Caracas Chronicles

The company that produces nearly all of Venezuela’s export earnings looks like a store the day after it’s been looted. How chavismo took an oil giant from world class to bankrupt-in-all-but-name in just two decades.

The first and most iconic of Chávez’ misiones, promised to create a world-class primary care network, not only failed at its immediate objective, it also syphoned billions from hospitals, mortally wounding them.

“I’m going to erase adecos from the face of the earth, I’m going to fry their heads in oil.” Everyone knows Chávez made that threat back in 1998. Except he didn't. A look at TWENTY years of fake news.

Venezuela had always been violent, but crime soared beginning in 1999. Waking up, late, to this reality, the government tried to fight crime with limitless violence. Two decades on, we’re the third most violent country on earth, and the second most murderous.

The story of the Chávez era is the story of dramatic events that changed the course of history again and again. From the 2002 Oil Strike to ¡Exprópiese! to the Death of Hugo Chávez, here are the twenty turning points that drove the Chávez era.

The plague is not made on a human scale, and so men always say that the plague is unreal, a bad dream that must pass. But it doesn’t always pass, and from one bad dream to the next, it’s the men who pass.

Venezuela will receive 9 million dollars from the UN’s CERF. Nicolás denies there’s a crisis, but the UN isn’t blind. Might have taken them a long time and that amount will only go a little way considering how many people are suffering, but hey, hungry Venezuelans will get some relief.

The basic infrastructure of State telecom company Cantv is in shambles as Reuters recently found out and of course, ordinary Venezuelans are the ones paying the price. Hugo Chávez’s home state of Barinas, knows first hand about the consequences of corruption, theft and disrepair caused by the revolution.

Pérez Jiménez, our last right-wing dictator, also disregarded the will of the people and the law of the land. He created that era’s Tibisay & Co., willing to rob Jóvito Villalba (and the nation) of his victory.

Machiques de Perijá is one of the most fertile areas in the country. Their plague? Livestock trafficking, smuggling, robberies and cold blooded murder in the hands of gangs acting like they’re in charge because, well, they are and nobody can stop them.

If you saw the University of Carabobo’s election two weeks ago as solid proof of the power of voting against deeply authoritarian regimes, the TSJ has something to remind you.

In Colombia, babies must be born from Colombian citizens or residents to obtain Colombian citizenship. What happens to babies with Venezuelan moms who face so many obstacles to have access to a Venezuelan birth certificate or a passport? Venezuelan babies without citizenship may become “an invisible generation” before the law.

Cubans used to say that all they needed to survive in Cuba was a lot of “FE,” meaning not faith, but “Familia en el Extranjero.” Venezuelans walk that trail today and there are plenty of ways you can help them... with crypto.

As the world’s largest oil importer, one would think China would bet on keeping Venezuela up and running. Turns out that, either way, they’ll turn a profit.

Did Raúl Gorrín finance opposition political parties? It’s very likely. Because chavismo made it nearly impossible for politicians to raise money without getting mixed up with regime cronies.

Protesting in Venezuela can be hazardous to your health, but that doesn't stop the daily struggle of those fighting for their rights while the infrastructure collapses.

Canaima inspired everyone from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Pixar — a paradise in the middle jungle. Amid a boom in ecologically ruinous illegal mining, it may not survive the Revolution.

Acción Democrática’s government was just three years old when the military decided it had had enough of civilian rule. It happened 70 years ago, today.

Globovisión owner Raúl Gorrín worked hard to look like a respectable businessman. An indictment in a U.S. federal court now confirms what Venezuelans suspected: it was a sham.

The “Vuelta a la Patria” plan just had its latest installment in Chile, but the government of President Sebastian Piñera is also preparing its own version for fellow Chileans in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s currency is dying not with a bang, but with a whimper as virtually all large —and many mid-sized— transactions are switching, de facto, to the dollar.

Improvised burials are the new normal for poor Venezuelans. With so little on offer for the living in Venezuela, what can the dead expect?

The Center for Strategic and International Studies got a crew of sharp minds, including our very own Alejandro Machado, together to talk about how important the Venezuelan diaspora will be in rebuilding our country from abroad.

Remember how awkward it was if your dad taught chemistry to your entire class? Well, because of poor salaries, transport fares and poor training, parents or neighbors acting as teachers is now a really common sight in schools all over the country.