The Guacamaya

Episoade

• Names on a List 02.06.2026 25min

  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 27min

  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 26min

  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 32min

  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 21min

  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 21min

  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 23min

  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 29min

  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 24min

  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 18min

  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 6min

  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...