Tag / Venezuela
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Venezuela: It’s Complicated
When Juan Guaidó, the previously unknown leader of Venezuela’s legislature, invoked a constitutional clause to declare himself president, he set off an international firestorm. Almost immediately, American Vice President Mike Pence called sitting president Nicolás Maduro “a dictator with no legitimate claim to power” and affirmed American support for Guaidó. The last months have seen…
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Demanding A Democratic Response To Neoconservatism
The 2020 election cycle has arrived and the Democrats need a message. With a Republican incumbent (who may be in for a primary challenge), all eyes are on the Democratic field. All Democrats can agree on one thing: at least their nominee won’t be Trump. But such a declaration dismisses the meaningful policy discussions that…
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Apologia Americana
What is America’s role in the world? We are committed to defend a quarter of the world’s population. We have bases in over seventy countries. The institutions we helped found after World War II, from the World Bank to NATO, are still operating and healthy. Yet we are more divided than ever, a polarization that…
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7 Years of Plenty, 70 Years of Famine: Understanding Venezuela’s Crisis
“I’d have been better off broke.” This is how Abraham Shakespeare, a $30 million American lottery winner, described his windfall. “It’s just upheaval that they’re not ready for,” a financial consultant explained. “People have had terrible things happen.” A common “filler” story for news channels is the “Curse of the Lottery.” These cautionary tales warn…
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Venezuela: The anatomy of a failing state
Venezuela is spiraling out of control. Inflation is above 700 percent, and only rising. There are drastic shortages of basic consumer goods. Venezuelans wait in lines several blocks long just to enter grocery stores, only to find empty shelves. Even when certain products are available, the sky-high inflation rate is eating away at Venezuelans’ ability…
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A Radical Remembered
A spokesperson for the Venezuelan government announced in a brief press conference March 6th, that, despite losing a protracted battle with cancer, President Hugo Chávez will continue to govern post mortem. Chávez confirmed via Twitter his intention to retain his post for the foreseeable future despite pressing questions about what his death might mean for…
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On the Brink
While there have been plenty of good things happening this week, the stories that have grabbed my attention of late have all led me to suspect that The Glass is Half Empty. While this could certainly be a case of “the only good news is boring news,” I found that the stories that have most…
