Charlie's blog

President Barack Obama said he went to the Fifth Summit of the Americas to listen but I’m not sure he heard or understood all that was being said.

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I wouldn't recommend putting too much faith in LONELY PLANET'S Venezuela edition., If you are planning a trip to Venezuela

This is Holy Week. In Venezuela, it means that a multitude is filling the streets in processions and in attending Catholic Church services. It also means that tens of thousands are also heading to the beaches. Some are doing one or other of these activities; many are doing both.

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One day a U.S. college student asked if the Venezuelan programs giving subsidized food, decent housing, free eye operations and better all-round medical care, were not just a ploy by Chávez to win elections.

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Every street corner in the historic center of Caracas has a name.  Hence if you ask someone for directions, you will often be given the names of two corners instead of the name of a street or of a street number.

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Can you imagine: the Bushes and Clintons in the White House for fifty-two years; or, a janitor at a local university voting for whom the next university president will be; or, the U.S. invading Spain to bring democracy to the country? As the Four Jacks and a Jill sang in the late 60s, “It’s a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack.”

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In the October 15 issue of the Venezuelan newspaper, Ultimas Noticias, I noticed an advertisement sponsored by the government that had a dark skinned woman as the principal figure.  I decided check the ads in the full color magazine that accompanies the newspaper on Sundays. Not one dark-skinned person appeared in any of the commercial advertisements.  

Often when I am with foreign visitors driving down one of the highways in Caracas I ask them to count all the dark-skinned people they see on the billboards.  A three-year old could count as far.  

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I want to thank Venezuela Analysis for the invitation to share some of my thoughts through this website. I currently contribute columns regularly to Narco News and to 21st Century Socialism. What I would like to do here is share shorter reflections of an expatriate, looking in on Venezuela and looking out from here at the U.S. and the rest of the world.

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Five years ago Juan and Maria were tired of the dust that filled their barrio home day after day. One evening at supper they decided that it was time to do something about it. They visited their neighbors and called a meeting to discuss how to pave the street that ran in front of their houses.

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In the last six months, three books have appeared on the market that I believe form an excellent introduction to recent Venezuelan history. Here is the order in which you ought to read them and why.

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