The anti-corruption group Transparency International annually publishes a “corruption perceptions index,” which measures the level of government corruption in each country. In the latest index, which was released in November, the majority of the 180 countries analyzed scored below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have [...]
Posts under ‘Venezuela’
12 Things You Didn’t Know Were Banned in Venezuela
Looking to avoid trouble on your next trip to Venezuela? For starters, don’t show up in your Halloween costume drinking Coke Zero. Also, leave your golf clubs at home, remove those Family Guy episodes from your iPhone, and forget about booking your trip from Israel. Oh yeah, if you have a daughter named “Apple,” you [...]
Venezuela Bans Video Games, Toy Weapons
Venezuela recently outlawed the sale of video games and toy weapons. Violators will be subject to a prison sentence of up to five years. The new law continues the steady drumbeat of strange news coming out of Venezuela. Last month, the country nationalized a Hilton hotel on Margarita Island in what President Hugo Chavez characterized [...]
Lonely Planet, Ex-Writer Trade Blows on Travelojos
Two posts last week (here and here) mentioned some disparaging remarks the author of Lonely Planet’s guide to Colombia made about Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The author, Jens Porup, made the unflattering characterizations of these countries in a speech in Bogota before Colombia’s minister of tourism and other highly ranked officials. His comments generated a [...]
Lonely Planet Writer Slams Peru, Other Countries
Yesterday’s post about Lonely Planet writer Jens Porup’s speech in Bogota mentioned some harsh comparisons he made between Colombia and Peru. He also characterized Ecuador and Venezuela as being generally unpleasant places to visit. I’ve never been to these countries, so it’s hard for me to gauge the validity of Porup’s assessments. But, I support [...]
Author of Grandaddy of South American Travel Guides Identifies Cheapest Places, Recent Tourism Trends
In this interview, Ben Box, author of the South American Handbook, notes the growing trends of volunteerism and community tourism in South America. He also points out the destinations offering the best values and the places that travelers best avoid. Follow the directions below to receive a 25 percent discount on any Footprint guide about [...]
Oliver Stone’s Rose-Colored Gaze at Chavez
The trailer to Oliver Stone’s latest film South of the Border starts off showing segments of overly-hyped news shows about Hugo Chavez on CNN and Fox. Chavez “is more dangerous to the U.S. than Fidel ever was,” a voice on CNN intones. A former Clinton official on the same show says that Chavez is supporting [...]
