Jorge Lazdo Cividanes (English, French and Spanish)
Part-time professor, School of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences
Professor Lazdo Cividanes' research interests focus on the comparative politics of Latin America, including populism, ideology and political violence.
Isaac Nahon-Serfaty (English, French and Spanish)
Full Professor, Department of Communication, Faculty of Arts
Professor Nahon-Serfaty can talk about this topic from a communication standpoint.
"Nicolas Maduro's regime is under pressure from the U.S. administration. We can assume the main objective of Trump's government is to promote regime change in Venezuela from within. But this goal remains elusive since the military is aligned with the Chavista regime. The population is being submitted to intimidation tactics through repression and arbitrary detentions and it is very unlikely the people will rebel against the regime, even if the economic situation is very difficult for most Venezuelans."
Salvador Herencia Carrasco (English, Spanish and Portuguese)
Part-Time Professor, Faculty of Law – Civil Law Section and Director, Human Rights Clinic of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC).
Professor Herencia's expertise includes International Law, Inter-American Human Rights System and International Criminal Law. He can speak to the illegality of the U.S.'s military actions, which has killed unarmed civilians (fishermen) in the crossfire.
Errol Mendes (English only)
Full Professor, Faculty of Law - Common Law Section
Professor Mendes’ research includes constitutional and human rights law, global governance, public international law.
"Trump is weaponizing the fentanyl crisis to reinforce his view that the killing of 90-plus people on the boats in the Caribbean was legal under U.S. law, which it is not; it is possibly an international war crime. His implementation considers it part of the western hemisphere, which also includes Canada as subject to U.S. power under the new Trump national security plan. Militarizing the drug as a weapon of war could also give Trump the verve to use the military to police within the U.S. and potentially threaten the viability of the upcoming midterms that seek to oust his power in Congress.
Finally, it can also be a ruse by Trump to seek control of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world in Venezuela which could then make less use of Canadian oil with trade agreements under review.
This is really bad news for the U.S. democracy and the rule of law, and for Canada, the western hemisphere and the world. It could be one of the last mad power triggers by Trump before even his own leadership and Republican Party finally realize what peril he is putting the world in."