Canada and the World, Ep. 6: Venezuela’s economic & humanitarian crises

This week’s episode takes a look at the issues behind the headlines on Venezuela. What has caused the economic and humanitarian crises in the country?

First, we provide an explanation of the confluence of factors — hyperinflation, an oil sector on the brink of collapse, massive debt — that are paralyzing the country economically. Have international sanctions helped or hindered? What is the context behind the country’s deep debt?

Second, we seek to understand how the humanitarian crisis — which has seen more than one million flee the country in the past two years — has been compounded by the difficulty many Venezuelans are having in receiving travel documents, and what impact it has had on the region.

Finally, this episode looks at Canada’s role within the Lima Group, the regional meetings attempting to move forward on the issue. What more can be done?

Our host

Bessma Momani is professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and University of Waterloo and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. She’s also a non-resident senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. and a Fulbright Scholar. She has been non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and a 2015 Fellow at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. She’s a frequent analyst and expert on international affairs in Canadian and global media. 

This week’s guests

Antulio Rosales is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Development and the Environment. His work relates to the political economy of resource extraction and other interests include international political economy and Latin American politics. Antulio holds a PhD in Global Governance from the University of Waterloo and the Balsillie School of International Affairs. 

Masaya Llavaneras Blanco is a feminist political economist. Her dissertation research focuses on the experiences of care provision, self-care, and survival of Haitian migrant domestic workers in the Dominican Republic. Masaya’s research is informed by nine years of experience in advocacy, research and policy-based work on gender equality in national, regional and global arenas. She has been an instructor in the departments of Global Studies and Political Science in Wilfrid Laurier University. She is a Trillium Scholar, as well as an International Development Research Centre Doctoral Awardee.

Rachel Ziemba is an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Her research focuses on the interlinkages between economics, finance and security issues. She previously served as head of emerging and frontier markets and co-head of research at Roubini Global Economics, a global macro strategy and country risk firm. Before that, Rachel also worked for the Canadian International Development Agency in Cairo, Egypt, and the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa, Canada on development economic issues.

Canada and The World is produced and edited by Matthew Markudis. Each episode is available for download (below) and can also be found on iTunes and other podcast applications.