Observations focused on the problems of an underdeveloped country, Venezuela, with some serendipity about the world (orchids, techs, science, investments, politics) at large. A famous Venezuelan, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, referred to oil as the devil's excrement. For countries, easy wealth appears indeed to be the sure path to failure. Venezuela might be a clear example of that.
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A friend and faithful reader reminds that yesterday was the tenth year anniversary of the first post of this blog. With traveling, work and a little partying, I simply failed to remember. What began as an experiment and curiosity became almost like a second job. It’s been ten years of chronicling and somehow I feel like we have just been running in place.
The Devil's Excrement 
August 10, 2012 at 9:32 am
Congratulations too! Always worth reading!
August 9, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Congratulations, Miguel, for these ten years of excellent reporting, especially on financial matters that are arcane to so many of us. Youa are an example to all of us wanabees,
Gustavo
August 9, 2012 at 10:15 am
Constancia, integridad y dedicación. Cuando uno asocia esas tres cualidades con un Venezolano excepcional, se da uno cuenta que Venezuela si tiene futuro.
Hay un camino Miguel, y si Venezuela lo encuentra, podrás decir que tu blog contribuyó a construirlo.
…son tus huellas el camino, y nada más.
Felicidades.
August 8, 2012 at 8:59 pm
http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2012/08/08/con-pintura-roja-tapan-la-propaganda-de-capriles-foto/
August 8, 2012 at 4:43 pm
I hope that the next ten years will see an improvement in Venezuela and that you will maintain your enthusiasm for blogging.
August 8, 2012 at 3:00 pm
My admiration and respect for your work of all these years. As always I am so proud of you.
August 8, 2012 at 9:05 am
Thank you! Great blog!
August 8, 2012 at 8:57 am
Congratulations! and please keep the comments flowing, Caracas Chronicles is a boring place now.
August 8, 2012 at 8:47 am
Thanks for the 10 years. It’s an honor to be a reader of your posts. I look forward to every new entry of yours, and hope that you keep sharing your dedication and your thoughts.
—
August 7, 2012 at 5:05 pm
10 very informative years… Kudos to you! And, I really appreciate your slant on the financial angle of Venezuela’s economic history that you have been documenting.
August 7, 2012 at 4:35 pm
Ten years ago, in Q2/2003 the Paro Nacional should have made clear what kind of democrat, Hugo chavez was. It amazes me some people still fail to acknowledge the true nature of the challenge.
I congratulate Miguel for this tenacious effort of keeping a sane, rational, fight up against the institutionalized ramsackling of Venezuela. Kudos diablo,
Tu mejor reconociminiento estoy seguro es muy personal, la satisfaccion de hacer lo que haz pensado debe hacerse, y bien.
August 7, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Congrats! and it had to be on Bolivia’s independence day!
August 7, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Congratulations, who says running in circles isn’t productive? Tell that to F1 race drivers….
August 7, 2012 at 11:40 am
OT.
Devil.- Please give some good advise to the Caracas Chonicles´ boys about cancelling the comments section. Unconsciously, they are killing their Blog…!
August 7, 2012 at 1:59 pm
I agree 100%. I’m boycotting them until they come to their senses.
August 7, 2012 at 4:14 pm
I’ve visited a few times since the change, but don’t stay. And I barely read the posts – now with input from “readers”, the vast majority of whom don’t even get credited for their contribution. Qué tal?
There’s no stickiness anymore. Meaning, the factor that made the reader want to stick around. For the comments compensated for most of the posts written in a flippant and too-light style. Not that one could expect much in-depth coverage (outside of geha) from writers, far removed from the scene. Certainly not like this: http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=890600.
I think the change was misdirected. What might have changed was:
(a) the flippant style of writing (perhaps incorporating some deeper reflections, as does Miguel) — a thin style which invites flippant responses and weed-seed trolls on a bare patch; and (b) the ease with which one can register to comment (unlike those in place at Daniel’s blog).
August 7, 2012 at 11:16 am
Congratulations..!!!!
Mr .Devil, please note that you are wiser for being 10 years old, than for being the devil.
OT.
What do you think of the Ameliach-Maduro swap ?
August 7, 2012 at 1:26 am
Congratulations, Miguel. Always a pleasure to read your analysis.
August 7, 2012 at 12:21 am
Miguel,
I dare say that I have read every post of yours from day one and with few exceptions, enjoyed them all, particularly the ones that deal with the economy and finances and the like.
Thank you and please keep it going.
Regads.
August 7, 2012 at 9:12 am
The ones with the economy and finances confuse the hell out of me!
August 6, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Otro año más Diablillo! I have also been away the last month… lots of family activities. But today I found el huequito para leerte.
Keep on blogging, and let us hope that your prediction will be fulfilled soon 😀
August 6, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Thank you for the excellent and thourogh work. What else could we expect from you? I cannot go to sleep without reading you and then I am so worried I cannot fall asleep. But every anniversary I feel like the Jewish people have said for thousand years every Passover: ‘Next year in Jerusalem’
August 6, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Sin mas comentarios, eres lo mejor haciendo comentario.. Y todavia me debes unas cervezas
August 6, 2012 at 9:21 pm
y tengo sed, no quiero esperar 6 anos mas
August 6, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Congrats M.O.
To me, you are not only a gentleman, you are required reading.
August 6, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Mazel tov!
As far as a book goes, I don’t think blog history is as easily or interestingly compiled into a literary work.
More interesting to write about is the cast of characters you’ve deal with over the years, and how their interactions with you, and each other, present such interesting perspectives on the VZ that is now Hugo Chavez.
Of course, if you mention me or criticize me, I’ll sue the hell out of you
August 6, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Congratulations!!! Anyone can give an opinion, some can give a reasonably informed opinion. You, along with a few others, have produced research and fact-based journalism on Venezuela. Raising your “opinion” to the level of findings and conclusions.
They should absolutely be collated and published in the form of a book, not just for the benefit of Venezuelans but of people faced with the dilemmas created by the Devil Excrement and other scarce commodities. But, first and foremost, translated into Spanish and distributed as widely as possible in Venezuela.
August 6, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Well done!
August 6, 2012 at 2:56 pm
“Diablito Underwood, la mejor forma de comer jamon.” Well, what I really mean is well done y siguele dando palo!
August 6, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Felicidades, Diablito, and many, many thanks for all that you do!
August 6, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Miguel, have you thought about turning your posts into a book?
August 6, 2012 at 1:52 pm
That was the original idea, except I thought the last chapter would have been written by now. Still waiting.
August 6, 2012 at 6:41 pm
If you wanted to go that route, you could weave the Venezuelan and Cuban stories together. Done that way, Still Waiting would be an awesome name. After all, there are so many Cubans in America still waiting for Castro to receive his eternal reward.
Not sure how big the market might be…
August 7, 2012 at 8:18 am
There is so much realismo magico in venezuela, that I’m sure that a compilation book will turn out to be something like Cuentos de Eva Luna.
The “still waiting” sets itself for a saga…!
August 7, 2012 at 9:10 am
Exactly my point. And isn’t this the situation in both Cuba and Venezuela today?
August 6, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Thank you for these 10 years of tremendous insight and sorely needed common sense (el menos común de los sentidos). Congratulations!
August 6, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Congrats ! – Your posts are one of the reasons I no longer read traditional media. Be proud.
August 6, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Gracias MO por todo el esfuerzo que le pones. Se ve que sin duda es “con amor al arte”
Felicitaciones!
August 6, 2012 at 11:58 am
No offence to Daniel. Quico or “Katy” but your blog is at the top of my favorites list my Venezuela folder. Congratulations for 10 great years.
August 6, 2012 at 11:54 am
Thanks and congrats Miguel.
” I feel like we have just been running in place.”
Yes!! por el camino…one hopes…
August 6, 2012 at 10:54 am
¡Mil felicidades, Miguel querido! Cien por ciento de acuerdo con tu hermana. Absolutamente todo lo que tú has hecho (y haces) siempre ha tenido marca de maestría mayor. Qué pérdida para nuestro país que te hayas ido. Un abrazo sincero de agradecimiento.
August 6, 2012 at 10:53 am
Congratulations. Miguel! Thanks for everything and keep the good work.
August 6, 2012 at 10:39 am
Grande Miguel! Felicitaciones por tu buen trabajo!
August 6, 2012 at 10:26 am
Thanks for a hugely interesting and thought provoking blog. I always enjoy reading it.
August 6, 2012 at 9:41 am
Miguel,
Way to go! I’m sure there won’t be a lack of material to be bogged about.
Cheers!!!
August 6, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Sorry, I meant “blogged”, not “bogged”
August 6, 2012 at 9:30 am
Miguel, Thank you for sharing, over ten years, your insights on the general, political and financial aspects of that morose machinery that is the government under Chávez.
When we, as a disparate community of concerned individuals, in Venezuela and abroad, had anxieties, you were a constant in providing an option for feedback.
The Devil’s calm and rational presence, overseeing the sometimes hotheaded exchanges, would have me believe that Hell is a lot better place than some would believe!
Please keep up the good work.
Faithfully,
syd
August 6, 2012 at 9:13 am
No recuerdo una ninguna etapa de mi vida donde me haya sorprendido que tuvieras exito en algo, mas me has sorprendido con tu bondad y generosidad, siempre me haces sentirme orgullosa de ser tu hermana
August 6, 2012 at 8:53 am
Thanks, Miguel!
August 6, 2012 at 8:40 am
Miguel, congratulations and thank you so much for all you do. Keep it up.
August 6, 2012 at 7:41 am
Congrats Miguel.
It’s been ten years of chronicling and somehow I feel like we have just been running in place.
Indeed!!
August 6, 2012 at 7:36 am
Many thanks for a wonderful blog.!
August 6, 2012 at 7:21 am
Miguel,
Thanks a lot.
August 6, 2012 at 7:09 am
Miguel, congratulations on your 10th anniversary.
I really enjoy your insightful writing.
Keep it up.
I have a feeling that the next 5 months will be the most eventful in the history of Venezuela.
August 6, 2012 at 9:33 am
And the next 62 days will churn the voting population like no other time.
August 6, 2012 at 7:06 am
Congratulations for your decade!! and Thank You!!!
August 6, 2012 at 6:27 am
Terrific accomplishment, Miguel. My warmest congratulations. It really has provided some of the most insightful, interesting and engaging reading. I feel blessed I stumbled on your blog in the early days and continue to read it from the other side of the globe. You and the other VenoBloggers have chronicled what will be viewed as a heartbreak of misguided, corrupt and disappointing government eats its own. Then again, the Cubas, the military, the military industrial complex, the Chinese, The Kircheners, the psychophantic hangeroners, and lesser minds have certainly
August 6, 2012 at 6:08 am
Miguel, thanks again for your work here. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” You are a good man doing something.
Seems like only yesterday you were celebrating 5 years. I think I left a thank you then also.
Here’s a horrible prediction: If Chavez doesn’t succumb to illness or assassination, I’ll be leaving you another ‘Thank you’ five years from now. No way he is relinquishing power of his own accord.
The saddest part is that the damage to Venezuela has already been accomplished. The country has regressed at least 2 generations, actually further than that. What I mean to say is that it will take at least 20 years to simply recover where the country was – and that wasn’t really all that good of a place.
Un abrazo, amigo.
August 6, 2012 at 2:13 am
Enhorabuena! Soy fiel seguidor desde tus comienzos y he visto las diferentes etapas del blog y de tus andaduras por el mundo! sin olvidar las orquideas, por supuesto. 🙂
Keep the good work and analysis coming!!
August 6, 2012 at 12:02 am
I got caught with your articles about five years ago, and it has been myfavorites ever seen. Keep up the good work, and hopefully soon we will see you writing about a different president!
August 5, 2012 at 10:50 pm
Keep going! It helps us stay sane.
August 5, 2012 at 10:46 pm
Congratulations Miguel. Your tenacity, intellect and hard work has not gone unnoticed.
August 5, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Best wishes to you today and going forward.
O/T I am shocked at Rafael Ramirez today talking about investing in
“Malvinas” deep water drilling. *(PDVSA has been ordered to make a report..
and Ramirez assures he can come up with the funding.)
What about developing oil patch right here in the Orinoco, bozo?
http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2012/08/05/pdvsa-analiza-con-argentina-exploracion-en-area-de-las-malvinas/
August 5, 2012 at 11:38 pm
the greasers are trying to pick a fight again with the Brits and even with the UK in a weakened condition they will thrash the argies…… UK’s subs can sit off the coast and destroy Evitas’s” military” with little effort
….its sad to see S America wasted on the S Americans….too bad a hurricane didnt take out Columbus….
August 5, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Amigo esa Compañía sacaba el plátano al mercado exterior y fue poderosísima. La concesión o los contratos se negociaban con el candidato a Presidente y esta se encargaba de lo demás. Quitaba y ponía Presidentes, de ahí el término Repúblicas Bananeras
August 5, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Congratulations, Devil. I started reading in 2004, and have been a loyal follower ever since.
hgdam (AKA Pelao Manrique)
August 5, 2012 at 10:25 pm
congratulations Miguel!
August 5, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Well, quite an achievement even if you run around in circles.
Un abrazo amigo!