Opinion & Analysis

On August 27, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the end of negotiations with former owners Ternium over the nationalisation of the Sidor steel factory, stating that the government would “take over all the companies that it has here”, insisting Ternium “can leave”.

The second and final installment of a debate about the Albert Einstein Institution's involvement in Venezuela, which has been accused by some of providing support to the opposition in developing non-violent protest strategies to destabilize the Chavez government.

Something you wouldn’t see at the Olympics: Teams of laughing and cheering teenagers and young adults throwing water-filled-condoms at each other, catching them in towels held by one person on each corner, as rain drenches the condom covered ground.

The owner of Fundimeca, an air conditioning factory in Valencia, Carabobo, is waging an intense campaign of terror and intimidation against the factory’s work force, which is fighting to ensure that the company complies with Venezuela’s constitution and labour laws.

The Bush administration's "divide and conquer," Cold War strategy in Latin America has only succeeded in further reducing Washington's standing in the region, which is now lower than it has ever been. Obama would have a chance to make a fresh start. But would he? So far there has been little indication that he would.

Obama heads to Denver this month to become the Democratic Party candidate for the presidency. Opinion divides sharply on whether his platform for U.S. policy in Latin America is really a "Change We Can Believe In." Obama's approach, more than the policies themselves, gives us much to work with in turning disaster into a genuine good neighbor policy for the region.

One judge of the revolutionary process ongoing in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is how far it reaches. To understand how deep the process is, how far and wide-reaching the aspirations of the Venezuelan people are, one needs to look in remote areas long neglected before the revolution began. One needs to seek out a little town called Chuao.

Unlike the large majority of the writing on Venezuela in the Chavez era, which focus on Chavez’ “style” or personality, Ellner focuses on substantive issues, especially around class and race.

The attempt of the Venezuelan government to regain control over the resources of the country is entirely justified. Yet it has been met by howls of protests from the multinationals. How can these gentlemen speak of the so-called efficiency of the private bankers?

Only when Chávez became the leader of what was beginning to become an important trading partner and threatened to destabilize a status-quo that was not in Venezuela’s favor, did the United States express much concern over the well-being of the latter’s population. The sudden intense concern that then followed seems directly tied to the U.S.’s economic interests.