This week is Carnival in Venezuela, bringing the flow of news to a near complete stop - except for one 18-year-old who was fatally shot twice after throwing a water balloon during the festivities.
Despite Hugo Chavez's victory in the amendment vote to abolish term limits, Congressman Juan José Molina of the opposition party Podemos (with seven seats in the National Assembly), has only strengthened his tone of criticism: "We are seven deputies, representing millions of Venezuelans. ... From 2007 we have occupied this space -- not to get rid of Chávez, not to throw him out or see him die. Ours is a defense of democracy. And so we criticize." Archaeologists are keen to explore and research a neglected island off the coast of Venezuela known as Cubagua, which holds some of the earliest traces of the Spanish colonial presence. "Will other areas of Venezuela resemble Cubagua when the oil industry disappears?"
Alberto Müller Rojas, the Vice President of the ruling PSUV party, is generally regarded as a chavista hardliner - which is why it is unusual that he has recently called for better dialogue with the United States, and has claimed that the President has "premanently open bridges" to negotiate with the opposition parties. Müller Rojas added that anyone with political aspirations in his party should be prepared to wait for at least 15 years. The columnist Marianella Salazar lambasts the government for preferring to negotiate with "the empire" of the United States before even speaking to opposition parties.
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