Edgardo Lander Associate

Following their participation in the international symposium that we coordinated last June on “Progessive governments and post-neoliberalism in Latin America: End of a golden age?” at the University of Grenoble, France, we thought it would be worthwhile going back over the Latin American context with the sociologists Edgardo Lander (Venezuela) and Miriam Lang (Ecuador). Both of them have a sharp critical view, very often at odds concerning the present scene, and both have participated actively in recent years in the debates on the initial balance sheets of the progressive governments of 1998-2015, in particular those of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Miriam’s case and of the Transnational Institute in Edgardo’s case.

Después de su participación en el coloquio internacional que coordinamos en junio pasado sobre “Gobiernos progresistas y posneolibneralismo en América Latina: ¿el fin de una edad de oro?” en la Universidad de Grenoble (Francia) nos pareció interesante volver sobre la coyuntura latinoamericana e internacional con los sociólogos Edgardo Lander (Venezuela) y Miriam Lang (Ecuador). Tanto ella como él tienen una aguda mirada crítica, y muy a menudo, a contrapelo sobre el panorama actual, ambos han participado activamente en los últimos años de los debates sobre el primer balance de los gobiernos progresistas del periodo 1998-2015, en particular desde la Fundación Rosa Luxemburgo de Quito, en el caso de Miriam y desde el Transnational Institute para Edgardo.

In this article Edgardo Lander portrays today's extensive crisis that is facing Venezuela. Because today, after more than a decade of profound political and social transformations, Venezuela is facing its most severe crisis since the civil wars of the 19th century. The significant accomplishments of the Bolivarian Revolution are all at risk. The economy is collapsing, poverty, undernourishment and death rates are increasing. Political polarization and violence could lead to a civil war. All this is seriously aggravated by increasing international isolation, due among other things, to the turn to the right of the governments of Brazil and Argentina, and imperialist actions like the recently imposed financial blockade and threats of military intervention made by Donald Trump.