Caracas Chronicles

We need your help, we need your stories.

Maduro’s vague announcement that he will declare a nationwide state of emergency brought home the real urgency of Venezuela’s in newsrooms around the world. Think about it, when was the last time Venezuela led the news across major European news media like this?

And we’re beginning to see a step-change not just in the visibility but also in the tone of reporting. Like this cute little nugget from the AP:

U.S. intelligence analysts are increasingly convinced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is likely to be pushed aside by members of his own socialist movement before finishing his term…

…potential turncoats include former National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello, former Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres and Tarek El Aissami, a powerful state governor.

Or this one from The Guardian which led their website:

Or this Naky-like news roundup from the BBC, again page-one-above-the-fold:

Then there’s Spain’s El País,

And of course the Naím/Quico piece on The Atlantic that we are sure you must’ve read (which, btw, made it to El País as well).

Last time we had this much attention was at the beginning of the 2014 crisis. News of that crisis hit hard: here at Caracas Chronicles we had over 2 million hits in less than a day.

We learned, however, that this window of interest can be fleeting. While Venezuelan students were being shot in the street by government agents, and as the country was being torn by our dumbass authoritarian regime, the whole world turned its eye on the Ukrainian revolution (squirrel!)

As a journalist friend from Iceland said to me at the time: Ukraine just fucked you.

So the time to tell our stories is right now. 

So, we need your help.

We know Venezuelans are going through some really extreme experiences right now. There’s just too much going on out there, and too many aspects of this tragedy are slipping through the fingers of local and international media.

You, your family, and your friends, are going through a situation that’s too hard to grasp for the modern day brain. But we know there’s extreme stuff going on, stuff you’ll be telling your grandchildren about decades from now.

So let’s spell it out to them. You sing, we write.

To show the big picture, first we have to put together all these bits and pieces that are scattered all over the country.

So take ten minutes to work through this simple, powerful exercise with us.

Tell us in a few, words the story from the last few months you see yourself telling your grandchildren a generation from now: