

Much has been said about the turn to the left in Latin America as a response to the unsatisfactory socio-economic situation that lasts for more than two decades. The neoliberal approach failed to revert the situation and a shift to the left was a hope for many countries. Left-wing elected leaders in Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile and Venezuela appear to enforce the impression that a homogenous Left block is being constituted in the region.

Nevertheless, the political projects of these countries are very diverse and constructed as a response to particular social, economical and political contexts. This roundtable aims to deconstruct this so called turn to the Left by debating:

• What does this Left in Latin America really mean?
• Is the turn to the Left in many Latin American countries a consolidation of democracy or a challenge to the current political system?
• Does the Left represent a real alternative to the demands of the societies for region’s development?

Date: May 31st 2006, 4pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex

*** Joe Foweraker
Director of the Centre for Mexican Studies, University of Essex

*** Laurence Whitehead
Senior Fellow of Nuffield College, University of Oxford

*** Francisco Toro
Former, journalist specialised in Venezuela. Publishes articles at The New York Times, The Economist, The Finantial Times, The Washington Post and several Venezuelan media

*** Sue Branford
Latin American Bureau, author and journalist of BBC, the Financial Times and Red Pepper among others

*** Mick Moore (Mediator) – Research Felow, Institute of Development Studies, Director of the Centre for the Future State