Venezuela: ¿Ciudadanos con nuevos roles?
La Televisión del Sur, o Telesur, nació en Venezuela como una utopía: un proyecto comunicacional que pudiera informar a América Latina desde sus entrañas, y disputar la sintonía a colosos como CNN o la BBC, en sus versiones hispanas. Sin pautas publicitarias, la apuesta del entonces presidente Hugo Chávez, sólo fue posible gracias al financiamiento … Read more
En el socialismo venezolano, las cosas no pueden ser regaladas
Cuando Hugo Chávez asumió la presidencia de Venezuela en 1999, apenas 11 por ciento de la población era rural. En diciembre pasado, al despedirse de la nación a la cual gobernó por más de una década, la cifra había caído a 6 por ciento. Promesas de una revolucionaria reforma agraria, millones de dólares en créditos … Read more
Monday Memo: Guantánamo – Venezuela-U.S. Relations – Colombia Peace Negotiations – Marijuana Legalization – Santos Second Term
Top stories this week are likely to include: Barack Obama will speak about closing Guantánamo Bay; Venezuela says it is open to normalizing relations with the United States; the FARC says that more time is necessary for peace negotiations; an OAS report calls for a discussion on marijuana legalization; and Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos will … Read more
Empresas Polar Denies Accusations of Disrupting the Venezuelan Economy
Update, May 15, 2013: President Nicolás Maduro and Lorenzo Mendoza, president of Empresas Polar, met last night and resolved their differences, with both pledging to work together to overcome any food shortages. May 14, 2013 – Lorenzo Mendoza, head of Empresas Polar S.A., Venezuela’s largest privately-held food company, refuted government claims that his business is … Read more
Monday Memo: Rios Montt – Venezuela’s Military – Panama’s Electricity – World Cup – China’s Vice President
Top stories this week are likely to include: Rios Montt convicted of genocide; Venezuelan military to fight insecurity; Panama announces continued electricity rationing; FIFA expresses concerns over Brazil’s World Cup stadium; and China’s vice president travels to Venezuela. Rios Montt found guilty: On Friday, a three-judge tribunal sentenced the 86-year-old former dictator of Guatemala, Efrain … Read more
La habilidad diplomática de Maduro
Con seis años consecutivos al frente de la Cancillería venezolana, si algo podía esperarse del estreno de Nicolás Maduro como presidente era fluidez en la política exterior. Sin embargo, en sus tres primeras semanas al mando del país, el heredero del fallecido líder, Hugo Chávez, ya acumuló cuatro desencuentros internacionales manejados con reacciones poco diplomáticas. … Read more
La cruzada de la oposición venezolana en su gira por el Mercosur
Al tiempo que el presidente Nicolás Maduro se reunía con sus pares en Uruguay, Argentina y Brasil, la oposición venezolana preparó una gira paralela, en cuya parada en Buenos Aires sus miembros fueron recibidos por legisladores opositores al gobierno de Cristina Kirchner. “No hay manera de ocultarle al mundo que somos mayoría, durante años … Read more
Maduro Ends His Mercosur Tour in Brasilia
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro marked the end of his three-day trip through Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil yesterday with a meeting in Brasilia with President Dilma Rousseff to highlight Venezuela’s strategic alliance with Brazil. Maduro traveled to Mercosur member countries for his first trip post-presidential election in an effort to consolidate bilateral ties. In Uruguay, his … Read more
Brazil’s Regional Realpolitik
It’s not hard to imagine what was behind Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota’s announcement yesterday that Brazil will hire 6,000 Cuban doctors to work in rural parts of Brazil. As the situation in Venezuela continues to teeter in uncertainty, the Brazilian government has thrown the Cuban government another lifeline. Doing so provides a cushion for … Read more
Maduro Begins South American Tour amid Venezuela Election Audit
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro embarked today on a three-day tour of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, all members of Mercosur (The Common Market of the South). Following Paraguay’s suspension from the free-trade group, Venezuela joined Mercosur last year and will assume the bloc’s temporary presidency for the first time on June 28 during a summit in … Read more
Con Chávez, ¿cayó el muro de contención en Venezuela?
En octubre de 2006, cuando el invierno comenzaba a despuntar en Alaska, los habitantes de Anchorage—ubicada a 8.600 kilómetros de Caracas—se debatían entre aceptar o no el combustible gratuito que el presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, había ofrecido para mitigar el impacto económico del cambio de estación en la localidad. Unos querían recibir el combustible … Read more
Monday Memo: Colombian Peace Negotiations – Venezuela’s Audit – Alabama Immigration Law – Honduran Police – Maracanã
Top stories this week are likely to include: Colombian civil society holds forum on political participation; Venezuela’s election audit begins on May 6; the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a lower court’s immigration ruling; Honduran police officials resign in the midst of a police crisis; and Brazil’s Maracanã stadium reopens after three years. Colombian Civil Society … Read more
Monday Memo: Paraguayan Elections – Ríos Montt Trial – Argentine Protests – Guantánamo Hunger Strike – Venezuela
Top stories this week are likely to include: Horacio Cartes will be Paraguay’s new president; Guatemala’s Constitutional Court will decide whether Efraín Ríos Montt’s genocide trial can continue; Argentines protested Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s government; Guantánamo prisoners’ hunger strike grows; the Venezuelan election audit process will take a month. Horacio Cartes Wins Presidential Election in … Read more
Despite its pretentions, the alliance was held together primarily by oil largess that can’t last.
ALBA was created by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2004 to serve as a grand and high-profile rejection of the United States–proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and, more generally, of international capitalism. Instead of basing trade on supply and demand, ALBA countries would use social consciousness and human rights as … Read more
Regional Governments Unwilling to Take a Stand on Venezuela
It wasn’t supposed to go this way. When the Venezuelan government announced in March that it would hold elections on April 14 to replace the deceased former President Hugo Chávez everything seemed to favor Chávez’s handpicked replacement, Vice President Nicolás Maduro. Only six months earlier, Chávez – battling cancer at the time, though it was … Read more
