Monthly Archives: March 2012

Our education is down, but kids like Álvaro can lift it up

Posted on March 31, 2012 by

UNICEF just published its annual report on the state of childhood around the globe. Venezuela fails to shine. The huge education gap between the rich and poor puts us in the same league as countries like Benin, Pakistan and Tajikistan. A big … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Society | 67 Comments

The crusade of Victor Martínez

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

Years ago, Victor Martínez was one of the most important members in Lara’s state legislature. Elected as a chavista, he split from the PSUV in 2008 after serious differences with their regional leadership and specially, with former Governor Luis Reyes Reyes. … Continue reading →

Posted in Chavismo, Politics, Violence | 12 Comments

For those of you keeping score at home…

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

It’s entirely academic at this point, but for those of you keeping score at home: president Chávez has once again brazenly, directly violated the 1999 constitution with the newly unveiled reforms to the Organic Law on the Financial Management of … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Venezuelan Culture | 29 Comments

The Datanalisis Poll in Full

Posted on March 29, 2012 by

Slides! Slides! Piping hot Datanalisis slides! Get your slides right here! (link now fixed – oops!) FWIW, Datanalisis also has HCR beating the panoply of imaginable dauphins, though by smaller margins:

Posted in Polls | Tagged | 70 Comments

Conviasa and her terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Posted on March 29, 2012 by

Conviasa, the state airline created in 2004 to replace Viasa (the former flag carrier) is having a really bad week. The European Union just banned it from flying to Europe and the Caribbean. The reason? Not complying with “operational procedures.” The … Continue reading →

Posted in infrastructure, Society | 42 Comments

Explaining Shortages

Posted on March 29, 2012 by

Spend a semester in an introductory economics course and the link between price controls and scarcity becomes perfectly clear to you. Thing is, 99% of the population won’t spend a semester studying economics. So…¿cómo se hace? Maybe like this… or … Continue reading →

Posted in The Economy | Tagged , | 20 Comments

Chavez doesn’t let facts ruin a good excuse

Posted on March 29, 2012 by

Hugo Chavez finally spoke about crime and insecurity from Havana, just because of the latest recommendations of the U.S. State Departament for those travelling to Venezuela. His response: We’re ain’t that bad, compared to the U.S.A. But wait, the crime … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Society, Violence | 25 Comments

What on earth does Pablo Pérez think he’s doing?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

In a shockingly ham-fisted move, Pablo Pérez’s announced earlier today that the opposition is in talks with a number of chavista governors, including those in Trujillo, Mérida, Bolívar and Yaracuy, to get them to switch their allegiance to Capriles. It’s just obvious … Continue reading →

Posted in Pablo Perez, Politics | 32 Comments

Repeat After Me: Normal People Hate Politics

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

Just a note on the recent spate of apparently contradictory polls. We’re seven months out from the election and, this far out, it’s only a tiny sliver of the population that’s paying any attention at all to the presidential election. … Continue reading →

Posted in Polls | 31 Comments

Look what you’ve done

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

A few days ago, we held our first Caracas Chronicles fundraiser for Petare’s Escuela Oropeza. Thanks to your generous help, we raised our goal in just a few hours. Last weekend, three readers (Federico Ortega, Roberto Mateu, and Rodrigo Linares, … Continue reading →

Posted in In Other News | 21 Comments

Nobody said it would be easy

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

Bloomberg (again, kudos Corina and Daniel) is reporting the latest Datanálisis numbers. Datanálisis, as you know, is one of the two pollsters Caracas Chronicles trusts on Venezuela. Datanálisis has Chávez leading Capriles by 13 percentage points, 44 to 31. When … Continue reading →

Posted in Polls | 100 Comments

Lysenko Chronicles

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

Are you a young scientist? Want a go at a Fundayacucho Scholarship to study abroad? Better make sure you’re wearing the right colored T-Shirt. I realize there’s nothing new here…but there’s still something shocking about seeing it in a web-form. … Continue reading →

Posted in Chavismo, Misiones | Tagged | 15 Comments

Clear as Ditchwater

Posted on March 26, 2012 by

We’re now on week four or five of a relentless national debate about drinking water quality in Venezuela. Everybody, but everybody, has heard the stories about drinking water being unsafe not only in Monagas but throughout the Lago de Valencia … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | 53 Comments

Consultores 21: The Poll in Full

Posted on March 25, 2012 by

Here are the slides for that March C21 poll…in English, for once! After the jump, the real reason chavismo is pooping its collective pants:

Posted in Polls | 29 Comments

Silencing Dissent 101

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

Here’s how the big boys do it: Declare that voicing a legitimate public concern is an act of terrorism. Have the highest authority in the land endorse this theory. Have key institutions proceed inmediately against the evil-doers. Order the media to face … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Repression, The Media | 21 Comments