The Guacamaya

Επεισόδια

• The Democratic Dictator 21.07.2026 21λ

  Episode 15 | How did elections become one of Hugo Chávez's most powerful weapons? This episode traces how Chávez manipulated Venezuela’s electoral system from 1999 to 2012—rewriting the rules, blacklisting opponents, coercing public employees, gerrymandering districts, and stripping rivals of power. This is how Venezuela became a dictatorship through the ballot box. Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/15932964/join
• Millionaires of the Revolution 14.07.2026 21λ

  Episode 14 | How did Hugo Chávez’s socialist revolution create a new class of millionaires? This episode explains how CADIVI, Fonden, and Venezuela’s historic oil boom became engines of corruption—and how loyalty to Chávez gave insiders access to cheap dollars, government contracts, and impunity—giving rise to a new oligarchy in Venezuela: the Bolivarian bourgeoisie.
• Special Report: This Tragedy Is Political 07.07.2026 16λ

  Special Report | More than ten days after back-to-back earthquakes devastated the country, the Venezuelan regime has blocked rescuers, controlled aid, monitored journalists, and persecuted victims who have spoken out. In this episode, we examine the aftermath of this tragedy, exposing the true nature of the Venezuelan dictatorship. Link to verified organizations providing assistance in Venezuela can be found here: https://donarseguro.com/en
• Special Report: Earthquakes in Venezuela 30.06.2026 17λ

  Special Report | On June 24, two massive earthquakes—magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5—struck Venezuela just seconds apart, destroying hundreds of buildings and leaving tens of thousands of people dead, missing, or homeless. In this episode, I examine the scale of the destruction, the regime’s disastrous response, and the ordinary Venezuelans who were forced to dig through the rubble and organize relief efforts themselves. Link to verified organizations providing assistance in Ve...
• ¡Exprópiese! 23.06.2026 24λ

  Episode 13 | How did Hugo Chávez destroy Venezuela’s economy? In this episode, we examine the mass expropriations at the heart of Chávez’s socialist project—from banks and supermarkets, to factories and farms. We explore how worker “co-management,” price controls, state ownership, and corruption devastated domestic production. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/15932964/join
• Socialism of the 21st Century 16.06.2026 26λ

  Episode 12 | What was "Socialism of the 21st Century"? After winning reelection in 2006, Hugo Chávez claimed Venezuela had voted for "socialism." But what did that actually mean? In this episode, we explore how Chávez came to adopt socialism. How he turned a vague slogan into the blueprint for a new political order built around the "Communal State"—a new, terrifying alternative to the state outlined in the Venezuelan constitution. Support the show on Patreon:&nbs...
• American Empire 09.06.2026 25λ

  Episode 11 | How did the United States become Hugo Chávez's enemy? Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/15932964/join After the failed coup of 2002, Chávez transformed a Venezuelan political crisis into something much bigger: a global battle between his revolution and U.S. imperialism. And it worked. Around the world, Chávez became famous for standing up to American power. But inside Venezuela, that same rhetoric was used to persecute ...
• Names on a List 02.06.2026 25λ

  Episode 10 | What was the Tascón List? Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/15932964/join In 2004, Hugo Chávez faced a recall referendum that threatened to remove him from power. But as millions of Venezuelans signed to demand a vote, their names were turned into a political weapon. The infamous Tascón List exposed citizens—and helped transform democracy into a system of loyalty and fear. This is the story of the 2004 recall referendum, the ...
• The Final Battle 26.05.2026 27λ

  Episode 9 | How did Chávez take over Venezuela’s oil industry? Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/15932964/join After the failed coup of April 2002, Venezuela entered a new phase of confrontation. Chávez purged the military, the opposition occupied Plaza Altamira, and the battle moved to the heart of the Venezuelan state: PDVSA. This is the story of the national strike that was meant to bring Chávez down—and turned into his greatest victory.
• The Coup: From the Ashes 19.05.2026 26λ

  Episode 8 | How did Hugo Chávez return to power after the 2002 coup? In this episode, we follow the chaotic hours after Chávez was removed from power, the rise of Pedro Carmona’s short-lived interim government, the disastrous Carmona Decree, and the reversal that brought Chávez back to power less than 48 hours later. April 2002 would become one of the great founding myths of Chavismo. But the real story is more complicated. This is the story of how Hugo Chávez ro...
• The Coup: Chávez Falls 12.05.2026 32λ

  Episode 7 | How was Hugo Chávez removed from power in 2002? On April 11, 2002, more than half a million Venezuelans marched through Caracas toward Miraflores Palace. By nightfall, people were dead in the streets—and Chávez had fallen. But the president's dramatic fall didn't come out of nowhere. In this episode, we trace the months of escalating confrontation that pushed Venezuela to the brink. As Chávez moved to impose his will on the institutions he did not co...
• Revolution? What Revolution? 05.05.2026 21λ

  Episode 6 | Was Hugo Chávez always a socialist? Not exactly. When Chávez first came to power, he rejected socialism and communism—but embraced another label: revolutionary. In this episode, we trace the ideological roots of Chávez’s "Bolivarian Revolution," from Simón Bolívar and Ezequiel Zamora to Fidel Castro and Norberto Ceresole. We look at how Chávez’s vision evolved, and how it began shaping Venezuela. We also revisit one of the earliest warnings against Chávez’s autho...
• Supreme Court Suicide 28.04.2026 21λ

  Episode 5 | Why didn’t the Supreme Court stop Hugo Chávez? In this episode, we trace the moment when Venezuela’s democracy began to unravel—not through tanks or coups, but through legal decisions, political strategy, and the quiet collapse of institutional power. We follow Chávez’s first months in office: his push for a Constituent Assembly, the Supreme Court’s fateful rulings, and the electoral system that allowed him to dominate the body that would rewrite the Constitution...
• Dancing with the Devils 21.04.2026 23λ

  Episode 4 | In 1998, Hugo Chávez was a former coup leader fresh out of prison, polling at just five percent and dismissed by nearly everyone in Venezuela. But within a year, he would become president. In this episode, we trace how Chávez made that extraordinary rise: from his release by Rafael Caldera, to his decision to abandon armed struggle and run for office. We follow the collapse of Venezuela’s old political order, the other candidates, and the behind-the-scenes battle betwe...
• The Rotten Democracy 14.04.2026 29λ

  Episode 3 | In this episode, we trace the collapse of the political system that ruled Venezuela after 1958—and how it gave rise to Hugo Chávez. For decades, Venezuela seemed to be one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Latin America. Oil wealth fueled the rise of “Saudi Venezuela,” while the political parties promised democracy, order, and progress. But beneath the surface, the system was beginning to rot. We follow the decline of the Punto Fijo era: the failed guerril...
• From Soldiers to Politicians 07.04.2026 24λ

  Episode 2 | Who built modern Venezuela? In this episode, we go back to the collapse of nineteenth-century Venezuela and the rise of the generals who built the modern state. From Cipriano Castro and Juan Vicente Gómez to the discovery of oil, the slow opening under Eleazar López Contreras and Isaías Medina Angarita, and the dramatic collapse of Venezuela’s first democratic transition. Because Venezuela was not built by politicians. It was built by soldiers. And even when democracy ...
• The Day Chávez Failed… (For Now) 31.03.2026 18λ

  Episode 1 | On February 4, 1992, a little-known army officer named Hugo Chávez launched a military coup against the Venezuelan government. By dawn, the coup had failed. But then something unexpected happened... For less than two minutes on live television, Chávez transformed himself from an unknown colonel into the most important political figure in Venezuela. In this episode, we tell the story of the coup that changed Venezuela forever: the chaos of that night, the soldiers who f...
• What is The Guacamaya? 31.03.2026 6λ

  Episode 0 | What happens when a country with the largest oil reserves in the world collapses into dictatorship? Welcome to The Guacamaya—the podcast about Venezuela, power, and the long history that led to the crisis we see today. In this initial episode, I explain what this podcast is, why I’m making it, and what you can expect in the episodes to come. We’ll go beyond headlines to understand how Venezuela changed, how authoritarianism took hold, and why its story matters fa...