SECWAC Hosts Talk on “Authoritarian Resilience and Regime Capture: Venezuela in the Age of Great Power Politics,” Feb. 12

EAST LYME, CT –  On Thursday, Feb. 12, the Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council (SECWAC) will host U.S. Naval Academy political science professor John Polga-Hecimovich to talk about the broader narrative surrounding the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. 

The 6 p.m. presentation, titled “Authoritarian Resilience and Regime Capture: Venezuela in the Age of Great Power Politics,” will be held at Flanders Fish Market & Restaurant, 22 Chesterfield Road, East Lyme. The talk will be preceded by a 5:30 p.m. reception. 

SECWAC said in its event description the talk situates Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela “in a broader narrative of authoritarian consolidation, where elite loyalty, military ties, and narco-patronage networks created a coup-proofed state that survived repeated internal and external pressures.”

Polga-Hecimovich will assess why the U.S. chose a dramatic military operation to seize Maduro, why it now engages Delcy Rodríguez rather than a figure from the democratic opposition, and what strategic motivations might shape what comes next.

The Naval Academy professor’s research focuses on the effects of political institutions on democratic stability, policymaking, and governance, with a particular focus on Latin America. One of his primary areas of interest is how the executive branch of government exercises power and how presidents interact with legislatures and their own bureaucracies.

He has given briefings to the U.S. State Department, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and U.S. Southern Command on issues related to Latin American politics, and served as an electoral systems expert for the Organization of American States electoral observation team in Ecuador. He has also participated in working groups examining Venezuela’s political crisis for the Council on Foreign Relations, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Atlantic Council.

He recently co-edited a volume on Venezuela, “Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro.”

SECWAC members are free. Non-Members are $20. Non-Members may visit this link to register.

For more information on SECWAC, visit their website.