Venezuela

Caracas, Venezuela is a city made up of skyscrapers, colonial architecture and, wherever possible, the do-it-yourself tile and cement houses of poor neighborhoods, known as barrios.  Though the local mainstream media ignored the coming of the 2006 World Social Forum, Caracans themselves found out quickly as they watched a parade of activists from across the globe pour into their city waving banners, setting up tents and discussing the state of the world on park benches and hotel lobbies.

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Latin America is boiling with revolutionary potential these days that could redefine economics, politics and social relations. But sometimes things aren’t always as they seem. […]

Ever since the National Security Act of 1947 established the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA has engaged in activities far beyond information collection and analysis. It has been involved many times in covert efforts to achieve U.S. foreign policy goals, inlcuding regime change in nations whose leaders were not subservient to U.S. interests.

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Venezuela today, under its democratically elected President, Hugo Chavez Frias, is imbued with the spirit of Bolivarianism. It’s based on the vision of Simon Bolivar, the Caracas born 19th century general who defeated the Spanish, liberated half of South America, believed in redistributive social policies and a united South America—all things Chavez has adopted in his rhetoric and actions. The ultimate objective is to overcome what Bolivar perceptively characterized as the imperial curse "to plague Latin America with misery in the name of liberty."

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Venezuelan legislators have started an investigation to build a case against President Bush at the Hague International Court. Washington’s role in the short lived coup against President Chavez, as well as other meddling in Venezuela’s […]

For the past six years we have witnessed how, in the midst of great adversity, millions of Venezuelans have taken their destiny into their own hands and worked together to achieve the construction of a society rooted in the values of solidarity, democracy and social justice.

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Following the example of Cuba’s humanist approach to guaranteeing its people the right to quality education and healthcare, Venezuela has embarked upon a historical mission to eliminate poverty in a country where nearly 70% of the population is poor. As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez consistently reiterates, the only way to end poverty is to empower the poor and marginalized. […]

La Vega, a sea of tin-roofed shacks and steep, narrow streets, is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Caracas, Venezuela. Most of the country’s population lives in slums, or barrios like this. Until President Hugo […]

Peggy Ortiz is a blonde, 35-year-old self proclaimed Chavista (Chavez supporter) who works as a writer and radio producer in Caracas, Venezuela. On a walk through the city’s Plaza Bolivar she introduced me to her […]

The sounds of car horns, salsa music, children in playgrounds, barking dogs and occasional gun shots rise out of Catia, one of the largest slums in Latin America. Catia is a sea of multilevel, tin-roof […]