The Human Rights Institute proudly presents our event series, Legal Machinery of Repression—a series that brings together voices revealing how repression leaves traces of defiance, memory, and testimony that outlive the machinery itself. Join us for the fifth event in the series focusing on memory, political repression, and the struggle to preserve truth in Venezuela. Memory is never only about the past—it can also be a way of resisting silence, confronting impunity, and insisting that repression not be forgotten.
This event brings together Génesis María Dávila Vázquez, Venezuelan human rights lawyer and founder of Defiende Venezuela, and Jesús Armas, Venezuelan civic leader, former political prisoner, and Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia University. Drawing from both lived experience and human rights advocacy, the discussion will explore how survivors, families, and civil society actors transform personal and collective trauma into public memory, legal advocacy, and resistance.
Speakers:
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Génesis María Dávila Vázquez: Founder and President, Defiende Venezuela
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Jesús Armas: Venezuelan democracy and human rights advocate; former political prisoner; Obama Foundation Scholar, Columbia University
Moderator:
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Marian Da Silva: TrialWatch Legal Fellow, Columbia Law School
- When: Tuesday, March 31, 2026 | 12:10pm – 1:10pm
- Where: Columbia Law School | JG 107
Lunch will be provided.
Co-Sponsors: Columbia Human Rights Law Review
Please register by scrolling down this page:
Event Contact
HRI
- 9172917093
- Send an email