Freedom of the Press in Venezuela and Latin America with Teodoro Petkoff

Libertad de Prensa en Venezuela y Latinoamérica (Event will be in Spanish)

April 6, 2011
6:30 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.
Weaver Conference Center, Institute of the Americas, UC San Diego Campus | Get Directions
No charge to attend. Registrations requested for planning purposes.

Teodoro Petkoff is one of the leading political figures in recent Venezuelan history. His career began in the left-wing rebellion movements during the 60s, as a member of the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV). He led a groundbreaking reform of the left in Venezuela assuming a critical stance toward left-wing authoritarianism and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968) with the foundation, in 1971, of the party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). An economist graduated from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Mr. Petkoff has been member of the MAS national directive, presidential candidate, and elected congressman in many occasions. In 1996 he became Minister of Economic Planning under the presidency of Rafael Caldera.

In 1998 he breaks with MAS when the party decides to support the candidacy of Hugo Chavez whom, Petkoff then predicted, would incarnate military authoritarianism. In 1999, after his tenure in the Caldera administration, he became director of the evening newspaper El Mundo, modernizing its content and style, including editorials that were objectively critical of the Chavez administration. He then leaves El Mundo to found, with his team, the newspaper Tal Cual, which he currently directs. In 2005 he wrote the book Two Lefts, where he clearly exposes his democratic political views. Read more.