When bulldozers started turning up at La Restinga National Park, the first to jump into action were students from ECAM, the Applied Marine Sciences Department (ECAM) of the Universidad de Oriente. That didn’t surprise me. I’m an alumna of ECAM. Our school’s ethos was built on protecting La Restinga, the mangrove national park and ecological sanctuary that is a must when…
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…
Dear Wall Street investment banker, I apologize for interrupting your busy schedule, but in the off chance you are going to listen to Venezuelan economic czar Rafael Ramírez in the coming days, allow us to suggest a few questions for him. As you may know, the Venezuelan government is desperate for cash. To quench that thirst,…
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…
