Last Sunday started off badly for me: I fell in a hole. (more…)

… started on February 27th 1989 in Caracas."

A short clip here from the longer, and excellent, Venezuela Bolivariana. (more…)

Two interesting issues in Venezuelan-U.S. relations of late. (more…)

that had been under prisoner control for ten years!

I’ve been intrigued by the Brazilian PCC—First Command of the Capital, a nominal "gang" operating out of Sao Paulo—for some time now. (more…)

Opposition candidate Manuel Rosales has come under fire recently for his policy aimed at redistributing oil wealth directly to the poor through the use of a debit card entitled "mi negra," or "my black." (more…)

For those not paying attention, Chávez has refused to recognize "president elect" Felipe Calderón in Mexico. Bravo. (more…)

Some survey results for you. The first helps us to understand why surveys are generally horseshit, but also how smelling the shit helps one distinguish better from worse. (more…)

The first problem—though I fear this has always been the case in Venezuela—is excessive air conditioning. (more…)

The CNE has published the official list of registered voters. (more…)

Street books are my favorite, though unfortunately not particularly cheap in Venezuela. Recent acquisitions include the following: (more…)

Theorists of the “anti-globalization” movement are often called into check over their penchant for abstract and simplistic valorization of extraordinarily complicated phenomena (more…)

A brief post to update you on our situation. (more…)

Últimas Noticias reports on a recent Datanálisis poll which shows support for Chávez actually increasing despite the existence of a nominally unitary opposition candidate. (more…)

Chávez held a massive rally (and I mean massive, like this earlier one) on the Avenida Bolívar to officially swear in his electoral battalions and platoons. (more…)

A bit of an update on electioneering. (more…)

1.) The irrepressible Lina Ron:

Ron emerged as a leader of the Committee of Popular Struggle at the Central University of Venezuela, (more…)

Two events have dominated Venezuelan politics for the past couple of weeks, both of which make evident the need for a discussion of antagonism, (more…)

Venezuelan prisons are notoriously horrendous, (more…)

The Sambil Mall is a shithole. (more…)

Chávez broadcast his first "Alo Presidente" since returning from his trip. Much of the show was devoted to looking through a scrapbook from his early days at the military academy. An interesting moment arose when he mentioned the results of his physical examination, prior to his 1971 entry into the academy. The results were approximately the following:

Color: brown.

Forehead: wide.

Nose: large.

Lips: thick.  

We had the splendid luck to arrive in Caracas immediately before the Second Annual Hip-Hop Summit, (more…)

…and is greeted by a “red tide.” (more…)

Sorry so slow. We’ve been in Caracas for eleven days now, and still no apartment. (more…)