It is the fall, and that means that once again it is Miss Venezuela season. The national pageant was held on September 24th, and the winner, Marelisa Gibson, will now serve as the country’s representative in the international competition. The contest is a big deal across Venezuela, with all eyes turned to televisions. For the […]
President Hugo Chávez gave an interview to CNN’s Larry King shortly after his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last week. It provides some further perspective into the Venezuelan President’s take on the world, and perhaps shows a more human side that is not always covered by international media. Chávez talked about his personal […]
Countries within the Southern Hemisphere are on the move. This past weekend member states of UNASUR and the African Union met on Margarita Island, Venezuela, in order to strengthen ties between their countries and continents. One of the ideas proposed by President Hugo Chávez, as well as Moammar Gadhafi, of Libya, is an alliance among […]
Will the IAEA some day have to shift its attention to northern South America? In a move bound to attract US attention, Venezuelan officials have declared that they are conducting further exploration for uranium deposits. This, combined with President Hugo Chávez’s close ties with Iran and Russia, leads to concerns about transfer of the material […]
Yesterday Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, gave a more tempered speech to the United Nations General Assembly. He said the smell of sulfur (his reference to George W. Bush in 2006) had dissipated, and that instead he sensed new hope with President Barack Obama in office. Further description of the speech by the Associated Press […]
With a meeting of global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week, one wonders what Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will say. During his speech in 2006 he referred to US President George W. Bush as the devil. This time around, will he critique Barack Obama in the same way? In late March, after […]
Last week Venezuela’s Minister of the Interior, Tareck El Aissami, publicly denounced a July 20 report released by the US Government’s General Accounting Office (GAO) which labeled his country as “one of the major drug transit countries in the Western Hemisphere”. The struggle over public perception between Washington and Caracas continues. The US government states […]
It remains possible to disagree with the Venezuelan government over its policies. It appears more difficult to do so within the country. Yesterday one more opposition leader sought asylum from what he considers oppression from the Chávez administration. Oscar Pérez, who is part of the Alianza Bravo Pueblo (ABP) party, is now charged by the […]
El Universal reported that a decline in revenue from oil sales caused imports into Venezuela to drop by 49% during the first six months of 2009. Despite a recent increase the value of petroleum, Venezuela has experienced a sharp reduction in available funds since the price of a barrel of oil is just over $65, […]
Russian oil companies, including Gazprom and Lukoil, will pay $1 billion to Venezuela for the chance to develop oil reserves along the Orinoco. Even though Caracas and Moscow are allies, I still have doubts about the final payout for these businesses. In 2006 the Venezuelan government pushed out some foreign oil companies, and forced others […]
Yesterday, President Hugo Chávez continued his travels overseas, spending the day in Russia. During his time there he announced that Venezuela will recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. A brief war with between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 led to the separation of these two regions. More information is available in today’s […]
I like it when things line up. Syzygy, they call it. What do Mongolia, Iraq, and Venezuela have in common? (Hint: it’s not oil.) It’s that they have all recently bumped into the sharp edge of resource reality. There is something about the discovery of valuable resources that make people and countries take leave of […]
When he first ran for office, Hugo Chávez declared that he wanted to reduce the size of government, and to make it more efficient. However, Venezuela’s National Institute of Statistics released figures showing that there are now 2,372,587 government workers, an increase of 70% during Chávez’s time in office. The percentage of all persons employed […]
A recent story in The Guardian highlighted the ongoing abuses of police forces in Venezuela and the difficulties in bring about police reform. Increasingly, police in Venezuela act with complete impunity and growing brutality against criminals, their families, and anyone else caught in between. Stories of disappearances and false imprisonment by police, especially in Caracas, […]
As the United States, Britain, Germany and France threaten Iran with sanctions over its nuclear program, Iran can at least count support from its loyal friend, Venezuela. Al Jazeera quoted Chavez as stating, “We are certain that Iran, as it has shown, will not back down in its effort to obtain what is a sovereign […]