The Venezuelan Ministry of Torism has just released the Adventures of Cheverito, a comic that revolves around an eco-friendly Venezuelan – Cheverito (how many meetings did it take to come up with that?) – who travels around the country alongside his trusted companion Eco. After identifying the cost of Cheverito’s adventures in Venezuela – anything but cheap -,…
Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, Secretary General of the Opposition umbrella organization, MUD, has just announced he is leaving his post. In a developed country setting, this would be unremarkable. In Venezuela, where the whole principle of separating institutions from the personalities that lead them has never really caught on, it’s almost revolutionary. Here’s his resignation letter:…
What is an appropriate gift to bring to a birthday party in which the honoree is dead? Why, tons of fireworks, a cake, live music, national TV, and the resurrection of Sabado Sensacional, apparently. Leave your sense of shame, and your pitch, at the door.
Seems like un pajarito put the June Consultores 21 poll in my inbox…
A country located in the northern part of South America, one that was baptized “Little Venice,” has been raising eyebrows for quite some time. While neither little nor as pleasant as Venice, the government of this fair republic seems unable to impose its own authority within its borders. Here in “Little Venice,” a burgeoning class of smugglers, racketeering bandits,…
The international press is going to town with this story. Three pieces stand out … ABC’s Emili J. Blasco (the well-sourced Washington correspondent with the juicy details on Hugo Chávez’s illness) says sources in Washington confirm Carvajal was the “main figure” in the drug-running operation set up between the FARC, the Venezuelan military, and Hugo Chávez…
A few months ago, Nicolás Maduro appointed former general Hugo Carvajal to be Consul General of Venezuela to the Dutch island of Aruba. Yesterday, as Carvajal laid low in the island waiting for the Dutch government to approve his position, he was detained. The US had asked the Netherlands to incarcerate and extradite him. Carvajal was head of…
Quico and I had a non-quibble a few days ago about poverty. I criticized poverty measures, and he beat me up about it. Truth is that I agree with him. Poverty is a very complex thing with many definitions: income, savings, choices, and even expenditure. People have tried to package it in a single indicator, but numbers end…
An interesting interview with Henrique Capriles, by the team of Juan Carlos Zapata and Elizabeth Fuentes, from the new Internet site konzapata.com. In it, Capriles tones down his criticism of the #LaSalida gang, and offers a more nuanced explanation of his views. Several money quotes: What I proposed was giving the economic and social crisis time to…
Well, well, well… how about that? Days after publicly denying it, Caracas Transformation Minister Ernesto Villegas is supervising the eviction of La Torre de David this morning, along with Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres. Looks like his view of “dignification” really means “Pack your bags. You’re out of here at the end of the week.”…
Ruben opened the buttons of his shirt to show me the tattoo on his chest. It was a large image of a 2-year-old’s face, with big sad eyes and thick lips. “That’s my son. I wasn’t able to have kids because I had a health problem but fíjate, after I was made a saint, I was able…
In recent years, self-censorship has become commonplace in Venezuelan media, and more so in the outlets controlled by the private arm of the communicational hegemony (HegemonCorp). It’s been more than a year since Cadena Capriles, the largest group of newspapers in the country, was bought by a still-mysterious investor(s). However, its swift change of name (to…
One week after a press report mentioned the possible sale of the high-rise slum “Torre de David” to the Chinese (and, consequently, the eviction of the 1,200 families that currently live there), the Minister of the Transformation of Caracas (yes, that’s a Ministry, given to the guy who lost the election for Caracas mayor) Ernesto Villegas…
A few days ago I wrote about how nobody knows what the MUD is up to these days. To make matters even more confusing, today we hear that Roberto Enríquez, president of COPEI, one of the parties in the MUD, is asking Diosdado Cabello to join them in a transition government. His elevator speech? “Radical” chavistas…
Five years had passed since the first time ¨El Chivo¨ drew something on a wall and discovered how the adrenaline “rushes through your body when you alter public property,” and how “you feel you own part of the street when you leave your art hanging there, freely expressing how you feel.” “I started drawing sketches on…
