Quirky Lefties (updated 1/31)

Left-handed pitchers, as every baseball fan knows, tend to have some eccentricities or foibles that make them endearing and unique (most of the time). Think of Doc Ellis' throwing a no-hitter while on LSD or Rube Waddell running out of stadiums to chase fire engines. Also, the fact that Brian Wilson is right-handed proves that he is annoying, and not quirky. Anyway, it is my belief that countries and cultures have similar quirks that stand out to outsiders and generally form part of their appeal. Here is my attempt to capture some of Venezuela's, in a format that owes much to the greatness of the website www.soloenvenezuela.com.

Staying Safe in Caracas

The next planned installment of my mini-series on Venezuela’s greatest challenges was to have focused on unemployment. But last night the Mexican Ambassador and his wife were kidnapped in Caracas (fortunately they were rescued unharmed this morning), and the resulting uproar and discussion here has had my mind concentrated on the other remaining issue – insecurity.

On Violence and Beauty

Venezuela is known for several things worldwide: its president and its abundance of oil, certainly. The fact that it is home to the world’s highest waterfall (Angel Falls) or that is it the birthplace of Simon Bolívar, maybe. But probably if you polled a global audience on the subject, the most common response you would get would be its remarkable success in producing beautiful women and international beauty pageant competitors. Venezuela has won six Miss Universe titles all-time, trailing only the United States’ seven, which is skewed from several wins early on in the competition (1950’s and 60’s) before it really started to catch on elsewhere. They also boast six first-runners up and five second-runners up. I promise I just looked up that trivia on Wikipedia and did not know if before.

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I do not consider myself to be an especially lucky or unlucky person. By that I do not mean that I have not had great fortune to be born into the time, setting, and circumstances that I have or that I have not had opportunities that most of the world would do anything for. I mean only that when it comes to winning a raffle, finding a quarter on the street, or avoiding those summer afternoon thunderstorms, I’d say my success rate is fairly standard. Of course gambling on sports is a matter of skill.

For Those Not Fortunate Enough To Enjoy The World's Strongest Immune System

Based on the limited feedback I’ve received from my blog so far, it seems as though my readers most enjoy hearing about my misery and misfortune. I promise I’ll write about more (which means I’ll need to get myself into more) shenanigans, but bear with me for a little longer because believe it or not I sometimes use these posts as a sort of first draft to collect my thoughts for other work. In the meantime you can amuse yourself with visions of me finding more and more creative excuses not to eat breakfast (tuna arepa) or dinner (tuna arepa) even when I’m in the apartment. Also of me trying out a couple of salsa steps by myself in my room before going out on Saturday night, which will be the last time I go to a discoteca while I’m here unless I get visitor. Is that a strong enough incentive, Siobhan?

For now, though, I’d like to return to part two of my mini-series on the biggest issues facing Venezuela. I promise this one will be short, because it is also not a subject with which I am greatly familiar, and because I’ve been writing a lot this week. But I think it is particularly interesting and relevant to an ongoing debate in the U.S. as well.

Breaking News: Major Shakeup Within The Opposition

A huge decision was just announced moments ago at a joint press conference as opposition candidate Leopoldo López announced his withdrawal from the race for president and endorsed fellow opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. This is the first major shakeup in the race since it began, and it has major ramifications on the upcoming opposition primary on February 12.

Championship Series of Dreams

I know folks in the U.S. think that yesterday was an exciting doubleheader of football thanks to the NFL conference championship games, but let me tell you it had nothing on its counterpart here in Venezuela. Saturday was the final day of the round robin phase of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP). Going into the day the Aragua Tigers had wrapped up a spot in the championship series thanks to their Friday win over the collapsing Anzoátegui Caribbeans, which left them with a 10-5 record. The Caribbeans’ schedule was complete, and the early leaders finished at 9-7 after dropping six of their final seven games. Standing a half game back at 8-7 each were the La Guaira Sharks and the Magallanes Navigators, who faced the 3-12 Zulia Eagles and nothing-to-play-for Tigers respectively. Not surprisingly the two pursuers both won, creating a three-way tie for second place and setting up a baseball festival on Sunday.

In a wrinkle that rivals the dispersal draft for its genius, the LVBP held back-to-back elimination games to decide the second finalist. Due to their superior first round record, the Sharks were given a bye into the second game and hosted both contests at their home stadium in Caracas. At 4:00 the Caribbeans and Navigators faced off in what became a thrilling encounter. Magallanes jumped out to a 5-0 lead after scoring three in the top of the third, but Anzoátegui rallied with runs in the sixth and seventh. Then in the eight their captain Eliézer Alfonzo hit a clutch three-run home run to tie the game. After a scoreless ninth the Caribbeans advanced a runner to third base in the bottom of the tenth but were unable to bring him home. In the top of the eleventh a William Bergolla double drove in Alberto Callaspo to retake the lead for Magallanes. Desperate to stay alive, René Reys led off the bottom of the inning with a double but was once again stranded on third base as closer Ricardo Hernández sealed the victory for the Navigators.

I Got A Strong Back / Steel Toes

This week I plan to do a mini-series of posts on the biggest issues facing Venezuela, at least according to the sources I have talked to and the observations I have made. These are issues on a micro-scale faced by the population at-large. Thus I will not address declining oil production or a lack of competent political leadership, which are important but do not affect people's daily lives to a large degree. I will, however, try to explain what the problems are, how they affect daily life, and if they have any obvious sources or solutions.

Five issues are consistently mentioned by nearly everyone I ask, and it would be convenient and tidy to write an entry per day about each of them. However one of the five is the poor quality of the education system and frankly that is not my area of expertise. Instead I will focus on the other four, beginning today with one of most noticeable and at times insidious ones - inflation and the high cost of living.

Ronnie Dunn would be a big hit in Venezuela if he could sing in Spanish. His populist croon against the high cost of living would certainly strike a chord here, especially in Caracas. In fact, I would say that the cost of living, along with the related scourge of inflation, is the most discussed issue in the country after insecurity and unemployment.

Playoff Baseball at its Finest

An epic showdown last night culminated in a ninth inning rally falling 90 feet short, as the Magallanes Navigators fell to the La Guaira Sharks 9-8 in the Venezuelan Baseball League. The Navigators, favorite team of President Chávez and much of the nation, began the game in promising fashion when catcher Jesus Flores hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning. After the Sharks tied it thanks to another Alex “El Samurai” Cabrera home run in the bottom of the frame, Magallanes appeared to have broken the game open when they scored five runs in the top of the fourth. Three of the runs scored with two outs, and the Universitario Stadium was rocking thanks to a sell-out crowd that contained roughly 60% Navigators fans. The Sharks scratched out two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to three, but it looked as though La Guaira would continue its fall down the standings and out of the championship race until a magical seventh inning.

After the non-existent seventh inning stretch (whose absence feels remarkably strange for me), each of the next eight Sharks batters to come to the plate reached base safely. Magallanes manager Carlos García changed pitchers twice during that span, but nothing could stop the onslaught. The noise of the crowd reached a crescendo when league MVP Gregor Blanco lined a double to center field, scoring two and giving the Sharks their first lead of the game. Fans everywhere began throwing their beers into the air, drenching everyone and making me glad I had worn a hat. The next batter, César Suárez, then stroked another single to left-center, driving in two more, giving La Guaira a cushion of three runs, and provoking more beer tossing. Never have I heard a baseball stadium so loud without Stephen Strasburg making his major league debut.

Entering the Seventh Circle

This morning I suffered through the realization of my absolute worst nightmare – close to three hours of shopping. After more than a week of deflecting the “invitation” of my roommate Patricia to help her go spend the rent money I had paid her, today I finally ran out of excuses, real and fabricated. Thus it was off to the Parque Central, which is not a park at all but the heart of downtown Caracas that contains a mixture of high rises and shops. We began with a couple of stores to find new sheets and a blanket for her bed. She asked a conservative estimate of 23 questions about material, pricing, and such, and eventually settled on a pair using what guidelines I have no idea. Let’s just say that the sheets and blanket both have multiple colors and not one can be found on both.

Next it was off to the electronics store to buy a new CD/cassette/radio so that she could play the collection of music she has accumulated over the years. We went through three models, with demonstrations for each, before selecting the most expensive one. Up until now, though, it had been an amusing but relatively painless experience for me. All of which was about to change.

An Up Close Look at the Opposition Favorite

Se ve

Se siente

Capriles Presidente!

This evening I attended an assamblea de ciudadanos (essentially a town hall) in the district of Recreo (a middle class neighborhood located in central Caracas) for opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Rodonski. Although I have seen Leopoldo López speak in Washington, DC, this was my first time seeing a presidential candidate in person in Venezuela. I wanted to get a sense not only of the candidate himself, but also of the type of crowd that attends such an event, the atmosphere that exists, the expectation of the attendees, etc. Capriles Rodonski is the presumed favorite to win the opposition primary on February 12, and based on tonight’s performance I can understand why.

Weekend Wrap Up

I have several thoughts on my mind about several different subjects, but I do not really want to overwhelm my readers or myself with too many posts. So here is a quick roundup of entertainment, news, and sports. 

MUSIC 

I know I write about baseball a lot (see below for more), but I wanted to use a little space to highlight another great part about life in Venezuela- the music. Here they listen to all sorts of styles, from salsa to merengue to reggaetón to rock. I thought I might be able to help out those of you who trying to impress your friends by playing some music that’s hot in Caracas right now (which I guess is what I am trying to do too). So without further ado, here are eight songs that should get people moving, wherever you are:

Living with the Enemy

Not wishing to burden my friends here by staying with them for an extended period of time, I had been living in a hotel since my arrival in Caracas. This week I finally managed to move in to an apartment, which turned out not to be as easy as it sounds. There is a severe housing shortagein Venezuela, probably in the ballpark of a scarcity of two million units. However the investment environment here is not exactly conducive to new construction. First of all, times are tight and not many individuals or companies have the capital needed to finance such projects. Government support goes nearly exclusively to developments that provide housing at subsidized rates to political allies. Second, the government has a delightful habit of waiting for private structures to be built and then expropriating them to “give” to those that need them. So you see some buildings for commercial use under construction, because those are tougher to confiscate and convert into apartments, but not many residential ones. Third, the Venezuelan legal code favors housing ownership over rentals. Fourth, real estate owners looking for tenants employ very stringent background checks because the potential for delinquency is high. Finally, most owners prefer to have longer-term tenants than me.

A Life Changing Decision

There comes a time in every person's life when they are faced with a momentous and difficult decision. What career should I pursue? Am I ready to have children? Can I still be friends with UNC fans? Well for me one of those times has arrived.

Diplomatic Games and Intrigue

A couple of diplomatic incidents involving Venezuela seem to have made the news in the U.S. lately, so for that reason I am not going to comment on them in much detail. My own opinion is that they both involve much more smoke than fire. On Monday President Chávez officially welcomed Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Miraflores (the Venezuelan White House). Both leaders had some good lines to share. Chávez spoke first and announced, "We are certainly going to work hard for bombs, for missiles, to keep fighting a war. Our war is against misery and poverty." Ahmadinejad then stepped it up a notch and declared, "Our weapon is logic, is culture and human values, our weapon is love," as John Lennon smiled down from heaven. 

The Playoff Picture Starts to Clear

With the semifinal round of the Venezuelan baseball league a third of the way completed, it looks like three teams will be fighting to finish in the top two spots and qualify for the championship series. Fortunately I am well-qualified to analyze two of them as I made the trip to Maracay yesterday to watch a second installment of the Tigers-Sharks rivalry. You may remember that on Monday I witnessed their first encounter, with the Tigers coming out 13-7 winners. Since then the Sharks had not lost again, winning three straight. The Tigers, on the other hand, had dropped two out of three, and another loss would have left them in big trouble since the defending champion Anzoátegui Carribeans had gotten off to a piping hot 5-0 start.

A Controversial Cabinet Appointment

The biggest news in Venezuela this weekend came out on Friday when President Chávez announced the appointment of a new Defense Minister: General Henry Rangel Silva. I would not expect many of my readers to recognize the name, but let's just say that his selection confirmed the worst fears of most antichavistas here. Silva first drew international attention in 2007 when, according to prosecutors' witnesses, the then-head of Venezuela's intelligence services was ordered by the President to direct a cover-up of the government's involvement in the infamous incident where a suitcase full of $800,000 in cash was discovered in the Buenos Aires airport. That money, it was determined, was part of a series of illicit contributions to the campaign of Argentine candidate, and now President, Cristina Fernández. A subsequent trial in Miami exposed the involvement of a series of high ranking officials in the Venezuelan government and in PDVSA, the state-run oil company. The coverage greatly embarrassed Chávez and caused considerable public relations damage to the government, despite Silva's best efforts.

The Biggest Issue in Venezuela

In most political campaigns, any number of issues can generally capture the attention of the electorate and serve as the deciding factor when evaluating a candidate. In the United States right now it is easy to imagine voters deciding that the most important problem to solve is how to create more jobs, improve health care, shrink the deficit, or end the war in Afghanistan, etc. In Venezuela, on the other hand, one issue supersedes all others: insecurity. Quite simply, safety conditions in much of the country are abysmal and deteriorating.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night I attended my inaugural baseball game in Venezuela, and I would have to say it was worth the wait. Yesterday marked the opening of the second stage of the season here. In the first, there is a 63 game schedule for each of the eight teams, at the end of which the top five teams qualify for what is called the semifinals or round robin. During the round robin each team plays a further 16 games, four against each opponent. The best two teams then advance to a best out of seven championship series.

In a quirk that Major League Baseball should adopt immediately, after the first round the five qualifying teams hold a four round draft to select players from the eliminated teams. This would have two galvanizing effects for MLB. First, it would improve competitive balance as small market teams, and even the Orioles, would have a better chance of signing their star players to long-term contracts. Adrian Gonzalez could have signed an extension to stay in San Diego secure in the knowledge that even if the club could not afford to build a strong team around him, he could still get picked up by the Red Sox for the playoffs. Second, it would ensure more star power in the postseason, improving TV ratings. Plus, how great would it have been in 2008 when the Tampa Bay Rays elected to take a situational left-handed reliever instead of Alex Rodriguez with their final pick and Derek Jeter was exposed as "not a true Brewer" after his 2/15 performance led to their elimination?

Meet The Candidates

With the Iowa caucuses set to kick off the U.S. presidential primary season, now is a good time to give a quick overview of the Venezuelan equivalent. As in the U.S., in Venezuela this year a primary will be held to choose a single candidate to run against President Hugo Chávez in the presidential election on October 7 (regional and local elections to follow after). Unlike in the U.S. there is no rolling set of statewide ballots; a single day of voting on February 12 will do the trick.

In contrast to elections past during Chávez's time in office, the opposition has promised to rally behind whoever wins the primary. Although candidates represent different political parties, they have united under the umbrella of the Unidad Democrática y de la Alternativa Democrática, referred to as Unidad (Unity). While the possibility exists that one of the losing candidates could pull a Ralph Nader and run as a third candidate in October, there are no signs yet that this will happen. In later posts I will attempt to present more comprehensive views of the biggest issues in the campaign, of the likelihood that Chávez could lose the October election (slim to none barring a catastrophic turn for the worse of his health), and a recap of what politics in Venezuela have been like in recent years. For now I thought it would be fun simply to give a thumbnail sketch of each opposition candidate as well as some idea of their chances of winning the primary. Without further ado, here they are, in alphabetical order:

Ringing in the New Year

A recap of the festivities of New Year's Eve seems as good a place as any to begin this blog, so here goes nothing. Looking back at last night, if there is one lesson I learned it is that Venezuelans of all sorts seem to be made of sterner stuff than us Americans. I spent the first half of the night at the Plaza Altamira, located strangely enough in the upscale Altamira neighborhood of Caracas. The plaza was adorned with Christmas decorations and a large stage where several excellent bands performed throughout the evening, and packed almost shoulder to shoulder with revelers. Nevertheless my focus throughout the night lay almost entirely on the streets surrounding the plaza, which appeared to be the scene of the latest Greek protests against further austerity measures. There, a most impressive display of fireworks craft and courage/disregard for the need for two functioning eyes took place over the course of several hours. Fireworks of every type imaginable were placed, set, thrown, waved, and shot into, over, and across the street, leaving plumes of smoke, small fires, and a veritable minefield of explosive devices for kids to joyfully navigate, sometimes with their parents in tow. During the peak levels of activity it looked as though a standoff was underway as crowds gathered across the street since nobody could possibly cross it to get to the plaza without suffering third degree burns.