WOLA invites you to a seminar on the Constitutional Reform in Venezuela featuring Pedro Nikken and Embassador Bernardo Álvarez Herrera on January 14.
The Washington Office on Latin America
is pleased to invite you to a seminar
The Vote on Constitutional Reform in Venezuela
What Happened on December 2, 2007?
featuring
Pedro Nikken
of
Ojo Electoral
with comments by
Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez Herrera
Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
to the United States
Monday, January 14, 2008
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
The Washington Home of Stewart R. Mott
122 Maryland Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Last December, Venezuelans handed President Hugo Chávez his first defeat at the polls since he won office nine years ago, voting down proposed constitutional reforms by a narrow margin. Please join us for this timely discussion of the constitutional reform voting process and results, and their significance for Venezuelan democracy.
Pedro Nikken is one of five directors of Ojo Electoral, an explicitly pluralist civil society association seeking to promote citizen participation and transparent elections worthy of public confidence in Venezuela. On December 2, Ojo Electoral's activities involved direct observation of a sample of voting tables at which more than 100,000 people cast their votes.
In addition to his role with Ojo Electoral, Mr. Nikken serves as Permanent Advisor to the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights and as a commissioner with the International Commission of Jurists. He has also served as Dean of the law school at the Universidad Central de Venezuela; as judge and President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; as legal advisor to the UN Secretary General during peace negotiations in El Salvador; and as the UN special envoy to Burundi.
Bernardo Álvarez Herrera has served as Venezuela's ambassador to the United States since 2003. Prior to his post in Washington, Ambassador Álvarez served as Director-General of Hydrocarbons (1999-2000) and Vice Minister of Hydrocarbons (2000-2003) in Venezuela's Ministry of Energy and Mines. He is also a professor in the School of Political and Administrative Studies at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and served as a Deputy to Venezuela's National Congress (1994-1999).
Mr. Nikken's remarks will be in Spanish, with interpretation into English available.
Please RSVP by January 11 to Rachel Robb rrobb@wola.org or call (202) 797-2171.
