The Book
In praise of Blogging the Revolution
“Caracas Chronicles has been an indispensable source of lucidity and perspective in these turbulent times in Venezuela. Toro and Nagel have been right on target, without pretending to be ludicrously impartial; they have been able to rise above polarization, trying hard to make sense of an often implausible reality. Blogging the Revolution shows them at their best. If you are not already a fan, you will become one.”
- Francisco J. Monaldi, RFK Visiting Professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Director, Center on Energy at IESA in Caracas.Recent Comments
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Monthly Archives: February 2012
Where has all the powdered milk gone?
Powdered milk is essential in the average Venezuelan grocery list. For years, it has come and gone from supermarket shelves, same as other food products. Perhaps, this report from the Colombian-Venezuelan border can offer some explanation. “62.000 kilograms of powdered milk were … Continue reading
Posted in Society, The Economy
27 Comments
Germany likes its college professors, Venezuela not so much
A chemistry professor of the University of Marburg, a small german city, thought that his salary of 3.890 euros per month was too low. He went to the Federal Constitutional Court to claim that university professors’ wages are not worth … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Society
76 Comments
More russian weapons = Less “magnicidios”
Venezuela has become the largest buyer on earth for Russian weaponry in recent years. Guess the Russians were feeling the pressure to show show some results for all that cash, just the other week: “A russian “anti-sniper” system, a gift given to the … Continue reading
Dieguito’s Way
Whenever the government tries to blame the crime wave on a media-driven “feeling of insecurity”, I think of stories like this gut-wrenching case of a 12-year old kid in San Felix who terrorized his neighborhood. He was found shot dead underneath a bridge the … Continue reading
Posted in Society, Violence
45 Comments
OneChot shot
On August 2010, music artist OneChot released the song Rotten Town with a powerful music video. It went viral, and made him a subject of a criminal investigation. The lyrics describe the violence in Caracas. Today news broke that OneChot was shot during … Continue reading
Posted in Society, Venezuelan Culture, Violence
35 Comments
Can Capriles be Yeltsin?
We have heard nothing from the government on Chávez’s surgery, and again rumours are flying. As always, they are pretty bad for the Comandante: the more subdued ones talk of a 90-minute long exploratory laparotomy, the more far-out ones about … Continue reading
Posted in Chavez cancer, Constitution, Henrique Capriles
30 Comments
Journalistic Malpractice: Wikibullshit Edition
Three months ago, a reporter (ahem, “intelligence officer” - same thing) comes home tipsy from a night out with a source and fires off an email to her editor (ahem, “handler” – again, same thing) relating a stream of unverifiable, unverified rumors … Continue reading
Aquí Es Donde Están los Reales
Wondering where the zillions of dollars in petro-profits end up? They end up here, plugging financial holes in loss-making firms the state has no business owning. Chávez has “ordered the execution of the $403 million already assigned through the Chinese … Continue reading
Memorializing the Accidental Martyrs of 27F
For years, Chavismo has taken the events of “El Caracazo” as the myth of origin for its political discourse. This year is no different. But relatives of the victims are not too happy about the current state of the monument … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Repression, Society
28 Comments
Snatching the Stability Argument; Building an Inevitability Narrative
Chávez has been running on “stability” for years. His oft-repeated threat that an opposition win would spell certain civil war is, in its own twisted way, an appeal to people’s fear of instability. Sure, the stability Chávez peddles is the same kind … Continue reading
Posted in Chavez cancer, Henrique Capriles
44 Comments
After the primary
As public attention has shifted again to Chávez’s health, the succesful opposition primary still has some unresolved issues. Results in the two most important municipalities in Caracas (Libertador & Sucre) gave narrow victories for Ismael Garcia and Juan Carlos Caldera, both … Continue reading
Posted in Opposition, Primaries, Primero Justicia
17 Comments
Another one writes the post
(A guest post by the gifted Raúl Stolk) After years of struggling with AIDS, Freddy Mercury died one November evening in 1991, and along with him, the musical project called Queen. Nobody can deny Freddy Mercury was Queen. Any efforts … Continue reading
Posted in Chavez cancer
42 Comments
Maiquetía is not what it used to be
For Venezuelans, the word Maiquetía doesn’t bring to mind the town on the shore of the Caribbean, but Venezuela’s kafkaesque gateway to the world: Simón Bolívar International Airport. Originally built in the 1940s, the airport as we know it was built … Continue reading
Posted in infrastructure, Society, Venezuelan Culture
46 Comments
Guilty Pleasure Chronicles
For years, I’ve been a lurker over on PanfletoNegro.com – the unique, anarkopunkish open-to-all-comers group blog that’s something like a Prodavinci for hipsters. It’s alternatively appalling and compelling (compalling?) – but nearly always fun. Today, I cracked and finally wrote … Continue reading
