Jan 242006
In my final post to Democracy Arsenal, I offer a few random observations on what I saw and heard during my first-ever visit to Venezuela this past weekend. I was in Maracaibo to speak before a terrific gathering of hundreds of faith-based peace and human rights activists from Colombia and Venezuela. The trip was way too short to offer more than a few rapid, superficial comments about life in Chávez’s Venezuela, but I posted them anyway.
January 24th, 2006 at 4:36 am
Enjoyed your post. I had similar observations when I spent time in Venezuela this summer. There’s a ton of capitalism there. There are huge malls in Caracas, with all the fanciest brand-name wares, and there’s even a massive billboard advertising Donald Trump’s reality TV show alongside the freeway heading into downtown Caracas from the eastern side of the city (where more affluent members of the opposition are concentrated). It’s pretty absurd to hear members of the opposition whaling about “Castro-Comunismo” in Venezuela.