Monthly Archives: April 2012

Balance Sheet Kryptonite

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

It’s quite amazing: one of the biggest economic reforms of the last 14 years is to be unveiled today or tomorrow and, even now, the public has no real idea what it will say. Chávez’s long delayed reform the Organic … Continue reading →

Posted in Labor Movement, The Economy | Tagged , | 50 Comments

Chain of fools

Posted on April 29, 2012 by

An excellent initiative from the folks at Monitoreo Ciudadano: el cadenómetro. A page exclusively designed to keep track of the number of hours Chávez is on national radio and TV campaigning. He has already chalked up 20+ hours since early … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption | 10 Comments

As if on cue

Posted on April 29, 2012 by

Chavismo: 13 years without missing an opportunity to make fools of themselves. Case in point: the celebration of the second anniversary … of the opening of a Twitter account. A perfect bookend to my article on FP.

Posted in Chavez's mental health | 19 Comments

Adventures in Petrocaudillism

Posted on April 27, 2012 by

First, you need a tiny bit of background to understand what petrocaudillism is. As far back as I can remember, there have been three ways the oil industry can transfer money to the Venezuelan state: It pays a percentage of … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Oil | 49 Comments

@chavezcandanga #FAIL

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

What does Twitter represent in the Venezuelan public sphere? Twitter IS the Venezuelan public sphere. My latest over at Foreign Policy’s Transitions blog.

Posted in Chavez's mental health | 36 Comments

2.08

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

It’s a good thing we have Setty to remind us. Otherwise, some of us might forget to flip through PDVSA’s always revealing yet seldom well pondered Annual Report. This year, I want to pull just one number out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Corruption, Oil | Tagged | 46 Comments

Aponte for Beginners

Posted on April 25, 2012 by

Whatever my qualms about the story, I think it’s important to get what happened on the record. 

Posted in Chavismo, Corruption, Military | 164 Comments

Chavismo Ruins Paradise

Posted on April 25, 2012 by

All through the last 13 years, I’d had this – in retrospect, rather complacent – feeling that, try as they might, chavismo would never be able to ruin the very best part of Venezuela: the knee-weakeningly beautiful Canaima National Park. … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, In Other News | 40 Comments

Remember when the Caracas Metro was a symbol of order and cleanliness?

Posted on April 24, 2012 by

Yeah, me neither. Update: As a keen-eyed reader points out, Globovision wrongly labeled this video with yesterday’s date, even though it was actually shot in October 2008..

Posted in Venezuelan Culture | 39 Comments

Ultimadamente, chico, which language do you prefer to read?

Posted on April 24, 2012 by

So Juan’s response to Ricardo V. left me wondering just how the language thing breaks down among readers. Obviously, Miguel O. was right: we did find it hard to sustain a Spanish parallel blog. But I wonder if maybe Juan’s … Continue reading →

Posted in In Other News | 53 Comments

Gato viejo no caza ratón

Posted on April 23, 2012 by

Just this once, we’re posting in Spanish here, in response to Ricardo Villasmil’s recent column in El Universal. Estimado Ricardo, Te escribo para darte las gracias por tu artículo en El Universal y para aceptar la invitación a debatir la … Continue reading →

Posted in Henrique Capriles, The Economy | 60 Comments

NYT’s still got it…

Posted on April 22, 2012 by

The New York Times’ sprawling investigation into corruption at Wal-Mart de México (and the subsequent Bentonville cover-up) is worth reading for the intrinsic pleasure of seeing a ghastly corporate fuck-up dissected in minute, forensic detail. It’s also worth reading to … Continue reading →

Posted in In Other News | 56 Comments

Pretty please, Mr. Elm, just this once can I have a pear?!

Posted on April 20, 2012 by

Count me exasperated with the way the Aponte^2 scandal is shaking out. Basically, what we have here is a self-confessed criminal making a bunch of airy, generic allegations, all of them unsubstantiated, all of them unhinged from any specific evidence. … Continue reading →

Posted in Chavismo, Corruption, The Media | 66 Comments

If you want to study abroad, CADIVI gets to pick your major

Posted on April 19, 2012 by

CADIVI (the currency controls administration body) has been subsidizing the travel plans of Venezuelans since its creation more than nine years ago. With no end in sight to its “political” job, the agency keeps finding new ways to make miserable, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Society, The Economy | 49 Comments

You probably think this post is about you

Posted on April 19, 2012 by

Yes, we’re all so vain. My latest over at the FP blog.

Posted in Society, Venezuelan Culture | 8 Comments