Next week, Scripps College host two Venezuelan officials who will reportedly laud the “grassroots initiatives” of the country’s totalitarian government in a three-part speaking series. Venezuelan Consul-Generals Antonio Cordero and Jesus Chucho Garcia, will lecture on “African solidarities,” “coups and imperial wars,” and Venezuela’s plans for “a new society rooted in political participation, communal economies and democracy,” according to the Claremont Independent.
This is the second go-round for Cordero, who was funded and invited by the college to speak last semester, when he tried to gloss over the human rights abuses committed in his country.
United States Senator Marco Rubio slammed that appearance at the time:
An email sent to all Scripps students lists the event’s sponsors as Scripps College, its Latin American & Caribbean Studies department, and the Latin American Studies Draper Fund; the series will be hosted by Scripps College Professor Cindy Forster.
The first event will revolve around “resisting rightwing [sic] paramilitary attacks (that are on the rise across the hemisphere).” It bills itself as being “for all who are interested in economics that serve people not profits.” As The Claremont Independent notes, “Venezuela is still facing mass food shortages as a result of its government’s economic illiteracy. People in Venezuela have lost an average of 20 pounds from recent food shortages.”
The second talk will champion “different way of doing democracy.” The Claremont Independent adds, “Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has imprisoned hundreds of political prisoners on false charges in the past year.”
The third event will center on “Venezuela’s Black working-class struggles” and “the long histories of self-liberated Africans in this hemisphere.”
The Claremont Independent concludes:
The event description does not mention whether the two Venezuelan officials will discuss their country’s rampant corruption problem, the government’s dire financial situation, the rapid devaluation of Venezuela’s currency to the extent that the government cannot afford to pay for money printing services, the country’s inability to pay its creditors including China and Russia, or grave economic depression among its citizens. There is also no mention of the government’s participation in extrajudicial killings and tortures during the crackdown on the 2017 protests against the government for its failure to provide economic relief.