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: May 2012
Tocorón or not To corón, that is the question
I wonder if in writing all these prison insanity posts for a foreign audience I’m not guilty of exoticizing Venezuela too much, rendering it so foreign, distant-seeming and culturally alien that normal Western people will stop seeing it as part of their … Continue reading
Posted in Prisons
14 Comments
Forget the Talking Heads; Watch The Spending Binge
OK, granted, I’m getting to the controversy a few days late, but that’s because dimes y diretes between Rafael Poleo (et. al.) and Ibsen Martínez (and hangers on) leave me cold. In case you missed it, it all started with this Rafael … Continue reading
Posted in Chavez cancer, Chavismo, Corruption, Henrique Capriles, Politics
Tagged Ibsen, populism, Rafael Poleo
32 Comments
My theory r.e.: Dan Rather’s theory (Updated)
The one thing we know for sure is that Cuban doctors monopolize all the first-hand information on the state of Chávez’s health, and when we say Cuban doctors, what we mean is G2. So how can you take those lemons … Continue reading
Posted in Chavez cancer
122 Comments
Note to Self: Stop Procrastinating and Write that Obit Already
This is what it is. [Dan Rather] has been told that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive cancer that has “entered the end stage”. The information and the quote come from a highly respected source close to … Continue reading
Posted in Chavez cancer
82 Comments
The “S” Word
Last week, the second game of the Venezuelan Basketball League’s final series was underway in Puerto La Cruz between Marinos de Anzoátegui and Trotamundos de Carabobo. It was a great game; trotamundos were up 94-87 with 15 seconds left on the … Continue reading
Posted in Chavismo, Electric Crisis, The Economy
23 Comments
Reif in his own words
CNN en Español has an interview with L. Rafael Reif, the Venezuelan recently elected President of the MIT. Video in this link.
Posted in Education
4 Comments
A grim counterpoint to Estudiantina Komaba
Japanese folk playing Venezuelan music? Surely we can one-up them with the thing we do best. I’m not talking about oil, or busty girls…I’m talking about grim, grim irony. (Jesus, there’s even a radio ad!)
Know Hope
The MUD forcefully condemns the Hula Massacre and Chávez’s ongoing support for mass murder in Syria. La colaboración venezolana con el gobierno de Damasco constituye un menosprecio a las decisiones de la comunidad internacional en defensa de los derechos humanos … Continue reading
Betting on the end
Wanna make a buck or two off of Hugo Chávez’s illness? Ethical issues aside, Intrade gives you the chance. They are running a future’s market on whether Hugo Chávez remains President of Venezuela by December 31, 2012. If Chávez is … Continue reading
Posted in Chavez cancer
32 Comments
Caracas Chronicles – presente!
Turns out we had a Caracas Chronicles mole at that Estudiantina Komaba concert in Tokyo last week. Represent! The mostly Japanese audience of about 250 threatened to overwhelm the small space for the concert. As for the atmosphere, we can … Continue reading
“Dejar salir es entrar más rápido”
Many of my recent writings on this blog have touched upon the frustrating reality that people in Venezuela have a hard time understanding basic trade-offs. Our collective inability to comprehend that a dollar spent here is a dollar you can’t … Continue reading
Posted in Society
8 Comments
Five years ago, Chávez snatched the remote
Five years ago, I was finishing college in Maracaibo. The night of May 27th, 2007 was a tense one, and everybody was glued to their TV sets close to midnight, something unusual for a Sunday night. It wasn’t a sport … Continue reading
Posted in History, Human Rights, Politics, Repression, The Media
45 Comments
Another day, another failure
Back in January 2010, Hugo Chávez announced that his administration wanted to promote non-oil exports. As is customary, he didn’t have a plan, but he had a catchy name for it anyway – in this case, a toll-free number, 0800-EXPORTA, … Continue reading
Posted in The Economy
54 Comments
Fuelling a massacre in Hula
Now that the U.N. has documented the stabbing and shooting massacre of 92 civilians, including 32 children, by the Assad Regime in Hula, Syria; what do you think are the chances of a statement from our very own, busy-supplying-the-murderers-with-fuel cancillería? … Continue reading
Policy Evaluation as Subversive Activity
My new piece on that FP Blog takes one more look at that 2006 research into Misión Robinson. I’m totally fascinated by that paper, and only wish I’d seen it much sooner. The contrast between its plodding, sober, evidence-based appraisal … Continue reading
