Monthly Archives: December 2009

Quico says: I’m still not over Chávez’s speech in Copenhagen last week. It’s been a long time since Hugo Chávez has sent my blood pressure to those lofty levels. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but the speech’s mass of … Continue reading →

Quico and Juan Cristobal say: What do you think would happen if the head of one of the world’s five largest oil companies started lecturing the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen about the evils of global warming? How do … Continue reading →

Quico says: …rumors, partly fueled by Aristóbulo’s keynote address to the National Assembly, are now heavy that Chávez is considering launching a fresh constituyente – a Constitutional Convention to draft yet another new constitution. Crazy enough to be true? Comments … Continue reading →

Quico says: Venezuela is far from the first country where an autocratic regime has used its economic muscle to systematically punish dissidents where it hurts: in their pocketbooks. It may, however, be the first where the government has left an … Continue reading →

Juan Cristobal says: Chile held the first round of Presidential voting yesterday, and since I’m married to the place Quico asked me to pitch in. While most news services focused on the strong showing of right-wing billionaire Sebastián Piñera and … Continue reading →

Quico says: As I think about it, the truly newsworthy aspect of the jailing of the judge who freed Eligio Cedeño isn’t that they jailed her – hell, that’s almost normal – but that they jailed the whole damn court! … Continue reading →

Quico says: The decision to jail judge María Lourdes Afiuni, following a bizarre series of events that saw Hugo Chávez flip out after the judge ordered – apparently without permission – the release of disgraced Bolibanquero Eligio Cedeño (who promptly … Continue reading →

Quico says: The Latinbarómetro Poll, published by The Economist, always has an eyebrow-raising stat or two to offer. This year’s study, for instance, asks the age old question: in which large country in the region do people have the strongest … Continue reading →

Quico says: If citizens’ ability to reason together on issues of common concern in the public sphere is the cornerstone of real democracy, Venezuela is in more trouble than we know. These days, in Venezuela, the public sphere looks like … Continue reading →

Quico and Juan Cristóbal say: The new software platform for Caracas Chronicles is finally here! After several months of intense work, the site is now presentable enough for everyone to look at. Check it out!For now, the new site is … Continue reading →

Northeasternnnnn!!! (Taken 10 a.m. I’m actually a recent-enough immigrant to Quebec to get excited by this kind of thing…)

Quico says: Judging from the reaction, rather a lot of you misinterpreted my last post as some kind of woolly call to hold a nice, reasonable debate with chavismo. I want to be quite clear about my position here: no … Continue reading →

Quico says: One thing all critics of the Chávez regime seem to agree on is that democracy in Venezuela is pretty much dead. But what exactly do we mean by that? When we talk about democracy we’re usually talking about … Continue reading →

Juan Cristóbal says: Lately, this story about the 1988 Referendum that ended the Pinochet dictatorship keeps coming to mind. (Translated from Spanish Wikipedia): “At 12:18 AM on October 6th (the night after the Referendum, when results were trickling in), Pinochet … Continue reading →

Juan Cristóbal says: – It’s easy to forget, but before we were oligarchs, squalid ones and betrayers of the homeland, we were simply – his invisible friends. I can’t think of a better tonic to Hugo Chávez’s vulgarity than the … Continue reading →