Worldcrunch
In its first decade, Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution was radical yet legitimate, and enjoyed the people’s electoral support under leader Hugo Chávez. This changed when his successor, Nicolás Maduro, took over after Chávez’s death, and decided he wasn’t going to let votes thwart his insatiable love of power and money.
The first edition of a famous newspaper, a new president for Venezuela, and the birth of a famous American screenwriter.
Cuba’s current energy crisis is a dramatic illustration, symbolic and otherwise, of the overall downfall of a country that could have followed the successful models of its Asian cousins. Faced with a socioeconomic dead-end, record numbers of Cubans are fleeing the country.
Venezuela and its neighbors are nervously waiting to see if President Maduro and his clique will soon hold a fair election, or cling onto power, fueling more despair and unleashing yet another migratory wave over the region.
With a sham court ruling, Venezuela’s President Maduro has paved the way for his unchallenged reelection as president this year, regardless of U.S. sanctions. This is happening as Latin America’s leftist governments, notably Brazil, watch in silence.
Founder of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200) in the early 1980s, Hugo Chavez went on to be elected president of Venezuela in late 1998, serving until his death in 2013. How did Hugo Chavez rise to power? Chávez led the MBR-200 in an unsuccessful coup against the Democratic Action Government of then President Carlos Andrés […]
Like fears of communist subversion during the Cold War, claims that the Left will destroy the economy and end freedom persist in Latin American elections, in spite of their ridiculousness.
Venezuela’s first lady, Cilia Flores, is one of the country’s chief power brokers and a consummate wheeler-dealer who, with the help of relatives, runs a voracious enterprise dubbed the Flower Shop.
Argentine food production is doing fine and needs no ‘progressive’ state intervention to assure supplies.
The opposition has so far failed to provoke a military uprising against President Nicolás Maduro, and for now, can only count on an angry but tired population.
Did adverse conditions force such Latin American strongmen Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro to clamp down, or did they hide their authoritarian designs from the start?
Just hours before outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama’s emotional farewell address in Chicago, another head of state was taking center stage down in steamy Central America to let just the opposite be known: He’s still very much here, with no plans to leave power anytime soon. Daniel Ortega, the long-serving leader of Nicaragua, first came […]
BUENOS AIRES — A battle over prized parliamentary office space for Maximo Kirchner, son of former Argentine presidents Néstor and Cristina Kirchner, has become a symbol of the defeated Kirchner forces’ bid to hold on to the last remnants of power. The younger Kirchner won a seat in the December general elections, but his leftist […]
A Latin American take on the rise of the Republican frontrunner finds a similar freedom with the facts and exploitation of the dispirited working class as the late Venezuelan strongman.
Political repression is one thing, but if store shelves are empty, the so-called “revolution” is destined to crumble.
Is this the rise of another Hugo Chavez for Latin America?
A year after the death of President Hugo Chávez, food and consumer shortages are spreading through Caracas along with protests. Blame over-regulation or capitalistic hoarding?
The Chavez-Maduro regime has corrupted democracy and impoverished the nation in a perfect storm of political strong-arming, cheap oil, and public apathy. The time is now to react.
VENEZUELA AL DÍA, EL TIEMPO (Venezuela), CNN MEXICO (Mexico). Worldcrunch CARACAS – As the country remains tense following the election of Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor, Venezuela’s National Assembly erupted in violence, as a brawl broke out between members of the ruling party (United Socialist Party) and representatives from the opposition (Democratic Unity Roundtable, which unites […]
EFE; CLARIN (Argentina); LA TERCERA (Chile); EL UNIVERSAL, TELESUR (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Campaigns have officially closed in Venezuela ahead of Sunday’s election showdown between the heir to Hugo Chavez’s legacy, Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Just five months after reelecting Chavez, the country is being called back to the polls following the […]
TELESUR (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Venezuela has launched an inquiry to determine if late President Hugo Chavez’s cancer was caused by “foreign enemies.” Acting President Nicolas Maduro told teleSUR that Venezuelan officials were convinced that “Chavez was poisoned by dark forces that wanted to be rid of him.” “He had an illness, a cancer that […]
NO COMMENT TV Worldcrunch CARACAS – A parade of world leaders, including Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, joined ordinary Venezuelans Friday at the state funeral of Hugo Chavez, who died this week at the age of 58 after a long battle with cancer. The ceremony was led by an emotional Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who declared: “Mission […]
BBC (UK), EFE, EL TIEMPO, EL NACIONAL, INFOBAE, INTORNO INTELIGENTE (Venezuela), LA VANGUARDIA (Spain) Worldcrunch CARACAS– Though not unexpected, the death of Hugo Chavez after 14 years in power and a nearly two-year battle with cancer, has left Venezeula without a leader. The government announced Wednesday that the funeral for the 58-year-old President was set […]
EFE, EL PAIS (Spain), EL UNIVERSAL (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Hugo Chavez is suffering from another severe respiratory infection said Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information, Ernesto Villegas, in a video statement. “At the moment the respiratory function is getting worse because of the immunosuppressants. Currently, he has a new, severe infection,” said Villegas. “Right […]
AFP, EL NACIONAL, EL UNIVERSAL (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS– Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez continues to suffer from chronic respiratory difficulties since his return to the country from Cuba earlier this week. The news came in a televised statement from Venezuelan Minister for Communications Ernesto Villegas, which was the first information from the government on Chavez’s health […]
Worldcrunch The Venezuelan government has posted the first photographs of President Hugo Chavez since his cancer surgery more than two months ago in Cuba. In the images you can see Chavez lying down, surrounded by his two daughters, with signs of a tracheal breathing tube. (source: Venezuelan government) There has been much speculation about the […]
TELESUR (Venezuela), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch HAVANA – According to a top official, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is battling a “severe” lung infection that has caused respiratory failure, reports state-funded media TeleSur. Fifty-eight-year Chavez underwent cancer surgery for the fourth time in Cuba on Dec. 11 and then developed a respiratory infection, according […]
EL MUNDO, EL UNIVERSAL (Venezuala) LA NACION (Argentina) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Hugo Chavez is not known for mincing words. But recently, the Venezuelan President has unleashed highly personal attacks against Henrique Capriles Radonski, his opponent in Chavez’s reelection campaign, including some with anti-Semitic undertones. Last week, he called Capriles Radonski ‘jalabola’ and ‘majunche,’ rude terms […]