Monthly Archives: May 2009

Quico says: So I flew into Maiquetía yesterday and man, what a let down. Not one dirty look, or extra check or even the vaguest hint of intimidation. Buenas noches – stamp – in you go. And that was after … Continue reading →

Quico says: I swear when I first heard that Chávez wanted to do a 96-hour marathon version of Aló, presidente to celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary on the air, I just took it for granted the story was a Chigüire … Continue reading →

Juan Cristóbal says: – In the last few months, the Chávez administration has gone into overdrive radicalism. Whether it’s the forced takeover of vast sectors of the economy, the harassment of private opposition media, the passage of draconian new legislation, … Continue reading →

Quico says: A year ago, when I went to Caracas, it seemed as if everyone I met had a single thing on their minds – Cadivi. Every conversation seemed to circle back to it: how to get dollars, the latest … Continue reading →

Quico says: Here’s a sobering thought: it’s a good bet that this month worldwide many more people have heard about Hugo Chávez giving a state-produced cel phone a vaguely cock-associated name than about his moves to silence dissenting broadcast media, … Continue reading →

Quico says: So, there’s an earthquake. It wakes you up. You turn on the TV and see a report about it. What do you think is more likely to leave you feeling alarmed, fearful, anxious or panicky? The earthquake, or … Continue reading →

Quico says: Five years ago today, the court-packing Organic Statute of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice came into effect. As I’ve recently discussed, I think that event should be recognized as the moment when Venezuela ceased to be a constitutional … Continue reading →

Quico says: So you want to know how a minimally responsible petrostate elite might manage the oil industry’s boom-and-bust cycle? Go ask the Norwegians. Facing a worldwide slump that has seen energy prices tumble dramatically, the government has just announced … Continue reading →

Juan Cristobal says: – The Chávez administration has been gobbling up everything in sight at such a pace, it’s actually nationalizing itself now! The Banco Industrial de Venezuela (BIV) was Venezuela’s original state-owned bank: one of the few holdovers of … Continue reading →

Quico says: My guess now is that when the historians of the future come to periodize the Chávez era, they’ll settle on something like: December 1998 – November 2001: Ascendent ChavismoJanuary 2002 – August 2004: Acute PolarizationAugust 2004 – February … Continue reading →

Quico says: One of the great joys of blogging is when a post sets off a really good debate. The comments thread following my previous post was one of those: substantive, serious, and by turns heartfelt and piercingly insightful. Thanks … Continue reading →

There are missiles coming from every direction. In just a few weeks, it was the comisarios, the ports and airports, Rosales, Ledezma, the Miranda clinics, the oil service companies, farm expropiations, laws challenging private property, el Ateneo, Globovision and the … Continue reading →

Quico says: What I find most significant about Chavez’s announcement that he has decided to shut down Globovision is, precisely, that he announced it. Think about it: if the guy was at all concerned to maintain even a minimal kind … Continue reading →

Quico says: Gah! I really don’t have time to blog about it properly right now. But Chavez’s move to seize the oil sector’s private contractors is a catastrophe of almost unimaginable proportions. The contractors have been undergoing death-by-a-thousand-cuts for some … Continue reading →

Juan Cristobal says: – This from the Annals of Dadaist Dictatorship Chronicles: Two bakers in the city of Guanare, in central Venezuela, were arraigned today. Their crime? Selling bread for a price higher than the regulated price. Noticias 24 reports … Continue reading →