Tag Archives: Maduro

May
17
2013
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In Case You Missed It…Articles Roundup Week of 5/13/13

This week: Shortages prevent Venezuelans from buying basic foodstuffs, from milk to flour to cooking oil. Foreign direct investment plummets The widespread shortages caused by Maduro’s socialist policies have now choked off the supply of a new household item: toilet paper; To address rampant crime, Maduro sends Venezuela’s military into high-violence areas. Analysts worry that Venezuela, entirely dependent on oil revenues, may turn into a failed state when oil prices inevitably drop. Desperate for a scapegoat on which to blame Venezuela’s economic woes, Maduro accuses Venezuela’s largest food company, Polar, of hoarding.  Polar’s CEO convincingly rebuts these allegations and offers advice on how the government might work with the private sector to combat shortages. A conciliatory Maduro begins to show signs of extending an olive branch to the private sector.

 

Eclac reports 15% drop in foreign investment in Venezuela in 2012, El Universal

Foreign investment in Venezuela fell 15% in 2012, said the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) of the United Nations in its report “Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America,” released on Tuesday. The regional agency report highlighted that in 2012, Venezuela received USD 3.21 billion versus 3.77 billion a year earlier. In this way, Ecuador joined Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bahamas, Granada, Saint Kitts and Saint Lucia as the only countries in the region where foreign investment has dropped. Thanks to the positive performance of other countries, on average, Latin America and the Caribbean in 2012 hit a new record amount of direct foreign investment of  USD 173.36 billion (6.7% higher than in 2011), despite the external context of declining capital flows, Eclac reported in a press release.

How food shortages are dividing Venezuela, BBC News

Some 30 people are queuing outside a state-run supermarket in the 23 de Enero neighbourhood in Caracas. A woman walks out with a bag in her hands. “There is milk!” she says enthusiastically, much to the delight of the other customers. Milk is one of the products that are not easily available in Venezuela. Others include toilet paper, sugar, cooking oil and the cornflour used to make arepas, Venezuela’s national dish. According to data from Venezuela’s Central Bank, the scarcity index rose to 21% last month, the highest since the bank started tracking the measure in 2009. This means that out of 100 goods, 21 are not available.

Roiled over rolls: No toilet paper has Venezuelans fuming, USA Today

Gil, a 43-year-old Venezuelan housewife, spent two days looking for toilet paper in this city of 150,000 in the central state of Aragua. She found paper towels and napkins but no toilet paper. Gil, a 43-year-old Venezuelan housewife, spent two days looking for toilet paper in this city of 150,000 in the central state of Aragua. She found paper towels and napkins but no toilet paper.”Call me a counterrevolutionary but there are certain things that are essential and toilet paper is one of them,” she says, staring at the bare shelves where toilet tissue used to be stocked at the Morichal supermarket, one of the city’s largest. “What do they expect us to use? Banana leaves?”

 

Venezuela’s military enters high-crime slums, Miami Herald

Stern-looking soldiers clutching assault rifles wave down the beat-up Chevy Caprice entering this sprawling slum on the outskirts of Caracas. Flashlights in his face, the driver steps out and places his hands on the roof while the soldiers frisk him for drugs and weapons. He’s clean, and a hand gesture from the commanding officer sends him off into the maze of ramshackle homes that is Petare, one of the most dangerous parts of Venezuela’s notoriously crime-infested capital.

The People of Venezuela Are in Dire Need of Toilet Paper, New York

The AP brings us news that Venezuela is having a serious humanitarian crisis, one with which anyone who’s ever made a frantic late-night run to the corner bodega can sympathize. Namely, the entire country is running out of toilet paper. Venezuela’s socialist government has promised to import 50 million rolls of toilet paper (or maybe 25 million double-rolls?) and 760,000 pounds of food to make sure all citizens can eat and poop in comfort once more. “The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper,” the country’s commerce minister said. “We are going to

Venezuela remains mired in a political and economic crisis that shows no signs of letting up. But while street protests, soaring inflation, scarcity, and skyrocketing crime are massive headaches, the government can count on still-high oil prices to soothe the pain a bit. The question that begs asking is: How will Venezuela maintain stability if oil prices drop?

Venezuelan food firm tells Maduro government to boost output, Reuters

Venezuela’s top food producer, Empresas Polar, on Monday challenged the country’s socialist government to boost output of basic staples and ease nagging product shortages, rejecting accusations it is hoarding products to destabilize the economy. Food supplies have become increasingly unsteady since late last year. Shoppers struggle to find corn, wheat flour and basic medicines – a constant complaint that could become a political liability for President Nicolas Maduro. The president over the weekend said Polar, which makes products from beer to detergent, was intentionally cutting output to leave supermarket shelves bare and weaken his government through “economic war.” Polar President Lorenzo Mendoza, in a combative press conference, said the product shortages have been partly spurred by inefficiency of state-run companies nationalized during the 14-year-rule of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Caracas Offers Peace to Private Sector, Wall Street Journal

New President Nicolás Maduro, trying to shore up Venezuela’s economy amid growing shortages of everything from corn flour to toilet paper, has extended an olive branch to the country’s private sector, in particular the country’s largest food maker. It is a surprising turnaround given the antics of his predecessor, the late populist Hugo Chávez, who regularly threatened to nationalize the food maker, Empresas Polar SA, and accused it of hoarding products in order to sabotage his self-styled revolution.

 
May
10
2013
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 5/10/13

Maduro In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 5/10/13

Courtesy of Reuters

This week: The Venezuelan government starts an expanded audit of the disputed April 14 presidential election as Henrique Capriles files a legal challenge of the results; the Obama administration continues to monitor Venezuela’s crackdown on political opposition; Nicolás Maduro reacts angrily to Barack Obama’s comments about the political crisis in Venezuela; the family of Timothy Tracy, the American filmmaker held in Venezuela on charges of alleged espionage, calls the situation a “nightmare”; and U.S. diplomats are finally granted access to Tracy in Venezuela. Senior Venezuelan banking official is held on charges of accepting at least $5 million in bribes to funnel business to two Miami broker-dealers; the U.S. Treasury punishes Iran-Venezuela Binational Bank for helping the Iran government evade international sanctions; the Venezuelan government scrambles for answers to the country’s homicide rate, creating concerns about possible human rights abuses; and representatives of 130 countries believe Venezuela fails to meet the minimum democratic requirements. Venezuelan inflation soars toward 30 percent, the highest since August 2010, as the central bank’s scarcity index reaches a record high; according to mathematicians, the tally in Venezuela’s disputed election presents logical and numerical inconsistencies; Venezuela falls to seventh place in scientific research in Latin America, ranking below Cuba; and Venezuela’s only opposition TV station announces management changes after being taken over by the government.

Venezuela Starts Election Audit, The Wall Street Journal

Authorities on Monday began an expanded audit of the disputed April 14 presidential election even though the opposition candidate who called for the review has since withdrawn his support and instead filed a legal challenge of the results.

U.S. Monitoring Venezuela’s Political Crackdown On Opposition, Obama Says, Reuters

The United States is watching “crackdowns on the opposition” in Venezuela, President Barack Obama said in a television interview aired on Friday when asked if he considered newly elected Nicolas Maduro to be the country’s legitimate president.

Venezuela’s Government Condemns Obama’s Comments, The Associated Press

Venezuela’s government on Saturday angrily rejected comments made by U.S. President Barack Obama about the South American country’s political crisis and accused Washington of being behind violence that has followed its recent presidential election.

Family of American held in Venezuela says experience ‘a nightmare;’ embassy has had no access, The Associated Press

U.S. diplomats have been given no access to a California man held in Venezuela for nearly two weeks in what his family on Monday called a “nightmare” that unfolded after he was accused of being a spy fomenting postelection unrest.

US officials are granted access to American detained in Venezuela, Associated Press

Venezuela’s government has granted U.S. diplomats access to a California man who is being held while he awaits trial on charges of espionage and fomenting unrest.

Venezuelan banking official and 2 Miami broker dealers charged in $5 million NY bribery case, The Associated Press

A senior Venezuelan banking official is being held in Miami on charges that she accepted at least $5 million in bribes to funnel business to two Miami broker-dealers, federal authorities in Manhattan announced Tuesday.

US punishes Venezuelan-Iranian bank for helping Tehran, El Universal

The US Department of the Treasury punished on Thursday the Iran-Venezuela Binational Bank (IVBB) for helping the Iranian government to “sort out” international sanctions because of its controversial nuclear program.

Justice minister says Venezuela’s military to form part of anti-crime initiative, The Associated Press

Venezuela’s top security official announced Sunday the government of President Nicolas Maduro will use the military to fight rampant violent crime, raising concerns among activists who warned the initiative could lead to human rights violations.

No democracy in Venezuela, according to 130 countries, El Universal

Representatives of 130 Foreign Offices of countries viewed as democratic met last week in Mongolia, at the Summit of the Community of Democracies.

Venezuela Inflation Soars Toward 30% as Maduro Cuts Dollar Sales, Bloomberg

Venezuelan consumer prices soared the most in three years last month as President Nicolas Maduro’s government reduced dollar sales to importers and the central bank’s scarcity index reached the highest on record.

Mathematicians claim that election numbers in Venezuela do not match, El Universal

The results released by the board of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) in several bulletins about the presidential election of April 14 exhibit “logic and numerical inconsistencies.”

Venezuela ranks below Cuba in scientific research, El Universal

Venezuela ranked seventh in scientific production in Latin America in 2011, according to international indicators such as SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR).

Sole Opposition TV Channel in Venez Makes Changes, The Associated Press

Venezuela’s only opposition television channel says it is bringing in new management after its sale to new owners, but pledges to maintain its critical line against the government.

 
Jan
4
2013
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ICYMI: Venezuelans demand answers on Chavez’s health

Washington Post
January 3, 2013
By Olga Khazan

Venezuelan officials have been tight-lipped about the health status of President Hugo Chavez, causing rumors about Chavez’s health status to swirl on Twitter and in the Latin American media.

Chavez has not been seen or heard from since a Dec. 11 surgery for an undisclosed type of cancer, and his administration has released few details about his status other than saying his condition remains “delicate” due to complications from a respiratory infection.

Chavez, 58, was elected for a fourth term in office with 54 percent of the vote in October and is due to be sworn in on January 10. If he dies before that date, the chairman of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, will succeed him until new elections are held, but if he dies after that date, the vice president, Nicolas Maduro, would take over.

In the meantime, the suspense is killing Venezuela.

Spanish daily ABC kicked things off with this analysis of Chavez’s condition yesterday (translated from the Spanish):

Hugo Chavez has entered an induced coma in the last few days, with his vital signs very weakened, and maintained only through artificial assistance by the Havana hospital where he was admitted. Sources consulted by ABC confirmed Monday that they were soon planning to disconnect the artificial assistance that prolongs the life of the Venezuelan president.

The article goes on to say that Chavez “has a constant fever, won’t respond to antibiotics, hasn’t eaten solid food for three weeks, had 43.4 centimeters of intestine removed and a tracheotomy, among other health complications,” according to the Huffington Post.

Members of Chavez’s family, on the other hand, say his condition is stable. Chavez’s son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, who serves as minister of science, technology and innovation, tweeted, “Compatriots, DO NOT believe the ill intentioned rumors. President Chavez has spent the day calm and stable, accompanied by his children.”

But armchair oncologists have already weighed in:

“[Chavez] continues on artificial support at this point they are only prolonging unnecessary suffering,” José Rafael Marquina, a Venezuelan doctor who lives in Florida and is an opponent of Chavez, tweeted Wednesday.

“Most likely, he is showing signs of renal failure and a lung infection. But the biggest problem is that, with the delicate situation of the patient, his immune system must be weakened,” Marquina, who claims to receive inside information from the Venezuelan president’s medical team, told Colombian radio station Caracol.

On Twitter, the hashtag #TellTheTruthAboutChavez, as well as its Spanish equivalent, trended in Venezuela this week. Chavez supporters posted messages wishing for a speedy recovery:

“If all of us Venezuelans ask GOD with fervor and faith, surely he will have tend to our pleas, let us pray for Hugo Chavez and for his health,” tweeted Enrique Padron, a Venezuelan musician.

While others simply speculated as to who would take his place:

“People were saying the problem wasn’t Chavez but those that surrounded him . . . and now that’s exactly who we’re in the hands of #TellTheTruthAboutChavez,” tweeted Marcos Rodriguez.

The information vacuum has also provided fodder for Chavez’s opposition, which has called for the government to schedule constitutionally-mandated elections within 30 days if Chavez is too ill to return from Cuba, where his most recent surgery took place.

“To make us believe the president is governing shows a lack of seriousness that borders on irresponsibility,” opposition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference in Caracas, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Because Chavez’s vice president is more pro-Cuban than the National Assembly chair, Cuba may have an incentive to delay reporting Chavez’s condition for another week, argues Venezuela blogger Francisco Toro.

“And given the impenetrability of Cuban state secrecy, it’s hard not to speculate that even if the president has already died, we would have no way of knowing it,” Toro writes.

On the other hand, Venezuela is in poor financial shape, with large deficits that will likely necessitate unpopular austerity measures soon. In that case, National Assembly head Cabello may not be interested in running Venezuela — and fixing its economy — anyway.

Meanwhile, Arreaza has continued his optimistic Twitter campaign: Don’t worry, nothing to see here.

“Commander Chavez still battling hard and sends all his love to our people. Perseverance and patience!!!”

To read this article on the Washington Post, please click here.