Blackrock, the world’s largest money manager, today warned that “resource nationalism” was a growing trend, on the rise globally. Their investment chief for natural resources, Evy Hambro, particularly singled out the regimes of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela as extreme examples of government intervention, ultimately hinderances to foreign investment. “We’re seeing a [...]

Hundreds of Venezuelans have held a demonstration demanding the government halt expropriations of private companies and condemning its stance toward union protests. Some protesters held signs saying “Free Ruben Gonzalez!” — a union leader jailed on charges stemming from a 2009 strike at the state iron-mining company. The doctrine of Hugo Chavez has long been [...]

BusinessWeek has reported that the U.S. today revoked the visa of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s ambassador to Washington as part of a five-month diplomatic feud between the two countries. This war of words has followed a brash regime in the oil-rich country of nationalization in the form of expropriation, most notably in the name of [...]

The government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez seeks to control the ideas of the media and impose silence during his nationalization wave, warned a recent report presented to the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA). The report on freedom of expression in Venezuela, which was presented in the context of the 66th General Assembly of the Inter-American [...]

What do a steel company, urban development projects and golf courses all have in common? They are three of the latest targets of Hugo Chávez’s nationalization drive – and part of his plan for renewed popularity. The background is a severe shortage of decent housing: over 2m homes are needed, by some counts, in a [...]

Hugo Chavez signed an abhorrent decree on Monday to expropriate a pillar of the Venezuelan community’s farm–supply business, promising to bring down prices of seeds and fertilizers as his government grasps further control in lieu of promising polling results for his political opposition. Chavez said Monday night that he signed the decree for the “forced acquisition” [...]

Farmer Franklin Britos, 49, died last night at approximately 9 pm, at the Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital of Caracas as a result of a hunger strike which began several months ago to protest against “expropriation policy and nationalizations carried out by the Hugo Chávez government.” According to his wife, Elena Brito, “he died around 9 pm [...]

During one of his interminable appearances on national television, perhaps even on his own broadcast Alo Presidente on Telesur, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez demanded to know last month why Guillermo Zuloaga, the majority owner of Venezuela’s last remaining opposition television station, was not in jail. “How is it possible that he can accuse me of [...]

The tone of this blog has sometimes veered off its original intent, every so often appearing similar to that of an international human rights watchdog.  Quite frequently however, we refer to the geopolitical and economic ramifications from the actions of an erratic authoritarian, of which there are unfortunately many, and not only the human cost. [...]

Rule of law is hardly adhered to in Venezuela, nor is democracy, for that matter – casualties of the revolution our favorite erratic autocrat repeatedly claims is on the rise. Judges who rule against the favor of the government’s wishes have been known to be thrown in jail themselves. Those in the executive cabinet that [...]