I liked this article on Prodavinci by pollster / economist Luis Vicente León. He says there are three main reasons for the government’s recent crackdown on the opposition: generating fear of protest in the face of a sharp deterioration in living conditions; changing the topic from an economic crisis to a political one; and increasing…
I found this video by Fusion fascinating. The outstanding part for me is how the young thug views this like any other job: he simply wants respect, he wants to move up in the ranks, and he is highly committed to his trade. It’s just that his trade … involves inflicting unspeakable violence on people.…
The prairie is dry. Bone dry. Parched. And boy is it getting hot. You wouldn’t normally worry about a spark. But when the prairie is this dry. Well. Oh, and it’ll be February 27th in 3 days.
Last week MUD Secretary General Jesus Torrealba announced that opposition primaries for the National Assembly elections will be held on May 3rd. A scant few hours earlier Ledezma had been snatched by SEBIN. The timing of Torrealba’s announcement made some opposition supporters furious: people went cuckoo denouncing how insulting it was to be talking about primaries when…
About a month ago, Juan saw this tweet: Since we both are in similar situations, and hold similar opinions, he asked us to jot down some ideas on why we choose to stay. And Juan doesn’t know it, but his request struck a chord with both of us. Leaving is not an option for most Venezuelans (even though most…
The metaphor gives us away. When we talk about state power, we conceptualize it as a unitary good, a single thing there for the taking. We talk about how so-and-so wants to grab “el coroto”, “the thing”, as though state power was an object, and the only question was who is going to wield it…
Watching Venezuela from afar can be frustrating. You feel you should do something, but you don’t know what that something might be. If, like me, you’re looking for something concrete, immediate and real you can do right now to make a difference, try this: support Efecto Cocuyo. Launched by two tough, award-winning Caracas journalists – Luz Mely Reyes and friend-of-the-blog Laura Weffer…
