Monthly Archives: March 2008

Quico says: For such a familiar object, there’s something quite bizarre about a mirror, that strange device that seems to represent reality “as it really is” while quietly reversing it, making your right side your left side and your left … Continue reading →

Quico says: So, as I mentioned, in the middle-class-to-escualidón circles I tend to frequent in Caracas, Cadivi has become a constant, ever-present worry, a universal obsession. Everyone you meet seems to be at some point along the process of getting … Continue reading →

Quico says: So, as I mentioned, in the middle-class-to-escualidón circles I tend to frequent in Caracas, Cadivi has become a constant, ever-present worry, a universal obsession. Everyone you meet seems to be at some point along the process of getting … Continue reading →

Quico says: Ask anyone at all and they’ll tell you: hands down, the three most feared words in Venezuela’s bureaucratic vocabulary are “there’s no material.” It’s a kind of code phrase, meaning something like “no, seriously, there’s no use trying … Continue reading →

Ask anyone at all and they’ll tell you: hands down, the three most feared words in Venezuela’s bureaucratic vocabulary are “there’s no material.” It’s a kind of code phrase, meaning something like “no, seriously, there’s no use trying to bribe … Continue reading →

Quico says: My arrival in Caracas seems to have coincided with Milk’s. Everyone was real happy about that. It was all UHT, no fresh stuff, but I guess it’d been months since there’d been any kind of milk around so … Continue reading →

Quico says: My arrival in Caracas seems to have coincided with Milk’s. Everyone was real happy about that. It was all UHT, no fresh stuff, but I guess it’d been months since there’d been any kind of milk around so … Continue reading →

Quico says: So, wondering why posting’s been so light recently? Here’s the deal: I spent the last three weeks in Caracas. Elementary paranoia kept me from disclosing as much before coming back, but now that I am safely ensconced in … Continue reading →

Quico says: So, wondering why posting’s been so light recently? Here’s the deal: I spent the last three weeks in Caracas. Elementary paranoia kept me from disclosing as much before coming back, but now that I am safely ensconced in … Continue reading →

Katy says: Posting will be light in the next few days. Quico is traveling and I’m full of work and family duties. But friend and all-too-infrequent poster Lucía sends us a link of yet another foreigner’s impression of the full … Continue reading →

Katy says: Posting will be light in the next few days. Quico is traveling and I’m full of work and family duties. But friend and all-too-infrequent poster Lucía sends us a link of yet another foreigner’s impression of the full … Continue reading →

Quico says: Julio Rivas Pita, the man-on-the-ground here for Spain’s El Mundo, is running extracts from his upcoming book, Chávez para Españoles, in a new blog. His latest piece is on the backstory to the operation that got Raul Reyes. … Continue reading →

Quico says: So, it turns out English courts have no jurisdiction over the PDVSA/ExxonMobil pissing match. They’ve just lifted the preliminary asset freeze on PDVSA, handing chavismo a massive propaganda win and a chance to sell anything and everything PDVSA … Continue reading →

Quico says: So, it turns out English courts have no jurisdiction over the PDVSA/ExxonMobil pissing match. They’ve just lifted the preliminary asset freeze on PDVSA, handing chavismo a massive propaganda win and a chance to sell anything and everything PDVSA … Continue reading →

Katy says: Every Monday I get in my inbox the abridged transcript from the previous day’s political reality show, “Hello, Mr. President!” While I wouldn’t be caught dead watching this show, I always make it a point to read the … Continue reading →