Venezuela: see to believe
Carol Murillo Ruiz
"Seeing to believe," this popular saying had never made so much sense to my political views. So much is the media distortion about what happens in Venezuela that going to accompany the last electoral process was an opportunity to look closely at the social dynamics of a country that in recent decades has been the target of the most terrible accusations by a an internal and international confraternity that does not allow democracy to live otherwise than the elites plan from their ideology and class sarcasm.
The Venezuela that I saw on the outskirts of Caracas - within it too - is that of a country that has not yet emerged from the cruel history of the development of capitalism in Latin America. Not because of Chavism, obviously, but because of the structural conditions that five centuries of conquest, colonization and capitalist usufruct made of its territory, its people and its future. The 18 years of the Bolivarian Revolution have brought to light, as never before, these contradictions and their enormous political, social and economic work has been diminished, but not annihilated, by a lively ideological, media, diplomatic and economic hostility since Hugo Chavez lived and more now that the crisis of the price of oil made it appear to the internal and external opposition that such a situation would weaken Nicolás Maduro and make his fall easier. It was just the opposite.
The electoral result of the Constituent Assembly on July 30 last and the Chavez victory of October 15, when winning the majority of governors confirms some things. First, that the Venezuelan people choose the ballot boxes to solve their affairs. Second, that violence is not a genuine political tool that people are willing to validate for the terrible sequels they left in April, May and June 2017. Third, that when citizens take for themselves the democratic path with their own characteristics, that is, after a popular and permanent political work, what Garcia Linera would call "plebeian democracy", the elections are transformed into an action of social legitimation from below. It was very edifying for me to see rows and rows of people who came to vote, in very simple places (in a country where voting is not compulsory) only because of the conviction that their participation would contribute to peace and the improvement of the domestic situation and suffocating the economic siege (of which nobody internationally speaks) that supports all the population by the speculation of paper money and several commodities. And they can not and should not be attributed solely and maliciously to a "bad government". If we are honest we will say that there is an economic imprisonment not only from the north but also from bad neighbors who have denied the premise of regional integration and solidarity.
In Venezuela is repeated what so many countries have suffered: external interference and diplomatic arbitrariness. But generalized amnesia makes us believe that it no longer exists.
However, there, in the country of foot, there is a people that gives the face, votes and fight, because the Bolivarian Revolution has shown that without political work its permanence would be a mirage. (OR)
http://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/ ... para-creer
Google Translator
Venezuela
Re: Venezuela
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Sundde fell to them! 5 million cans of sardines have been confiscated since 2016
October 23, 2017 News 1235
Located in the industrial zone of Carúpano, Bermúdez municipality of Sucre state, the company Inversiones El Salmón CA (Isalca) held 5,336,300,799 cans of sardines, peptones and tuna from different presentations since 2016.
This was reported by the National Superintendence for the Defense of Socioeconomic Rights (Sundde), which immediately ordered the confiscation of the merchandise, as well as the immediate adjustment of prices and a supervised sale.
The owners of the company claimed not to have made the label because they did not have ink to do it. However, the inspection body detected the inconsistency of this argument, due to the existence of batches manufactured from different products of this year and have the punched information on the packaging.
Sundde officials presume that the speculative margins of the maximum retail price were up to 60%.
Amongst the offenses committed by the company under the aforementioned legal instrument governing Sundde are Speculation (article 49), hoarding (article 52), boycott (article 53), economic destabilization (article 54), and the price tag (Article 58).
The total of the merchandise will be destined for the School Feeding Program (PAE), in Sucre state, the Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP), the Foundation for Strategic Foods (Fundaproal) and the Governor of the territorial political entity Oriental.
PRESS SUNDDE
https://www.conelmazodando.com.ve/les-c ... esde-2016/
Very good, now expropriate the bastards.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Where is the enemy of the Bolivarian Revolution?
By: Marco Teruggi
October 30, 2017 | +
Few would have guessed a few months ago in predicting that we would install a National Constituent Assembly and win 18 governorships . These successive victories will remain for history as a lesson of political battle, of management of times and scenarios. The honesty should say that who commanded was Nicolás Maduro. It is necessary to recognize it: we are at war and the president heads the Chavista bloc. He does it better than the enemy, who, in these days, has given a show of public disbanding, of what happens with an army of small generals who shoot at each other and, sometimes, at their own feet.
We have gained something vital: political power, that is, time. In addition to having redirected the conflict to the electoral path. If the tactic had failed, we could be in the scenario that the right sought to impose, a nationalized confrontation, a generalization of sieges and assaults . Instead, we are going to the municipal elections, then presidential elections, without guarantees - there are no guarantees in politics - but with favorable forecasts. Right-wing analyzes, some lefts - left? - are in crisis.
This picture won with politics does not mean a definitive triumph: there is not, we fight against the United States. At this time, with a military exercise shortly after materializing on the border between Peru, Brazil and Colombia, they must make calculations of how to rearm a strategy of seizing power. Will they try a direct and camouflaged intervention to accelerate the time? Will they bet in the medium term with the permanence of the economic offensive?
We have the political initiative. The tie turned in our favor, and, from that possibility -we are not against the ropes- appears the request for economic resolutions. Emerges, like many orders, in a disorganized way, in social networks, analysis in television programs, communiqués from popular organizations, spontaneous street conversations. Is it real, as real as a material situation that deteriorates for the popular classes - for someone else? -, the historical basis of Chavism, its territory of gestation and strength before the most difficult battles. The numbers do not close, it is evidence that hits every day.
It is also evident - to prove it is a central communication battle - that the economic crisis is part of the strategy of prolonged war. Its design comes from the United States, in conjunction with a network of national and transnational economic power, which in turn has internal elements / responsibilities. Internal means in our block. Placing only the economic problem on the enemy front, is closing the analysis that can lead to connections, our contradictions, is to close a dimension without which it seems impossible to understand why we fail to stabilize the situation. Is the enemy too powerful? Where is the enemy?
An answer was given by the president when he affirmed that the main enemy is, along with the United States, corruption. As the Attorney General informs of the investigation and the arrests, the economic dimension that we are facing emerges: embezzlement, deficit, decrease in production in the oil area, over-invoicing of imports, theft in billions of dollars. Mafias in strategic areas of the economy. Fighting with damaged weapons makes any combat difficult.
It is striking that this critical knot is not amplified communicationally, is reduced to few spokesmen and brief moments in the own media. It can be explained by the difficulty to approach it in conceptual terms -how the causes are analyzed, development, deepening- the difficulty to open a topic that necessarily leads to internal revision, the political / communicational logic that only knows how to build a happy story of the country, the bureaucratic-authoritarian culture that closes debates with maximalist phrases loaded with an overwhelming order.
The confrontation against corruption will not be won in the immediate term - can one definitely defeat such a complex phenomenon? - but it allows attacking one of the main fronts that explain the current situation. There is no single answer that can magically solve a multi-causal problem that, besides being economic, is political. And from a political point of view, you can open some questions to try to understand your own strategy before the war, a strategy that, at the end of October 2017, is difficult to clarify. It is not clear, for example, if you want to put a ceiling on the increase in prices or if you allow increases that appear in fact in supermarkets; it is not clear either if there is a willingness to move on who are attacking us, I speak of landowners -who financed paramilitary groups between April and July-, big speculative entrepreneurs, for example, or permanently seek an agreement that can not be reached; It is not understood why dollars are given to those who do not comply with their part of the agreement. They are some points. Are we going to take power away from those who did not declare war?
The questions are due to the complexity of the scenario, the silence on certain points, the communication difficulty, the answer that sometimes seeks to close the debate with the affirmation that everything is resolved in missions / great missions / clap / carnet de la patria / 0800 Health.
Almost any action can be justified under the argument that it is a tactical move in the context of a war, or that there are no conditions to do otherwise - denying that conditions can be triggered by a political will. The question is whether there is a strategy behind the tactic. It is a concern that is part of the Chavism, a policlasista movement with different views and economic interests that sometimes are also, and focus, in this case, the prioritization of the private over the state and the communal / social. That entails political, ideological and economic implications.
It can be argued that they are not debates to give until the political power is consolidated - municipal and presidential - or that only the battle against corruption is itself a very big front. The problem is that while looking for the agreement that does not result with the same ones that are responsible for the situation, a kilo of cheese costs 50 thousand bolivars, the forecasts do not indicate that the increase will stop, and the constructed speech seems many times impervious to that reality. It is difficult to measure the underground damage, on the subjectivity, that causes this sustained economic picture. But it operates, works in the daily silence on a historical movement that is, to take up John William Cooke, the political identity of the Venezuelan working people -something that the right does not manage to incorporate into its analyzes,
We are in a condition that few thought months ago. We have a political initiative, a unity that has been maintained, an opposing opposition to each other. In the economic sphere, attacks and contradictions are condensed. I think there is a consensus to take war measures against this war picture directed from the United States. We need them.
(Taken from the blog Hasta el Nocaut )
http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2017/1 ... fdWfvlSztQ
Google Translatot
By: Marco Teruggi
October 30, 2017 | +
Few would have guessed a few months ago in predicting that we would install a National Constituent Assembly and win 18 governorships . These successive victories will remain for history as a lesson of political battle, of management of times and scenarios. The honesty should say that who commanded was Nicolás Maduro. It is necessary to recognize it: we are at war and the president heads the Chavista bloc. He does it better than the enemy, who, in these days, has given a show of public disbanding, of what happens with an army of small generals who shoot at each other and, sometimes, at their own feet.
We have gained something vital: political power, that is, time. In addition to having redirected the conflict to the electoral path. If the tactic had failed, we could be in the scenario that the right sought to impose, a nationalized confrontation, a generalization of sieges and assaults . Instead, we are going to the municipal elections, then presidential elections, without guarantees - there are no guarantees in politics - but with favorable forecasts. Right-wing analyzes, some lefts - left? - are in crisis.
This picture won with politics does not mean a definitive triumph: there is not, we fight against the United States. At this time, with a military exercise shortly after materializing on the border between Peru, Brazil and Colombia, they must make calculations of how to rearm a strategy of seizing power. Will they try a direct and camouflaged intervention to accelerate the time? Will they bet in the medium term with the permanence of the economic offensive?
We have the political initiative. The tie turned in our favor, and, from that possibility -we are not against the ropes- appears the request for economic resolutions. Emerges, like many orders, in a disorganized way, in social networks, analysis in television programs, communiqués from popular organizations, spontaneous street conversations. Is it real, as real as a material situation that deteriorates for the popular classes - for someone else? -, the historical basis of Chavism, its territory of gestation and strength before the most difficult battles. The numbers do not close, it is evidence that hits every day.
It is also evident - to prove it is a central communication battle - that the economic crisis is part of the strategy of prolonged war. Its design comes from the United States, in conjunction with a network of national and transnational economic power, which in turn has internal elements / responsibilities. Internal means in our block. Placing only the economic problem on the enemy front, is closing the analysis that can lead to connections, our contradictions, is to close a dimension without which it seems impossible to understand why we fail to stabilize the situation. Is the enemy too powerful? Where is the enemy?
An answer was given by the president when he affirmed that the main enemy is, along with the United States, corruption. As the Attorney General informs of the investigation and the arrests, the economic dimension that we are facing emerges: embezzlement, deficit, decrease in production in the oil area, over-invoicing of imports, theft in billions of dollars. Mafias in strategic areas of the economy. Fighting with damaged weapons makes any combat difficult.
It is striking that this critical knot is not amplified communicationally, is reduced to few spokesmen and brief moments in the own media. It can be explained by the difficulty to approach it in conceptual terms -how the causes are analyzed, development, deepening- the difficulty to open a topic that necessarily leads to internal revision, the political / communicational logic that only knows how to build a happy story of the country, the bureaucratic-authoritarian culture that closes debates with maximalist phrases loaded with an overwhelming order.
The confrontation against corruption will not be won in the immediate term - can one definitely defeat such a complex phenomenon? - but it allows attacking one of the main fronts that explain the current situation. There is no single answer that can magically solve a multi-causal problem that, besides being economic, is political. And from a political point of view, you can open some questions to try to understand your own strategy before the war, a strategy that, at the end of October 2017, is difficult to clarify. It is not clear, for example, if you want to put a ceiling on the increase in prices or if you allow increases that appear in fact in supermarkets; it is not clear either if there is a willingness to move on who are attacking us, I speak of landowners -who financed paramilitary groups between April and July-, big speculative entrepreneurs, for example, or permanently seek an agreement that can not be reached; It is not understood why dollars are given to those who do not comply with their part of the agreement. They are some points. Are we going to take power away from those who did not declare war?
The questions are due to the complexity of the scenario, the silence on certain points, the communication difficulty, the answer that sometimes seeks to close the debate with the affirmation that everything is resolved in missions / great missions / clap / carnet de la patria / 0800 Health.
Almost any action can be justified under the argument that it is a tactical move in the context of a war, or that there are no conditions to do otherwise - denying that conditions can be triggered by a political will. The question is whether there is a strategy behind the tactic. It is a concern that is part of the Chavism, a policlasista movement with different views and economic interests that sometimes are also, and focus, in this case, the prioritization of the private over the state and the communal / social. That entails political, ideological and economic implications.
It can be argued that they are not debates to give until the political power is consolidated - municipal and presidential - or that only the battle against corruption is itself a very big front. The problem is that while looking for the agreement that does not result with the same ones that are responsible for the situation, a kilo of cheese costs 50 thousand bolivars, the forecasts do not indicate that the increase will stop, and the constructed speech seems many times impervious to that reality. It is difficult to measure the underground damage, on the subjectivity, that causes this sustained economic picture. But it operates, works in the daily silence on a historical movement that is, to take up John William Cooke, the political identity of the Venezuelan working people -something that the right does not manage to incorporate into its analyzes,
We are in a condition that few thought months ago. We have a political initiative, a unity that has been maintained, an opposing opposition to each other. In the economic sphere, attacks and contradictions are condensed. I think there is a consensus to take war measures against this war picture directed from the United States. We need them.
(Taken from the blog Hasta el Nocaut )
http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2017/1 ... fdWfvlSztQ
Google Translatot
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Venezuela: Leading opposition parties will boycott December vote
30 October 2017
From the section Latin America & Caribbean Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Email Share
President of the National Assembly Julio Borges speaks at a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, 22 October 2017.Image copyrightEPA
Julio Borges says the opposition will continue fighting for free and fair elections
Three leading Venezuelan opposition parties have said they will not take part in December's municipal elections.
Leaders from the Justice First, Popular Will and Democratic Action parties say the electoral system is biased.
Julio Borges, the leader of the Justice First party and president of the National Assembly, said the government of Nicolás Maduro had rigged elections in 2013 and earlier this month.
President Maduro insists the Venezuelan system is entirely trustworthy.
The deadline for enrolling mayoral candidates for the 10 December vote expired on Monday.
Rather than fight another vote, the opposition coalition "should try to secure reforms to the electoral board", said Mr Borges.
'Self-interest'
Henry Ramos Allup, from the Democratic Action party, said the electoral schedule was "completely improvised".
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro during a meeting with governors in Caracas, Venezuela October 30, 2017.Image copyrightREUTERS
President Maduro is expected to run for re-election next year
Party members who enrol as candidates would be expelled from its ranks, he said.
"We will continue fighting for fair elections," he said. "Other dictatorships have fallen because of people's demands for a free vote."
Mr Maduro said the opposition was acting out of self-interest.
"When they lose, they denounce fraud. And when they know they are going into an election in an unfavourable position, instead of fighting they pull out," he said.
'Grab the bones'
The governing Socialist Party, which has been in power since 1999, won gubernatorial elections in 18 of Venezuela's 23 states on 15 October.
The outcome of the elections and Mr Maduro's insistence that all new governors bow to the controversial constituent assembly have caused a rift among members of the opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
They said the results were fraudulent.
Henrique Capriles said the opposition MUD coalition was no longer unified
Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, the main opposition leader, left the coalition last Tuesday.
He disagreed with the decision by four newly elected opposition governors to pledge allegiance to the constituent assembly, convened by Mr Maduro earlier this year.
Mr Capriles said that he "would not be part" of the opposition MUD "because it is not unified as a concept or a vision".
"It is just some people that grab the bones that are thrown to them," he said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41812179
All power to the people....bwahahaha
30 October 2017
From the section Latin America & Caribbean Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Email Share
President of the National Assembly Julio Borges speaks at a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, 22 October 2017.Image copyrightEPA
Julio Borges says the opposition will continue fighting for free and fair elections
Three leading Venezuelan opposition parties have said they will not take part in December's municipal elections.
Leaders from the Justice First, Popular Will and Democratic Action parties say the electoral system is biased.
Julio Borges, the leader of the Justice First party and president of the National Assembly, said the government of Nicolás Maduro had rigged elections in 2013 and earlier this month.
President Maduro insists the Venezuelan system is entirely trustworthy.
The deadline for enrolling mayoral candidates for the 10 December vote expired on Monday.
Rather than fight another vote, the opposition coalition "should try to secure reforms to the electoral board", said Mr Borges.
'Self-interest'
Henry Ramos Allup, from the Democratic Action party, said the electoral schedule was "completely improvised".
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro during a meeting with governors in Caracas, Venezuela October 30, 2017.Image copyrightREUTERS
President Maduro is expected to run for re-election next year
Party members who enrol as candidates would be expelled from its ranks, he said.
"We will continue fighting for fair elections," he said. "Other dictatorships have fallen because of people's demands for a free vote."
Mr Maduro said the opposition was acting out of self-interest.
"When they lose, they denounce fraud. And when they know they are going into an election in an unfavourable position, instead of fighting they pull out," he said.
'Grab the bones'
The governing Socialist Party, which has been in power since 1999, won gubernatorial elections in 18 of Venezuela's 23 states on 15 October.
The outcome of the elections and Mr Maduro's insistence that all new governors bow to the controversial constituent assembly have caused a rift among members of the opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
They said the results were fraudulent.
Henrique Capriles said the opposition MUD coalition was no longer unified
Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, the main opposition leader, left the coalition last Tuesday.
He disagreed with the decision by four newly elected opposition governors to pledge allegiance to the constituent assembly, convened by Mr Maduro earlier this year.
Mr Capriles said that he "would not be part" of the opposition MUD "because it is not unified as a concept or a vision".
"It is just some people that grab the bones that are thrown to them," he said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41812179
All power to the people....bwahahaha
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Minister denounces attack on Corpoelec headquarters in Táchira, Venezuela
"In less than a week there are eight captured and four dead, two towers demolished and now the headquarters of Corpoelec," said the Venezuelan official. | Photo: @LMOTTAD
Posted 8 November 2017 (10 hours 45 minutes ago)
by Alfredo Jalife
The Minister of Electric Power, Luis Motta Domínguez, denounced an attack with incendiary bombs to the headquarters, reported the loss of four floors of the building by fire.
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The administrative headquarters of the Corporación Eléctrica Nacional (Corpoelec), located in San Cristóbal, in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, was attacked with incendiary bombs, denounced the Minister for Electric Energy, Luis Motta Domínguez.
The attack caused a fire and the loss of four floors of the building, the minister explained in telephone contact with the state-owned channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
The minister reported that the use of some grenades in the attack is not ruled out and he said: "This is a terrorist act and completely paramilitary of the Venezuelan right."
"I am denouncing that the opposition said that it would not go to the elections," said the Venezuelan official, who added that in a week they got corpses of four people who died trying to sabotage the electrical system as part of a destabilizing strategy.
"In less than a week there are eight captured and four dead, two towers demolished and now the headquarters of Corpoelec in Táchira," he added, explaining that on Tuesday they found another person electrocuted while trying to sabotage circuits in Apure and that the authorities captured two subjects more in flagrante delicto.
The minister rejected the sabotage plan of the right and before this situation the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, convened on Monday the National Defense Council to strengthen security at the electric and water pumping stations.
https://www.telesurtv.net/news/Ministro ... -0003.html
Google Translator
*******************************
They denounce attacks on the Venezuelan electrical system
The island of Margarita suffered a total blackout in the early hours of Tuesday due to sabotage. | Photo: AVN
Posted 3 May 2017
by Alfredo Jalife
Several blackouts and one death have been the result of several acts of sabotage against the Venezuelan electricity infrastructure. The Minister of Energy has reported that those responsible have been hired by opponents of the Government of Nicolás Maduro.
The Minister of Popular Power for Electric Power of Venezuela, Luis Motta Domínguez, denounced that the electrical system of that country has been the victim of an electrical sabotage orchestrated by the opposition. Adverse factions to the Venezuelan Government have sustained violent protests during the last five weeks.
The also Major General of the Army explained that "it is part of the destabilizing plan that Julio Borges (president of the National Assembly and opposition leader) announced to paralyze the country."
Dominguez denounced that a sabotage to a submarine cable of electrical transmission was the cause of a power cut that affected the entire Island of Margarita (north of the Caribbean Sea), which makes up the Nueva Esparta state.
He indicated that those responsible for the attack, perpetrated by land, are hired by the opposition parties to generate anxiety and destabilize the country. The blackout occurred at 11pm local (03H00 GMT) and the team of the National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec) manually activated an electric plant with which they restored the service.
In his statements from the Miraflores palace in the capital Caracas, the minister added that Corpoelec vehicles have been attacked with Molotov cocktails. He also reported the death in the Falcon state (northwest) of a person attempting to sabotage a condenser from a power plant and who was electrocuted.
Similar situations have arisen in other states of the country where sabotage has caused blackouts. "In Mérida (west) and Táchira (west) is where there have been more acts of vandalism," said the minister.
He reported that state security forces dismantled a gang of six people who caused the blackout that affected the international airport of Maiquetía, in the state of Vargas (north), five weeks ago.
https://www.telesurtv.net/news/Denuncia ... -0057.html
Google Translator
"In less than a week there are eight captured and four dead, two towers demolished and now the headquarters of Corpoelec," said the Venezuelan official. | Photo: @LMOTTAD
Posted 8 November 2017 (10 hours 45 minutes ago)
by Alfredo Jalife
The Minister of Electric Power, Luis Motta Domínguez, denounced an attack with incendiary bombs to the headquarters, reported the loss of four floors of the building by fire.
Chase can help you save to reach your goals
Ad By Sponsored by Chase
The administrative headquarters of the Corporación Eléctrica Nacional (Corpoelec), located in San Cristóbal, in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, was attacked with incendiary bombs, denounced the Minister for Electric Energy, Luis Motta Domínguez.
The attack caused a fire and the loss of four floors of the building, the minister explained in telephone contact with the state-owned channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
The minister reported that the use of some grenades in the attack is not ruled out and he said: "This is a terrorist act and completely paramilitary of the Venezuelan right."
"I am denouncing that the opposition said that it would not go to the elections," said the Venezuelan official, who added that in a week they got corpses of four people who died trying to sabotage the electrical system as part of a destabilizing strategy.
"In less than a week there are eight captured and four dead, two towers demolished and now the headquarters of Corpoelec in Táchira," he added, explaining that on Tuesday they found another person electrocuted while trying to sabotage circuits in Apure and that the authorities captured two subjects more in flagrante delicto.
The minister rejected the sabotage plan of the right and before this situation the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, convened on Monday the National Defense Council to strengthen security at the electric and water pumping stations.
https://www.telesurtv.net/news/Ministro ... -0003.html
Google Translator
*******************************
They denounce attacks on the Venezuelan electrical system
The island of Margarita suffered a total blackout in the early hours of Tuesday due to sabotage. | Photo: AVN
Posted 3 May 2017
by Alfredo Jalife
Several blackouts and one death have been the result of several acts of sabotage against the Venezuelan electricity infrastructure. The Minister of Energy has reported that those responsible have been hired by opponents of the Government of Nicolás Maduro.
The Minister of Popular Power for Electric Power of Venezuela, Luis Motta Domínguez, denounced that the electrical system of that country has been the victim of an electrical sabotage orchestrated by the opposition. Adverse factions to the Venezuelan Government have sustained violent protests during the last five weeks.
The also Major General of the Army explained that "it is part of the destabilizing plan that Julio Borges (president of the National Assembly and opposition leader) announced to paralyze the country."
Dominguez denounced that a sabotage to a submarine cable of electrical transmission was the cause of a power cut that affected the entire Island of Margarita (north of the Caribbean Sea), which makes up the Nueva Esparta state.
He indicated that those responsible for the attack, perpetrated by land, are hired by the opposition parties to generate anxiety and destabilize the country. The blackout occurred at 11pm local (03H00 GMT) and the team of the National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec) manually activated an electric plant with which they restored the service.
In his statements from the Miraflores palace in the capital Caracas, the minister added that Corpoelec vehicles have been attacked with Molotov cocktails. He also reported the death in the Falcon state (northwest) of a person attempting to sabotage a condenser from a power plant and who was electrocuted.
Similar situations have arisen in other states of the country where sabotage has caused blackouts. "In Mérida (west) and Táchira (west) is where there have been more acts of vandalism," said the minister.
He reported that state security forces dismantled a gang of six people who caused the blackout that affected the international airport of Maiquetía, in the state of Vargas (north), five weeks ago.
https://www.telesurtv.net/news/Denuncia ... -0057.html
Google Translator
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Lara state communal leader Angel Prado succeeded Friday in registering his candidacy for local mayor after a protracted dispute with authorities.
Commune leader, delegate to the ANC and mayoral candidate Angel Prado. (SupuestoNegado)
By Lucas Koerner
Nov 13th 2017 at 7.59pm
Caracas, November 13, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Lara state communal leader Angel Prado succeeded Friday in registering his candidacy for local mayor after a protracted dispute with authorities.
Last week, the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) delegate for communes accused Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) of refusing to register his candidacy in the December 10 race for mayor of the Simon Planas municipality.
The CNE announcement came after nine days of protest by Prado’s supporters, who collected over 9,000 signatures, far surpassing the minimum threshold to register a candidate.
Speaking at a mass public assembly in Sanare Plaza on Friday, Prado said the victory belongs to the “Bolivarian people of Simon Planas that doesn’t lose hope”.
“This leadership is collective, belonging to each and every one of you, in the family, the home, the school, in our workplaces, it’s the sum of all our efforts,” he declared.
Prado, who was elected to the ANC with 80 percent of his community’s votes, will run on the ticket of the Communist Party and Tupamaro Revolutionary Movement.
He also has the backing of ten communes and 150 communal councils, among them his own commune, El Maizal, which has gained national renown for its corn production that reached 4,000 metric tons this year.
Communes are territorialized organs of self-governance that combine grassroots participatory democracy embodied in local communal councils with social ownership of the means of production. Lara is the state with the largest concentration of communes, which former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez regarded as the “cells” of the Bolivarian socialist project.
Prado has placed the question of communal power at the center of his campaign, vowing to “transform the mayorship and build ourselves up as a national referent in the consolidation of socialism territorially through the transference of power to the communes and the organized people”.
More specifically, the ANC delegate has made one of his central issues fighting contraband and speculation by making locally produced food directly available to communities.
Prado will compete against the candidate of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Jean Ortiz, whom residents complain was chosen without local consultation.
The PSUV’s decision to forgo local primaries has been met with backlash from allied leftist parties and social movements, which have fielded their own candidates in a significant number of municipalities throughout the country.
Non-PSUV candidates have been emboldened by an opposition boycott of the vote, opening the way for competition among leftist parties without the risk of a right-wing victory.
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13499
Commune leader, delegate to the ANC and mayoral candidate Angel Prado. (SupuestoNegado)
By Lucas Koerner
Nov 13th 2017 at 7.59pm
Caracas, November 13, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Lara state communal leader Angel Prado succeeded Friday in registering his candidacy for local mayor after a protracted dispute with authorities.
Last week, the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) delegate for communes accused Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) of refusing to register his candidacy in the December 10 race for mayor of the Simon Planas municipality.
The CNE announcement came after nine days of protest by Prado’s supporters, who collected over 9,000 signatures, far surpassing the minimum threshold to register a candidate.
Speaking at a mass public assembly in Sanare Plaza on Friday, Prado said the victory belongs to the “Bolivarian people of Simon Planas that doesn’t lose hope”.
“This leadership is collective, belonging to each and every one of you, in the family, the home, the school, in our workplaces, it’s the sum of all our efforts,” he declared.
Prado, who was elected to the ANC with 80 percent of his community’s votes, will run on the ticket of the Communist Party and Tupamaro Revolutionary Movement.
He also has the backing of ten communes and 150 communal councils, among them his own commune, El Maizal, which has gained national renown for its corn production that reached 4,000 metric tons this year.
Communes are territorialized organs of self-governance that combine grassroots participatory democracy embodied in local communal councils with social ownership of the means of production. Lara is the state with the largest concentration of communes, which former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez regarded as the “cells” of the Bolivarian socialist project.
Prado has placed the question of communal power at the center of his campaign, vowing to “transform the mayorship and build ourselves up as a national referent in the consolidation of socialism territorially through the transference of power to the communes and the organized people”.
More specifically, the ANC delegate has made one of his central issues fighting contraband and speculation by making locally produced food directly available to communities.
Prado will compete against the candidate of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Jean Ortiz, whom residents complain was chosen without local consultation.
The PSUV’s decision to forgo local primaries has been met with backlash from allied leftist parties and social movements, which have fielded their own candidates in a significant number of municipalities throughout the country.
Non-PSUV candidates have been emboldened by an opposition boycott of the vote, opening the way for competition among leftist parties without the risk of a right-wing victory.
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13499
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Campaign Against the Arms Trade is completely out to lunch on Venezuela
By Joe Emersberger
November 14, 2017
CAAT calls Venezuela a “hybrid regime” by relying on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index which also labels the UK a “full democracy” – along with a few others like Canada and Spain. What a joke.
In all of those “full democracies”, most of Venezuela’s opposition leaders would have been locked up and never seen or heard from again by 2002 – the first time they tried to overthrow the elected government by force (with foreign support to boot) and briefly succeeded. Christ, in the UK people have been thrown in jail for Facebook posts that advocate riots.
Just compare and contrast the way two illegal referendums were very recently handled in Venezuela and Spain.
The illegal opposition referendum against Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly in July 15, 2017 required an extremely high level of political expression, organization and participation. It allegedly involved 7 million people voting in it.
Its questions were highly provocative – for example one asked if the military should obey the opposition controlled National Assembly.
All of this was done – and not totally criminalized as in Spain – by an opposition whose supporters had burned people alive in the streets and that is supported by foreign governments.
I’m sure it doesn’t help that 1/4 of CAAT’s funding comes from trusts & foundations, but my hunch is that the problem is elsewhere. I suspect the general lack of pushback on propaganda against Venezuela will lead people and outfits that are totally independent of rich donors to accept the “hybrid regime” label for Venezuela or worse.
I’m very glad that CAAT has campaigned hard to end UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but the “full democracy” label for the UK is also an absurdity when you consider why UK foreign policy is such a horror show – its massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia (obviously) but much else.
https://zcomm.org/zblogs/campaign-again ... venezuela/
By Joe Emersberger
November 14, 2017
CAAT calls Venezuela a “hybrid regime” by relying on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index which also labels the UK a “full democracy” – along with a few others like Canada and Spain. What a joke.
In all of those “full democracies”, most of Venezuela’s opposition leaders would have been locked up and never seen or heard from again by 2002 – the first time they tried to overthrow the elected government by force (with foreign support to boot) and briefly succeeded. Christ, in the UK people have been thrown in jail for Facebook posts that advocate riots.
Just compare and contrast the way two illegal referendums were very recently handled in Venezuela and Spain.
The illegal opposition referendum against Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly in July 15, 2017 required an extremely high level of political expression, organization and participation. It allegedly involved 7 million people voting in it.
Its questions were highly provocative – for example one asked if the military should obey the opposition controlled National Assembly.
All of this was done – and not totally criminalized as in Spain – by an opposition whose supporters had burned people alive in the streets and that is supported by foreign governments.
I’m sure it doesn’t help that 1/4 of CAAT’s funding comes from trusts & foundations, but my hunch is that the problem is elsewhere. I suspect the general lack of pushback on propaganda against Venezuela will lead people and outfits that are totally independent of rich donors to accept the “hybrid regime” label for Venezuela or worse.
I’m very glad that CAAT has campaigned hard to end UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but the “full democracy” label for the UK is also an absurdity when you consider why UK foreign policy is such a horror show – its massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia (obviously) but much else.
https://zcomm.org/zblogs/campaign-again ... venezuela/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Venezuela Dialogue in Dominican Republic: Key Points of the Initial Meeting
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on NOVEMBER 19, 2017
Misión Verdad
Translated by Tortilla Con Sal
On November 16th, a preparatory meeting took place for the new round of talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition scheduled for December 1st and 2nd in the Dominican Republic. These are some of the relevant points in relation to this first meeting.
Delegations and accompanying mediators
Postponed for one day, the meeting took place without prior notification, after President Nicolas Maduro met in the presidential residence at Miraflores with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, one of the dialogue process mediators. A few hours after that meeting, the head of the Bolivarian delegation announced via his Twitter account his imminent arrival in the Dominican Republic, along with the president of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodríguez and Education Minister, Elías Jaua, members of the presidential delegation in charge of the dialogue process.
Shortly afterwards, the United Democratic Table (MUD) opposition announced the arrival of their delegation consisting of Vicente Díaz, former head of the National Electoral Council, Gustavo Velázquez, the MUD’s strategic advisor and expert negotiator, and José Luis Cartaya, secretary of Venezuela’s legislature, the National Assembly. All three have a technical profile very different from that of most of the opposition leadership. This suggests the impossibility of participation by figures like Luis Florido, shortlisted for the MUD delegation, after he stated a few days earlier that the MUD would not take part in the Dominican Republic talk’s without the presence of guarantor countries representatives.
According to statements afterwards, it is clear this initial 6 hour meeting on November 16th dealt with methodological procedure and the main issues to discuss and also confirmed the participation of the guarantor countries, Paraguay, Chile and Mexico for the MUD and, for the government, Nicaragua, Bolivia and another country yet to be named. Almost at the very end of the day, Jorge Rodríguez asserted, “Contrary to what Luis Florido thinks, this is not an international negotiation, between our country and another, unless he feels he represents some other State, rather it is a dialogue between the government and the opposition, between our own Venezuelan people.”
Agendas and counterpoints
Among the points highlighted by the opposition, were the opening up of “a humanitarian channel, freedom for political prisoners and clean transparent Presidential elections with a new National Electoral Council”. On this last point, the opposition have insistently demanded the same technical conditions that allowed them to win the legislative elections in 2015 (anyone unaware needs to know that these technical conditions are the same as those prevailing in the recent elections for the National Constituent Assembly and for the regional elections, both claimed by the MUD to be fraudulent).
On the other hand, President Maduro insisted that the opposition offer “economic guarantees” by demanding the end of President Donald Trump’s economic sanctions. Together with this point, the Venezuelan government is also seeking a negotiated agreement of recognition and coexistence between the National Consituent Assembly and the opposition controlled National Assembly so as to normalize the workings of the Venezuelan State on issues like investment agreements and foreign loans that are sensitive for Venezuela’s economy.
These two agendas will have to find a synthesis when the conversations scheduled for the 1st and 2nd of December finally start. A realistic view sees a precedent in the thematic tables organized for the failed attempt at dialogue in 2016. These were divided among: Confidence building and a timetable for elections; Peace, respect for Venezuela’s laws and national sovereignty; Truth Justice and human rights; reparations to victims and national reconciliation; and economic and social issues. Thanks to that precedent, Jorge Rodríguez was able to note that this time around it was not difficult to establish a procedural methodology after having found common points of agreement from that earlier, albeit failed, experience
Strong points and objectives for each side
In a negotiation, it is important for each side to know what cards they hold and how strong their position is. In the context following the end of the street fighting and the holding of the regional elections, everyone knows that Chavismo is in a better position than the still bruised MUD opposition, with, in the words of Jesus Torrealba, one of the opposition leaders, its unity practically dissolved. But it is worth looking more deeply at the situation of each side.
For the anti-Chavismo groups, their position is based on their control of the National Assembly to block foreign agreements that might help stabilize the economy. Assisted by the United States and the European Union they press for conditions leading to a change of government. But that fails to reflect the domestic context where, thanks to their own contradictions and disagreements, they have lost much of the support they had in the legislative elections of 2015.
For its part, Chavismo controls the National Constituent Assembly as a means to undo opposition efforts to make Venezuela ungovernable. But its political capital right now has increased after the regional elections and with the upcoming municipal elections, which Chavismo hopes will end with comprehensive electoral success across Venezuela. Given that, it is in Chavismo’s interests to ensure the political conflict remains firmly in a peaceful electoral context so as to normalize life in the country, above all in relation to the main problem for Venezuelans, which is the economy.
Some provisional conclusions
This dialogue should be seen in the light of the one held at the beginning of the century, after the attempted coup in 2002. Back then, the dialogue was mediated by the Organization of American States under its then Secretary General, former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria, whose job ended after Hugo Chávez triumphed in the recall referendum of 2004. Put another way, one side conceded its loss once the other side achieved a categorical triumph.
In the current context, that experience serves as a comparison, given that the potential agreements would set up a political, legal, institutional and economic scene for both sides allowing a disentanglement of the conflict via the only election yet to be scheduled, namely the Presidential election. That is why President Maduro’s statement, that he hopes the dialogue negotiations will take no longer than a year, makes sense.
Even so, the big problem for the dialogue negotiations is the inability of the anti-Chavismo forces to unite around a common position enabling them to comply with a possible agreement. This was obvious on November 16th more from two snapshots than from the competing proposals. One is of the MUD delegation in the Dominican Republic and the other is of various opposition leaders in OAS meetings about how to take Venezuela to the International Criminal Court. This is one more example of the self-evident de facto split in Venezuela’s opposition bloc.
So it is hard to tell whether the way open to dialogue will make progress with a MUD opposition divided or united, or whether, as Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put it “foreign pressures leading to irreconcilable positions aimed at provoking a deeper, more violent crisis” will prevail. Much remains to be seen. However, one thing is very clear, namely, President Nicolas Maduro’s government is closer than Venezuela’s opposition to closing the cycle of extremet instability following the death of Hugo Chávez. That is saying a great deal given the plague of difficulties throughout 2017.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2017/11/ ... l-meeting/
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on NOVEMBER 19, 2017
Misión Verdad
Translated by Tortilla Con Sal
On November 16th, a preparatory meeting took place for the new round of talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition scheduled for December 1st and 2nd in the Dominican Republic. These are some of the relevant points in relation to this first meeting.
Delegations and accompanying mediators
Postponed for one day, the meeting took place without prior notification, after President Nicolas Maduro met in the presidential residence at Miraflores with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, one of the dialogue process mediators. A few hours after that meeting, the head of the Bolivarian delegation announced via his Twitter account his imminent arrival in the Dominican Republic, along with the president of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodríguez and Education Minister, Elías Jaua, members of the presidential delegation in charge of the dialogue process.
Shortly afterwards, the United Democratic Table (MUD) opposition announced the arrival of their delegation consisting of Vicente Díaz, former head of the National Electoral Council, Gustavo Velázquez, the MUD’s strategic advisor and expert negotiator, and José Luis Cartaya, secretary of Venezuela’s legislature, the National Assembly. All three have a technical profile very different from that of most of the opposition leadership. This suggests the impossibility of participation by figures like Luis Florido, shortlisted for the MUD delegation, after he stated a few days earlier that the MUD would not take part in the Dominican Republic talk’s without the presence of guarantor countries representatives.
According to statements afterwards, it is clear this initial 6 hour meeting on November 16th dealt with methodological procedure and the main issues to discuss and also confirmed the participation of the guarantor countries, Paraguay, Chile and Mexico for the MUD and, for the government, Nicaragua, Bolivia and another country yet to be named. Almost at the very end of the day, Jorge Rodríguez asserted, “Contrary to what Luis Florido thinks, this is not an international negotiation, between our country and another, unless he feels he represents some other State, rather it is a dialogue between the government and the opposition, between our own Venezuelan people.”
Agendas and counterpoints
Among the points highlighted by the opposition, were the opening up of “a humanitarian channel, freedom for political prisoners and clean transparent Presidential elections with a new National Electoral Council”. On this last point, the opposition have insistently demanded the same technical conditions that allowed them to win the legislative elections in 2015 (anyone unaware needs to know that these technical conditions are the same as those prevailing in the recent elections for the National Constituent Assembly and for the regional elections, both claimed by the MUD to be fraudulent).
On the other hand, President Maduro insisted that the opposition offer “economic guarantees” by demanding the end of President Donald Trump’s economic sanctions. Together with this point, the Venezuelan government is also seeking a negotiated agreement of recognition and coexistence between the National Consituent Assembly and the opposition controlled National Assembly so as to normalize the workings of the Venezuelan State on issues like investment agreements and foreign loans that are sensitive for Venezuela’s economy.
These two agendas will have to find a synthesis when the conversations scheduled for the 1st and 2nd of December finally start. A realistic view sees a precedent in the thematic tables organized for the failed attempt at dialogue in 2016. These were divided among: Confidence building and a timetable for elections; Peace, respect for Venezuela’s laws and national sovereignty; Truth Justice and human rights; reparations to victims and national reconciliation; and economic and social issues. Thanks to that precedent, Jorge Rodríguez was able to note that this time around it was not difficult to establish a procedural methodology after having found common points of agreement from that earlier, albeit failed, experience
Strong points and objectives for each side
In a negotiation, it is important for each side to know what cards they hold and how strong their position is. In the context following the end of the street fighting and the holding of the regional elections, everyone knows that Chavismo is in a better position than the still bruised MUD opposition, with, in the words of Jesus Torrealba, one of the opposition leaders, its unity practically dissolved. But it is worth looking more deeply at the situation of each side.
For the anti-Chavismo groups, their position is based on their control of the National Assembly to block foreign agreements that might help stabilize the economy. Assisted by the United States and the European Union they press for conditions leading to a change of government. But that fails to reflect the domestic context where, thanks to their own contradictions and disagreements, they have lost much of the support they had in the legislative elections of 2015.
For its part, Chavismo controls the National Constituent Assembly as a means to undo opposition efforts to make Venezuela ungovernable. But its political capital right now has increased after the regional elections and with the upcoming municipal elections, which Chavismo hopes will end with comprehensive electoral success across Venezuela. Given that, it is in Chavismo’s interests to ensure the political conflict remains firmly in a peaceful electoral context so as to normalize life in the country, above all in relation to the main problem for Venezuelans, which is the economy.
Some provisional conclusions
This dialogue should be seen in the light of the one held at the beginning of the century, after the attempted coup in 2002. Back then, the dialogue was mediated by the Organization of American States under its then Secretary General, former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria, whose job ended after Hugo Chávez triumphed in the recall referendum of 2004. Put another way, one side conceded its loss once the other side achieved a categorical triumph.
In the current context, that experience serves as a comparison, given that the potential agreements would set up a political, legal, institutional and economic scene for both sides allowing a disentanglement of the conflict via the only election yet to be scheduled, namely the Presidential election. That is why President Maduro’s statement, that he hopes the dialogue negotiations will take no longer than a year, makes sense.
Even so, the big problem for the dialogue negotiations is the inability of the anti-Chavismo forces to unite around a common position enabling them to comply with a possible agreement. This was obvious on November 16th more from two snapshots than from the competing proposals. One is of the MUD delegation in the Dominican Republic and the other is of various opposition leaders in OAS meetings about how to take Venezuela to the International Criminal Court. This is one more example of the self-evident de facto split in Venezuela’s opposition bloc.
So it is hard to tell whether the way open to dialogue will make progress with a MUD opposition divided or united, or whether, as Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put it “foreign pressures leading to irreconcilable positions aimed at provoking a deeper, more violent crisis” will prevail. Much remains to be seen. However, one thing is very clear, namely, President Nicolas Maduro’s government is closer than Venezuela’s opposition to closing the cycle of extremet instability following the death of Hugo Chávez. That is saying a great deal given the plague of difficulties throughout 2017.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2017/11/ ... l-meeting/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Enter the 'petro': Venezuela to launch oil-backed cryptocurrency
Alexandra Ulmer, Deisy Buitrago
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro looked to the world of digital currency to circumvent U.S.-led financial sanctions, announcing on Sunday the launch of the “petro” backed by oil reserves to shore up a collapsed economy.
The leftist leader offered few specifics about the currency launch or how the struggling OPEC member would pull off such a feat, but he declared to cheers that “the 21st century has arrived!”
“Venezuela will create a cryptocurrency,” backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves, Maduro said in his regular Sunday televised broadcast, a five-hour showcase of Christmas songs and dancing.
The petro, he said, would help Venezuela “advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.”
Opposition leaders derided the announcement, which they said needed congressional approval, and some cast doubt on whether the digital currency would ever see the light of day in the midst of turmoil. The real currency, the bolivar, is in freefall, and the country is sorely lacking in basic needs like food and medicine.
Still, the announcement highlights how sanctions enacted this year by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration are hurting Venezuela’s ability to move money through international banks.
Washington has levied sanctions against Venezuelan officials, PDVSA executives and the country’s debt issuance.
Sources say compliance departments are scrutinizing transactions linked to Venezuela, which has slowed some bond payments and complicated certain oil exports.
Maduro’s pivot away from the U.S. dollar comes after the recent spectacular rise of bitcoin, which has been fueled by signs that the digital currency is slowly gaining traction in the mainstream investment world.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during his weekly radio and TV broadcast "Los Domingos con Maduro" (The Sundays with Maduro) in Caracas, Venezuela, December 3, 2017. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS
The announcement bewildered some followers of cryptocurrencies, which typically are not backed by any government or central banks. Ironically, Venezuela’s currency controls in recent years have spurred a bitcoin fad among tech-savvy Venezuelans looking to bypass controls to obtain dollars or make internet purchases.
‘NO CREDIBILITY,’ OPPOSITION SAYS
Maduro’s government has a poor track record in monetary policy.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during his weekly radio and TV broadcast "Los Domingos con Maduro" (The Sundays with Maduro) in Caracas, Venezuela, December 3, 2017. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS
Currency controls and excessive money printing have led to a 57 percent depreciation of the bolivar against the dollar in the last month alone on the widely used black market. That has dragged down the monthly minimum wage to a mere $4.30.
For the millions of Venezuelans plunged into poverty and struggling to eat three meals a day, Maduro’s announcement is unlikely to bring any immediate relief.
Economists and opposition leaders say Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, has recklessly refused to overhaul Venezuela’s controls and stem the economic meltdown.
He could now be seeking to pay bondholders and foreign creditors in the currency amid a plan to restructure the country’s major debt burden, opposition leaders said, but the plan is likely to flop.
“It’s Maduro being a clown. This has no credibility,” opposition lawmaker and economist Angel Alvarado told Reuters.
“I see no future in this,” added fellow opposition legislator Jose Guerra.
Maduro says he is trying to combat a Washington-backed conspiracy to sabotage his government and end socialism in Latin America. On Sunday he said Venezuela was facing a financial “world war.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vene ... SKBN1DX0SQ
My, what a disapproving tone, think Maduro struck a nerve?
Of course this is the sort of thing that got Gadaffi killed....
Alexandra Ulmer, Deisy Buitrago
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro looked to the world of digital currency to circumvent U.S.-led financial sanctions, announcing on Sunday the launch of the “petro” backed by oil reserves to shore up a collapsed economy.
The leftist leader offered few specifics about the currency launch or how the struggling OPEC member would pull off such a feat, but he declared to cheers that “the 21st century has arrived!”
“Venezuela will create a cryptocurrency,” backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves, Maduro said in his regular Sunday televised broadcast, a five-hour showcase of Christmas songs and dancing.
The petro, he said, would help Venezuela “advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.”
Opposition leaders derided the announcement, which they said needed congressional approval, and some cast doubt on whether the digital currency would ever see the light of day in the midst of turmoil. The real currency, the bolivar, is in freefall, and the country is sorely lacking in basic needs like food and medicine.
Still, the announcement highlights how sanctions enacted this year by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration are hurting Venezuela’s ability to move money through international banks.
Washington has levied sanctions against Venezuelan officials, PDVSA executives and the country’s debt issuance.
Sources say compliance departments are scrutinizing transactions linked to Venezuela, which has slowed some bond payments and complicated certain oil exports.
Maduro’s pivot away from the U.S. dollar comes after the recent spectacular rise of bitcoin, which has been fueled by signs that the digital currency is slowly gaining traction in the mainstream investment world.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during his weekly radio and TV broadcast "Los Domingos con Maduro" (The Sundays with Maduro) in Caracas, Venezuela, December 3, 2017. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS
The announcement bewildered some followers of cryptocurrencies, which typically are not backed by any government or central banks. Ironically, Venezuela’s currency controls in recent years have spurred a bitcoin fad among tech-savvy Venezuelans looking to bypass controls to obtain dollars or make internet purchases.
‘NO CREDIBILITY,’ OPPOSITION SAYS
Maduro’s government has a poor track record in monetary policy.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during his weekly radio and TV broadcast "Los Domingos con Maduro" (The Sundays with Maduro) in Caracas, Venezuela, December 3, 2017. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS
Currency controls and excessive money printing have led to a 57 percent depreciation of the bolivar against the dollar in the last month alone on the widely used black market. That has dragged down the monthly minimum wage to a mere $4.30.
For the millions of Venezuelans plunged into poverty and struggling to eat three meals a day, Maduro’s announcement is unlikely to bring any immediate relief.
Economists and opposition leaders say Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, has recklessly refused to overhaul Venezuela’s controls and stem the economic meltdown.
He could now be seeking to pay bondholders and foreign creditors in the currency amid a plan to restructure the country’s major debt burden, opposition leaders said, but the plan is likely to flop.
“It’s Maduro being a clown. This has no credibility,” opposition lawmaker and economist Angel Alvarado told Reuters.
“I see no future in this,” added fellow opposition legislator Jose Guerra.
Maduro says he is trying to combat a Washington-backed conspiracy to sabotage his government and end socialism in Latin America. On Sunday he said Venezuela was facing a financial “world war.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vene ... SKBN1DX0SQ
My, what a disapproving tone, think Maduro struck a nerve?
Of course this is the sort of thing that got Gadaffi killed....
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Re: Venezuela
Venezuela Receives Last of Major Arms Shipment from Russia
Published 4 December 2017 (17 hours 0 minutes ago)
Venezuela has amassed an impressive array of state-of-the-art weaponry from its key strategic ally, the Russian Federation, who have fulfilled over 10 contracts to deliver arms to the Bolivarian Republic.
The revelation was made by the head of the Russian delegation to the Expodefensa 2017 arms exhibition in Colombia, Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Anatoly Punchuk. The exhibition is being held from Dec. 4-6, told TASS.
The period of using the Russian government’s loan provided to Venezuela has ended,” Punchuk said.
“The Russian side has fully implemented its obligations to the Venezuelan partners. We have delivered all the armaments to the foreign customer under the contracts concluded earlier."
In 2010, Russia loaned Venezuela $US4 billion to buy weapons when Chavez visited Moscow in 2010. It is unclear if any MANPADS missiles were part of that deal.
Under agreements signed a year earlier, Russia delivered armored vehicles, missiles and artillery equipment, about 12 S-300 air defense systems and large portions of related materiel.
"Venezuela is the largest operator of Russian armament and military hardware in the Latin American region,” Punchuk noted. “The Russian side has delivered various armaments worth an impressive sum.”
Additionally, a planned factory for the production of the AK-103 automatic rifles, an iteration of the famous Kalashnikov automatic rifle series that includes components made from high-strength plastic components rather than metal or wood, will soon kick into production according to scheduñe-
Replying to a question about when the factory for the production of AK-103 automatic rifles would launch its operations in that country, Punchuk said that this work was being carried out jointly with Venezuelan partners in compliance with the schedule approved by Caracas.
"It will be launched into operation within the established timeframe," he said.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0027.html
Published 4 December 2017 (17 hours 0 minutes ago)
Venezuela has amassed an impressive array of state-of-the-art weaponry from its key strategic ally, the Russian Federation, who have fulfilled over 10 contracts to deliver arms to the Bolivarian Republic.
The revelation was made by the head of the Russian delegation to the Expodefensa 2017 arms exhibition in Colombia, Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Anatoly Punchuk. The exhibition is being held from Dec. 4-6, told TASS.
The period of using the Russian government’s loan provided to Venezuela has ended,” Punchuk said.
“The Russian side has fully implemented its obligations to the Venezuelan partners. We have delivered all the armaments to the foreign customer under the contracts concluded earlier."
In 2010, Russia loaned Venezuela $US4 billion to buy weapons when Chavez visited Moscow in 2010. It is unclear if any MANPADS missiles were part of that deal.
Under agreements signed a year earlier, Russia delivered armored vehicles, missiles and artillery equipment, about 12 S-300 air defense systems and large portions of related materiel.
"Venezuela is the largest operator of Russian armament and military hardware in the Latin American region,” Punchuk noted. “The Russian side has delivered various armaments worth an impressive sum.”
Additionally, a planned factory for the production of the AK-103 automatic rifles, an iteration of the famous Kalashnikov automatic rifle series that includes components made from high-strength plastic components rather than metal or wood, will soon kick into production according to scheduñe-
Replying to a question about when the factory for the production of AK-103 automatic rifles would launch its operations in that country, Punchuk said that this work was being carried out jointly with Venezuelan partners in compliance with the schedule approved by Caracas.
"It will be launched into operation within the established timeframe," he said.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0027.html
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."