About the Author

Maria Paez Victor is a sociologist, born in Caracas, Venezuela where she obtained her first degree. She has an MA from the University of Kent at Canterbury and a Ph.D. from York University, Canada. She lives in Toronto, and travels regularly to Venezuela and Britain. A life-long enthusiast of Latin American and British history and politics, she participates regularly on Canadian and Venezuelan television, radio, and at public events, and has published numerous articles on recent and historical topics in both English and Spanish. As a curious anecdote, while researching for this book, a remote personal connection surfaced with Richard Vowell, who served under three revolutionary generals who are in the author's family tree, among them Jose Antonio Paez, leader of the Llanero cavalry and later President of Venezuela.