Hugo Chavez in Heaven?
He’s dead anhd buried, but if you believed some of his sympathizers, he’s still parting the seas and spitting down upon the United States from up on high. H/T Blazing Cat Fur
Call Me Stormy
Finding righteous currents in turbulent times
Archive for the tag “Venezuela”
Where Now, Venezuela?
Petroleum engineer Gustavo Coronel wrote articles about the corruption of Hugo Chavez’s regime, and for that he was named an enemy of the state. Appearing on Talk Radio Network’s The Andrea Tantaros Show, Coronel speaks out on what Chavez’s death might mean to Venezuela and America. H/T PJTV
After Hugo Chavez
Love him or hate him, the late Hugo Chavez was unarguably the most powerful Latin American politician to emerge over the past few decades. David Luhnow, Mexico City bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, takes a look back at the Venezuelan president’s rule and his legacy. Although expected for some time, Chavez’s death came with a hint of irony, falling upon the anniversary of Stalin’s death.
Venezuela After Hugo Chavez
In this Wall Street Journal documentary, reporter David Luhnow looks at Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. Now undergoing treatment for cancer, Chavez has named a possible successor, raising the question of whether his “21st century socialism” can outlive its founder. Luhnow finds many strong critics of Chavez, as well as fervent supporters, but no one’s neutral about the deeply polarizing and radical leader.
Venezuela’s Chavez in Dogfight
Sunday’s Presidential election in Venezuela pits Socialist strongman Hugo Chavez against the most formidable opponent he has faced in his 14 years in office. Coalition opposition leader Henrique Capriles has gained ground by waging an aggressive door-to-door campaign. But even Capriles describes himself as a David facing a Goliath, and recent polls show him trailing by about 10 percent. Chavez enjoys clearcut advantages, including billions of dollars in oil-funded handouts to court key voter blocs. Al Jazeera reports from Venezuela on the run-up to the election.
Richard Beales and Raul Gallegos with Reuters discuss how Chavez raids the treasury of PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company, to bankroll his political and social programs. As a result, PDVSA is now a debt-ridden enterprise, forced to pay its suppliers with IOUs.
Holy Thugs of Venezuela
In Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas, one of the most violent places on the planet, distraught residents now worship a new pantheon of saints — the statuettes of deceased criminals — seeking relief from the never-ending carnage. These Santos Malandros, or Holy Thugs, are adorned with sideways baseball hats instead of halos. They’re often armed, and display wounds from knife fights, street brawls and shootouts.
Residents from the poor shanty towns who revere these criminal saints have built shrines in their honor, and bring them gifts — cigarettes, drugs, booze and occasionally the traditional flowers — in hopes that the supplicants’ prayers will be answered. And what are those prayers? Perhaps early release from prison. A cure for a drug addict. Revenge for homicide.
Ryan Duffy from Vice travels to Caracas to find out more about this hybrid religious practice, blending elements from Catholicism, Santeria and animism.
