Last week, I went to a talk by the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UK. It was entertaining and interesting.
In particular, I discovered a new fact about myself. I must be colourblind. There was a lot of talk about how the Chávez government was a government of the people, of the [...]

Speedy Sarko and Super Lula
Interesting developments on the Colombia/Venezuela argument front: internationally hyperactive French presidentNicolas Sarkozy and Brazil’s president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva are buddying up to resolve the issues, El País reports. They are meeting today on the border between Brazil and French Guyana to discuss how the two countries could be persuaded [...]

When Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez took on the new role of mediator with the Colombian FARC rebels over hostages, it was already clear that before long, things would go pear-shaped. And, alas: in late November 2007, Colombia’s President Álvaro Uribe lost his patience and halted the mediation “effort”.
Ever since then, Hugo has been peeved with [...]

So Venezuela has voted “No” to Hugo Chávez’s plans to change the Venezuelan Constitution. While not entirely unexpected, this is the first time Hugo has really been defeated since he came to power in 1999. At least, as he puts it, “for now”. That’s also what he said after the 1992 Venezuelan coup, which was [...]

Such or similar appears to be the logic of Brazil’s president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva in favouring an entry of Venezuela into MERCOSUR. Yesterday, the Constitutional and Justice Commission of the Brazilian Parliament gave the first go-ahead for the accession with a vote of 44 in favour to 17 against.
In spite of MERCOSUR’s rules, [...]

Sort of late, but I can’t resist: This weekend, at the Ibero-American Summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez launched another one of his famous attacks on those of a different mindset. This time, it didn’t hit his archenemy George W. Bush but former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar. So far, nothing new.
Hugo called Aznar a [...]

Still giggling, I’m having difficulties writing this - an excerpt from a Spanish TV programme called Noche Hache, showing (in turn) excerpts from an announcement by our beloved Hugo. He’s talking about why Venezuela is moving the time forward by half an hour (we’ve already had this), so that school children don’t have to get [...]

This is an excerpt from a speech given by Hugo Chávez on the failure of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA/ALCA). It contains one of Hugo’s great pearls of wisdom that I just had to post here:
(… ahora se conoce que no hay vida en Marte, parece que hubo vida, han conseguido rastros, [...]

Sorry, I just can’t stop. A new mystery has appeared in the beautiful world of Venezuela’s leader, and this is what it looks like:

(Source: El País)
Hugo Chávez branded tuna cans have appeared in Peru as food aid for those affected by the recent earthquake in the Pisco region. Cans with the picture of Peruvian opposition [...]

I’ve not said much about the adventures and teachings of my friend Hugo Chávez recently. But my little series “… according to Hugo” goes on, don’t fear. Here are some particular treats, all from one single article of the print edition of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) - and it wasn’t even a long article. Here [...]