Caracas Chronicles

I’m old enough to remember the last time we went for a Paro Cívico Nacional. It was an enormous fiasco. Here’s how to sidestep the mistakes of the past.

Igor Markov only knew one other Venezuelan who lived in Uganda. That didn't stop him from setting up a Punto Soberano in Entebbe and adding three whole votes to the Consulta Popular tally.

Millions of Venezuelans literally risk their lives to self-organize a vote right under the dictatorship’s noses. And world media poo-poo it as “only symbolic.” Erm... no.

After yesterday’s referendum, the government’s left with a horrendously weak hand. But I’ve seen enough Texas Hold’Em to know good players win with a pair of twos all the damn time.

After a day that dramatically showcased volunteers doing things better than the state, Venezuela lives something that genuinely has no precedent: its own libertarian moment.

Defying expectations of harassment and intimidation, huge crowds of Venezuelans lined up around the country and throughout the world amid virtually complete calm.

While oppo Keyboard Warriors steam, MUD's more radical parties are putting their agenda in front of the voters. If turnout is high today, the so-called moderates will find themselves badly outmaneuvered.

After 106 days of punishing protests we thought the nation's capacity for shock at the regime's brutality was exhausted. Then a video proved us wrong.

For a very long time we were stuck in a cycle of continually appealing to the same institutions we claimed to be disowning. That ends tomorrow.

Watching Venezuela burn from far away, people naturally feel a need to help. In this installment of our #HowToHelp series, we vouch for Donde Come Uno Comen Dos, an NGO doing amazing work helping the most vulnerable.

What do you do when the State pretends to pick your academic authorities? You go full rebel, son!

For better or worse, Maduro put a hard deadline on this deadlock. Who’s the clock ticking for, and who is it ticking against?

En conjunto con America's Society/Council of the Americas traemos este evento en vivo desde Miami hoy, a las 8:30 a.m.. Vea el video completo de la discusión de este panel sobre la situación de Venezuela.

A while back, I bet Raúl Stolk two Big Macs that there’s isn’t going to be an election for the Constituent Assembly on July 30th, like the government keeps saying. I still think I’m going to win that one.

Decision 156 – the Supreme Tribunal blunder that launched the protest movement in March – is back, this time as legal cover to a shady, $400 million shenanigan.

Each time the Supreme Tribunal hands down a crazy decision, people expect me – as a lawyer – to comment on it. I won’t. Not any more.

BANG!! BANG-BANG!!! I was convinced it was a coup d’état. BAAANG! – LOUD. As the fog of sleep cleared, I slowly grasped it was no such thing – my technological condition had just regressed by about three centuries.

Going by recent official statements, Venezuela plans to both privatize more of and nationalize all of its oil industry.

As Venezuela's highest profile political prisoner is shifted from solitary confinement at a military prison into House Arrest, let's not lose sight of the behind-the-scenes play: the Zapatero Track is back on, y'all.

I remember reflecting after I saw the trailer, trying to wrap my mind around what I'd just witnessed. This movie could not exist. No way. It was too ludicrous to be real.

Watching Venezuela burn from far away, people naturally feel a need to help. In this series of post, we vouch for Comparte por una Vida, an NGO doing amazing work helping the most vulnerable.

Each Venezuelan state has a separate HIV/AIDS program, and some are much better than others. Merida’s has long been the best – but even here, drugs are running short and tests are subpar.

Trancazo Tuesday was a day of mayhem in La Candelaria. This is what it felt like seen from my living room window.

Kurt Nagel von Jess no solo fue el cronista gráfico y documental de Maracaibo, también es parte de su historia. Se le extrañará.

As a violent mob bursts into Venezuela's National Assembly and physically attacks the majority, the alarm bells for civil conflict and atrocity crimes could not be ringing any louder.

The parchment in that gilded cage was signed in this day in 1811. It's the document meant to be commemorating today, on Cinco de Julio. Nobody ever reads it. We thought we'd give it a try. 

Show trials, viral videos, unappointments and reappointments, former foes turned friends and friends turned foe. More has happened to Prosecutor General since Monday than happens to a normal person in a lifetime.

After fifteen chamos from Universidad Simón Bolívar were arrested, the internet erupted and, soon, they were freed. Students from less prestigious universities can’t count on that.

As Bello lays out the pessimists’ case for long-term chaos or dictatorship, even the most optimistic of observers are starting to waver.

In one famously combative corner of Ciudad Guayana, the entire community has come together – from everyone’s aunt to the kids in protest gear – with one simple goal in mind: to keep the roads closed until the government falls.

What do we need to do to bring our economy back from the abyss? From hitting up multilaterals to reforming the Central Bank Law to launching a brand new currency, Professor Leonardo Vera has a plan.

A weekend of violent repression, colectivos and chaos in Lara state claims four more lives.

Life in Venezuela is intolerable in general. For LGBT+ people, hidden forms of oppression and abuse layer on top of the ones everyone can see. To honor Pride Month, it's a silence we're determined to break.

Have you ever thought about how many talented, engaged Venezuelans have died abroad, in exile? How about a quick look at this list?

Watching Venezuela burn from far away, people naturally feel a need to help. In this installment of our #HowToHelp series, we vouch for a group of organizations under guidance of the Catholic Church doing amazing work helping the most vulnerable.

After 41 long weeks, my Ob/Gyn finally decides she has to induce my first daughter's birth. Today. Amid all this chaos.