Over at Foreign Policy’s Transitions blog, I make the case that Spain’s rising party Podemos – which is now leading the polls in Spain – is chavismo’s first cousin. The value added: “Regardless of the distance they want to put between themselves and the chavista revolution, chavismo is strikingly evident in most of what Podemos’…
I apologize for not posting about this sooner. Nonetheless, make sure you read The Guardian’s scorching takedown of El Sistema. British academic and musician Geoffrey Baker did what few people have been able to do: go to Venezuela and take a careful look at El Sistema’s claims of being a flagship model of social integration.…
We’ve been tempted to write about the rocky Presidential election in Brazil, but have held back due to how volatile it has been. One day a candidate dies in a plane crash, then we’re looking at an environmental activist and former housemaid being elected, and the next day we’re tempted to crow about sensible Aécio Neves as…
It’s done. The Bolivarian Government has won (unopposed) the Latin American seat for the United Nations Security Council for the 2015-2017 period. This time, there was no major drama – unlike the previous attempt back in 2006. They won it easily in the first round with 181 votes, way more than the magic number of…
Ah, Miami Venezuelans. In their free time, when they are not dodging accusations of being participants in devious acts, they are actually … doing their job. Going to vote. Organizing rallies. And yes, protesting against that chavista tool, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. You’re probably familiar with Landrieu’s underhanded maneuver to protect Venezuelan human rights violators…
When Hugo Chávez went to the UN, it used to be an event. The outlandish comandante garnered the world’s attention thanks to the deep pockets he had, and let’s face it, to his God-given talent for hogging the limelight and seizing the media’s attention. Nicolás Maduro? Not so much. Aside from a sparsely-attended speech in which the…
I had to do a double-take upon learning that PDVSA had hired Bell Pottinger, the PR firm run by Margaret Thatcher’s former communications director to “clean its image.” Of course, no comment from the revolution, so we have no idea how much they (we) are paying for this, nor for what purpose exactly. The part that stood out from…
OK, so it took a few days, but finally a major political news outlet in the US is following the scandal involving Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and her close, intimate relationship with Citgo’s money. The website Politico – one which *everyone* in Washington reads – has the story in its lead page. In fact, it goes beyond…
A special investigation by Kanako Noda. This post is available in Japanese here. 日本語でも読めます。 Este artículo está disponible en español aquí. The four Japanese students look hot and excited as they clutch their instruments and break into a rendition of “Fiesta en Elorza.” Their performance is accompanied by children dancing in colorful costumes. They’re in Elorza,…
Last week, Argentine newspaper Clarín offered some juicy details on the alleged sale of overpriced rice from Argentina to Venezuela thorugh a company linked to Julio De Vido, Cristina Kirchner’s longtime Planning Minister. The head of the Argenitine Rice Producers’ Federation (Fedenar), Jorge Paoloni, has denounced that a company named Bioart SA has taken over all…
“Oh, from Venezuela…“ my Congolese friend is saying to me, “I once interviewed Hugo Chávez in Paris. He stayed with me for hours, and then he invited me to Venezuela to attend his TV show. Sadly, the opposition then attempted a coup, and the invitation never materialized.“ The misty look on his face suggests that…
El 10 de enero del año pasado, en Venezuela ocurrió una infamia. Un Presidente electo gravemente enfermo no pudo asistir a su toma de posesión, y contra toda lógica, en un atentado más contra la Constitución y el Estado de Derecho, se permitió una “toma de posesión” simbólica que permitió que Nicolás Maduro gobernase sin…
Gabriel García Márquez, one of Latin America’s most widely read and beloved authors, has died today. El Gabo, as he was known to everyone, had strong links to Venezuela. Born and raised in the Colombian coastal region that shares so much cultural affinity with our own country, García Márquez actually lived in Caracas for a while, and…
It was galling to see Venezuelan dissident voices effectively muzzled at OAS today, as the organization voted by 22 countries to 11 to hold a closed-doors session, far reducing the impact of the speech María Corina Machado had planned to give. But it’s easy to overstate the extent of the Venezuelan opposition’s isolation, too. Nearly…
Now that we are done with the introductions and the sappy posts, let us get down to business. I came across this viral article from the Washington Post that describes the hardships endured by sports journalists in their hotels while covering the Sochi Olympics. The tweets and pictures show unfinished facilities, incompetent personnel, pictures of Putin on…
Caracas Chronicles 