The Guacamaya
The Guacamaya is a podcast about Venezuela—its history, politics, and the forces that shaped the country we know today. From dictators and coups to oil, democracy, and the rise of Hugo Chávez, each episode goes beyond the headlines to explain how Venezuela got here... and where it may be going next.
Episodes
29 episodes
The Maduro Diet
Episode 26 | As Venezuelans searched for food in the garbage, Nicolás Maduro enjoyed a luxury steak dinner abroad. After crushing the protests of 2017, his regime tightened its grip on power while hunger transformed daily life. In t...
Why Maduro Survived
Episode 25 | Why did Nicolás Maduro survive Venezuela’s economic collapse and the mass protests of 2017? In this episode, we examine the two strategies that kept him in power: control over the military—and turning ...
Killing Venezuelans
Episode 24 | How far would Nicolás Maduro go to stay in power? In 2017, Venezuelans filled the streets demanding democracy, food, medicine, and a future in their own country. For four months, they kept marching as the re...
Losing the National Assembly
Episode 23 | What happens when a dictatorship loses an election? In December 2015, Venezuela’s opposition won a sweeping majority in the National Assembly. Millions celebrated, believing change was finally within reach. ...
No Exit
Episode 22 | Why did Venezuela’s 2014 protests fail to force Nicolás Maduro from power? As students filled the streets and opposition leaders rallied behind La Salida, the government responded with repression, p...
Things Fall Apart
Episode 21 | When Nicolás Maduro inherited Venezuela, the country was already dangerously fragile. Then came empty shelves, blackouts, spiraling inflation, rampant violent crime. This is the story of how Venezuela began ...
Nicolás Maduro
Episode 20 | Nicolás Maduro was easy to underestimate. He was mocked as a bus driver, an idiot, and dismissed as a weak successor to Hugo Chávez. But behind the jokes was a far more experienced political operator—one sha...
Chavismo without Chávez
Episode 19 | In March 2013, Venezuela faced a question it had never confronted before: could chavismo survive without Hugo Chávez? In this episode we follow Chávez’s massive state funeral, the extraordinary ten-...
Where is the President of Venezuela?
Episode 18 | For nearly three months, Venezuela's president had disappeared. After Hugo Chávez left for Cuba in December 2012, he missed his own inauguration and left the country trapped in a growing mystery over his hea...
The Tragedy of Hugo Chávez
Episode 17 | In the final episode on Hugo Chávez, The Guacamaya explores the mysticism, charisma and improbable fortune that carried him from a failed coup to the presidency—and kept him there. From Bolívar’s
Chávez's "Simón Bolívar"
Episode 16 | What was actually “Bolivarian” about Hugo Chávez’s revolution? This episode examines the Liberator Chávez worshipped, the historical Bolívar hidden beneath Venezuela’s national mythology, and the political i...
The Democratic Dictator
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, coe...
Millionaires of the Revolution
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 Cháv...
Special Report: This Tragedy Is Political
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...
Special Report: Earthquakes in Venezuela
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 thi...
¡Exprópiese!
Episode 13 | How did Chávez’s expropriations 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...
Socialism of the 21st Century
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 h...
American Empire
Episode 11 | How did the United States become Hugo Chávez's enemy? After the failed coup of 2002, Chávez transformed a Venezuelan political crisis into something much bigger: a global battle between his revolution and U....
Names on a List
Episode 10 | What was the Tascón List? 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 ...
The Final Battle
Episode 9 | How did Chávez take over Venezuela’s oil industry? 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 m...
The Coup: From the Ashes
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 ...
The Coup: Chávez Falls
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 Chá...
Revolution? What Revolution?
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 ideo...