Monthly Archives: December 2011

2011 in review…

Posted on December 31, 2011 by

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for Caracas Chronicles. Here’s an excerpt: London Olympic Stadium holds 80,000 people. This blog was viewed about 650,000 times in 2011. If it were competing at London Olympic Stadium, it … Continue reading →

Posted in In Other News | 1 Comment

A wish for the new year

Posted on December 20, 2011 by

Merry Christmas everyone.

Posted in Chavez cancer, Human Rights, Opposition, Primaries, Venezuelan Culture | 47 Comments

Full Confidence

Posted on December 19, 2011 by

Venezuela’s official condolences to the DPRK on the loss of their capital-L Leader were a bit underwhelming. Sure, Chávez’s expression of “full confidence” that the tinpottiest of all the tinpot dictatorships will lead its people to prosperity is galling in … Continue reading →

Posted in International | Tagged | 56 Comments

“A city with wartime levels of violence but no war.”

Posted on December 18, 2011 by

Dorothy Kronick strikes again. First this, now this all-too-rare-in-foreign-media meditation on just how weird Venezuela’s urban violence epidemic is, with bloodletting on a scale normally associated with war spreading despite the absence of identifiable warring factions. Personally, though, I think Kevin Ávila-style … Continue reading →

Posted in Violence | Tagged | 50 Comments

The article that finally made Julio Borges’s head explode

Posted on December 17, 2011 by

Give Julio Borges his due. When the government promised to build 153,000 new homes in 2011, he knew he had his work cut out for him. Facing the kind of Cultural Alzheimer’s disease that eats away at the Venezuelan public … Continue reading →

Posted in The Media | Tagged | 21 Comments

Hitchens on Hugo

Posted on December 16, 2011 by

Christopher Hitchens is dead. Love him or hate him, man, did he have a way with words. His excoriation of Hugo Chávez is something to remember, well worth re-visiting. The money quote, in an article chock-full of them: “… there … Continue reading →

Posted in Chavez's mental health, International chavistas | 42 Comments

PISA-tarios

Posted on December 16, 2011 by

In case you did not know, the government of Miranda recently applied the PISA educational quality test to students in its schools. Longtime reader and commenter Kepler has just informed me that the results from the test are in. His … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 11 Comments

Wiki-MUD

Posted on December 15, 2011 by

A few days ago, I received the first draft of the MUD’s platform. It is an all-encompassing 163-page document, filled with the opposition’s promises, hopes and wishes for the new government. There is a lot to digest in there, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Opposition | 54 Comments

“But I’m not dead yet…”

Posted on December 14, 2011 by

Give your mind a second to reel at the sheer extravagance of the cult of personality in the mural below, now on proud display at the Guardia Nacional’s Regional Command 1 headquarters in Táchira State… Staggered much? Good. Now take … Continue reading →

Posted in Chavismo | Tagged | 104 Comments

The titanic struggle ahead

Posted on December 13, 2011 by

Today, Hugo Chávez launched a new social program: Misión Venezuela en Amor Mayor. Don’t ask me to translate that. The point? Making sure all senior citizens in Venezuela receive a pension. I caught a bit of the cadena today, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Misiones | 71 Comments

Poll Nerd Heaven

Posted on December 13, 2011 by

Can it really be that Ricardo Sucre’s massive trove of Chávez era polling slides has been hiding in plain sight for all these years, and I didn’t know about it? I’m embarrassed, really…though, in fact, I’m too giddy with excitement to … Continue reading →

Posted in Polls | 8 Comments

Did Luisa Estella really say it’s OK to invade? (Updated: Probably, but doubts remain)

Posted on December 12, 2011 by

The media in Venezuela are abuzz with the latest sentence from the Supreme Tribunal. In it, the Court says that Article 471 of Venezuela’s Penal Code, which supposedly orders jail time for people who “invade” or “occupy” land or assets … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution | 21 Comments

The state of play, video version

Posted on December 12, 2011 by

Trying to catch up with the state of the campaign videos. First off, this excellent biographical spot from the Pablo Pérez campaign. Next, a simple ad from Leopoldo López that won rave reviews from Daniel. Maria Corina Machado’s strong debate … Continue reading →

Posted in Henrique Capriles, Leopoldo López, María Corina Machado, Pablo Perez, Primaries | 15 Comments

Today’s Must-Read

Posted on December 12, 2011 by

…is Tom O’Donnell’s latest on the Chinese frustration over chavista foot-dragging on Faja projects. The gap between the conventional wisdom and the real story here is especially wide. Check it out.

Posted in International chavistas | 4 Comments

Quo IVADis?

Posted on December 11, 2011 by

The most suspicious thing about the supposed IVAD poll showing Hugo Chávez beating all opponents by 20+ points, and enjoying popularity ratings in the (stratospheric) seventies? The only people citing this clear outlier in the polls are José Vicente Rangel, … Continue reading →

Posted in Polls | 15 Comments