Margarita López Maya (born June 6, 1951, in New York, United States) is a Venezuelan historian and retired professor at the Central University of Venezuela (Universidad Central de Venezuela, UCV). She is known for her research on contemporary Venezuelan history, particularly regarding the Hugo Chávez era, popular protest, and socio-political processes in Latin America.
Early Life and Education
López Maya was born in New York City on June 6, 1951. She moved to Venezuela at the age of six. She earned her undergraduate degree in 1981 and her Ph.D. in Social Sciences in 1995, both from the Central University of Venezuela.
Career
López Maya was a member of the academic staff at the Central University of Venezuela from 1982 until her retirement in 2010. She served as a full professor and researcher at the Center for Development Studies (CENDES) at UCV. She was the editor of the journal Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales from 2000 to 2004. She also served as president of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) from 2002 until 2023. She has been a visiting fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame and a visiting scholar at the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR) at Tulane University.
Research
López Maya's research focuses on contemporary socio-historical and socio-political processes in Latin America, with a particular emphasis on Venezuela. Her work has examined popular protest, new left-wing parties, political projects against hegemonies, social actors, and the political dynamics of the Chavista era. She met and interviewed Hugo Chávez in 1996, two years before his election to the presidency. She has also written about the 1989 Caracazo protests and their implications for institutional stability in Venezuela.
Selected Publications
- Los suburbios caraqueños del siglo XIX (1986), Caracas: Academia Nacional de la Historia. ISBN 978-980-222-011-3.
- El Banco de los Trabajadores de Venezuela (1989), Caracas: CDCH UCV. ISBN 978-980-00-0315-2.
- "The Venezuelan Caracazo of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness" (2003), Journal of Latin American Studies, 35(1): 117–137.
- "Venezuela: The Political Crisis of Post-Chavismo" (2013), Social Justice, 40(4): 68–87.
- "Hugo Chavez Frias: His Movement and His Presidency" (2022), in Ellner, S. & Hellinger, D. (eds.), Venezuelan Politics in the Chavez Era: Class, Polarization, and Conflict, Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp. 73–92.
