A Tale of Two Venezuelan Diasporas

After a Forced Exodus, We’re All Rebuilding Our Lives. Geography, Time, and Class Only Seem to Deepen Our Divides

American media covers only two types of the 7 million-plus immigrants who have left Venezuela in the past decade.

The first consists of the refugees and asylum seekers who walked across the border after perilous journeys through South and Central America, pressing their luck in a country with ever-increasing immigration restrictions. Last fall, Governors Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott turned the plight of nearly 50 of these Venezuelan immigrants into a cruel political theater when they loaded them in buses and planes to move them outside of their states. Neither worried …

by José González Vargas | May 1, 2023

Now Entering Make-Believe Country

Urbania, My Imaginary Land, Gave a Weird, Curious, and Somewhat Lonely Kid a Shorthand for the World at Large

by JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ VARGAS | January 26, 2022

Last year, my friend Jesús passed away when he was hit by a car while riding his bike. He was one year older than me. We both had been college …

In Venezuela, Dystopian Fiction Hits Close to Home

J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise Shows What Happens When a Liberal Democracy Crumbles and Its Worst Vices Take Over

by José González Vargas | October 19, 2020

There’s a certain absurdity that comes with trying to explain—in calm, simple, and objective words—a life that has become too strange to be real. At least, that’s how I feel …

Just Before Madrid’s Quarantine Began, Getting a Last Look at Goya | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

A Letter from Madrid, Where Impending Quarantine Permits a Last Look at Goya

In Times of Uncertainty, Art Is a Reminder That Beauty Can Endure

by José González Vargas | March 20, 2020

The day the Spanish government announced a two-week closure of all schools and colleges in Madrid due to coronavirus, I was in Berkana, the city’s oldest gay bookstore, considering whether …

Neither Global Leaders nor Local Residents Have a Narrative That Fits Today’s Venezuela

Desperate for a Coherent Story, Venezuelans Turn to Twitter—for Better or Worse

by José González Vargas | June 26, 2019

When I sat down to write about what it feels like to live in Venezuela right now, I thought it would be easy. After all, this is what I do …

Why Rising Venezuelan Nostalgia Makes It All the Harder to Imagine a Future

Looking at Old Photos May Be Soothing, But the Realities They Portray Are Almost as Confusing as the Present

by José González Vargas | January 23, 2019

A few months ago, I made a stop in Miami on my way back to Venezuela. In the last decade or so South Florida, best known as the hub of …

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