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: July 2012
We also have compulsory government advertising on TV here…
…it’s just ever so slightly different in tone from what you get in Venezuela: Just to be clear: governments do of course have a legitimate need to communicate with the people on certain issues now and then. In proper democracies, … Continue reading
When Ventajismo goes Meta
How meta is it that these five Ciudadanía Activa spots denouncing the blatantly illegal use of State resources for campaign purposes just got ordered off the air, for contravening campaign rules?!
Posted in Presidential Election, The Media
29 Comments
Doing Rather Well
Remember this? Yup…two months ago Dan Rather told us president Chávez would be dead by now. Ermmmmm…is it maybe time put in another call to that highly respected source of yours for an update, Dan? It’s funny how all the … Continue reading
Got coke?
Guess which country handles in transit 24% of the cocaine that passes through South America? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
Posted in Drugs
147 Comments
Foro en Facebook en FP
As you might have noticed, Juan and I keep fighting recently, so it was nice to be able to partner with him to write a column, a cuatro manos, on that Capriles Facebook Forum yesterday.
Posted in Henrique Capriles
3 Comments
On the Unbearable Lightness of Being Simón Bolívar
Here’s my ditty for the International Herald Tribune this week…(and no, I did not write that headline … ugh!)
Posted in History
9 Comments
Another poll shows the gap is closing
Until today, I had never heard of Encuestadora 6to Poder Datos. I had heard of Datos, alright, easily the most secretive but one of the best regarded pollsters in Venezuela. But this one didn’t ring a bell. Then I used … Continue reading
Posted in Polls
37 Comments
Live-blogging the Facebook forum
Henrique Capriles is having a Facebook online forum tonight. Details here. We’re live-blogging the thing… 8:23 - Wrapping up, it felt oddly like one of those Primary season debates, only shorn of all of the cranks and obsessives. Practice makes perfect, … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
22 Comments
First, they grabbed la vinotinto; now, el vinotinto
During one of Chavez’s latest cadenas, this happened: “I don’t always want people to drink alcohol, but when I do, I want them to drink my own brand.” It’s not just that promotion of alcoholic beverages in radio and TV is … Continue reading
Posted in In Other News, Venezuelan Culture
13 Comments
Now we know who Bolívar really reincarnated as…
Not Chávez, not CAP, but… Ricardo Montalban. Now, that is uncanny. All S-Bol needs now is a midget next to him shouting “el galeón! el galeón!” [HT: hgdam.]
Maduro’s Prestige-o-meter
So according to Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights‘s prestige is in a state of catastrophic collapse. The Syrian government, though? They’re peaches. [Highlights – or rather, lowlights – from HRW’s November 2011 report on the … Continue reading
Posted in International chavistas
11 Comments
El Amo del Uncanny Valley
S-Bol’s 229th birthday won’t be an ordinary one. Right in the middle of the presidential campaign, the Chavernment will use it to push its electoral narrative while continue the adaptation of our history to its ideological purposes. First, a new … Continue reading
Posted in Chavismo, History, Politics, Presidential Election
61 Comments
The Opposite of Bolivarianism
On S-Bol’s not-so-happy 229th, I’d like to make a rather obvious but not-often-enough-stated point that came to mind reading AUP’s eye-opening Godos, Insurgentes y Visionarios: if Hugo Chávez has a legitimate claim to being the reincarnation of an independence era figure, … Continue reading
The original paper by Luis Oliveros and Domingo Sifontes
On the cost of the gasoline subsidy from SIC can be downloaded here – courtesy of GEHA and a scanner. (Don’t worry, the PDF is virus-free.) (No idea what this is about? Check out the controversy in the previous thread.) … Continue reading
Posted in Oil
8 Comments
Not even the economic reporters have basic economic literacy…
How bad is the problem with economic illiteracy in Venezuela? It’s bad enough that even people whose whole job it is to write about the Venezuelan economy for one of our “quality” papers fail to understand the bare basics, such … Continue reading
Posted in Oil, The Media
76 Comments
