Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela

Speakers

• William Neuman, Author, Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela; former Reporter and Andes Region Bureau Chief, The New York Times
• Guillermo Zubillaga, Chief Information Officer, Senior Director, and Head of Venezuela Working Group, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (interviewer)

“The [Venezuelan] government is the mafia and the mafia is the government,” said William Neuman at an event to launch his new book Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela. Neuman, who served as The New York Times' Andes bureau chief, engaged in a conversation with Guillermo Zubillaga, head of Venezuela Working Group at Americas Society/ Council of the Americas.

“Is this the story of an oil-rich country that couldn’t manage its resources or something more idiosyncratic?” asked Zubillaga at the start of the conversation. Neuman believed it was both. He outlined how the modern Venezuelan state was constructed around the oil industry, but that the actions of Hugo Chávez, and his successor Nicólas Maduro, also led to Caracas’ downfall. “Chávez didn’t invent the mechanisms of populism that we see all over the world now, but he did demonstrate that they are still viable and work in the 21st century," explained Neuman.

Neuman also commented on current events, including how Venezuela was handled under the Trump administration and how it factors into U.S. electoral politics.