If nothing else could connect these two men from such different backgrounds, surviving the horrid conditions in La Rotunda would.

The circular prison offered no privacy whatsoever. Food was rationed, and prisoners had to wear grillos (see picture), which some wore for three months to seventeen years.

The prisoners had manufactured a rope system to lift the heavy metal and walk, and cut their pants open on the side so they could easily take them off and put them back on.

Various attempts were still made to show the conditions inside the prison and raise support on the outside.

Rufino Blanco and Pocaterra wrote their stories and poems on toilet paper and hid them in matchboxes, which were then smuggled out. Their texts appeared abroad while they were still in jail.

Pocaterra’s La casa de los Abila was written in jail to entertain his fellow prisoners, as were several of his short stories and chapters of his memoirs. Rufino Blanco wrote his Cantos in La Rotunda.

The pictures you see here were taken with a DIY camera. Over several months, two military sergeants smuggled in the parts they would use for the build. They then quickly took four pictures in absolute secrecy, which were then smuggled out.

Since many orderlies and prisoners would spy for the wardens in exchange for small favors, few prisoners knew about this massive undertaking.

The tragedy of General Román Delgado Chalbaud, the pictures and stories of La Rotunda, were largely passed on thanks to the writings of José Rafael Pocaterra.

The two men met in La Rotunda in 1919 and reunited years later aboard the Falke cruiser to launch a military coup against Gómez. As the venture collapsed, Pocaterra, acting on orders from Delgado Chalbaud, ordered the remaining weapons on board thrown into the sea so the ship could seek refuge in a foreign port. By escaping with Delgado Chalbaud’s nineteen-year-old son, Carlos, he likely saved the future of a young man who would later become one of Venezuela’s most important political and military leaders.

Yet tragedy would continue to shadow the family: Carlos Delgado Chalbaud was assassinated while in office in 1948. After his assassination, Pocaterra himself withdrew mostly from government and political life. He died in 1955.

Let’s remember the bravery, discipline and ingenuity of our heroes of the past.

The Oracle is one of the very first translations by Caobo, and the original was our first contemporary book.

The original Spanish version, written by Guillermo Cerceau, holds a special place in our hearts: like the tarot or the I Ching, it offers guidance when there seems to be no way out. The book focuses on tech, but we feel the advice applies easily to life as well.

In those early days, while we were still figuring out layout, online publishing, and design, we happily opened it at random to find the advice that would guide us through the issue.

We worked hard in those days. The tagline of the book is a choice of the editors — always remember: you have the right to be lazy!

No es necesariamente el clásico más importante de nuestro catálogo, pero ocupa un lugar especial entre mis favoritos.

La historia es ligera, ingeniosa y sorprendentemente divertida, el tipo de libro al que resulta fácil volver una y otra vez.

También guarda un significado personal para mí: fue una de las primeras ediciones en las que sentí que todos los elementos encajaban, desde el texto hasta el diseño de la portada. Sigue siendo uno de los libros de los que me siento más orgulloso.