Today's speaker was Juber Arteaga, who emigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela 4 years ago to escape political persecution there. Oil-rich Venezuela was once the richest country in South America. But overspending, lower oil prices and political unrest all combined to trigger a decline for the once-prosperous nation. In 1998, populist leader Hugo Chávez was elected president and embarked on a massive social spending binge. which significantly reduced poverty, but increased the country's increased dependence on oil. After oil prices plummeted due to a glut in the late 1980s, the government struggled under the weight of national debt and ultimately Venezuela had to accept a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Austerity measures were imposed which resulted in sharp price increases for consumer goods and services. This created great unrest. Protests turned violent, leading to a nationwide curfew and a suspension of civil liberties. The leaders who followed Chavez have become increasingly autocratic and those who opposed the changes, including Mr. Arteaga, faced imprisonment if they stayed. He moved to MN in 2021. While safe here, he became isolated and very depressed for a time But he slowly started forced himself to become active, study and learn the language and he now works as a personal trainer in Owatonna. His is an inspiring story of overcoming extremely difficult circumstances and learning to adapt and grow when change was forced upon him.