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
hal9000 on The best bit from the Mario… Ricardo on The best bit from the Mario… jctt on The best bit from the Mario… Get a clue on A house divided hal9000 on The best bit from the Mario… Dirichlet on The best bit from the Mario… Fifi on The best bit from the Mario… Ignacio on A house divided jctt on The best bit from the Mario… Roy on The best bit from the Mario… Popular Now
-
Author Archives: Francisco Toro
The best bit from the Mario Tape
It’s hard to pick just one, there’s so much crazy stuff in there. I’m tempted to go with “the opposition had a plan to commit election fraud on April 14th”. But no. The best bit is: MARIO SILVA: El día … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
17 Comments
Remember SICAD? Remember THIS guy?
You don’t? Don’t feel bad: nobody does. After a single dollar auction back on March 24th, the new parallel-to-CADIVI system for distributing dollars whimpered off into the oblivion where it should always have dwelled. No pragmatic decision-making of any kind … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
24 Comments
Six years on, they still don’t get it.
I first ran the post below all the way back in 2007. It’s both shocking and totally unsurprising that six years on, they still don’t get it. Six slides is all it takes There’s something vaguely embarrassing about the whole … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
63 Comments
Exactly how violated is the 1999 constitution?
The thoroughgoing collapse of law-based government in Venezuela has been a constant theme in this blog since 2002. But this week, in a time-wasting exercise of epic proportions, I decided to try to put a number to the timeless question: … Continue reading
Posted in Constitution
24 Comments
And then chavismo collapsed into a scary collective insanity
Man, they don’t make ‘em like Alma Guillermoprieto anymore… While his political base crumbles, Maduro inaugurates theaters, attends circus performances, wears olive-green military-style shirts with ever-broader epaulets even though he never served in the army, and denounces coup and assassination … Continue reading
Posted in Nicolas Maduro
19 Comments
Annals of Anti-Imperialism
Tal día como hoy, 46 years ago, Venezuelan territory was actually physically invaded by a foreign power for the first time since independence in the last 100 years. Prohibido olvidar.
Posted in Politics
29 Comments
Frogs Inside the Globovisión Pot Agree: “The water’s only the teensiest bit warm here, come swim!”
Following the sale of Globovision, the last remaining critical TV broadcaster in Venezuela, to (reputedly) regime-connected investors, there was widespread fear in the opposition that a new and aggressively chavista editorial line would be imposed on the station. And so … Continue reading
Faced with old-style dictatorship, your only real choice is old-style resistance
What we need now from Capriles is coherence between discourse and action. Because, at the moment, he’s caught in the same incoherent stance Miguel Henrique Otero’s sophomoric Comando Nacional de la Resistencia was caught in back in 2006: spending all … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
170 Comments
Dragged Kicking-and-Screaming Into Clandestinity
The events in the Assembly today were deeply shocking. With dissident congresspeople now not merely barred from speaking, not merely deprived of their salaries but repeatedly physically assaulted, just for showing up, Venezuela’s parliament is as good as dissolved. Venezuela’s … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
189 Comments
What happened this weekend
Say you’re challenged to a boxing match. As you approach the ring, you notice your opponent is not wearing any boxing gloves. He’s just bare-knuckle. And you’re gloved. The referee can see your opponent isn’t wearing any gloves. The fight … Continue reading
Posted in Presidential Election
167 Comments
Things that are not Tibisay Lucena’s fault
Did the votes actually cast on April 14th represent the will of the Venezuelan electorate, or didn’t they? It’s a simple question, a basic question, and one that the Capriles campaign has been unable to answer coherently. On the one … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
209 Comments
Last Days of Venezuela’s Cold Civil War
One way to interpret what’s happening now is that the inherently unstable balance of the last 14 years is breaking. For almost a decade and a half, Venezuela’s been sinking deeper into a Cold Civil War, a situation where extreme … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
145 Comments
