Caracas Chronicles

It has been a crowded weekend in Havana so far. First, two Latin American presidents tried unsuccessfully to visit the comandante presidente: Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Peru’s Olanta Humala. At least Cristina met with both Castros for a chat.

Then, Nicolás Maduro traveled to Cuba for the weekend as well (don’t be worried, he left Electricity Minister Hector Navarro in charge) and joined a gathering of Chavismo’s political team, according to Science Minister and Chavez’s son-in-law Jorge Arreaza.

Other major figures arrived later on Saturday, including National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, Oil Minister/PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez and Solicitor General Cilia Flores. Cuban President Raúl Castro confirmed that he met with all of them.

The only important absence is Barinas State Governor Adan Chavez who returned home and insisted in a written statement that his brother Hugo “…is not in a state of coma.”

Meanwhile at home, there has been some protests in the last few days: some were peaceful while others ended with repression. I agree with Miguel: Venezuela is now on auto-pilot.