Charlie Devereux
Charlie Devereux covers Venezuela for GlobalPost. He has written about Caracas' spiraling homicide rate, inflationary economies in Latin America, cult religions and the politicization of...
Charlie Devereux's Notebook:
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It was high drama at the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant here last night.
Miss Miranda, Marelisa Gibson, the 21-year-old brunette featured in our video, walked away with the top prize.
The four-hour extravaganza featured musical interludes from reggaeton stars such as Daddy Yankee but all the attention was on the girls and their dresses.
From 20 contestants, it was whittled down to 10 who all had to negotiate the tricky questions round.
Poor Miss Distrito Capital froze under the pressure when asked whether it was harder to ask for permission or forgiveness from someone. She had to pass back the microphone to the presenter without giving an answer. I don't think I would have liked that question.
Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008, and Stefania Fernandez, Miss Universe 2009, both made appearances and whipped up some flag waving and nationalistic fervour.
Gibson will be hoping to extend the record they achieved when she represents Venezuela at the Miss Universe contest next year, where she will be going for a third successive crown in a row for Venezuela.
Stewie Griffin promotes drug use for the US government, says Venezuela
It's a cause for controversy at home and has picked up a gamut of awards in the process, but now the popular cartoon show "Family Guy" has found itself caught in the middle of a spat between Venezuela and the United States about drug trafficking.
Venezuelan state TV today broadcast an excerpt from "Family Guy" as an example of how the U.S. promotes drug use. The clip features Stewie, the matricide-obsessed infant son of Peter and Lewis Lois Griffin, singing a song extolling the virtues of smoking weed.
"We can observe how [the U.S. government] promotes and incites the population to consume that drug there," said Tarek El Aissaimi, Venezuela's Interior Minister. "There's no subliminal message. It's an animated cartoon where you can observe perfectly how they promote consumption and moreover they foster the legalization of marijuana."
El Assaimi blames U.S. drug consumption for fueling drug trafficking in Latin America.
Venezuela took offense to a U.S. Congress report that concluded that Venezuela is undermining U.S. efforts to combat the drug trade in neighboring Colombia. Since then, El Aissaimi has been on a media blitz to prove how much effort the country is making to stamp out drug trafficking.
Watch the offending song here:
Ousted Honduran president slips into Tegucigalpa, Chavez says
Manuel Zelaya, the Honduran president who was ousted in a coup in June this year, is in Tegucigalpa, according to the Venezuelan government.
Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, announced the news on live state TV while visiting an educational program launched by his government.
Zelaya, an ally of Chavez's left-wing movement, has received strong support from Venezuela during his exile.
"We demand that the Honduran coupsters respect the life and dignity of the Honduran president," he said, while speaking to Zelaya by phone.
Zelaya reached Tegucigalpa by crossing Honduras' mountains clandestinely, Chavez said.
Zelaya who was ousted by his own party after concerns that he wanted to alter the Honduran Constitution so that he could run for presidency again, attempted to return to Honduras in July by crossing the border at Esteli in Nicaragua but turned back when his passage was barred by the army.
He is holed up in the U.N. building in Tegucigalpa where he hopes to meet with members of the interim government to negotiate his return, according to Venezuela's state TV channel, VTV.
There is a warrant for his arrest in Honduras. Chavez did not say whether Zelaya planned to step outside the protection of the U.N. offices.
Hugo Chavez — public relations master
If recent events are anything to go by, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is a master in PR.
Chavez's solution when dealing with bad publicity is simple: go on the attack. Potentially damaging news is swiftly cancelled out with diversionary tactics.
Last month, revelations that the Venezuelan army had provided Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the FARC, with anti-tank rocket launchers were quickly forgotten when he went on the offensive about Colombian plans to allow US forces access to military bases.
Then last week, synchronized worldwide marches against him quickly melted into the background when he stepped onto the red carpet at the Venice film festival to attend the premiere of Oliver Stone's documentary about him, South of the Border.
Yesterday, another potentially damaging revelation emerged: the Andorran government has frozen bank accounts belonging to family members and Venezuelan militaries closely linked to him following a request by the US Treasury Department. According to the Diari d'Andorra, the accounts could be linked to the funding of terrorist groups.
What diversionary publicity masterstroke do you think he will come up with this time?
Reporter's Dispatches
CHURURU, Venezuela — This sleepy town on Venezuela’s border with Colombia has been “candela” — or “on fire”...Read more >
CARACAS, Venezuela — He’s a pot-smoking toddler who fantasizes about killing his mother and he’s the latest American figure to rile...Read more >
RIO CARIBE, Venezuela — Luis Carvajal cracks open a cacao pod and offers one of its sticky white seeds to suck on. “Can you taste how...Read more >
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