VENEZUELAN ELECTIONS AT A TIME OF HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30
2:00PM - 3:00PM
RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, ROOM 385

Panel:
Miriam Kornblith, Senior Director, Latin America and the Caribbean, National Endowment for Democracy

Jose Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director, Americas Division, Human Rights Watch

Santiago A. Canton, Executive Director, RFK Partners for Human Rights, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights 

Moderator:

Russ Dallen, Editor-in-Chief, Latin American Herald Tribune

 Hosted by:
The Senate Human Rights Caucus
Co-Chairs

Senator Chris Coons and Senator Mark Kirk

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
Co-Chairs

Congressman Joe Pitts and Congressman Jim McGovern

In recent years Venezuela has experienced escalating political turmoil and severe economic crises under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro.  High inflation rates, cuts in public services, and the breakdown in protection of due process have set the stage for contentious legislative elections on December 6, 2015.  Poll numbers increasingly indicate grassroots support for opposition parties.  Merely having elections is insufficient.  The elections should proceed freely, fairly, and without violence.  Expert panelists will discuss what the international community should look for as elections move forward. Panelists will also examine the Venezuelan National Electoral Council’s (CNE) capacity to administer free and fair elections, prevent corruption, and remain independent from the influence of political forces. 

Biographies:

Miriam Kornblith is the director of the Latin American and Caribbean Program at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC. A Venezuelan sociologist and political scientist, Kornblith’s study of the contemporary Venezuelan political system spans constitutional reform, political institutions, political parties, and electoral processes. From 1998 to 1999, Kornblith was vice president and member of the board of directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, where she helped oversee five elections.  A former Kellogg Institute visiting fellow, she is a former professor and researcher at the Institute of Political Studies at the Central University of Venezuela and has been a visiting scholar at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA) in Caracas.  Kornblith holds a PhD in political science from the Central University of Venezuela.

José Miguel Vivanco is the director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division. Before joining Human Rights Watch, Vivanco worked as an attorney for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at the Organization of American States (OAS).  In 1990, he founded the Center for Justice and International Law, an NGO that files complaints before international human rights bodies. Vivanco has also been an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University.  He has published articles in leading American and Latin American newspapers and is interviewed regularly for television news. A Chilean, Vivanco studied law at the University of Chile and Salamanca Law School in Spain and holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

Santiago A. Canton is the Executive Director of RFK Partners for Human Rights at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. In that capacity, Canton manages programs around the globe that promote and protect human rights and strengthen democratic processes through strategic litigation, capacity building, and advocacy initiatives. Canton is also an Adjunct Professor at American University's Washington College of Law, the Georgetown University Law Center, and the Universidad de Buenos Aires. In 2013, Canton served as a member of the World Bank Panel of Experts on Human Rights, part of a process that reviewed the bank's environmental and social safeguard policies. From 2001 to 2012, Canton was the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 1998, he was elected as the first Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression in the Inter-American System. From 1994 to 1998, Canton was Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.  Canton was a political assistant to President Carter in democratic development programs in countries in Latin America. In 2005, Canton was awarded the Chapultepec Grand Prize for his contributions to the promotion, development, strengthening, and defense of the principles of freedom of expression throughout the Americas.  Canton holds a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires and a Master degree in International Law from the Washington College of Law of American University. 

Russ Dallen is publisher of the Latin American Herald Tribune and a Managing Partner at international investment bank Latinvest.   A Ner Tamid Award winner, Dallen is a member of the Support Committee of Conciencia Activa Venezuela, a foundation headed by the Dalai Lama, Rabbi Pynchas Brener, Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara, and Pastor Samuel Olson dedicated to rescuing and restoring ethical and moral values in Venezuelan society.  He served on the Media Committee of the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce (VenAmCham) and the Board of Directors of the Venezuelan American Friendship Association (AVAA), which provides scholarships to Venezuelan students.  Dallen was a Fellow at Columbia University in New York, Senior Fellow at the United Nations Association of the USA, an American Fellow in the European Community Visitors Program, the Harold W. Rosenthal Fellow for the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and a Center Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency.    A Harry S. Truman Scholar, U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office Scholar, and Century III Leader, Dallen holds a Masters and Bachelors in Law from Oxford University, a Diploma in International Law from Nottingham University, and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Ole Miss.  His Masters thesis on legal protections of Human Rights was named Article of the Year by the Common Market Law Review, Europe’s leading legal journal.  At Columbia Law School, Dallen worked on the definitive international law texts International Law - Cases and Materials as well as the Restatement (2^nd) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States of America.  He is author and contributing author of 4 books and serves on the International Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

Cosponsors:

                                                                                                                                               

                      

Caracas: 58-212-335-1906
Miami: 305-735-8280
New York: 212-202-4256
London: 44-207-993-4557