- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Christian20

Fire in Venezuela Leaves 5 Dead

Christian — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 09:10:40 +0000

Five people, two of them children, died on Friday in a fire at a home in the Venezuelan capital, firefighters said.

The blaze broke out at around 6:30 a.m. in Caracas’ El Marques neighborhood, a fire department spokesperson told El Universal newspaper, suggesting the likely cause was a problem with the lights on a Christmas tree.

All of the fatalities were members of the same family.

Chavez’s revolution: limits singing in shower to battle against power cuts, water shortages

Christian — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:27:23 +0000

For the slum-dwellers of El Junquito, the fabulous views of Caracas have never been of much interest. It was the piped water and electricity supplied to their makeshift homes that earned their loyalty to Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, President Hugo Chavez.

But 10 years after Mr Chavez launched his socialist “revolution”, funded by an oil boom that has poured an estimated $800 billion into his coffers, the energy-rich state is plagued by ever more frequent power cuts and desperate water shortages.

That is costing the populist president his support among those who should be his bedrock followers - the poor. Now, in an attempt to regain his popularity, the former paratrooper turned firebrand politician is responding with an mixture of bellicose bluster and almost comic bravado.

In recent weeks he has urged his countrymen to stop wasting water by singing in the shower and complained at their enthusiasm for energ

Threat of blackout darkens Venezuela energy talks

Christian — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:06:23 +0000

President Hugo Chavez’s government is relocating a gathering of top energy executives due to power outages. The World Heavy Oil Congress says Venezuelan authorities have moved its three-day conference to Margarita...

As Chavez grips on power, popularity dips

Christian — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:16:16 +0000

Hugo Chavez’s support has declined in the polls as many Venezuelans say they are fed up with 27 percent inflation, a stagnant economy, faulty public services — and a government they see as incapable of doing much about it.

The president’s popularity has slid in monthly tracking polls from a high of 61 percent after winning a vote in February to 52.8 percent last month, pollster Luis Vicente Leon of the Caracas-based firm Datanalisis said Wednesday, adding that the downward trend in the percentage who view his presidency positively has continued since.

After more than a decade in power, Chavez is still by far the country’s most popular, most resilient and most divisive politician. What appears to have changed recently is that more are complaining about the high cost of living and a government that has often fallen far short of its promises.

Venezuela's oil boom is for rich only

Christian — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:53:46 +0000

A group of academics led by Luis Pedro España, a sociologist and researcher with the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), conducted a study about poverty in Venezuela which compares data from 1998-2008, and the result is not entirely positive.

In the study period, poverty declined from 56.33 percent to 48.14 percent of the total population, which equals to 10 million people. However, the households living in extreme poverty only decreased by 3 percent, and they account for “a little more than 3,000,000 Venezuelans,” said España during a forum organized by financial consulting firm Veneconomía to assess economic trends in Venezuela.

'Reporters Without Borders’ lies about Venezuela

Christian — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:54:52 +0000

With the advent of a new U.S. Administration and the appointment of a new director, one would have expected Reporters Without Borders to desist from their propaganda campaign against Venezuela and Cuba. But nothing of the sort. Salim Lamrani...