Surprise! They helped people loot, now there's no food
Last week, the government forced supermarkets to sell out their stocks at huge discounts. Now those shelves are empty and you can forget about restocks.
Politics
The Unmet Promise of Delson Guárate, Mayor Turned Exile
The mayor of El Limón, Delson Guárate, is now another opposition leader in exile. His is a classic story of chavista harassment – and shady, possibly apocryphal backroom deals.
Julio's Legacy
Yes, Venezuela's National Assembly. Yet, Marcel Gascón argues, Julio Borges’ tenure as its speaker was more harmful to chavismo than many give credit him for.
No food, just looting: The Hot Start to 2018
Looting and social conflict were endemic in 2017, and 2018 looks to be even more conflict-ridden. The government's attempt to let off steam by overseeing “legal looting” can barely contain people's desperation.
Hanging Out at The Bus Stop
How does a city of a million people even operate when the public transport system good-as collapses? Badly. Very badly.
The Elephant in the Pernil Room: Subsidizing Pork is Madness
Maslow? Give me a break. Pernilgate isn't about food. It's about the illusion of abundance amid dire scarcity, and about the scale of devastation a government can inflict when nobody who makes economic policy understands the concept of opportunity cost.
A Chavista New Year's Eve in the Post-Pernil Era
The New Year's Eve celebration put up by chavista mayor Erika Farías failed to fill up Caracas's smallish Plaza Bolívar. A few people turned up to dance, to forget hunger and deprivation for a while. Even that was too much to ask.
Maslow's Pernil
December's pork-leg riots left middle class Venezuelans seething in contempt of people who care more about a Christmas pork roast than basic freedom and democracy. They never learned Maslow's lesson: when you're hungry, nothing else matters.
GEHA’s Best of 2017, Part III (September-December)
For the final part of my 2017 digest, we watch as the Constituyente enforces its power, as the political opposition shoots itself in the foot and as we enter full-blown economic catastrophe.
GEHA’s Best of 2017, Part II (May-August)
My second digest of 2017 in Caracas Chronicles goes from the protests in their maximum splendor, to their disgraceful end in August, as daily tragedies continue to play out.
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