The Venezuelan President was known for his vociferous, colorful rhetoric.
Latin America
Venezuelans Mourn the Death of Hugo Chavez
Venezuelans mourn the passing of the charismatic, controversial President known as ‘El Comandante’.
Death Comes for el Comandante: Hugo Chávez (1954–2013)
Like his idol, Fidel Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was one of the most garrulous and pugnacious leaders Latin America has ever known. That makes his death in Caracas today, March 5, at age 58, after a long and …
Venezuela’s Future: Whose Health Is Worse—Hugo Chávez’s or the Opposition’s?
President Hugo Chávez is reportedly holed up on the ninth floor of Caracas’ Dr Carlos Arvelo military hospital, where a giant poster of his face beams down from its manila-colored walls. But the portrait belies the deep …
Mexico Goes After the Narcos — Before They Join the Gangs
The country’s latest addition to its anticrime strategy is stopping kids from joining cartels
Hugo Chávez’s Absence Deepens Venezuela’s Sense of Crisis
When Venezuelan authorities announced a long-overdue devaluation of their currency last week, ministers insisted that the command had come directly from President Hugo Chávez. “We have taken this as a presidential order,” …
A Gang Rape Reinforces Acapulco’s Decline, but What of Mexico’s Other Resorts?
The once iconic tourist mecca no longer attracts the huge numbers it once did, but tourism is till booming in the rest of Mexico
Santiago Summit: Can Latin America Now Lecture Europe About Economics?
Latin America brings historic confidence to its economic summit with the battered EU in Chile this weekend, but its own precarious problems lie just beneath the surface.
France Celebrates Return of Convicted Kidnapper From Mexican Prison
Mexico’s Supreme Court frees Florence Cassez after seven years in prison for a 2007 kidnapping conviction that justices ruled was flawed by rights violations. Could that be the start of deep judicial reform in Mexico?
The Loyal Lieutenant: In Hugo Chávez’s Absence, Nicolás Maduro’s Stature Grows
Vice President Nicolás Maduro is cancer-stricken President Hugo Chávez’s designated successor, but can he fill el comandante’s boots?
Richard Blanco, Obama’s Inaugural Poet: Not Your Father’s Cuban Exile
Poet Richard Blanco, who will read at the inauguration, represents the new face of America—and Cuban-America
If Chávez Can’t Be Sworn In, Is He Still President of Venezuela?
Venezuela has decried its neighbors’ loose ways with their constitutions, but the ruling party in Caracas does much the same — especially when it comes to Chávez
Return of the Zapatistas: Are Mexico’s Rebels Still Relevant?
Subcomandante Marcos has re-emerged to remind Mexico that his movement, while slightly faded, is still entrenched in Chiapas