MetaFilter posts tagged with venezuela

SQUIRREL!

Artw — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:26:02 -0800

The real world location behind “Up’s” Paradise Falls. But could that house really fly?

Chavez' Venezuela At 10 Years

Rykey — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:31:21 -0800

Just ahead of a re-election referendum in Venezuela (scheduled for February 15), The Chávez Administration at 10 Years: The Economy and Social Indicators [PDF][Via]

The Rhythm is Going To Get You

micayetoca — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:47:59 -0800

The Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela have won the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts. It might be in part due to their charismatic conductor, or very probably due to their unique style. What sets them apart from most orchestras, though, is their System, which the NYT referred to as "the most ambitious program of music education and orchestra training in the world". El Sistema Nacional de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles is a government sponsored program consisting of 120 youth and 60 children orchestras numbering approximately 100,000 youngsters, created by José Antonio Abreu. As a bonus, here is the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra's rendition of Bernstein's Mambo.

Paz sin fronteras

micayetoca — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:21:43 -0800

Peace Without Borders. Colombian singer Juanes put together a concert calling for peace, as a result of the recent crisis between Colombia and Ecuador (and tangentially, Venezuela). Remarkably, it was held from the bridge between Venezuela and Colombia, in what is normally a very problematic border, and it featured the great Carlos Vives, the Dominican Juan Luis Guerra, and others. Other appearances: Juanes himself: 1, More Carlos Vives: 1, 2, 3, More Juan Luis Guerra: 1, 2 From Ecuador, Juan Fernando Velasco: 1, 2 Alejandro Sanz: 1, 2

$150 a barrel here we come

humanfont — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:40:42 -0800

A high ranking FARC leader, Paul Reyes, was killed during a Columbian raid into Ecuador. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, responded and ordered ten battalions to the Columbian border, threatening a key regional ally of the United States. Some think it is just more bluster by Chavez. Meanwhile Air Force 2 is in Aruba; which is just 18 miles off the coast. Also Exxon-Mobil was recently cut off from Venezuela's oil.

If at first (or second) you don't succeed...

scalefree — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:27:24 -0800

Operation PLIERS. An internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that reveals a plan to destabilize Venezuela during the upcoming constitutional referendum. The plan, titled "OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington. The full text of the memo will be released soon for verification purposes. Many previously.

South/Latin American composers after 1900

invitapriore — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:37:01 -0800

While the first pioneering forays into atonality and free chromaticism were starting to occur in Western European music, the talents of Latin and South America were discovering the Romantic beauty of re-interpreting the past. [much, much more inside!]

Death to America

adamvasco — Wed, 09 May 2007 11:18:19 -0800

Two podcasts from the BBC. Around the world, by every measure, America's reputation and image has never been so poor. Part 1: Venezuela; Part 2: Turkey

A documentary on Llaguno Bridge violent events

elpapacito — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 19:08:39 -0800

Llaguno bridge is a documentary offering an alternative point of view on some of the violent events that took place in Venezuela during the coup d'etat attempt of 2002 [1]. Some local private television are accused of deliberatedly picking some facts in an attempt to support the ongoing coup ; different videos taken from different angles show how some people were wrongly accused of shooting at unarmed masses of demonstrators. Regardless of political preferences and actual events, it is an interesting documentary on how easily facts can be misrepresented.

Bullet The Blue Sky

micayetoca — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 06:33:50 -0800

Venezuelan State TV aired a show yesterday in which they complained about a certain videogame, in which the goal is to overthrow the "power-hungry tyrant who messes with Venezuela's oil supply." In Venezuela, people are a bit offended by the images of Caracas being destroyed in the game, outside, some people are offended because one of the owners of the controversial company that created the game is Bono, The Defender of the Poor, Bono, and they are trying to stop it.

If voting could actually change anything...

clevershark — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:25:25 -0800

The election isn't until next Tuesday, but already problems are being reported. It's not just in Texas, and not just in relation to everyone's favorite electronic-voting whipping boy, either; it's becoming clear that every vendor has its own unsolved security issues. In fact it seems that an increasing number of voices are warning that the US is in for an awful lot of contention from all parties involved after next week's vote, and that can't be good. Others are taking a non-disinterested rose-colored view of things and loudly proclaiming that there's nothing wrong with the system, or at least that no one should imply or infer or investigate the matter. Still others are quick to point out that there's nothing wrong with electronic voting, except when they're linked to a foreign government that doesn't get along particularly well with them. Whatever is true about the state of electronic voting in 2006, you can't deny that it has led to a certain plurality of opinions...

The Bolivarian Revolution just got interesting

loquax — Mon, 08 May 2006 10:26:11 -0800

Newsfilter: Chavez announces he may call a referendum asking voters to allow him to rule without further elections until 2031, well past the 2012 limit currently imposed by the Venezuelan constitution. Bluff? Naked power grab? Fatal mistake? Either way, watch what you say about it if you're in Caracas.

Pachakutic on schedule for 2012

airguitar — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 08:57:43 -0800

Latin America Turning Left? From the top: Lula da Silva *, Lopez Obrador, Nestor Kirchner, Hugo Chavez *, Alvaro Uribe, Michelle Bachelet *, Ollanta Humala, Alfredo Palacio, Oscar Berger, Leonel Fernandez, Oscar Arias, Tony Saca, Tabare Vazquez, Martín Torrijos, Evo Morales * Manuel Zelaya, Nicanor Duarte, Daniel Ortega, Rene Preval *.

You messed with me, birdie. No?

ruelle — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 14:30:13 -0800

"You are a donkey, Mr Danger" Hugo Chavez woos Bush.

The horse of freedom!

blahblahblah — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:41:36 -0800

Venezuela gets a controversal new flag and seal. In the words of Chavez: "The white horse is now liberated, free, vigorous, trotting toward the left, representing the return of Bolivar and his dream. Long live the fatherland!" Of course, national flag controversies are nothing new, for example, in Iraq, the Confederate States, Macedonia, and Canada. If you want to stay current, there is Flagwire, a site devoted only to flag news, and the extremely cool flag identifier, for those times when you don't know which country you are in.

And We're Confiscating Those Cartoons, Professor

BT — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 21:46:13 -0800

Miguel Tinker Salas is the Arango Professor in Latin American History at Pomona College, a political historian and sometime commentator on U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. On Tuesday, an FBI/LA County Sherrifs Office Joint Terrorism Task Force came calling during Tinker Salas's office hours. "After identifying themselves, they proceeded to ask about my relation to Venezuela, the government, the community, my scholarship, my politics...After they departed, the three or four students who were outside my office informed me that these individuals had asked them about my background, my classes, what I taught, my politics and they even wrote down the cartoons that are on my door."

Congressional Oil spokesman goes after Citgo

mountainmambo — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 07:45:43 -0800

Congressional Oil spokesman goes after Citgo. In Washington, Texas Republican Congressman Joe Barton (R-ExxonMobil) has launched an investigation into Citgo. But he is not investigating whether any of the oil giants are engaging in price gouging at a time when gasoline and heating oil casts are skyrocketing. Instead Barton has set his sights on the only oil company that actually dared to lower its prices last year - at least for the poorest Americans. Last week Barton demanded the Venezuelan-owned company Citgo produce all records, minutes, logs, e-mails and even desk calendars related to the company’s novel program of supplying discounted heating oil to low-income communities in the United States. The Citgo program, which began late last year in Massachusetts and the South Bronx, provides oil at discounts as high as 60% off market price.

No gringo, No fly.

toxic — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 12:08:09 -0800

Venezuela bans US Airlines. The Chavez government announced yesterday that as of March 1st, Continental and Delta will no longer be allowed to fly into Venezuela, and American's flights will be restricted significantly (allowing AA to continue their Miami to Caracas route, which is the same one that Aeropostal flies to the US). We've talked about Chavez in the blue before, and this may be simple political posturing in an effort to open more routes for Aeropostal and other Venezuelan airlines, but between this, and the recent comments by Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice and Porter Goss, are we looking at a new low in US/Venezuela relations?

Cueva del Fantasma

driveler — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:13:42 -0800

Researchers have discovered a cave so large two helicopters can comfortably land inside it and containing a new species of poison dart frog.

Rumsfeld likens Chavez and Evo Morales to Hitler - expels diplomat in tit for tat

specialk420 — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 12:00:04 -0800

Rumsfeld likens Chavez to Hitler - expels diplomat in tit for tat
meanwhile the American Family Association calls for a boycott of Venezuelan owned Citgo (obviously encouraging more support for gulf arab regimes). The Venezuelan grandmother I recently spent a Sunday with was very happy with Chavez - and proud of him despite his faults and corruption in the country. What's with Rummy and friends?

Goddamn socialists

wilful — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 19:09:01 -0800

Cheap oil for the masses. "Officials from Venezuela and Massachusetts have signed a deal providing cheap heating oil to low-income homes in the US state. The fuel will be sold at some 40% below market prices to thousands of homes over the winter months. Local congressman William Delahunt described the deal as "an expression of humanitarianism at its very best". [Newsfilter] Why do you hate America, Hugo?

A crash course in Venezuelan history

jefgodesky — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:25:13 -0800

Hugo Chávez is crazy! Hugo Chávez is certainly making a lot of news these days. No doubt we'll find the truth somewhere between "evil dictator" and "third world savior," but the long, dark history of U.S. involvement in Latin America casts suspicion on everything. Chávez is gaining a heroic light in the third world for "standing up to" the United States. He's making friends with Cuba, China and Iran. Is Chávez heading up a new rogues' gallery ... or gearing up for the resource wars?
Previous MetaFilter coverage: [1,2,3,4]

"Terrific Danger"

billysumday — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 20:51:56 -0800

Pat Robertson calls for the assassination of Hugo Chavez. Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, said on "The 700 Club" it was the United States' duty to stop Chavez from making Venezuela a "launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

With Venezuela harbouring and aiding Columbian rebels

adamvasco — Sun, 23 Jan 2005 14:14:10 -0800

With Venezuela harbouring and aiding Colombian rebels; namely the leftist FARC is the US administration looking to intervene in Latin America? Possibility discussed here

Palast piece on Chavez

skallas — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 09:35:38 -0800

Dick Cheney, Hugo Chavez and Bill Clinton's Band by Greg Palast