My chat with Rory Carroll, author of the new book, “Comandante,” just ended. Also available via Youtube.
Caracas Chronicles is 100% reader-supported. Support independent Venezuelan journalism by making a donation.
My chat with Rory Carroll, author of the new book, “Comandante,” just ended. Also available via Youtube.
Caracas Chronicles is 100% reader-supported. Support independent Venezuelan journalism by making a donation.
wow, who is stalkingh who then? Awesome, will not miss it for the world…
If CORPOELEC allows me so, I’ll watch it.
That’s awesome! I was wondering just yesterday if you’d planned to do a HO with him, and, here you are! Hoping to watch.
Are you guys taping this or making it somehow available after the broadcast?
It will be available in YouTube afterwards.
sugiero que el proximo HO sea con mark weisbrot
Not likely. But I think George Ciccarielo-Maher would make an awesome hangout.
werd
For sure, I think he’s one of the most articulate and smart guys on the other side!, it’d be pretty cool
dale clavo
You should have a Fight Club re-enactment with Ciccarielo in Ed Norton’s role
Let’s just pray I can get the handle of the technical aspects. Quico won’t be available, and it’ll be my first time in charge of the hangout.
practice run, perhaps, before your special guest appears?
Done. I think I got it. Thanks Geha for the dry run.
No problem.
One more time. They say, doing a technique twice and you’ve got it nailed. Unless you’re a chocho. Then everything has to relearned, at every step of the way.
Dále, vale. Porque son profesionales.
This is going to be interesting. I like Rory’s sense of humor and I think he is an exceptional journalist.
Come to think of it, I’ve never heard him address what it was like moving from Baghdad to Caracas. We’ve often noted the strangeness of the fact that there are as many violent deaths in our Capital as in Iraq’s (except, I think, for the very peak of the insurgency) – and I can’t think of anyone else who moved directly from one place to the other. Ask him!
The difference between guarded press/media hotels and roadway escorts, and a nice apartment in the privileged bubble of east ccs? Do you even need to ask?
The difference is that Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 and Chávez became elected by Venezuelans in 1998. The murder rate in Venezuela went from 19 in 1998 to 34 in 2003 to over 65 or 70 now.
Bush set the stage for a million deaths, thanks in part to David Frum, but more due to replacing a secular government with warring factions and heavy handed military occupation.
Chavez inherited a rising crime rate and discovered too late that dramatically reducing poverty wasn’t the magic fix. Watch and see if Maduro can solve the problem and restore revolutionary support to >60% in 2018!
19 to 65+…if only Chávez had lived a thousand years…
But Maduro now promised efficiency…just like Chávez did in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008…the month before he went to Cuba for the last time.
You’d be silly to bet that crime-fighting will not be a big issue for Maduro, and that he’s willing to risk a close reelection in 2018.
Remember you said that.
OT: Entrevista de JJ Rendon, 01ABR13
Capriles tiene reales oportunidades de vencer?
Si. Totalmente. Hoy tenemos casi el 29% de indecisos, todos exchavistas que no gustan de Maduro. Entonces yo me pregunto, cuál es la tendencia?. La tendencia, para mí, es que los chavistas no se sienten identificados con la candidatura de Maduro, lo culpan por ser uno de los ministros incompetentes del gobierno Chávez, uno de los que abusó del muerto y ahora está abusando del poder. Ya Capriles es visto como líder de un grupo que promete hacer cambios en el país.
http://confirmado.com.ve/jj-rendon-cuanto-mas-habla-maduro-peor-para-la-candidatura-del-gobierno/
Thanks Rory and JC for doing that. I would no doubt have had some questions and comments but I too am waiting for my copy of both your books from Amazon. Waiting and waiting. It appears “regular post” means mule in Canada.
Well done guys. Rory you rock. Great interview, great book. Congrats.
I have a feeling that chavismo is about to get defeated. Capriles has risen to the occasion, he’s energized, he’s filling the void left by Chávez, he is Venezuela’s new voice. Maduro is no match. Only a serious and titanic GOTV can put him over, it’s possible but the wheels are turning very fast against him. It’s only a feeling. I am not Venezuelan and don’t live there but I am paying attention.
I agree. Capriles is maturing, looking more and more presidential. He’s youthful/energized/intelligent compared to Maduro, who really is off-the-wall, even for Chavismo. The deck is stacked against him, but he has an outsider’s shot this time. I believe he will become President in time, assuming good health.
That was a very thoughtful interview. I can relate to a time living in Venezuela when things were fresh and I could reserve judgment, and listen better. Slowly, as the experiences pile up, the balance tips, one way or the other. How fortunate that there are still journalists who have trained themselves to preserve that state of mind and observe closely. They do divided societies a service. They notice the concierge.
Here’s a moment of revolutionary zen…
Great discussion, guys! Thanks!