Tag Archives: Venezuela

Venezuelan connection

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 1, 2010
Those laptops discovered after Colombia bombed a FARC encampment in 2008 continue to tell tales. The latest is evidence “that demonstrates Venezuelan governmental co-operation in the illicit collaboration between Farc and Eta,” according to Spanish judge Eloy Velasco, who just filed charges against several ETA and FARC members. Specifically, the two groups collaborated in an [...]
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The OAS drops a bomb

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 24, 2010
So it’s come to this. After 11 years of back and forth debate over what the Bolivarian Revolution means for Venezuela, the OAS’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has an answer: It’s bad. Real bad. In an amazing 319-page report, the IACHR finally confirms what Venezuelan human rights groups have been denouncing for years: In [...]
Posted in Human Rights, Politics, Venezuela | Also tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Doctor will sue you now

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 23, 2010
Eight Cuban doctors are suing Venezuela and Cuba for what they call conditions of “slavery.” The doctors – who were brought to Venezuela to work in the Barrio Adentro public health projects of the Venezuelan government – say they were forced to work 24-hour shifts and see up to 80 patients per day. “They kept [...]
Posted in Cuba, Human Rights, Venezuela | Also tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Why is Chávez picking a fight with Polar?

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 20, 2010
First, last week, Chávez ordered food company Polar – which most famously produces beer and arepa flour – to move its brewery in Barquisimeto, as the government is going to use the land for a public housing project. Polar protested, and now Chávez has issued a threat: “If you keep on like this, I can [...]
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Business is business

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 19, 2010
Beggars can’t be choosers. Faced with an electricity crisis that’s forcing rolling blackouts during peak use hours, Venezuela is considering Colombia’s offer to sell it some juice. Initially, Vice President Elías Jaua had said Venezuela would not buy electricity from Colombia, as relations between the two countries have been “frozen” since the middle of last [...]
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Boligarchs’ fall

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 17, 2010
The New York Times’ always-excellent Simon Romero has written a great piece on the recent crack-downs and shake-ups in Venezuela’s Bolivarian power structure. Magnates who mysteriously became billionaires under Chávez are being arrested by the secret police and having their property confiscated. Mr. Fernández rose from obscurity to put together a web of 270 companies [...]
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Bonding

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 16, 2010
Venezuela’s system of foreign exchange restrictions has always been two-tiered. On the bottom tier are normal people, who have to go through the government to get dollars. They suffer months of delays and bureaucracy, if they get approval at all. On the top tier are rich people and financial institutions, who purchase dollar-denominated Argentine bonds [...]
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Who’s the best paid of them all?

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 8, 2010
Of the top 12 highest paid presidents in the region, who do you think is number one? OK, fine, Barack Obama, who makes about US$400k annually. What about number two? Colombian news magazine Portafolio says it’s Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom, who makes about US$220k annually presiding over a country of 12 million people. At the [...]
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“Expropriate it”

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 7, 2010
An clip from Chávez’ weekend talk show “Alo Presidente” show’s Chávez ordering the expropriation of businesses around Plaza Bolívar in Caracas: Apparently he would like to turn the area into a “historic center.” This afternoon, shortly after the clip was broadcast, the mayor of Caracas declared that the buildings were of “public use,” which is [...]
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Here to fix the leak

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 4, 2010
Cuba would not top anyone's list of go-to countries in matters of successful and efficient industrialization. So why is Venezuela enlisting the help of Cuba's technology minister, Ramiro Valdés, as an energy consultant?
Posted in Cuba, Human Rights, Politics, Venezuela | Also tagged , , | Leave a comment

  • DAILY LINKS

    • The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)

    • Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]

    • The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]

    • Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]

    • From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]

    • Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]

    • Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]


    • This video of a kidnapping and car chase in Mexico is notable mainly for the bad-assitude of the TV journalists who were on this like white on rice. Well done, gentlemen.

    • The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]

    • Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]