Guest speaker Daniel Di Martino visited Algonquin last Thursday, Feb. 10 to give a presentation about socialism, displaying a strong political message and setting off controversy over the presentation’s educational value. 

Di Martino is a Venezuelan economist and freedom activist who gave an optional presentation to students during periods four and five. His presentation was titled “How socialism destroyed Venezuela,” and it focused on Venezuela’s economic decline, which he claims was a result of the government’s socialist policies. Using his personal experience and economic expertise, he depicted the downfall of Venezuela while also warning students about the risk of the United States “falling prey to the socialist ideology that destroyed Venezuela.” 

History teacher Gina Johnston heard Di Martino speak at a Victims of Communism course she took over the summer and felt that his story was important for Algonquin students to hear. 

“Hopefully, students took away from Daniel the struggles that people endure outside our borders, and that there is more to this world than our political divisions,” Johnston said.

Neither Venezuelan history nor socialism are taught in-depth in the high school curriculum, so this presentation was an eye-opening experience for many. Science teacher Maria Homberg took her Physics class to the presentation and enjoyed hearing about a new perspective. 

“He was a polished speaker,” Homberg said in an email interview. “It is an inspiration to hear of people who care about people and a country going through a difficult situation.”

Senior Eddie Collins also enjoyed Di Martino’s presentation. He did not know much about socialism in Venezuela before Di Martino’s visit, but hearing his speech gave him valuable insight into the struggles that Venezuelans endure. 

“Daniel is definitely an outspoken person, which is cool, and I think the overall morals of that speech have a good place in today’s society,” Collins said. 

Di Martino’s presentation had strong political undertones, as he argued that socialism is an “evil ideology” that should be kept away from America. He also criticized specific American representatives who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

“The threat to the United States is real because of these individuals,” Di Martino said in his Feb. 10 speech. “They want to lie to Americans here and tell them that ‘No, America’s never going to become like Venezuela,’ but come on. That is an exaggeration.”

“He said that he doesn’t pretend to be something he is not,” Johnston said. “It is right on his website who he is and his belief system, which is fine. We just need to be like ‘it’s okay, he has a belief system that maybe some kids don’t agree with.’” 

However, some students felt that Di Martino’s argument may have lacked the acknowledgement of viewpoints other than his own. 

“I think there is value in learning about other perspectives, but I think he didn’t exactly do that because it was a little bit one-sided,” senior Jared Lipkin said. “It seemed like some of the facts he used in his presentation were cherry-picked and not really representative of a full picture. He promoted his narrative without really opening himself up to hold a dialogue.”

Collins agreed that Di Martino did not address both sides of the issue to the full extent. 

“I think he was definitely more towards the anti-socialism side,” Collins said. “I don’t really remember much about seeing the other side, but I think that with students’ prior knowledge they can formulate their own takeaways.”

Principal Sean Bevan emphasizes that when a guest speaker shares their political views, it is important that students have the educational background necessary to think critically about the value of the speaker’s ideas. 

“While I do think that there is ample room in a school environment to hear different perspectives than we might ordinarily hear, it’s important that students have clarity about the educational objectives of having the guest speaker visit,” Bevan said in an email interview. “For a speaker sharing a strong political message—as was this case—I would expect the teachers that brought their classes to do work ahead of the visit, so that they could think critically about his message and then implement well-structured lessons to follow up.”