Venezuela - Links

Venezuela - General Links
Venezuelan Directories in the World-Wide-Web
Internet Service Providers in Venezuela
Venezuelan Government
Venezuelan Communications Media
Crisis in Venezuela: (Chronicle from 1992)
Presidential Election 1998
General Elections 2000
2002 - Hugo Chávez Resignation and Return
2004 - Referendum to revoque the rule of Hugo Chávez
Presidential Election 2006
Constitutional Referendum 2007
Constitutional Amendment Referendum 2009
2011 - Chávez under cancer treatment in Cuba
Presidential Election 2012
Presidential Election 2013
2014 - The Youth Rebelion
2015 - Conscience
2016 - Expectations
Most Recent Crisis Articles
Most Recent Crisis Article
Results:
"Officialist" Politics
The Opposite Side of the Coin, Blogs
International Press and Opinion
Human Rights in Venezuela
Crude oil price
New Time Zone for Venezuela (GMT - 4.5 hrs)

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Venezuela - General Links:

Academia Nacional de Ciencias Económicas (ANCE)
Alfredo Keller y Asociados (Investigación de mercado y opinión pública, análisis y planificación)
Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia (AsoVAC) Caracas
Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia (AsoVAC) Carabobo
Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia (AsoVAC) Mérida
a-venezuela.com (Viajar en Venezuela)
Avior Airlines
AVTEK (Electrical Protection Products)
bab.la A language portal available in 27 languages - with 38 bilingual dictionaries
Banesco - Banco Universal
BanPlus (Bank)
BBVA Banco Provincial
Bolsa de Valores de Caracas
Cámara Petrolera de Venezuela
Cámara Venezolano-Americana de Comercio e Industria (VenAmCham)
Carlos Ferrán Urdaneta
Centro de Documentación y Análisis Social de la Federación Venezolana de Maestros (CENDAS-FVM)
Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo (CENDES) Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)
Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL) (Naciones Unidas)
Comunidad Andina
Confederación de Asociaciones Israelitas de Venezuela (CAIV)
Confederación Venezolana de Industriales (Conindustria)
Conferencia Episcopal Venezolana (CEV)
Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (CELAM)
Consejo Nacional de Promoción de Inversiones (CONAPRI)
Consultores 21 (Investigación de mercado y estudios de opinión pública)
Corporación Internacional de Protección Integral, C.A. (CORINPROINCA)
Datanalisis (Información sobre el entorno económico, político y social)
Datamática (Investigación de Mercados y Opinión Pública)
Datos LatAm (Investigación de Mercados)
D'empaire Reyna Bermúdez Abogados (DRB) (Legal Information)
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (United Nations)
Embajada de la India en Venezuela
Embassy of the United States in Caracas, Venezuela
Empresas Polar
F-1 Live (Grand Prix news - ESPN)
Federación de Cámaras y Asociaciones de Comercio y Producción de Venezuela (FEDECAMARAS)
Fe y Alegría Movimiento de Educación Popular Integral y Promoción Social
Fundación Centro Gumilla (Investigación y Acción Social de la Compañía de Jesús en Venezuela)
Fundación Empresas Polar
Fundación La Tortuga (Protección del medio ambiente y su biodiversidad)
Fundación para la Prevencíon de la Violencia Doméstica hacia la Mujer (FUNDAMUJER)
Grupo G.A.N.B. (Security and Fire Protection Systems)
Historia de la Isla de Margarita, Mariano de Briceño, 1885
Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA)
J.J. Rendón & Asociados (Estrategia política)
La Venezuela Inmortal
Laser Airlines (Linea Aerea de Servicio Ejecutivo Regional (LASER) C.A.)
Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC) - Venezuela (The University of Texas, Austin)
Lonely Planet World Guide: Destination Venezuela (Travel Guide)
Mapas de Venezuela (a-venezuela.com)
Me Quiero Ir (Vivir, trabajar y estudiar en Estados Unidos, Canadá, Australia y España)
Meteorología en Venezuela (Luis Mujica)
Neira Serigrafías C.A.
Observatorio ARVAL (Astronomy)
- Meteorology for South Florida and the Caribbean
Organización Nacional de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima de los espacios Acuáticos de Venezuela (ONSA)
Organización Rescate Humboldt
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Patricia Van Dalen
Real Academia Española (Diccionarios del Idioma Español)
- Diccionario de la lengua española
- Diccionario panhispánico de dudas
RESCARVEN (Servicios Médicos)
Ricardo Baez Duarte: Ineffable ideas and reflections
Smartmatic "Electronic voting"
Sociedad Mundial del Futuro Venezuela (SMF Venezuela)
Sociedad Venezolana de Ingenieros de Petroleo (SVIP)
Sovica Electronics (Sistemas de seguridad)
TuCarro.com (Compra y venta de carros usados)
United Nations
Universidad Alejandro de Humboldt (UAH)
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB)
- Centro de Derechos Humanos
- PolítiKa Ucab
Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)
Universidad de Los Andes (ULA)
Universidad de Carabobo (UC)
Universidad de Oriente (UDO) - Núcleo de Sucre
Universidad del Zulia (LUZ)
Universidad Metropolitana (UNIMET)
Universidad Monteávila
Universidad Nueva Esparta (UNE)
Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB)
Venezuela Competitiva Estímulo a la capacidad competitiva y emprendedora de los venezolanos
Venezuela in the CIA World Factbook
Venezuela Maps (University of Texas, Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection)
Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce of the United States (VACC)
Venezuelan Council for Investment Promotion (CONAPRI)
Venezuela Tuya (Travel in Venezuela)
World Digital Library (UNESCO)
World Tel-Fax Electronics (WTFE) (Infoline)

See the links for Venezuelan astronomy sites at Observatorio ARVAL - Astro Links - Venezuela

Venezuelan Directories in the World-Wide-Web:

Auyantepui (Venezuelan WWW Directory, with search engine)
Infoguía Web
Prensa Escrita - Periódicos diarios de Venezuela

Internet Service Providers in Venezuela:

AT&T Global Network Services
CANTV [nationalized on May 22, 2007]
- Movilnet
Movistar Venezuela
MSN Latinoamérica - Access - Tutopia
Telefónica | Venezuela
Tutopia

Internet Traffic Report - S. America

Venezuelan Government:

Venezuelan Communications Media:
(now under a "Gag Law")
See Freedom of expression threatened by legislative reforms being rushed through parliament (Reporters Without Borders, 22 December 2010)

6to Poder (Noticias minuto a minuto)
ABC de la Semana (Semanario Venezolano - Noticias, Política, Geopolítica, Latinoamérica)
Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN) [government controlled]
AhoraVision (Noticias de Venezuela al instante)
Analítica.com (Emilio Figueredo)
Bloque Dearmas (Armando de Armas)
Canal-i (UHF TV, Caracas)
Circuito Nacional Belfort (CNB) - 95.3FM - Mérida (Radio)
Colegio Nacional de Periodistas de Venezuela (CNP) - Seccional Caracas
Confirmado
Correo del Caroní (Ciudad Guayana) [Without a printed edition due to the government blocade.
The legislature of the Estado Bolívar ordered their building to be condemned and demolished.]
Descifrado (Juan Carlos Zapata)
Diario 2001
Diario El Carabobeño
Diario El Impulso (Barquisimeto)
Diario El Mundo
Diario El Nacional
Diario El Tiempo (Valera)
Diario El Universal (with the Daily News English Section) [Bought in July 2014 by Epalisticia S.L. (Spain)]
Diario La Verdad (Maracaibo)
Diario La Voz
Diario Notitarde (Valencia)
Diario Panorama (Maracaibo)
Diario Últimas Noticias
Diario VEA [government controlled]
El Diario de Caracas
El Diario de Los Andes (Trujillo, Táchira, Mérida)
El Nuevo País y Zeta (Rafael Poleo)
El Periódico Venezolano (Noticias 24 horas al día de Venezuela)
El Tiempo (El Periódico del Pueblo Oriental)
El Sol de Margarita (Porlamar)
Espacio Público (Asociación Civil)
Gentiuno - Gente del Siglo XXI
- Carlos Alberto Montaner escribe...
- Mercedes Montero
- Trinchera (Eleonora Bruzual)
Globovisión TV (Television and News, with Free Live Signal) [bought by the government on May 2 '13]
infoCIUDADANO (Revista Colaborativa)
Konzapata.com (La tentación del Poder)
La Hora Digital (Porlamar)
LaPatilla.com (Información e Investigación)
La Prensa de Barinas
La Red, el Periódico de Internet
Latin American Herald Tribune (News for the English-reading public about Latin America)
- VenEconomy: Yes, There Are Political Prisoners in Venezuela!
Meridiano Diario y Televisión (TV Sports)
Mundo Oriental (El Tigre, Estado Anzoátegui)
Noticias24 [government controlled]
Noticias Venezuela (El acontecer de Venezuela y el Mundo)
Noticiero Digital (Primer portal de periodismo digital de Venezuela)
- Foros de Noticiero Digital
Notiminuto (Noticias en movimiento)
Opinión y Noticias (Iván R. Méndez, Director de Contenido)
PetroleumWorld.com (Latin American Energy, Oil & Gas)
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) - rctv.net [From May 28 '07 the RCTV frequency will be used by the government to establish TVes, a "public service television". On May 26 '07 the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia illegally ordered all RCTV transmission equipment temporarily under government custody for the use of TVes.]
[From July 16 '07 to January 24 '10 Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) could be seen on private subscription carriers DirectTV, Intercable, Net Uno, Planet Cable, and Supercable. No more!]
Radio Caracas Radio (RCR)
Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV) [government controlled]
Reporte Confidencial (Periodismo Investigativo Audaz)
Reportero24
RunRun.es
SuperMúsica Radio (El Portal Musical Adulto Contemporáneo)
TalCual Digital (Teodoro Petkoff)
Televen TV
Unión Radio
Vale TV (Valores Educativos Televisión, Arzobispado de Caracas)
VenEconomy (and VenEconomía)
VeneTubo (Noticias y Videos de Venezuela)
Venevisión
Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) [government controlled]
Venezuela al Día

Crisis in Venezuela: (Chronicle from 1992)

On February 4, 1992. Hugo Chávez led a failed military coup and murder attempt against president Carlos Andrés Pérez and his family, causing the deaths of many Venezuelans.
Thus started his career as a coupster ....
[Hugo Chávez, Wikipedia.org] (incomplete in Spanish)

On March 26, 1994. After 2 years in prison, president Rafaél Caldera decided the dismissal of the cause against Hugo Chávez, and released him with his immediate accomplices. On December 14, Hugo Chávez visited Fidel Castro in La Habana.
Thus started his career as a Castro-communist ....

On December 6, 1998. Hugo Chávez was elected president with 60% of the votes (40% Enrique Salas Römer, 46% abstention) and was inaugurated in February 2, 1999. Chávez took the legal oath of office "on a dying constitution" that he "would not respect".
On March 10, 1999, he called an election for a Constituent Assembly, where his supporters got 95% of the positions with just 30% of the votes.
Thus started his dictatorial career and the opposition to it ....
On December 15, 1999, the new constitution was approved, with 72% of the votes and 56% abstention. After the voting, and after weeks of continual rains on the coastal mountains North of Venezuela, mudslides killed about 30,000 people that were never evacuated.
[Mr. Chávez's Power Grab, New York Times - Editorial, August 22, 2007]

On July 30, 2000. General elections were held. Chávez's coalition got 66% of the seats in the National Assembly, while Chávez was reelected with 60% of the votes (38% Francisco Arias Cárdenas, 44% abstention). The Carter Center monitored the election; their report stated that, due to lack of transparency, perceived partiality of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE; "National Electoral Council"), and political pressure from the Chávez government that resulted in early elections, they were unable to validate the official CNE results. However, they concluded that the presidential election legitimately expressed the will of the people.
[Observing Political Change en Venezuela: The Bolivarian Constitution and the 2000 Elections, Final Report, Laura Neuman and Jennifer McCoy, Carter Center, February 2001 (.pdf)]
Thus started his career of electoral fraud ....
On August 2000, Hugo Chávez visited Saddam Hussein in Bagdad.
[Hugo Chávez, Wikipedia.org] (incomplete in Spanish)

On April 11, 2002. A gigantic protest march in defense of the independence of Petróleos de Venezuela resulted in 19 death and 150 injured by bullets. The military high command disobeyed orders from Hugo Chávez to attack the protestors, and asked for his resignation, "which he accepted", according to General Lucas Rincón (now Ambassador to Portugal). On April 11, 2002, Hugo Chávez was returned to the presidency by a military faction led by General Raúl Isaías Baduel.
[Political Crisis in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch - Background Briefing, July 2002]
[Los primeros meses de 2002, Memorias de un Obispo, Monseñor Baltazar Porras, .pdf, 1.23 MB]
[On June 24, 2006 Baduel was promoted to General in Chief and appointed Minister of Defense. On July 18, 2007, Baduel was retired and resigned as Minister to begin opposing Chávez.]

45.5% of the Venezuelan population; 10.8 million people, now live in poverty.
[BBC Mundo | América Latina | Economía, Julio 10, 2002] (in Spanish, there is no English version)

On February/March 2003. Hugo Chávez, fired 18,756 managers, engineers, technicians and qualified workers from Petróleos de Venezuela which had opposed the politization of that company supporting the general strike of December 2002 and January 2003 (including 69% of the managers). Petróleos de Venezuela then forbade their employment by the contractors.

55.1% of the Venezuelan population; 14.9 million people, by the end of 2003 lived in poverty.
[Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) - Reporte Social, Octubre 2004] (now recalculated to 47%)

On May 14, 2004. the National Assembly, with just a simple majority, illegally increased from 20 to 32, the number of judges in the Supreme Justice Tribunal to give Hugo Chávez control over the judiciary.
[Venezuela: Chávez Allies Pack Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch, 14-12-2004]

On August 15, 2004. a referendum was held to try and revoque the rule of Hugo Chávez. After a massive fraud, he declared himself the winner with 60% of the votes and the approval of the Carter Center and the Organization of American States (OAS).
[Fraud against Democracy - The Venezuelan Case, T. Álvarez, F. Malpica, J.D. Mujica, J. Casado, .pdf, October 15, 2004]
[The Venezuela Presidential Recall Referendum: Final Reports, Carter Center, 25 Feb 2005]
[In Search of the Black Swan Analysis of the Statistical Evidence of Electoral Fraud in Venezuela
(Study by R. Haussman and R. Rigobón, .pdf, Feb 3 '09)]
[Report on an Analysis of the Representativeness of the Second Audit Sample, and the Correlation Between Petition Signers and the Yes Vote in the Aug. 15, 2004, Presidential Recall Referendum (Carter Center, .pdf)]
[The Carter report on the Hausmann-Rigobon Analysis is bereft of any statistical basis (.pdf, Sep 17 '04)]
[Un Fraude Largamente Preparado, urru.org, documents in Spanish, English, and French]
The names of those Venezuelans that signed for the referendum where published by the nacional assembly member Luis Tascón, thus started his career of political purges ....
[Luis Tascón Wikipedia]
[Analysis of the 2004 Venezuela Referendum: the Official Results versus the Petition Signatures Gustavo Andres Delfino, and Guillermo Alejandro Salas, Institute of Mathematical Statistics]
[El Referéndum Revocatorio Presidencial de 2004 en Venezuela EsData.info]

A statistical study done by two Venezuelan scientists, Maria M. Febres Cordero and Bernardo Marquez, has determined that Hugo Chavez alleged victory in the recall referendum of 2004 was unlikely. The report concludes by saying "the Venezuelan opposition has statistical evidence to reject the official results given by the CNE. The irregularities detected were observed consistently in numerous voting centers and the magnitude of the irregularities implies that the official results do not reflect the intention of voters with statistical confidence."
[Study shows how Hugo Chavez rigged elections in Venezuela By Alek Boyd, 22.02.07. A statistical approach to assess referendum results: The Venezuelan recall referendum 2004. Cordero, Márquez, 2006]

Venezuela Presidential Referendum - Statistical Analysis, May 2006:

A statistical approach to assess referendum results: The Venezuelan recall referendum 2004

Maria M. Febres Cordero and Bernardo Márquez
Independent Consultants

Summary

This article presents a statistical approach to assess the coherence of official results of referendum processes. The statistical analysis described is divided in four phases, according to the methodology used and the corresponding results:
(1) Initial Study, (2) Quantification of irregular certificates of election, (3) Identification of irregular voting centers and (4) Estimation of recall referendum results.
The technique of cluster analysis is applied to address the issue of heterogeneity of the parishes with respect to their political preferences.
The Venezuelan recall referendum 2004 is the case study we used to apply the proposed methodology, based on the data published by the "Consejo Nacional Electoral" (CNE-National Electoral Council). Finally, we present the conclusions of the study which we summarize as follows: The percentage of irregular certificates of election is between 22.2% and 26.5% of the total; 18% of the voting centers show an irregular voting pattern in their certificates of election, the votes corresponding to this irregularity are around 2,550,000; The result estimate, using the unbiased votes as representative of the population for the percentage of YES votes against President Chávez is 56.4% as opposed to the official result of 41%.

Venezuela Presidential Referendum - Statistical Analysis, May 2006
[http://vcrisis.com/Venezuela Presidential Referendum - Statistical Analysis May-2006.pdf]

[See also Referendum Revocatorio: Análisis Estadístico (María Mercedes Febres Cordero, Bernardo Marquez y Alejandro Troya, in urru.org)]

Lawyer Tulio Álvarez's Final report [Informe Final del Abogado Tulio Álvarez]
Research on the qualitative fraud in the electoral process related to the revocation of the mandate of Hugo Chávez Frías
[Investigación sobre el fraude cualitativo ejecutado en el proceso electoral relacionado con la revocatoria del mandato de Hugo Chávez Frías]
Caracas, October 15, 2004
See Especial: Fraude Electoral - Informe Final del Abogado Tulio Álvarez (WebArticulista.net)

For the first quarter of 2005, household poverty is in 38.5% and extreme poverty at 10.1% (sic).
[Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) - La Pobreza, Octubre 2005] (now recalculated to 37.9%)

Between 1998 and 2005, homicides have grown 128%, kidnappings in 426%, executions and gang murders in 253%, on a national level.
[Homicides in Venezuela jumped 128% for the period 1998-2005] (Vcrisis, 05.09.2006)

Since 1998 the industrial sector has decreased almost 40% (of 11,117 industries then, only 6,756 remain in 2007).
[Confederación Venezolana de Industriales (Conindustria), "Cerco empresarial 2007"]

Unemployment among the young is 18.4%, twice the national average.
More than 60% of the active labor population only have informal employment.
[La Exclusión laboral, Juan Martín Echeverría, El Universal, October 1 '06, in Venezuela Real]

Lack of confidence in the electoral system, resulting in more than 75% of abstention on December 2005, giving Hugo Chávez 100% of the National Assembly.
[See the pages of Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE)]

On December 3, 2006, Hugo Chávez declared himself reelected with some 63% of the votes,
against Manuel Rosales (Un Nuevo Tiempo) with 37%, and 26% of abstention.
11,777,126 votes counted, 99%, on December 18 '06.
[See the pages of Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE)]
[See The Systematic Annihilation of the Right to Vote in Venezuela EsData.info, 2007, .pdf]

And, on January 31, 2007, Hugo Chávez was granted dictatorial powers to legislate for 18 months by the Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela.

Accordding to the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), inflation in Venezuela between May 2006 and May 2007 was the largest in Latinamerica: 19.5%.

From May 28, 2007. The frequency of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is being used by the government to establish TVes, a "public service television". On May 26 '07 the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia illegally ordered all RCTV transmission equipment temporarily under government custody for the use of TVes.
[This measure is generating protests around the country]
[From July 16 '07 Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) can be seen on private subscription carriers DirectTV, Intercable, Net Uno, Planet Cable, and Supercable]

2006 PDVSA revenue fell nearly 16% from 2005, the local profits fell more than 65% while our oil prices rose more than 19%, social expences almost duplicated to $13,781 million, according to their audited financial statements presented Friday 7, September '07.
[See El Universal, Marianna Párraga, Septiembre 11, 2007]

On December 2, 2007. Hugo Chávez ilegally submitted to a referendum a new constitution; Communist and even more presidentialist than the one from the Constituent Assembly of 1999, permitting his continued reelection and restricting human rights and private property.
Human Rights are inalienable, and a fundamental change in the constitution can only be made by a Constituent Assembly, never by a minority in a referendum.
[See Venezuela - President for life in Economist.com]
[See List of proposed changes in Venezuela referendum MiamiHerald.com, 12-02-2007]
[See Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations)]
[This measure generated protests around the country]
[On November 5, 2007, Retired General Raúl Isaías Baduel rejected the new constitution, calling it a "fraud"]

At 01:15 on December 3, the CNE announced that the new constitution was rejected 51% vs 49%, with 44% abstention (with just 9,002,439 votes counted).
[See Venezuela Hands Narrow Defeat to Chávez Plan in The New York Times]
[See CNE - Resultados]
Thus started his career as a looser ....

See Venezuelans Deny Chávez Additional Authority (Washington Post, Juan Forero, December 3, 2007)
See Chávez Chastened in Venezuela Vote (Washington Post, Juan Forero, December 4, 2007)
See Chávez Turns Bitter Over His Defeat in Referendum (Washington Post, Juan Forero, Dec. 6, 2007)

After more than 45 days since the referendum on the constitutional reform,
Asociación Civil Súmate demands the CNE publishes the definitive results.
See Hay serias incongruencias en resultados del CNE sobre el referéndum constitucional (.pdf, Ene. 20 '08)
Informe Súmate - Referéndo Sobre Proyecto de Reforma Constitucional (.pdf, Ene. 24 '08)

On April 2, 2008. More than 122 days after the referendum, 1.8 milion votes remain uncounted.
[See Lucena y sus Cuentos de Camino in Venezuela Real: Óscar Lucien, El Nacional, 4 de Abril 2008]

By December 1, 2008, these 1.8 milion votes remain uncounted.

A sample from the proposed new constitution; from article 136:
"The people are depositaries of the sovereignty and exercise it directly through the Popular Power. This is not born from suffrage or any election, but is born from the condition of the human groups organized as the base of the population."
[See Reforma Constitucional in Venezuela Real]
This contradicts article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations):
"The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."

The new article 337 allows the president to declare a "state of exception" and temporarily suspend the right to due judicial process, violating articles 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations).
[See Reforma Constitucional in Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela]

On October 24 '07 the Asamblea Nacional added a "right to a defense" in the new article 337.
[See Parlamento aprobó artículo de los estados de excepción in Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela]
[But see also article 337 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (December 30, 1999), where the "right to due process" is much more than a "right to a defense"]

From the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (December 30, 1999):

Article 25:
Any act on the part of the Public Power that violates or encroaches upon the rights guaranteed by this Constitution and by law is null and void, and the public employees ordering or implementing the same shall incur criminal, civil and administrative liability, as applicable in each case, with no defense on grounds of having followed the orders of a superior.

Article 333:
This Constitution shall not cease to be in effect if it ceases to be observed due to acts of force or because of repeal in any manner other than as provided for herein.
In such eventuality, every citizen, whether or not vested with official authority, has a duty to assist in bringing it back into actual effect.

Article 350:
The people of Venezuela, true to their republican tradition and their struggle for independence, peace and freedom, shall disown any regime, legislation or authority that violates democratic values, principles and guarantees or encroaches upon human rights.

On January 12, 2008. Hugo Chávez said in his annual report before the National Assembly, that the FARC and ELN "are insurgent forces with a political project that is respected here". His National Assembly, sheepishly approved.
[See ESPECIAL: Chávez presentó su Informe en la AN in Noticias24]

On February 25, 2008. Clodosbaldo Russián, the general comptroller, filed before the directors of the CNE a list of 400 public officials inconstitucionally disabled by his office to opt for popularly elected office. None of the included will be able to run in the 2008 regional elections. Among these are the opposition leaders Leopoldo López, Enrique Mendoza, Oscar Pérez, Enrique Ochoa Antich and Alfredo Peña.
[See Contralor llevó al CNE la lista de 400 inhabilitados para postularse in El Universal]

On March 3, 2008. General Oscar Naranjo, head of the Colombian National Police, unveiled documents seized from guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes, who was killed last Saturday by the Colombian Army, which show an alliance, old contacts and even financial aid between the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
[See Colombia Discloses Documentes linking Chávez to the FARC in El Universal Daily News]
[See Alleged Chavez's Call to Reyes Revealed Location of FARC Camp in El Universal Daily News]
[See Forensic report requested by Colombia on seized FARC computers and hardware INTERPOL, May 15 '08]

Venezuela increased its arms imports dramatically in 2003-2007, taking it from the 56^th biggest importer in the world in 1998-2002, to the 24^th place. Some 92% of Venezuela's imports came from Russia.
International Arms Transfers Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

On May 28, 2008.

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías President of the Republic

On exercise of the attributions conferred on him by numeral 8 of article 236 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and in conformity with numeral 9 of article 1 of the Law authorizing the President of the Republic to dictate Decrees with Rank, Value and Force of Law on the matters that are delegated, ....

DICTATES the following,

DECREE WITH RANK, VALUE AND FORCE OF LAW
OF THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
....

CHAPTER I - GENERAL DISPOSITIONS
....

Range of application
....

Article 2.-
The norms and principles contained in this Decree with Rank, Value and Force of Law are of mandatory compliance for:
....
5. Every person that in the course of his activities inside or outside of the national territory has or has access to information of strategic interest for the Nation.
....

CHAPTER III - OF THE SUBSYSTEMS
....

Organs of Support

Article 16.- Organs of Support to the activities of intelligence and counterintelligence are, the natural and juridic persons, from public and private law, nationals or foreigners, just as the organs and entities of the national public administration, states, municipalities, the social networks, organizations of popular participation and organized communities, when their cooperation is solicited for the obtention of information or technical support, by the organs with special jurisdiction.

The persons that do not comply with the obligations established in this article are responsible in comformity with the Organic Law of Security of the Nation, and other acts of legal and sublegal rank applicable on the matter, because such conduct threatens the security, defense and integral development of the Nation.

....

Complete text of the Law of the National System of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, at Control Ciudadano. In English, translated from the Gaceta Oficial number 38,940, dated May 28, 2008.

On June 7, 2008. Hugo Chávez admitted that this law "overreaches" and will be reformed.
On June 10, 2008, he recalled this law.

On June 17, 2008. Twenty seven Venezuelan groups started an international campaign supporting a petition presented to the International Penal Court (IPC) in Le Hague to investigate and judge president Hugo Chávez for his alleged ties to the FARC.
[See Venezuela Offered Aid to Colombian Rebels (Washington Post, Juan Forero, May 15, 2008)]
[See Frente Patriótico - Comunicado, 19 de Diciembre de 2008]

Please sign the petition:
Investigacion por la Corte Penal Internacional de la relación Hugo Chávez-FARC

On July 31, 2008. Hugo Chávez inconstitucionally dictated 26 new laws on banking, transportation, housing and social security, and on military matters, making himself the highest military commander.
This was protested by opposition leaders. Some of the contents of these laws had already been rejected in the referendum on the constitutional reform of December 2, 2007.
[See Heated debate over 26 new laws enacted by Chávez, El Universal, August 4, 2008]

The Consumer Price Index for the Metropolitan Area of Caracas (IPC-AMC) for August 2008, published by the BCV, reflects 34.5% of acummulated inflation in the last 12 months.

On August 11, 2008. Hugo Chávez, amidst obscene statements, announced he was giving American Ambassador in Venezuela Patrick Duddy 72 hours to leave the country, in part to show solidarity with the Bolivian government and people. He also ordered Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolás Maduro to recall Venezuelan Ambassador in Washington Bernardo Álvarez "before he is kicked out".
[See Venezuelan Government expelled US Ambassador, VenEconomy, August 12, 2008]
[Ver Venezuela Joins Bolivia in Expelling U.S. Ambassador (Washington Post, Juan Forero, Sep. 12, 2008)]

On September 18, 2008. Hugo Chávez expelled from Venezuela Human Rights Watch (HRW) officials hours after publishing their report "A Decade Under Chavez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights".
[See Venezuela Expels Two Rights Activists (Washington Post, Juan Forero, Sep. 20, 2008)]

On October 23, 2008. In a resolution on democracy and human rights adopted at the end of this week's Strasbourg plenary session, the European Parliament condemns the use of intimidation and electoral manipulation in the run-up to elections in Venezuela. In the run-up to Venezuela's regional and local elections in November 2008, Parliament, in a resolution adopted by 51 votes to 1, "expresses concern about the list of electoral disqualifications" issued by the authorities, pointing to a "long series of measures taken by the government with a view to intimidating opposition members, dissidents and international observers in the country".
[See Human rights: political rights abuses in Venezuela]

On November 23, 2008. There were regional elections for 22 State Governors, 328 Municipal or District Mayors, 20 Councils in City Halls, 233 in Legislative Councils (603 positions in total).
On February 25, 2008. Clodosbaldo Russián, the general comptroller, filed before the directors of the CNE a list of 400 public officials inconstitucionally disabled by his office to opt for popularly elected office. Those included were not able to run in this 2008 regional elections. Among these are the opposition leaders Leopoldo López, Enrique Mendoza, Oscar Pérez, Enrique Ochoa Antich and Alfredo Peña.
[See Contralor llevó al CNE la lista de 400 inhabilitados para postularse in El Universal]
[See For Ousted Candidate, Fight Goes On (Washington Post, Juan Forero, October 11, 2008)]

From a total of some 9,022,686 votes (34.55% of abstention), 5,073,774 (56.23%) supported the government and 3,948,912 (43.77%) the opposition. The government won 80% of the Mayors, but the opposition elected 3 new State Governors (Zulia, Miranda and Carabobo), for a total of 5 (with Táchira and Nueva Esparta), and the Principal Mayor of Caracas.
The government got 178 positions (76%) in the Legislative Councils.
[See El análisis del resultado electoral, por Patricia Poleo in Noticias24.com]
[See Venezuela has new state governors, mayors in El Universal Daily News]
[See Allies of Venezuela's Chávez Win Big, but Opposition Secures Key Posts (Washington Post, Juan Forero, November 24, 2008)]

Primer boletín del CNE, Divulgación Elecciones Regionales - 23 de Noviembre de 2008
El chavismo gana en casi todo el país, pero pierde Caracas y Miranda in Noticias24.com
Análisis AFP: Gana mayoría de estados pero pierde los más poblados in Noticias24.com
Análisis AP: Oposición gana terreno en el mapa político venezolano in Noticias24.com

On December 11, 2008. The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) began collecting signatures to support a constitutional amendment eliminating the two-term limit for the presidential office. The first discussion of this ilegal amendment took place in the National Assembly on December 18 '08, the second and final discussion was on January 5 '09. It would be approved or not in February 15, 2009.
[See Congress formally proposes unlimited presidential reelection in El Universal, December 9 '08]
[See Editorial: Hugo Chávez Tries Again to Expand His Powers The Washington Post, December 19, 2008]
[See Resolución Convocatoria para el Referendo Aprobatorio de la Enmienda Constiticional (.pdf) Consejo Nacional Electoral, Enero 16 '09]

The project for constitutional reform defeated in the referendum of December 2, 2007, contained the change to "indefinite reelection".
According to Art. 345: A revised constitutional reform initiative may not be submitted during the same constitutional term of office of the National Assembly. (1999 Constitution, in effect)
The illegal referendum question does not contain the texts of the proposed reformed articles (160, 162, 174, 192 and 230), the government has not published the texts of the reforms; the amendment is a blank check.

On January 6, 2009. Hugo Chávez expelled Israel's ambassador in solidarity with Hamas.
[See Government expels Israel's ambassador in solidarity with Palestine in El Universal, January 6 '09]
[See Israel mulls over expulsion of Venezuelan ambassador in El Universal, January 7 '09]

On February 2, 2009. Hugo Chávez reached 10 years in power, 10 years dedicated to destroying Venezuela, transforming an emerging democracy into a failed fascist dictatorship.

On February 15, 2009. The government submitted to a referendum an ilegal constitutional amendment eliminating the two-term limit for the presidential office and other elected officials.
The opposition voted No. The officialists Yes.
The non-aligned and the abstention decided the vote. And the results?

At 9:35 PM, according to the CNE: Of a total of 12,068,967 votes, the Yes got 54.36% and the No 45.63% of the votes, with an abstention of 32.95%. [with 94.2% of the votes counted]
Few Venezuelans believed the fraudulent CNE, but the ilegal amendment was approved.
[See Ganó el Si con 54,36% in Unión Radio, Febrero 15 '09]
[See 54.36 percent of voters endorse Chávez's endless reelection in El Universal, February 16 '09]
[See Informe de Contraloría Electoral sobre el Referendo Aprobatorio de la Enmienda Constitucional Súmate, Febrero 15 '09, .pdf]
[See Chávez Wins Removal of Term Limits (Washington Post, Juan Forero, February 16, 2009)]

On March 19, 2009. The Prosecutor asked for the detention of Manuel Rosales, Mayor of Maracaibo and main opposition leader, for the alleged crime of embezzlement.
On Abril 1, 2009. The Ombudsman Gabriela Ramírez says that Manuel Rosales is a fugitive.
[See Ombudsman says that Manuel Rosales is a fugitive in El Universal, April 1 '09]
By the end of April Manuel Rosales went to Perú to avoid a fake trial.
[See Opposition Leader Seeks Asylum in Peru After Fleeing Venezuela (Washington Post, Juan Forero, April 22, 2009)]

On April 2, 2009. Retired General Raúl Isaías Baduel was violently detained for allegedly stealing from the army while he was their commander.
[See Intelligence agents detain ex Defense Minister in El Universal, April 14 '09]
[See Chávez Ally-Turned-Critic Is Detained by Venezuelan Military (Washington Post, Juan Forero, October 4, 2008)]

On April 3, 2009. Venezuela cries out for justice and weeps.
Easter this year started with bad omens for Venezuela. This Good Friday opened the gates not only to Easter week, but also, tragically, to the rogue injustice of the Hugo Chávez administration.
The list of its victims now includes those who have just been guillotined by the unjust sentence handed down by Judge Maryori Calderón: former Metropolitan Police captains Iván Simonovis, Henry Vivas, and Lázaro Forero and eight policemen.
[See Venezuela cries out for justice and weeps, VenEconomy, April 3, 2009]

On December 10, 2009. The 31st Control Court of Caracas, presided by Judge María Lourdes Afiuni, granted me a conditional release, after having spent the past two years and ten months in "pretrial" detention without a trial. I would note that Venezuelan criminal law places a two-year maximum on pretrial detention, except in exceptional circumstances which were not present in my case. Unfortunately, the Venezuelan government hopes to create the impression that Judge Afiuni's independent decision was somehow the product of corruption or a shady deal. Sadly, compliance with the law has become suspect in Venezuela, and those who dare to follow the law are subject to a moral and public "firing squad" from the Chávez regime. My first thoughts are for the brave judge, who was assigned to my case only recently, and whom I met for the first time when I appeared before her in her courtroom on December 10, but who today is paying for her judicial independence with jail time. Her treatment reveals to the world the true face of Venezuela's justice system, and underscores my feelings of solidarity with the dozens of political prisoners who today are in our prisons for thinking differently and expressing it publicly.
[See Venezuelan leader violates independence of judiciary - UN rights experts, United Nations News Centre, 16 December 2009]
[See Statement: Former Political Prisoner Cedeño Takes on Misinformation of Chávez, Robert Amsterdam, December 26, 2009]
[See Venezuela: Stop Attacks on Judicial Independence, Human Rights Watch, April 8, 2010]
[See Venezuelan judge is jailed after ruling angers President Hugo Chávez, Washington Post, Juan Forero, April 25, 2010]
[See Por la salud de la jueza Maria Lourdes Afiuni. Te pido unirte al llamado humanitario, Martha Colmenares, Enero 10, 2011]
[See I'm Hugo Chávez's prisoner, says jailed judge, the Guardian, Rory Carroll, January 14, 2011]
[See Noam Chomsky denounces old friend Hugo Chávez for 'assault' on democracy (Judge María Lourdes Afiuni has suffered enough), the Guardian, Rory Carroll, July 3, 2011]

On March 23, 2010. Venezuelan authorities have jailed a former state governor and presidential candidate who accused President Hugo Chávez's government of links to subversive groups in Latin America.
The detention of Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, a veteran of the opposition COPEI party but not one of Chávez's most prominent foes, will fuel criticism that the Venezuelan leader is taking his nation down an increasingly dictatorial route.
Picked up at home Monday night, Álvarez joins a list of several dozen Chávez opponents now in jail, living in exile or facing probes in the South American oil-exporting country.

A court ordered Álvarez's arrest for conspiracy, spreading false information and inciting hate, judicial officials said.
He governed oil-producing Zulia state in the early 1990s and unsuccessfully ran for the presidency with COPEI in 1993.
Authorities opened an inquiry into Álvarez earlier this month after he gave an interview to pro-opposition TV network Globovision accusing the government of ties to illegal groups.

"The Venezuelan regime has relations with structures that serve narco-trafficking, like [Colombian rebel group] FARC and others which exist in the continent and the world", he said.

The accusations against Álvarez could carry a jail sentence of between two and 16 years, local media said. "I assume the responsibility for the things that I have said and that I do", he told reporters before his arrest.

[See Arrest in Venezuela raises free speech concerns (Washington Post, Andrew Cawthorne, March 24 '10)]

Oswaldo Álvarez Paz was released on bail on May '10.
[He was found partially guilty on July 13, 2011. See below.]

.....

On July 12, 2010. A commando of 20 agents from the Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional (SEBIN), burst into the apartment of Venezuelan political leader Alejandro Peña Esclusa and took him prisoner.

The break-in resulted from the statements given by an alleged terrorist from El Salvador detained in Venezuela, Francisco Chávez Abarca, in which he implicated Peña Esclusa in an alleged plot against the State. Due process was violated; first, because Chávez Abarca did not declare in front of a tribunal, as corresponds according to law, but in the headquarters of SEBIN; and second, because the Salvadoran was immediately extradited to Cuba, without being judged in Venezuela, even though - according to the government - he was involved in a plot to destabilize the State. It is presumed he was extradited so his testimony could not be falsified in a trial or, so he could not be thoroughly investigated.

In a drawer in the desk of the youngest of Peña Esclusa's daughters, 8 years old, the agents "found" type C-4 explosives with the corresponding detonators. The agents seized the opportunity to steal cash, jewels, electronic equipment and other valuables.

The true reason why the ex-presidential candidate Peña Esclusa is in jail, is his long and persistent trajectory of denouncing mister Hugo Chávez. Peña Esclusa not only has denounced verbally and in writing the civil and human rights violations committed by the Venezuelan government; but has penaly charged mister Chávez before the Public Ministry (for Treason, due to his ties with FARC), he has charged him before the Interamerican Comission on Human Rights (Washington) for improperly intervening and promoting violence in other Latin American countries; and was about to file charges for crimes against humanity before the International Penal Court (CPI), based in Le Hague - based on the information contained in the computers of FARC's second-in-command, aka. Raúl Reyes, killed on March 1, 2008 - due to the complicity of mister Chávez with the Colombian narco-terrorists.

Peña Esclusa has been persecuted systematically by Chávez's government. Was illegally detained in 2002 - also in the headquarters of SEBIN - by direct order from mister Chávez. The States' media and functionaries have advanced a campaign of slanders against him. Chávez himself has attacked him publically in all national radio and television stations. He has been forbidden to leave the country for two years. Has been subjected to police tracking, threats against his physical integrity and constant harassment. The case on the governmental persecution against Peña Esclusa was presented by his lawyer before the International Penal Court (Le Hague).

Alejandro Peña Esclusa, 56 years of age, has no criminal record, nor weaponry knowledge. Has been an outstanding sportsman, getting international titles for his country. Has a stable, well founded, family. Is a mechanical engineer, with advanced studies in financial administration, and defense and security. Was an assessor to the National Council on Security and Defense of Venezuela (CONASEDE). Is a writer and columnist; author of six books, some of which have been translated to other languages. Was a candidate for the Presidency of Venezuela. Is a correspondent in Venezuela and Colombia for Argentine daily La Nueva Provincia. Member of the Philosophical Academy of Brazil. President of the civil asociation Fuerza Solidaria. President of the Union of Democratic Organizations of America (UnoAmérica). Has been decorated in Honduras with the Order José Cecilio del Valle. Received a special recognition from the Alabama Congress, for his extensive efforts defending democracy and freedoms in Latin America. Has been invited as speaker in almost all the capitals in America.

[From El caso Peña Esclusa en breve, Fuerza Solidaria]

On July 20, 2011. Peña Esclusa is released from jail

A release warrant on behalf of Engineer Alejandro Peña Esclusa is already in the hands of his defense attorneys, his wife Indira de Peña told daily newspaper El Universal.

"Right now, I am having a meeting with defense attorney Alfredo Weil for him to explain me the extent of Peña Esclusa's release warrant", his wife said.

[From Peña Esclusa is released from jail, El Universal, July 20, 2011]

[See Venezuela: HRF celebra el cese de la detención arbitraria de Alejandro Peña Esclusa, Human Rights Foundation, 20 de Julio de 2011]

[See Peña Esclusa en libertad: "Vale la pena sacrificarse por Venezuela", Fuerza Solidaria, 21 Julio 2011]

[See "La reconciliación del país comienza con la liberación de los presos políticos", Fuerza Solidaria, 30 Julio 2011]

[See Prohiben a Peña Esclusa hablar a medios de comunicación, Fuerza Solidaria, 2 Agosto 2011]

On September 26, 2010. "Mesa de la Unidad Democrática" got 48% of the popular vote in the parliamentary elections, but just 39% of the deputies. "PSUV" with 49% of the popular vote got 59% of the deputies. "PPT" with 3% of the votes got just 1% of the deputies.
According to the Consejo Nacional Electoral, out of 165 deputies PSUV got 98 with 5,399,574 votes, MUD got 65 with 5,312,293 votes, PPT got 2 with 330,260 votes.
Participation was 11,042,127 votes total, 66.45% of the electoral registry.
With these results the opposition breaks the qualified majority of the officialist party in the Asamblea Nacional.
[Aggregate electoral data from El Universal, Septiembre 27, 2010]
[See Divulgación Elecciones Parlamentarias - 26 de Septiembre de 2010, Consejo Nacional Electoral]

Article 186 (Violated by the Consejo Nacional Electoral):
The National Assembly will be integrated by deputies elected in each federal entity by universal voting, direct, personal and secret with proportional representation, according to a population base of one point one percent of the total population of the country.
[See Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Diciembre 30, 1999]

[See PSUV 95, MUD 62, PPT 2, por definir 6, Noticiero Digital, Septiembre 27, 2010]
[See Un sistema electoral diseñado a medida salva al líder bolivariano, Diario El País, España, Septiembre 28, 2010]
[See Chavez fails to reach critical two-thirds majority in Venezuelan assembly, Juan Forero, Washington Post, September 28, 2010]
[See PPT afirma que el "gran perdedor" es el Presidente, Pedro Pablo Peñaloza, El Universal, Septiembre 28, 2010]

On December 20, 2010. The National Assembly has just ratified a new blow to freedom of expression and information in Venezuela by approving two bills amending the Organic Law on Telecommunications (Lotel) and the Social Responsibility in Radio, TV and Electronic Media Law (Resortemec) at the government's bidding on 20 December.
See Freedom of expression threatened by legislative reforms being rushed through parliament (Reporters Without Borders, 22 December 2010)

On May 10, 2011. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published the Strategic Dossier "The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of 'Raúl Reyes'".
This Strategic Dossier provides unique insights into the thinking and evolution of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It is based on a study of the computer disks belonging to Luis Edgar Devía Silva (aka Raúl Reyes), head of FARC's International Committee (COMINTER), that were seized by Colombian armed forces in a raid in March 2008 on Devía's camp inside Ecuador. Several months afterwards, senior officials from the Colombian Ministry of Defence invited the IISS to conduct an independent analysis of the material.
The dossier shows how FARC evolved from a small, autarkic and strategically irrelevant group into an insurgent movement which, fuelled by revenues from narcotics production, came close to jeopardising the survival of the Colombian state. A key part of FARC's evolution was the development of an international strategy aimed at acquiring financial support, arms and political legitimacy. The dossier looks in detail at FARC's relations with Venezuela and Ecuador.
The dossier illuminates in detail FARC's efforts to develop relationships with the governments and other strategic actors in the neighbouring states of Venezuela and Ecuador. These followed different trajectories and achieved different degrees of success. The relationship with Venezuela ultimately acquired a strategic dimension characterised by various forms of state support, whereas that with Ecuador did not.

[See The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of 'Raúl Reyes' - Summary, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), May 10, 2011] (Available in English, Spanish and Portuguese)]

From June 10 2011. Chavez's disappearance from public view since a surgical operation in Cuba has convulsed the volatile and politically polarized South American OPEC member of 29 million people.
He came back to Venezuela on July 4 but continues to receive cancer treatment in Cuba.

[See Rumors over Chavez absence reach frenzy in Venezuela (Andrew Cawthorne, REUTERS, June 28 '11)
[See And now we have a video of Hugo Chavez, which only raises more questions (The Devil's Excrement, June 28 '11)]
[See Another video, more questions, but Hugo Chavez is certainly recovering from something serious (The Devil's Excrement, June 29 '11)]
[See President Chávez had a cancerous tumor removed (El Universal, June 30 '11)]
[See Hugo Chávez admits cancerous tumor (The Miami Herald, July 1 '11)]

On July 13, 2011. The former Governor of Zulia State, Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, was sentenced to two years in prison for the crime of spreading false information. The twenty-first Trial Court of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, in charge of Judge Alberto Rossi, found that Álvarez Paz incurred in this crime on March 8, 2010, when during a television show, he said that "Venezuela had become a center of operations that facilitates drug trafficking".

Despite the sentence, the former Governor of Zulia will not remain behind bars, because the Court agreed to his staying on bail with prohibition from leaving the country.

Out of the trial, Álvarez Paz said that his trial is "a political case".

[See Hallan culpable a Álvarez Paz de difundir información falsa (El Universal, Alejandra M. Hernández F., 14 de Julio de 2011)]

[See Venezuela: HRF Condemns Two-Year Sentence against Oswaldo Álvarez Paz (Human Rights Foundation, July 15, 2011)]

On September 1, 2011. The Interamerican Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Leopoldo López.
The ruling determined that the disqualification of opposition politician López Mendoza violated his political rights under Article 23 of the American Convention on Human Rights. The IACourtHR also asked Venezuela to lift Lopez Mendoza's disqualification.

[See Corte IDH. Caso López Mendoza Vs. Venezuela. Fondo Reparaciones y Costas. Sentencia de 1 de septiembre de 2011 Serie C No. 233 (Juez García Sayán, Juez Vio Grossi)]

"The ruling of the IACHR Court runs counter to the human rights of all Venezuelans, the laws of the Republic, justice and national sovereignty; it promotes impunity and impedes and undermines the fight against corruption", reads the statement issued by the Comptroller General, Carlos Escarrá, Office.

[See Comptroller: IACHR ruling in favor of Leopoldo López is unfair El Universal, Friday September 16, 2011]

[See HRF Welcomes IACourtHR Ruling on Case of López Mendoza, Asks Venezuela to Comply Human Rights Foundation, September 19, 2011]

On November 21, 2011. Diego Arria files complaint against President Chávez at The Hague.

Opposition presidential pre-candidate Diego Arria said that the lawsuit seeks to protect Venezuelans from crimes which are "predictable" due to Venezuela's situation. He expects a prompt ruling.

"It is a complaint to defend the rights of thousands and thousands of victims of Hugo Chávez. This complaint is neither against the Venezuelan president's office as an institution nor against Chávez as Head of State. It is intended to determine the criminal and personal liability of Hugo Chávez and some of his top aides for crimes against humanity", he said.

Arria stressed that the complaint requires a prompt ruling, in order to prevent new crimes that are foreseeable in the light of Venezuelan circumstances. "I intend to prevent situations similar to those occurred in countries such as Ivory Coast when his President (Laurent Gbagbo) refused to step down."

[See Diego Arria files complaint against President Chávez at The Hague El Universal, Monday November 21, 2011]

On January 9, 2012. Chávez orders closure of Venezuelan consulate in Miami.

"During the presentation of his Report and Accounts, President Hugo Chávez ordered the closure of the consulate in Miami while his government assesses the facts in which Consul General Livia Acosta was allegedly involved."

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Friday announced the closure of Venezuela's Consulate in Miami, after the US government expelled Venezuelan Consul General Livia Acosta last week."

"'Foreign Minister (Nicolás Maduro) advised me to close the consulate. We have shut it down. There is no consulate in Miami', said the head of State during the presentation of his Report and Accounts at the National Assembly."

[See Chávez orders closure of Venezuelan consulate in Miami El Universal, Friday January 13, 2012]

[See US: Closure of Miami consulate is Venezuela's sovereign decision El Universal, Friday January 13, 2012]

On February 12, 2012. With about 1.8 (62%) of the 2.9 million votes, Henrique Capriles Radonski won the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) primary elections to oppose Chávez in the presidential elections of October 7 2012.

[See Henrique Capriles wins opposition primaries in Venezuela El Universal, Monday February 13, 2012]

On February 23, 2012. Venezuela's President said during a cabinet meeting broadcast by all Venezuelan and TV stations that he is expected to undergo surgery on Monday or Tuesday after doctors found a new lesion on the same spot where he had cancer surgery last June.

[See Chávez leaves for Cuba on Friday afternoon El Universal, Thursday February 23, 2012]

On March 16, 2012. Chávez arrives in Venezuela. The Venezuelan president stayed for 21 days in Havana, where he underwent surgery on 26 February to remove a new tumor at the same site where on June last year he was removed a cancerous tumor from the pelvic area.

[See President Chávez arrives in Venezuela El Universal, Friday March 16, 2012]

On March 24, 2012. Hugo Chávez announced on Saturday in a mandatory nationwide radio and television broadcast that on Saturday night he is departing again for Cuba, to continue his cancer treatment.

[See Chávez to depart for Cuba to start radiotherapy El Universal, Saturday March 24, 2012]

On March 29, 2012. Chávez comes back and promises a second socialist plan for the country.

[See Chávez regresa y promete segundo plan socialista al país El Universal, Jueves 29 de Marzo, 2012]

On April 8, 2012. Chávez is in Cuba for third course of radiotherapy, was received by Raúl Castro.

[See Chávez está en Cuba para tercer ciclo de radioterapia El Universal, Lunes 9 de Abril, 2012]

On April 12, 2012. Hugo Chavez commemorated the tenth anniversary of the events of April 2002 with a "gathering of friends" in all national radio and television networks.
After arriving at 10:25 pm this Wednesday night at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, from Havana, Cuba, where he underwent a third cycle of radiotherapy, the mandatary immediately headed for Miraflores Palace to kick off what he called "a conversational meeting".

[See Chávez encadena a medios para hacer tertulia sobre 11A El Universal, Jueves 12 de Abril, 2012]

On April 14, 2012. Chávez not to attend Summit on health reasons.
Foreign minister Nicolás Maduro announced that Hugo Chávez will not attend the Summit of the Americas in Colombia because he must prepare to start the fourth cycle of radiation therapy to fight cancer.

[See Chávez not to attend Summit on health reasons El Universal, Saturday April 14, 2012]

On April 18, 2012. Justice Eladio Aponte Aponte said that senior officers of the Bolivarian Armed Forces and top officials of Hugo Chávez's government are involved in drug trafficking operations.
Eladio Aponte Aponte is currently in Miami, under the protection of the DEA.

[See Former justice links Venezuelan officials to drug trafficking El Universal, Wednesday April 18, 2012]

On April 20, 2012. Venezuelan general Wilmer Moreno was killed.
Moreno was a close collaborator of the current Venezuelan government. He participated in the attempted coup of 1992, in which Chávez sought to overthrow and kill then President Carlos Andrés Pérez.

[See Venezuelan general Wilmer Moreno killed El Universal, Friday April 20, 2012]

On May 12, 2012. Back in Venezuela, Chávez says he completed radiation therapy.
Hugo Chávez said he "successfully" completed the cycle of radiation therapy, as scheduled by his medical team. He arrived late on Friday at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, after spending 11 days in Havana, Cuba, where he underwent the last two (fifth and sixth) cycles of radiation therapy sessions to treat the cancer that he suffers.

[See Back in Venezuela, Chávez says he completed radiation therapy El Universal, Saturday May 12, 2012]

On July 4, 2012. World leftwing closes ranks with Venezuelan leader.
Sao Paulo Forum joins efforts to prevent the rightwing advance.
Beginning on Wednesday, 120 leftwing parties from all over the world and 400 international delegates will gather for the 18th session of Sao Paulo Forum, for the first time in Caracas.
According to the master document that will guide the talks, they will take sides with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez for his reelection.
"The US meddling and influence can be felt in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela through several attempts at influencing the Venezuelan election, promoting undemocratic clues ahead of the election of October 2012. For the Venezuelan and hemispheric leftwing, the reelection of Commander Hugo Chávez is of the essence," they admonished.
[In that regard, they add that "solidarity with the candidacy of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela" will be agreed.]

[See World leftwing closes ranks with Venezuelan leader El Universal, Wednesday July 04, 2012]

On July 14, 2012. Confession letter forwarded by Venezuelan ex-Magistrate Aponte Aponte.

"The acusation was thrown by the former magistrate of the Room of Criminal Cassation of the Supreme Court of Justice, Eladio Aponte Aponte, who asserted that the president ordered him to achieve the Commissioners Ivan Simonovis, Henry Vivas, Lazaro Forero and eight agents of the defunct Metropolitan Police (PM) processed by the events of April 11, 2002 were sentenced, as indeed happened."

"Mssrs. Ex-Commissioners Henry Vivas Lázaro Forero, Iván Simonovis, Erasmo Bolívar, Luis Molina, Arube Pérez, Marco Hurtado, Héctor Lovaina",

"The undersigned, Dr. Ramón Eladio Aponte Aponte, former magistrate of the Criminal Court, Supreme Tribunal of Justice, holder of Venezuelan Identity Card number three five one one zero four, attest:"

"It is my peremptory duty to avow you, and everyone, that I have committed the sin of having issued to the judges who prosecuted you the order to sentence you to 30-year imprisonment at whatever cost. I was just following direct orders from President Hugo Chávez Frías, who instructed me to do it".
[San José, Costa Rica, this sixteenth day of April, year two thousand and twelve]

[See Confession letter forwarded by Venezuelan ex-Magistrate Aponte Aponte El Universal, Friday July 14, 2012]

[See Aponte Aponte: Chávez ordenó condenar a comisarios del 11A El Universal, Viernes 14 de Julio, 2012]

Presidential Election 2012:

On October 07, 2012. Polling places start operations across Venezuela.

From 6 am on Sunday polling centers started operations in Venezuela, but voters were waiting in line at the doors of the voting places from early morning hours.
The electoral register comprises 18.8 million registered voters, including 100,495 Venezuelans living abroad, who are eligible to go to the polls on Sunday to choose the next president of the republic for the 2012-2019 period.
Polling stations are to close at 6 pm, but the voting process could be extended at polling centers where there are still voters in line.
The tally process will be fully automatic. The first report on results will be issued when an irreversible electoral trend exists. Venezuelan laws prohibit the dissemination of exit polls before the first official report.
There are 39,322 polling stations in 13,810 polling places. For the first time, the voting machines will be activated by a fingerprint-reading device to prevent any voter from casting his ballot more than once.
Some 139,000 troops will be in charge of security and logistics in the electoral process.

[See Polling places start operations across Venezuela El Universal, Sunday October 07, 2012, 07:05 AM]

On October 07, 2012. President Chávez: Hope the process to end peacefully.

The Venezuelan leader, elected in 1999, is seeking reelection to remain in office for a total of 20 years.

[See President Chávez: Hope the process to end peacefully El Universal, Sunday October 07, 2012, 01:40 PM]

On October 07, 2012. Chávez calls upon all political actors to remain calm.

"Prepare to accept the results, whatever they are."

[See Chávez calls upon all political actors to remain calm El Universal, Sunday October 07, 2012, 08:38 PM]

On October 07, 2012. Chávez reelected as president until 2019.

The results were disclosed after 90% of the ballots were counted.

President Hugo Chávez was reelected with 7,444,082 votes (54.42%), while opposition hopeful Henrique Capriles won 6,151,544 votes (44.97%), announced National Electoral Council (CNE) president Tibisay Lucena late on Sunday.
Lucena stressed that turnout in the presidential election hit 80.94%.

[See Chávez reelected as president until 2019 El Universal, Sunday October 07, 2012, 10:27 PM]

On October 07, 2012. Capriles: I hope Chávez interprets people's expression with greatness.

"We have started to pave the way and more than six million people are looking for future. You can count on me. I am at your service and I want to tell the other Venezuelans (government supporters) that they can count on me as well", said opposition leader Henrique Capriles after electoral authorities announced Hugo Chávez's reelection as president.

[See Capriles: I hope Chávez interprets people's expression with greatness El Universal, Sunday October 07, 2012, 11:33 PM]

On October 08, 2012. Capriles cheers voters up.

Expresidential candidate Enrique Capriles Radonski undertook to continue working for a country full of harmony and with plenty of opportunities for everybody.

"There are more than six million, almost half the country helped me pave the way. I will continue working and you are not alone; there are millions of us."

[See Capriles cheers voters up El Universal, Monday October 08, 2012, 11:04 AM]

On October 9, 2012. Reelected President Chávez obtains over eight million votes.

Venezuelan reelected President Hugo Chávez surpassed the eight million vote threshold. Upon review and counting of ballots in 38,066 polling stations (96.7%), the reelected president gained 8,044,106 valid votes totaling 55.11% of the electorate.
For his part, challenger Henrique Capriles Radonski obtained 6,461,612 (44.27%).
The final figures are yet to come. Counting is still pending in another 952 polling stations in Venezuela and 127 abroad.

[See Chávez supera los 8 millones de votos El Universal, Martes 9 de octubre de 2012, 12:00 AM]

If these 38,066 poling stations received 14.505.718 valid votes, at a rate of 381 votes each, in average, they had to receive them a rate of almost 31.8 votes per hour; that is, some 2 minutes per vote during 12 hours, sustained at each station!
And this does not consider the null votes, each taking some time also.

On October 10, 2012. Capriles: "The winner was the Government, Venezuela never won".

Referring to Chávez's reelection as president and both the unequal grounds of the election campaign and the voters that the Government was able to bribe, Capriles commented that "the winner was the Government. Venezuela never won."

[See Capriles: "The winner was the Government, Venezuela never won" El Universal, Wednesday October 10, 2012, 11:28 AM]

Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) - Divulgación Elección Presidencial 2012, Octubre 17, 09:53:33 PM:

Hugo Chávez: 8,147,697 votes, 55.15%
Henrique Capriles Radonski: 6,536,438 votes, 44.24%
Others: 89,552 votes, 0.58%

Número de Electores escrutados: 18,679,336 (Registered voters)
Número Total de Votantes que votaron realmente: 15,062,393 (Actual votes)
Participación: 80.63% (Turnout)
Número de Votos Escrutados: 15,059,298 (Votes counted)
Número total de Votos Válidos: 98.1% 14,773,687 (Valid Votes)
Número total de Votos Nulos: 1.89% 285,611 (Null Votes)
Número de Actas Procesadas: 38,798 (Polling Stations Processed)

For updated official results, see Divulgación Elección Presidencial 2012 (Consejo Nacional Electoral - CNE)

15,059,298 / 38,798 = 388.1463 = 388 votes per polling station (in average)
388.146 votes per station / 12 = 32.3455 votes per station per hour = 0.539 votes per minute
0.539 votes per minute = 1.855 minutes per vote = 1 min. 51 seg. per vote [sustained]!
Even when supposing a working time of 13 hours for all voting stations, the calculation gives 2 minutes per vote! [from when you get access to the voting machine to when the next voter gets access]

But Miguel Octavio (moctavio) on October 11, 2012 at 6:31 pm (at The Devil's Excrement - Postmorten Of The Venezuelan Election) said: "In my table, we were voting faster than one person per minute, probably two per minute."

The video "Última votação na Venezuela" at O Globo (Brazil) shows how to get a 50 seconds vote.

Also see A la Sociedad Democrática Venezolana ante los controvertidos resultados del 7 de Octubre (Por la Conciencia, Octubre 13, 2012)

In Chávez' Venezuela, to get access to the voting machine you must first have your fingerprint scanned, as it appears in your I.D. that you must show. [The fear factor]
But there were other factors that explain both the very high speed of the vote and the low abstention: the multiple votes of the activists with multiple I.D. in the centres without representation of the opposition until the closing of the polling station, and activists voting for those who did not show up during the day.

"I have a conviction, and it is that the Sunday results do not reflect the true will of the people of Venezuela." "If the elections had been free and clean, another would be the result," said opposition Deputy Maria Corina Machado.
"On October 7, what was imposed here, what won here, were the abuse and the outrage of the Government", she said.

See ¿Hubo fraude electoral? Cuestionan limpieza de elecciones en Venezuela (Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, Octubre 13, 2012)

Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, one of the main architects of the unit of the Venezuelan opposition, said that bullying played a role in the re-election of President Hugo Chávez, pointing out that the result of the elections this month may have been most linked with the fear that with a legitimate affection of the population towards the Bolivarian Revolution.

See El miedo explica la victoria de Chávez en Venezuela, dice líder opositor Aveledo (Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, Octubre 18, 2012)

"It can be concluded that: the inconsistencies found in many voting centers and the magnitude of them, imply that the official results of the elections on 7-Oct-2012 do not reflect the will of the people with statistical security."

See Evaluación de los resultados electorales presentados por el CNE (.pdf, María Mercedes Febres Cordero, Bernardo Márquez, EsData, Noviembre, 2012)

For updated official results, see EsData - Elecciones Presidenciales 2012

Since December 11, 2012, Chávez has been in Cuba under intensive medical care after major cancer surgery.

Regional Elections 2012:

On December 16, 2012. the oficialism won in 20 states and the opposition could only keep 3 (Miranda, Lara and Amazonas), and they lost 4 states (Mérida, Zulia, Nueva Esparta and Monagas). The abstention was around 47%.

See Balance de la jornada electoral del 16 de diciembre (El Universal, 17 de Diciembre 18, 2012)

Comunicado de las organizaciones Venezolanos Perseguidos Politicos en el Exilio (Veppex) y Venezuela Awarennes Foundation (VAF) (Veppex, January 8, 2013)

On January 9, 2013. In contravention of the Constitution, the Supreme Justice Tribunal decided that Chávez does not need to take oath again "because there is continuity".

See Top court decides that President Chávez does not need to take oath again (El Universal, January 9, 2013)

On January 13, 2013. "The president is conscious. He is in communication with his family and his political team and medical staff."

See Chávez requires specific actions for respiratory failure (El Universal, January 13, 2013)

We absolutely do not recognize the de-facto regime that has been established in Venezuela!

See Venezolanos exiliados redactan 'Manifiesto de Miami' (DiarioEnLaMira.Com, 13 de Enero, 2013)
[English translation]

On January 17, 2013. "Maduro: Gov't ponders scenarios, but Chávez remains the President."
"Venezuelan Executive Vice-President Nicolás Maduro said the government is assessing and reassessing scenarios, but stressed that President Hugo Chávez is and will continue to be the president of Venezuela."

See Maduro: Gov't ponders scenarios, but Chávez remains the President (El Universal, January 17, 2013)

On February 8, 2013. "Venezuela devalues currency by 46.5%; VEB at 6.30 per US dollar."
"An adjustment in the official exchange rate, from VEB 4.30 per US dollar to VEB 6.30 per US dollar, which implies 46.5% devaluation."

See Venezuela devalues currency by 46.5%; VEB at 6.30 per US dollar (El Universal, February 8, 2013)

On February 18, 2013. "Fidel Castro welcomes President Hugo Chávez's return to Venezuela."

See Fidel Castro welcomes President Hugo Chávez's return to Venezuela (El Universal, February 18, 2013)

On February 27, 2013. the former ambassador of Panama to the OAS said Wednesday to the international channel NTN24 news that President Hugo Chávez would have been switched off four days ago from the machines that kept him alive.

"The President would have been disconnected from the machines that kept him alive four days ago"
"The information that I have is that Chávez from December 30 was brain-dead, in that state they moved him to Venezuela because they didn't want to disconnect him in Cuba", said the former ambassador.
Guillermo Cochez challenged chavism to belie his statements.
"I challenge the Government of Venezuela to tell me that what I say is false, showing Chávez".
According to Guillermo Cochez between Wednesday and Thursday in Venezuela, new elections would be called.
"As a result of all this, today or tomorrow they would call new elections, that reflects what has been said about the health of President Chávez is totally false."
"He has been hidden, because no one has seen him, they have been misreporting the information with false photographs, which do not reflect reality". "They have been cheating Venezuela and the whole world", he reiterated.

Guillermo Cochez was dismissed on January 17 from his post as ambassador of Panama to the Organization of American States OAS after controversial statements about the situation experienced by Venezuela.

See 'El presidente Chávez tiene muerte cerebral desde el 30 de diciembre' (NTN24.com, Febrero 27, 2013)

On February 28, 2013. President Chávez has been off the air for 80 days.

"Many thought that the return of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez to his country of origin would mean his public reappearance. Neverthless, 10 days after, the most famous patient in Caracas' Military Hospital remains as invisible as in Cuba, with the visits restricted to a small number of close relatives and ministers."

See President Chávez has been off the air for 80 days (El Universal, February 28, 2013)

On March 5, 2013. Spanish daily: Venezuela's Chávez off to La Orchila upon recurrence.

"The Venezuelan president may have been transferred from the Military Hospital after the poor findings in the latest CAT, Spanish daily newspaper reported on Friday."

See Spanish daily: Venezuela's Chávez off to La Orchila upon recurrence (El Universal, March 1, 2013)

On March 5, 2013. Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez passes away.

"Hugo Chávez Frías, the president of Venezuela, died after waging a long battle against cancer, treated in Havana since the middle of 2011."

See Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez passes away (El Universal, March 5, 2013)

On March 5, 2013. Carter hails Chávez's commitment to improving the lives of Venezuelans.

"Former US president Jimmy Carters praised Chávez's efforts to "create new forms of integration" in Latin America and the Caribbean, noting that during his 14-year tenure Venezuelan poverty rates were cut in half and a more effective participation in political and economic life was facilitated to millions."

See Carter hails Chávez's commitment to improving the lives of Venezuelans (El Universal, March 6, 2013)

See Jimmy Carter Statement on Death of Hugo Chavez (The Carter Center, March 5, 2013)

Presidential Elections 2013:

On March 9, 2013. CNE convenes election for Venezuelan president next April 14.

See CNE convenes election for Venezuelan president next April 14 (El Universal, March 9, 2013)

On March 11, 2013. Venezuela's dissent enrolls Henrique Capriles as presidential candidate.

"The dissenting coalition unanimously agreed to use a single ballot in the upcoming poll."

See Venezuela's dissent enrolls Capriles as presidential candidate (El Universal, March 11, 2013)

On March 11, 2013. Cuba is said to have sent 2,000 agents to lever Maduro.

"According to Spanish daily newspaper ABC, the Cuban agents would be responsible for election monitoring, along with some 46,000 Cuban cooperators who officially reside in Venezuela, with the ultimate purpose of nailing down the Chavista revolution."

See Cuba is said to have sent 2,000 agents to lever Maduro (El Universal, March 13, 2013)

On April 13, 2013. According to Datamática, market research and public opinion company, Henrique Capriles arrives at the election date with a 12.7% advantage over Nicolás Maduro in voting intention.
(42.2% vs. 29.5%, with 27.4% undecided) [Tracking poll #19]

On April 14, 2013. Maduro is the new Venezuelan president with 50,66% of votes.

"Nicolás Maduro was elected as the new Venezuelan president with 7,505,338 votes (50.66% of the ballots cast) versus 7,270,403 votes of opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who gained 49.07% of ballots, said president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) Tibisay Lucena."

"Lucena disclosed the election results after 99.12 percent of the ballots were counted. Turnout was estimated at 78.71 percent."

See Maduro is the new Venezuelan president with 50,66% of votes (El Universal, April 14, 2013)

On April 15, 2013. Capriles rejects results as long as all votes are not counted.

"Opposition coalition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Monday firmly stated that he makes no pact with "a person I deem illegitimate" and called on the National Electoral Council (CNE) to audit all the ballot boxes "so that every vote is counted again.""

See Capriles rejects results as long as all votes are not counted (El Universal, April 15, 2013)

How could an advantage of 12.7% transform into a questionable defeat?

On April 16, 2013. International viewers unable to attest to clean vote in Venezuela.

"International guests said that in the absence of a vote recount, Nicolás Maduro's legitimacy is at stake."

See International viewers unable to attest to clean vote in Venezuela (El Universal, April 16, 2013)

On April 17, 2013. Washington puts recognition of Maduro as elected president on hold.

"The diplomat warned that there would be "serious questions" if irregularities in the election are found."

See Washington puts recognition of Maduro as elected president on hold (El Universal, April 17, 2013)

On April 17, 2013. Spain recognizes Maduro as president-elect of Venezuela.

"The Spanish Government said it hoped that "within the framework of the Constitution, all political players act responsibly and show respect for institutions"."

See Spain recognizes Maduro as president-elect of Venezuela (El Universal, April 17, 2013)

On April 18, 2013. Venezuela to audit 46% of the ballot boxes that were not audited.

""We will select a sample (of the ballot boxes)," said Tibisay Lucena".

See Venezuela to audit 46% of the ballot boxes that were not audited (El Universal, April 18, 2013)

On April 19, 2013. Nicolás Maduro sworn in as Venezuelan president.

"At 2:05 pm Nicolás Maduro was sworn in by Speaker of National Assembly (AN) Diosdado Cabello as the President of Venezuela."
"The daughter of late President Hugo Chávez, María Gabriela Chávez, along with Speaker of National Assembly (AN) Diosdado Cabello, put the presidential sash on Maduro."

See Nicolás Maduro sworn in as Venezuelan president (El Universal, April 19, 2013)

On April 20, 2013. Electoral body: The presidential vote is over; the results are irreversible.

""Audits do not lead to results; it is important to keep this in mind", said Sandra Oblitas, director of the Nacional Electoral Council (CNE)."
"Oblitas warned that the CNE decision announced on Thursday to conduct an additional audit of 46% of the ballot boxes that were not audited on April 14 "is not a recount. The audit will be conducted under the technical standards provided by the CNE."."

See Electoral body: The presidential vote is over; the results are irreversible (El Universal, April 20, 2013)

Art 156, Organic Law of Electoral Processes (2009): The audit is the verification of all the materials, technological resources and data used in the execution of the various phases of the electoral process, so that they guarantee the transparency and reliability of the process. Audits may be applied to all or some of the phases of the electoral process.

On April 21, 2013. The reasonable doubts about April 14 presidential election.

"More than four million votes did not match when recounting ballot by ballot. The Election Day that took place last Sunday April 14 will be remembered because of excesses with assisted vote and several election audits in the absence of witnesses."

See The reasonable doubts about April 14 presidential election (El Universal, Joseph Poliszuk, April 21, 2013)

On April 22, 2013. Henrique Capriles does not rule out election re-run.

"Presidential candidate for opposition Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) Henrique Capriles told Spanish newspaper El Mundo in an interview that he is convinced that the outcome of an election audit in Venezuela would lead to a new election, at least partially."

See Henrique Capriles does not rule out election re-run (El Universal, April 22, 2013)

On April 23, 2013. Minister Varela threatens to put Henrique Capriles behind bars.

"Minister of Penitentiary Affairs Iris Varela said the Venezuelan government is to report to domestic and foreign bodies what she described as "fascist actions" by the opposition. She said videos and testimonies would be presented as evidence. Further, she threatened to put opposition leader Henrique Capriles in jail."

See Minister Varela threatens to put Henrique Capriles behind bars (El Universal, April 23, 2013)

On April 25, 2013. Capriles to contest the results of the presidential election of April 14.

"The former presidential candidate for the opposition coalition MUD conditioned his participation in the audit of 46% of the ballot boxes on the delivery of the voter's rolls by the National Electoral Council. "If we are denied access to the voter's rolls, we will not participate in a tinpot audit (...) because it is a mockery of Venezuelans"."

See Capriles to contest the results of the presidential election of April 14 (El Universal, April 25, 2013)

On April 29, 2013. Henrique Capriles to contest election results by May 6.

""I have no doubt that this matter will be brought to international bodies. Any time soon, our country will hold another election. Be confident and have faith (...) lies are fragile," Henrique Capriles remarked."

See Henrique Capriles to contest election results by May 6 (El Universal, April 29, 2013)

On May 2, 2013. Venezuelan opposition contests election of April 14 at the high court.

"Gerardo Fernández said that the complaint is contained in a paper of more than 180 sheets."

See Venezuelan opposition contests election of April 14 at the high court (El Universal, May 2, 2013)

On May 5, 2013. Cubans in Venezuela.

"General Antonio Rivero, recently detained, has reported on the alleged meddling of Cuban military officers in security and defense in Venezuela."

See Cubans in Venezuela (El Universal, May 11, 2013)

On May 9, 2013. Mathematicians claim that election numbers in Venezuela do not match.

"Differences noted between voters and votes in Venezuela's election."

"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"."

See Mathematicians claim that election numbers in Venezuela do not match (El Universal, May 9, 2013)

On May 10, 2013. IACHR urges Venezuelan gov't to ensure human rights.

"The Inter American Commission on Human Rights asked the Venezuelan State to commence an investigation into all the reports of death and violence."

See IACHR urges Venezuelan gov't to ensure human rights (El Universal, May 10, 2013)

On May 13, 2013. Mercosur commission plans to review democratic status in Venezuela.

"The Human Rights Commission, Common Market of the South (Mercosur), admitted on Monday an application to review democratic conditions in Venezuela, substantiated with the violent events occurred after the presidential election of April 14 and the detention of Retired General Antonio Rivero."

See Mercosur commission plans to review democratic status in Venezuela (El Universal, May 13, 2013)

On June 6, 2013. Opposition introduces register of voters including 180,125 dead.

"Experts from the opposition Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) plan to submit this week to the National Electoral Council (CNE) data of 180,125 dead people that remain enabled to vote."

See Opposition introduces register of voters including 180,125 dead (El Universal, June 6, 2013)

On June 12, 2013. Venezuelan diplomat: There is a new diplomatic relation with the US.

"Venezuelan Chargé d'Affaires to the US Calixto Ortega announced a meeting next week with the US Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson."

See Venezuelan diplomat: There is a new diplomatic relation with the US (El Universal, June 12, 2013)

On June 23, 2013. Cecilia García Arocha: "There is a deliberate effort to do away with universities".

"Violence and budget cutbacks are used in attempts to put an end to quality university studies", said the rector of the Central University of Venezuela.

See "There is a deliberate effort to do away with universities" (El Universal, June 29, 2013)

On July 11, 2013. OPEC reports 1.35% slide in Venezuelan oil production.

"Output in June amounted to 2.77 million barrels per day of oil."

See OPEC reports 1.35% slide in Venezuelan oil production (El Universal, July 11, 2013)

On July 20, 2013. Venezuela ends rapprochement with the United States.

"The Venezuelan government criticized Washington's endorsement of the remarks made by United Nations Ambassador Nominee Samantha Power, who voiced concern about the issue of human rights in Venezuela. "Venezuela ends the process initiated in Guatemala talks", Caracas said late Friday in a communiqué."

See Venezuela ends rapprochement with the United States (El Universal, July 20, 2013)

On July 25, 2013. Simonovis taken to the Military Hospital for health problems.

Iván Simonovis, the ex chief of the Judicial Technical Police sentenced to 30-year imprisonment in connection with the events of April 11, 2002, was taken on Thursday to Caracas Military Hospital because of health problems.

See Simonovis taken to the Military Hospital for health problems (El Universal, July 25, 2013)

On August 20, 2013. Capriles: 'If passed, Venezuelans would disregard the Enabling Law'.

"The Constitution backs all Venezuelans up in disregarding those powers that would not exist, because they would be grounded on an utter violation. The Constitution itself forces us to enforce it", opposition leader Henrique Capriles stated on Tuesday on his live web show Venezuela Somos Todos ("Venezuela is all of us")

See Capriles: 'If passed, Venezuelans would disregard the Enabling Law' (El Universal, August 20, 2013)

On October 11, 2013, Reporters Without Borders shares the concerns voiced by organizations that represent journalists and media workers about the government's 7 October decree creating a new intelligence agency called the Strategic Centre for Homeland Security and Protection, or CESPPA.

See Access to information threatened by decree creating new intelligence agency (Reporters Without Borders, 11 October 2013)

On October 24, 2013. Venezuelan gov't rules out lift of price and exchange controls.

Maduro criticized Luis Vicente León, director of research firm Datanálisis, for blaming price and exchange controls for the current domestic economic situation.

See Venezuelan gov't rules out lift of price and exchange controls (El Universal, October 24, 2013)

On November 6, 2013. Venezuelan high court admits indictment against opposition deputy.

This decision paves the way to replace the dissenting congresswoman with her alternate, who, according to her, is ready to endorse the enabling law requested by President Nicolás Maduro.

See Venezuelan high court admits indictment against opposition deputy (El Universal, November 6, 2013)

On November 14, 2013. Enabling Law approved with 99 votes in its first reading.

Until Tuesday, the Government relied on 98 votes only to approve the law whereas opposition legislators totaled 67. However, the inconvenience was overcome two days ago after the revocation of opposition Deputy María Aranguren's parliamentary immunity.

See Enabling Law approved with 99 votes in its first reading (El Universal, November 14, 2013)

On December 5, 2013. CNE director: 'This is the most outrageous campaign in Venezuelan history'.

The municipal election campaign is "the most outrageous campaign Venezuela ever had in many years; I'd dare say in Venezuelan history", said Vicente Díaz, a member of the board of the National Electoral Council (CNE).
[There will be municipal elections on December 8, 2013]

See CNE director: 'This is the most outrageous campaign in Venezuelan history' (El Universal, December 5, 2013)

On December 8, 2013. Voters turnout in Venezuelan local election hits 58.92%.

The President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, announced on Sunday the preliminary results of the municipal vote, with 97.52% of results transmission. She reported that voters turnout nationwide hit 58.92%.

"Out of 355 municipalities, there is an irreversible trend in 257," Lucena noted. She outlined that ruling party United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) got 196 out of 335 mayor's offices, while opposition alliance Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) got 53.

Nationwide, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) got 4,584,477 votes (44.16%); MUD, 4,252,082 votes (40.96), the Communist Party of Venezuela, 167,049 votes (1.6%) and other political parties got 1,376,056 votes (13.26%).

In Caracas, Venezuela's capital, the opposition alliance MUD candidates won the mayor's office of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, and Baruta, Chacao, El Hatillo, and Sucre. Meanwhile, the Libertador mayor's office will continue under the leadership of ruling party PSUV.

See Voters turnout in Venezuelan local election hits 58.92% (El Universal, December 8, 2013)

On December 8, 2013. the Government did not get the majority of votes, even though the first reports released by the National Electoral Council (CNE) may make us think otherwise. It turns out that the PSUV (the Government's party) and the PCV (a left-wing party supporting the Government) reaped 5,111,336 votes (or 49.24% of valid ballots), whereas the MUD and its allies plus other parties standing against the Government obtained 5,268,828 votes (or 50.76%).

See VenEconomy: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty? (Latin American Herald Tribune - VenEconomy, December 11, 2013)

On January 22, 2014. Human Rights Watch lists Venezuela as 'feigned democracy'.

Based on this category prepared by Kenneth Roth, the CEO of Human Rights Watch, Venezuela appears in a chapter entitled Rights Struggles of 2013, along with Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Burma, Thailand, Kenya, Russia, Ukraine and China.

See HRW lists Venezuela as 'feigned democracy' (El Universal, January 22, 2014)

On February 13, 2014. Bench warrant against Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López.

The capture of the founder of opposition political Voluntad Popular (People's Will, VP) party, Leopoldo López, on the grounds of his alleged liability for the violent events occurred in Caracas on Wednesday has been ordered.

On Wednesday evening, Caracas 16th Control Judge Ralenys Tovar Guillén admitted the petition made by the Attorney General Office to detain the ex Chacao mayor and ordered the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) to apprehend him and enter his residence for the purposes of conducting a search, police sources reported.

Under warrant of arrest N 007-14, the judge ordered to capture López to sue him for a wide array of offenses, ranging from conspiracy, solicitation to commit a crime, public intimidation, fire of public premises, damages of public property, murder and terrorism.

See Bench warrant against Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López (El Universal, February 13, 2014)

On February 17, 2014. Capriles advises Venezuelans to stay in focus and avoid violence.

The opposition leader urged the Venezuelan government "to set a deadline to disarm paramilitary groups. No more empty words".

See Capriles advises Venezuelans to stay focus and avoid violence (El Universal, February 17, 2014)

On February 18, 2014. Capriles joins march organized by Leopoldo López.

Henrique Capriles said via social networks that he was joining the march from the headquarters of the Simón Bolívar Command in Bello Monte, southeast Caracas.

See Capriles joins march organized by Leopoldo López (El Universal, February 18, 2014)

On February 18, 2014. Leopoldo López turns himself over to National Guard officers.

The leader of opposition party Voluntad Popular Leopoldo López turned himself in to officers of the National Guard at noon on Tuesday, a few minutes after he finished his speech before hundreds of dissenters gathered in Chacaíto, northeast Caracas.

See Leopoldo López turns himself over to National Guard officers (El Universal, February 18, 2014)

On February 24, 2014. Venezuelan gov't to face complaints for crimes against humanity.

Citizens Equity and Rights Foundation (Fundeci) works on a report on cases of cruelty and torture against Venezuelan detainees.

Thirty-seven young people were arrested on February 12 in Caracas during demonstrations. Most detainees were beaten and vexed by security officers.

See Venezuelan gov't to face complaints for crimes against humanity (El Universal, February 24, 2014)

Cierre de vías 24F: Users report closure of roadways since early hours in the morning of February 24. In the social networks during all of Sunday 23 there was a call for the closure of roadways with the hash tag "#24FGranBarricadaNacional".

See Cierre de vías 24F (Google Maps. Febrero 24, 2014)

On February 24, 2014. Russia makes an appeal not to meddle in Venezuela's affairs.

Moscow deems it "unacceptable any foreign meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign State".

"The key is respect for the Constitution and democratically elected authorities of Venezuela headed by President Nicolás Maduro", the Russian Foreign Office said in a notice, Efe reported.

See Russia makes an appeal not to meddle in Venezuela's affairs (El Universal, February 24, 2014)

On February 26, 2014. OAS to hold special meeting on the Venezuelan crisis.

The Organization of American States (OAS) is to discuss on Thursday Panama's proposal to convene a meeting with the ambassadors of each Member State to find a solution to the crisis in Venezuela, where anti-Government demonstrations have resulted in 14 people dead in three weeks.

See OAS to hold special meeting on the Venezuelan crisis (El Universal, February 26, 2014)

On February 26, 2014. OAS puts off meeting of the Permanent Council about Venezuela.

Venezuelan Ambassador to the Organization of American States Roy Chaderton sent a letter to the OAS secretary General to suspend the meeting on grounds that it is up to Venezuela to convene such a meeting in the absence of the chair of the Permanent Council.

See OAS puts off meeting of the Permanent Council about Venezuela (El Universal, February 26, 2014)

On February 28, 2014. Students will remain in the streets despite military repression.

Caracas' takeover will be held on Sunday.

"No carnival for anybody here; we will continue in the streets. On Sunday, we will walk up to Brión square (eastern Caracas)", exclaimed Juan Requesens, the president of the Federation of Student Councils, Central University of Venezuela (UCV). Earlier, he had said once again that students will keep up demonstrating as long as all students are released and justice is administered.

See Students will remain in the streets despite military repression (El Universal, February 28, 2014)

On March 3, 2014. Capriles: We ask the UN to let us tell the truth on Venezuela.

"We have requested the United Nations to allow us to brief on what is actually going on instead of government tales".

See Capriles: We ask the UN to let us tell the truth on Venezuela (El Universal, March 3, 2014)

On March 4, 2014. FM Jaua: Venezuela does not need international mediation.

"There is no formal proposal of mediation from any country".

See FM Jaua: Venezuela does not need international mediation (El Universal, March 4, 2014)

On March 5, 2014. Nicolás Maduro severs relations with Panamá.

The Venezuelan president rejected any attempts at sending a special envoy from the Organization of American States (OAS).

See Nicolás Maduro severs relations with Panamá (El Universal, March 5, 2014)

On March 7, 2014. Dissenters warn Venezuelan gov't actions "sow the seeds of civil war".

The executive secretary of the opposition alliance Unified Democratic Panel (MUD), Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, claimed the Venezuelan president has called on collectives to attack dissenters.

See Dissenters warn Venezuelan gov't actions "sow the seeds of civil war" (El Universal, March 7, 2014)

On March 14, 2014. Relatives of two killed in north Venezuela finger the "collectives".

Two people were killed on Wednesday in Valencia, northern Venezuela, during a shooting that lasted nearly seven hours, according to information released by locals.

See Relatives of two killed in north Venezuela finger the "collectives" (El Universal, March 14, 2014)

On March 17, 2014. Busting the myth of freedom of speech in Venezuela.

The current reality seems to indicate that mass media is allowed to freely transmit information, as long as that information is favorable to the government. In other words, Venezuelans are able to express themselves and share their opinions as long as they are willing to pay the price that an opinion against the government can entail. Nicolás Maduro's statements about "freedom" of speech are clearly misleading.

From Busting the myth of freedom of speech in Venezuela (Caracas Chronicles, March 17, 2014)

On March 19, 2014. Venezuelan demonstrations back to the UN agenda.

Human Rights Watch made an appeal for the end of abuses against students demonstrating in Venezuela.

See Venezuelan demonstrations back to the UN agenda (El Universal, March 19, 2014)

On March 24, 2014. María Corina Machado: "This movement is unstoppable and irreversible".

"Over the past seven weeks, students on the streets, supported by citizens, have taken off the democratic mask of Maduro's regime, which has unleashed repression as never seen before under the dictatorships of Juan Vicente Gómez or Marcos Pérez Jiménez".

See "This movement is unstoppable and irreversible" (El Universal, March 24, 2014)

On April 4, 2014. VenEconomy: Hammer of Repression Is Still Banging Hard in Venezuela.

The government of Nicolás Maduro does not let go of its repressive hammer as it keeps banging hard here and there as it pleases.

It sieges and devastates large areas where peaceful demonstrations remain undefeated, mainly in the cities of San Cristóbal, Mérida, Barquisimeto, Valencia, Maracay and the east side of Caracas, the capital. The number of people killed by the repressive forces of the Government now reaches 40, while allegations of torture rose to 59, not to mention the countless wounded and detentions.

See VenEconomy: Hammer of Repression Is Still Banging Hard in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 4, 2014)

On April 7, 2014. "We have resisted because they attack and kill us like dogs".

"On every occasion the National Guard (BNB) and the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) arrive, charging at us with tear gas, pellets and hunting cartridges, more than 200 people who stay the night in the camp take refuge in a corner, with gas masks; we put our hands up, as a peace sign, and chant the national anthem."

Such is the account of Raimond Julién, one of the leaders of the student camp in front of the United Nations local chapter headquartered in Caracas. The move is set to make authorities know about their "peaceful resistance."

See "We have resisted because they attack and kill us like dogs" (El Universal, April 7, 2014)

On April 11, 2014. VenEconomy: Concealment as State Policy.

Soberanía, an NGO, released a report on its web site (www.soberania.org) on April 3, signed by 17 of Venezuela's most renowned economists, detailing how the official economic and social data of the country has been deteriorated. This silence not only violates the right of citizens to accurate and timely information on important matters, but also disrespects the obligation that rulers and other public officials have to regularly being accountable to the nation.

See VenEconomy: Concealment as State Policy (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 11, 2014)

On April 16, 2014. Decision on renewed testing of ex-chief police Simonovis labelled as "gibe".

"Why should renewed testing for the commissioner be accepted?"
Human rights advocate and attorney Elenis Rodríguez termed "gibe" the refusal by the Venezuelan government of an amnesty bill produced by the opposition Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) as part of the talks intended to break the stalemate in Venezuela.

See Decision on renewed testing of ex-chief police Simonovis labelled as "gibe" (El Universal, April 16, 2014)

On April 25, 2014. Venezuelan top court bans spontaneous peaceful protests.

The court ordered prosecuting protesters breaking the new rule.

See Venezuelan top court bans spontaneous peaceful protests (El Universal, April 25, 2014)

On May 7, 2014. VenEconomy: From Dead Calm to Perfect Storm?

A dead calm is felt in Venezuela at the moment; an apparent stillness that, as sailors themselves say, causes despair and portends eventual storms.

And even sadder is the dead calm caused by the helplessness felt by the population in the face of an oppressive State, which has fiercely made use of all its repressive and judicial powers against young - and not so young - people who took the streets legitimately to express themselves against all the factors that have worsened grave issues such as personal insecurity, scarcity and the high cost of living courtesy of the Cuban Castro-communist regime.

See VenEconomy: From Dead Calm to Perfect Storm? (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 7, 2014)

On May 12, 2014. As many as 10,706 Venezuelans have sought asylum in the US.

Growing migration of Venezuelans to the United States (215,023 legal residents) has influenced applications for asylum on grounds of political persecution. From 1998 through 2013, a total of 10,706 Venezuelans have sought asylum in the United States.

Over the past 15 years, 2,043 petitions have been granted, versus 3,686 denied. Other 4,977 applications were withdrawn, abandoned or took another course, based on the numbers supplied by the US Department of Justice.

In the past five years (2009-2013) such applications have escalated. Asylum in the United States has been sought by 1,724 Venezuelans; 640 of which were granted, 780 denied and 1,420 took another course.

See As many as 10,706 Venezuelans have sought asylum in the US (El Universal, May 12, 2014)

On May 20, 2014. US Senate okays sanctions on Venezuelan government officials.

Upon the consent of the 18-member panel, including 10 Democrats, the initiative will be forwarded to the plenary session of the US Senate.

See US Senate okays sanctions on Venezuelan government officials (El Universal, May 20, 2014)

On May 27, 2014. Imprisoned former police chief on hunger strike.

Iván Simonovis, a former police chief of the Caracas Metropolitan Police who was sentenced to 30 years in prison over the April 2012 coup, on Tuesday went on a hunger strike to reject the court's delay in deciding whether he will be granted humanitarian release due to his poor health condition, a petition filed by his defense lawyers nearly two years ago.

Reading a letter from Simonovis, defense lawyer José Luis Tamayo made the announcement.

Tamayo pointed out that the former police chief was not found guilty of crimes against humanity, as many government officials have claimed.

See Imprisoned former police chief on hunger strike (El Universal, May 27, 2014)

On May 28, 2014. Venezuelan gov't involves María Machado in new plot.

Caracas Mayor Jorge Rodríguez produced as evidence a number of e-mails presumably from deposed opposition deputy María Corina Machado.

Rodríguez showed a number of e-mails, presumably from María Corina Machado. In such e-mails forwarded to constitutionalist Gustavo Tarre, the former deputy regrets the unresponsiveness of some politicians with regard to her dismissal from the National Assembly (AN).

He contended that plotters schemed to kill Diosdado Cabello, Aragua state governor Tareck el Aissami and Minister of the Interior Miguel Rodríguez Torres.

See Venezuelan gov't involves María Machado in new plot (El Universal, May 28, 2014)

On May 28, 2014. Machado to Maduro: Neither assassination nor coup. Step down.

"I reaffirm it, Mr. Maduro, neither assassination nor coup. Step down," declared on Wednesday the leader of the opposition movement Vente Venezuela, María Corina Machado, who rejected as a "clumsy scam" the allegations by top Venezuelan government officers that she is involved in an alleged coup and assassination scheme.

The deposed congresswoman said that the top government officials' accusations against her have clearly shown that "the security bodies of Venezuela are a disgrace." She stressed that "the highest political leaders of the revolution," along with the state security and intelligence agencies, intend to persecute and intimidate citizens.

See Machado to Maduro: Neither assassination nor coup. Step down (El Universal, May 28, 2014)

On June 9, 2014. Venezuelan dissenters to seek early elections.

Deposed opposition Deputy María Corina Machado set out a three-step plan for political change.

"It is time to reap the achievements of this heroic deed", stated last Sunday opposition leader María Corina Machado from a platform in Chacaíto (east Caracas) before a modest rally. She announced, along with opposition party Voluntad Popular leaders, "the route for the national liberation".

Machado set out a three-step plan for the "reaping". The first step is to create "a wide bottom-up unity, where every social expression is heard. A unity that allows MUD's (Democratic Unified Panel) parties and leaders such as Henrique Capriles, Antonio Ledezma, and Leopoldo López to be brought together. We must incorporate the students' movement, professional associations, citizens' assemblies, trade unions, grassroots groups, communal councils, and cultural groups", among others.

The idea is them to be "united in a great national movement to reach consensus on the Venezuela we want", said Machado.

In her view, the second step is to "demand the resignation of (president) Nicolás Maduro amid a great national outcry".

The last step of the road map is to "renew a social pact, where all Venezuelans can get together and renew public powers". Machado pointed out that the mechanisms are on the Constitution: an amendment or a National Constituent Assembly.

See Venezuelan dissenters to seek early elections (El Universal, June 9, 2014)

On June 11, 2014. VenEconomy: Culpable Silence.

Without a doubt, Venezuela is going through the most serious economic crisis in its entire history: Unbearable shortages that extend to food products, medicines and all kinds of basic consumer goods and key inputs to the industry and agricultural sector of the country. The country is also falling short of foreign currency, making it harder to pay for imports and the debts every time. An inflation rate that may exceed 80% or more by the end of this year. The country no longer has access to credit; not even the one that China used to provide. The options that the country has so far are misery, hunger and pests; or maybe signing up for an IMF-style adjustment program.

Meanwhile, the Government and its submissive public institutions maintain a culpable silence with regard to the accountability and key information that both the Constitution and laws oblige them to inform the population about the nation's today economic reality. A serious, unwise and negligent omission that should lead to legal responsibilities for the officials involved. But, in today's Venezuela, this culpable silence also extends to the Office of the Comptroller, the Parliament and the judiciary system, institutions called on to be the guarantors of transparency in the management of the State and the compliance with laws and accountability, for they are all clung to the "revolutionary" process.

See VenEconomy: Culpable Silence (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 9, 2014)

On June 23, 2014. HRW denounces at the UN human rights abuses by Venezuela.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed on Monday at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) its deep concerns over the serious human rights situation in Venezuela, describing it as "the most alarming" the country has gone through in years.

"They (law enforcement agents) deliberately attacked journalists and other people who took photographs or recorded videos of repression against protesters, yet they allowed pro-government armed groups to attack demonstrators. Sometimes they (officers) even collaborated with them" the organization commented.

See HRW denounces at the UN human rights abuses by Venezuela (El Universal, June 23, 2014)

On July 5, 2014. A new era has begun for El Universal.

One hundred and five years after its foundation, El Universal gets ready to begin a new era following a change in its shareholding structure. From now on, the Spanish investment firm Epalisticia joins the daily newspaper, presided over by Engineer Jesús Abreu Anselmi.

Founded in 1909, El Universal came out to the streets in a four-page edition under a principle set by its first editor, poet Andrés Mata. Such principle has remained "as is" for over a century: freedom of expression.

See A new era has begun for El Universal (El Universal, July 5, 2014)

On July 13, 2014. Infodio: Spain's €3,500 Epalisticia buys El Universal for €90 million.

Insistent rumours had been making the rounds for some time about the alleged sale of El Universal, Venezuela's oldest and last standing independent newspaper. The sale, for an alleged €90 million, was confirmed this week. The new director is meant to be Jesús Abreu Anselmi. Abreu did very little to establish his credibility and calm fears about ultimate controlling party, when he pointed at Spain's Epalisticia S.L. as the group behind the purchase. Epalisticia S.L. is a €3,500 company, which started operations less than a year ago.

See [UPDATED] Spain's €3,500 Epalisticia buys El Universal for €90 million (Infodio, Alek Boyd. July 13, 2014)

On July 28, 2014. VenEconomy: The Absurdities of the Carvajal Case.

A series of shocking and still incomprehensible events has taken place in Aruba since last Thursday with the arrest of the former director of Venezuela's Military Intelligence (DIM), retired Army General Hugo Carvajal.

See VenEconomy: The Absurdities of the Carvajal Case (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 28, 2014)

On August 1, 2014. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Controversial Gas Price Hike.

On Thursday, President Nicolás Maduro put at the top of the national agenda the start of a discussion regarding an increase in gas prices in Venezuela.

Indeed, this is a necessary discussion to be held in a country with the lowest gas prices in the world (Bs.0.097 per liter, or $0.0015 per liter at official exchange rate and $0.0019 per liter at SICAD II exchange rate, which is equivalent to seven cents per gallon at a time when most countries sell it at more than $1 per liter or $3.50 per gallon).

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Controversial Gas Price Hike (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 1, 2014)

On August 11, 2014. VenEconomy: The Venezuela's Opposition 'Shadow Cabinet'.

This is the right time for the MUD to take up a proposal made several years ago by renowned analysts and media outlets such as José Toro Hardy, a former member of the Board of Directors of state-run oil company PDVSA; Alfonso Molina, a member of civil association Liderazgo y Visión; Leonardo Palacios, a Venezuelan lawyer and university professor; Aurelio Concheso, head of business association Fedecámaras, and local newspaper TalCual: that of setting up a "Shadow Cabinet".

It should be noted that a Shadow Cabinet is a mechanism used in democracies around the world, especially in the UK, Canada, France, Romania and Australia. It is about an institution where prominent members of the opposition are assigned the task of following the steps of the Government's main ministers, each one within their own field of work, with the purpose of establishing positions with regard to the actions performed by them.

See VenEconomy: The Venezuela's Opposition 'Shadow Cabinet' (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 11, 2014)

On August 19, 2014. VenEconomy: ... And Everything Will Remain the Same in Venezuela.

Venezuela has increased the pace of the decline that began during the last years of the late Hugo Chávez in the hands of his successor, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro has been unable and has not wanted to amend the diverse and profound distortions that have become entrenched in the country during 15 years of "revolution."

Counting on the complicity of the central bank, the National Executive is vainly trying to conceal the nation's figures of inflation and scarcity. It hasn't released consumer price index data for two months and has remained mum on scarcity indicators for five months.

See VenEconomía: ... And Everything Will Remain the Same in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 19, 2014)

On August 22, 2014. VenEconomy: The Venezuelan Government's Got a Nerve!

It turns out that Venezuela has reached such a situation in the lack of foreign currency to import products and goods required by citizens to survive, despite the fact of having the world's largest oil and gas reserves with revenues of $90-$100 per barrel due to exports of crude oil.

Unfortunately, the importing process has become vital for a country with nearly no domestic production from the private sector thanks to the misappropriation of lands, private industries and properties on the part of the Government; and that at the same time, it has destroyed all the productive apparatus of the State through politicization, inefficiency, unproductiveness and corruption.

See VenEconomy: The Venezuelan Government's Got a Nerve! (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 22, 2014)

On August 26, 2014. VenEconomy: Maduro Sneaks Out of Venezuela, Meets with Fidel

Maduro sneaked out of Venezuela to meet with the man calling the shots in Cuba for over 50 years - and not once but twice in less than a month; and everybody found out about these sudden trips when Fidel Castro himself made mention of them in his column "Reflexiones" (Reflections) published by Cuban daily Granma.

See VenEconomy: Maduro Sneaks Out of Venezuela, Meets with Fidel (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 26, 2014)

On August 27, 2014. VenEconomy: The Chinese Have Arrived in Venezuela!

Today the presence of the Chinese in Venezuela is an inescapable and increasingly tangible reality. Both countries have signed agreements of all kinds in some 15 strategic areas: housing, industry, agriculture, technology, transportation, telecommunications and, naturally, oil, are among the most sensitive areas, especially since the end of July of this year when the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, visited the country and signed about 38 agreements, out of which 21 are "private", meaning that these were not even disclosed to the population, although the public opinion has not been well informed about the rest of them either.

See VenEconomy: The Chinese Have Arrived in Venezuela! (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 27, 2014)

On August 28, 2014. VenEconomy: Is This the Oil Sovereignty Venezuela Brags About?

It turns out that the country's goose that lays the golden eggs, or the "very sovereign" PDVSA, would be "studying" the possibility to import light Saharan Blend crude oil from Algeria, according to a report by Mariana Párraga of the Reuters news agency, after having access to a document of the state-run oil company.

See VenEconomy: Is This the Oil Sovereignty Venezuela Brags About? (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 28, 2014)

On August 29, 2014. VenEconomy: A Continued Coup against Venezuela's Regional Powers

It is an affront to the dictatorial minds of those who control the Central Government and have taken hold of the rest of Venezuela's public authorities that leaders from the Democratic Unity (MUD) have been elected to be at the forefront of three governorates, and more than 70 mayoralties.

So much so that, refused to recognize the legitimacy of Henrique Capriles as governor of Miranda state, President Nicolás Maduro decided to give rise to the so-called "Miranda Corporation", a body that serves as a parallel authority to the governorate in which he appointed Elías Jaua, the PSUV ruling party candidate who lost to Capriles during the regional elections held in December of 2012.

See VenEconomy: A Continued Coup against Venezuela's Regional Powers (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 29, 2014)

On September 1, 2014. VenEconomy: Tightening the Nuts of Venezuelans' Freedoms

It is a true fact that the Venezuelan government has been tightening the nuts of the freedom of information, expression and opinion for several years now. Three universal human rights guaranteed in the national Constitution are being undermined by this so-called "beautiful revolution".

See VenEconomy: Tightening the Nuts of Venezuelans' Freedoms (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 1, 2014)

On September 2, 2014. VenEconomy: The Ravings of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro

Things seem to be taking an ugly turn for Venezuelan citizens.

Something that should not be surprising for anybody because, first of all, it had been previously warned by independent analysts and, second of all, because it is quite predictable that a situation gets out of control when is irresponsibly handled with malicious intentions.

It gives us the impression that President Nicolás Maduro has not made up his mind yet about making the right decisions that would help revive the country.

See VenEconomy: The Ravings of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 2, 2014)

On September 16, 2014. VenEconomy: The Venezuelan Government's Tactic of Evading the Issue

In order to hide the state of destruction of the economy and the debasement of society into which it has plunged Venezuela over the past 15 years, the Venezuelan government has always opted for the path of evading the issue or that of blaming others for its own misdeeds.

This tactic, used in different areas of national concern and to solve various problems, is made particularly evident by the absence of reliable information regarding the huge number of homicides throughout the national territory and showing much lower figures than those reported by independent agencies instead. Or when, underestimating the intelligence of Venezuelan citizens, government officials deliver opinions with no justifiable basis.

See VenEconomy: The Venezuelan Government's Tactic of Evading the Issue (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 16, 2014)

On September 22, 2014. VenEconomy: The Masquerade of the Venezuelan Government

Last Friday, a judge granted a humanitarian measure of "house arrest due to health reasons" in favor of police commissioner Iván Simonovis (a political prisoner of Hugo Chávez), after serving 9 years and 299 days of unjust imprisonment out of a 30-year sentence for the deaths of the April 11 of 2002 tragic events in Caracas.

See VenEconomy: The Masquerade of the Venezuelan Government (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 22, 2014)

On September 23, 2014. VenEconomy: The Thin Ice of the Venezuelan Revolution

Just five years away from reaching 20, the damage caused to Venezuela -- a country that with its natural resources could have become the most developed in the continent -- by the past 15 years of Bolivarian revolution is unimaginable. It is simply impossible to imagine how far this involution of the country is going to get if a communist state is imposed in Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: The Thin Ice of the Venezuelan Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 23, 2014)

On September 24, 2014. VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's Maduro Come Out of the Empire Unharmed?

President Nicolás Maduro left Venezuela, a country that has become a living hell for his fellow citizens plagued by rampant crime, soaring inflation, general shortages and a marked deterioration in the public healthcare system, for a little while to land in the U.S. Empire he attacks - and fears - so much.

He spoke of the climate change, describing it as "the main threat to human survival of this century", which, according to his own words, essentially resulted from "the crisis of a capitalist model of civilization". (But did not say a word about a big "mountain" of coke, a byproduct of heavy oil upgraders at the Jose refinery in Anzoátegui state.)

After his presentation in the U.S. Empire, Maduro and his court are seeking the admission of Venezuela as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, whose nomination on Wednesday was being decided by the General Assembly through secret ballot. Venezuela needs two-thirds of the votes of the 193 member nations to make it in. If successful, it would mark the fifth time that Venezuela occupies this post after the following periods: 1962-1963 / 1977-1978 / 1986-1987 and 1992-1993.

But we should ask ourselves if Maduro will come out of the U.S. Empire unharmed, because President Barack Obama pointed out that his country stands by the political prisoners of Maduro such as Leopoldo López, among many others. Obama was blunt when he said that "these citizens remind us why civil society is so essential", as he reminded the importance of civil society and the people's struggle for their rights.

See VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's Maduro Come Out of the Empire Unharmed? (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 24, 2014)

On September 25, 2014. VenEconomy: A Communal State Moves Forward in Venezuela

When Nicolás Maduro finally revealed what the much-trumpeted "shakeup" was all about on September 5, he performed a major cabinet reshuffle that was clouded by the departure of the "king of oil and sheik of the Venezuelan economy", Rafael Ramírez, from three of his multiple public offices (Ministry of Oil and Mining, head of PDVSA, and Vice President of Economic Affairs).

This important and strategic piece moved by Maduro was the transfer of Elías Jaua, the former chancellor, to two newly created public offices: the Vice Presidency of Socialism Development and Eco-socialism and the Ministry of Communes and Social Movements.

What many did not realize is that with these appointments Maduro was taking a new step toward the consolidation of the so-called "Communal State" as outlined in the Plan of the Homeland by the late Hugo Chávez to build the Socialism of the 21st century, in other words, the "Cubanization of Venezuela".

See VenEconomy: A Communal State Moves Forward in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 25, 2014)

On September 29, 2014. VenEconomy: Jesús Torrealba - The Missing Link of Venezuela's Democratic Machinery

After so much stumbling around for months, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition (MUD) appointed Venezuelan journalist and community activist Jesús "Chuo" Torrealba as its executive secretary, a managerial position held by Ramón Guillermo Aveledo until July 30.

This appointment is being welcomed very positively by the public opinion. He has raised endless expectations, and while some critics remain somewhat skeptic due to his communist past, he has brought a breath of fresh air to Venezuela's broad democratic sector that until now had been feeling stomped on and without hope by the momentum of events.

See VenEconomy: Jesús Torrealba - The Missing Link of Venezuela's Democratic Machinery (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 29, 2014)

On October 20, 2014. VenEconomy: Venezuela Pays for Expropriation Mistakes

Venezuela today is paying for the irresponsible and insatiable wave of expropriations which, on the one hand, has taken national production to critical levels and led the country to rely on imports for its livelihood; and on the other, has discouraged investment capital while making the State go to arbitration courts so it can respond to complaints from international companies whose rights have been violated.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Pays for Expropriation Mistakes (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 20, 2014)

On November 6, 2014. VenEconomy: The Venezuelan Government Has the Floor!

The exit to the harsh economic and social crisis that lies heavy on Venezuela consists, without a doubt, of resolving the political and governance crisis in a climate of peace, where consensus, the transparency of the processes, the credibility of public institutions and authorities, and the respect for the will of the people prevail. Unfortunately, these four variables are currently in the tightrope because of a political elite that sees itself lasting in power forever, never going unpunished, and always above the Constitution and laws.

For starters, the ruling elite has marred the climate of peace in the country through the force of a virulent and stigmatizing speech, meant for those Venezuelans who disagree with its policies and governance methods; through an excessive repression and firepower (from the State and its paramilitary groups); through the abuse of the Judiciary to prosecute, subdue and violate the rights and freedoms of those opposing it.

See VenEconomy: The Venezuelan Government Has the Floor! (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 6, 2014)

On November 7, 2014. VenEconomy: The Totalitarian Temptation

Last week, the NGO Cedice Libertad, in alliance with the Liberal Network for Latin America (Relial) and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, commemorated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with the "International Forum: The Totalitarian Temptation", which had Mauricio Rojas, a former member of Chile's Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) that got away from Marxism forever, PhD in Economics, Assistant Professor at the University of Lund (Sweden) and former member of the Parliament of Sweden, as special guest. He was joined by Antonio Sánchez García as a commentator, a writer, essayist, professor of contemporary philosophy at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), and a convinced Chilean-Venezuelan democrat who opposes any advance of a totalitarian regime in Venezuela and Latin America.

The lectures, among other topics, had to do with the presence of "caudillismo" in Latin America with all its pledges and temptations for magical solutions to the problems of the population, and the reason why many countries fall into these temptations as they end up with terrible dictatorships all the time. Dictatorships that, on the one hand, drag many idealists into them, who in most cases become terrible oppressors of their peoples. And on the other, plunge countries into rancor and division, where the sense of community and civic friendship is lost, while resources are squandered instead of being invested in the development of the country, as has been the case of Cuba and now Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: The Totalitarian Temptation (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 7, 2014)

On November 11, 2014. VenEconomy: Venezuela Goes Through the Tunnel of Torture

Now it seems that the method of torture has begun to take root in Venezuela again with the governments of Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro. Such have been the outrages with the implementation of torture, especially since the beginning of January of this year, that several international bodies are calling on the Government to return to good judgment, reason and reconciliation between the sectors at odds at political level.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Goes Through the Tunnel of Torture (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 11, 2014)

On November 12, 2014. VenEconomy: Venezuela Remains Firmly on the Wrong Path

On Tuesday, during the Perspectivas (Outlook) 2015 forum hosted by the Venezuelan Confederation of Industrialists (Conindustria), a diagnosis of the serious situation taking place in the industrial sector deemed vital for the development of the productive economy and the impact it will have on the rest of the society was made.

The forum kicked off presenting the key developments of this year characterized, among other things, by the severe difficulties in the access to foreign currency for imports (a reduction of 20%), a situation that has hampered the access to raw materials and hence caused a significant decline in production volumes.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Remains Firmly on the Wrong Path (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 12, 2014)

On November 13, 2014. VenEconomy: Maduro's Government is Alone, Weak and Without Resources

The government of Nicolás Maduro finds itself desperate because of a continuous drop in oil prices that has lasted over a month, surely after realizing that the long oil boom period has come to an end, and that it wasted one of the best opportunities that the country has ever had for catapulting into development over the past 15 years.

See VenEconomy: Maduro's Government is Alone, Weak and Without Resources (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 13, 2014)

On November 14, 2014. VenEconomy: No Ceiling for the Exchange Rate in Venezuela?

A year ago, Venezuela's then-Vice President for the Economic Area, Rafael Ramírez, stated that the Government would "crush" the dollar sold in the parallel market that fetched Bs.60 per dollar. According to Ramirez, the exchange rate went out of control after a "relentless attack" against the national economy since the health of the leader of the Venezuelan revolution, Hugo Chávez, deteriorated in November of 2012. He emphatically claimed that "we are going to crush it (when referring to the parallel dollar), because we are going to recoup all those dollars they are stealing from the nation through over-invoicing or diversion of the dollars allocated by the Commission for the Administration of Currency Exchange (Cadivi)."

Another unfulfilled promise! The rate continued to climb, reaching Bs.100 per dollar. For several weeks, it seemed it was stabilizing at that level. Yet, prices of the parallel dollar started to rise again from October 23, hovering around Bs.120 per dollar on November 14; and worst still, no one knows what the ceiling is going to be.

See VenEconomy: No Ceiling for the Exchange Rate in Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 14, 2014)

On November 17, 2014. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Controversial External Debt

The deadline for the payment of more than $4.6 billion in Venezuelan external debt service in October sparked a controversy at the end of September of this year. Some analysts questioned whether the Government could - or should - honor these commitments due to the low levels of international reserves, and many thought that it should first pay the private providers that must keep the supply of goods into the country, which are paralyzed for this very same reason.

Now, with a recent slump in oil prices already hovering around $70 per barrel, the question whether Venezuela will or will not be able to comply with the payment of its external debt -- or if it will be able to refinance it in the near future -- is raised once more.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Controversial External Debt (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 17, 2014)

On November 18, 2014. VenEconomy: The Sham of the Bolivarian Enabling Laws

The enabling laws are special powers that have been granted not only in Venezuela since last century to legislate in times of natural disasters and war situations, but also in cases of financial and economic emergencies. But, since the late Hugo Chávez came to power, these "enabling laws" have served for the President to enact all sorts of laws without the "need" to consult them with the Parliament or the public opinion.

The case is that the four enabling laws granted to Chávez, and that single one to Maduro, have been used to build a wide "legal" network that underpins and deepens the so-called "Socialism of the 21st century".

See VenEconomy: The Sham of the Bolivarian Enabling Laws (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 18, 2014)

On November 19, 2014. VenEconomy: The Legislative Fraud in Venezuela

Once more a ruler of the "revolution" of the 21st century is cooking up a legislative fraud to keep the country against the wall of failure and economic and social degradation.

On November 13 of 2001, Hugo Chávez passed 49 decree-laws all at once as the expiration of his second enabling law granted by the Parliament neared. Their contents were contrary to an open and dynamic economy, which triggered a general strike led by the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV), Fedecámaras (a business association) and several opposition political parties on December 10 of that year.

In spite of the fact that Nicolás Maduro never broke the record set by Chávez, only hours before the expiration of an enabling law granted by the Parliament last year, he passed 28 new decree-laws related to the economic area on Tuesday that joined 13 other decree-laws passed in November of 2013 for the deepening of the so-called Plan for the Homeland (a governance program inherited from Chávez that was also signed into law thanks to Maduro and an enabling decree in December of 2013).

See VenEconomy: The Legislative Fraud in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 19, 2014)

On November 20, 2014. VenEconomy: An Irrelevant, Pernicious Economic Package for Venezuela

Some say that what starts wrong, ends bad.
And that's what happened with the special powers granted to President Nicolás Maduro a year ago by a parliamentary majority of the ruling party PSUV through legal tricks and vote-buying to achieve the three-fifths required by the Constitution so the Legislature can delegate its powers to the National Executive.

A delegation of powers that, for a fifth time, fully erased the political plurality guaranteed by a democratic Parliament; that eliminates a compulsory popular consultation provided for by the National Constitution for the enactment of laws; and that obscures the legal framework that regulates the life of the nation. A year ago, just as happened on four occasions during the government of the late Hugo Chávez, the ruling coalition gave a blow to the Parliament.

On Wednesday, closing the 12-month period that enabled him to legislate at his discretion, Maduro put the icing on the revolutionary cake by passing 28 decree-laws that will undermine the system of economic freedoms in Venezuela and hence push the population into greater poverty and despair.

See VenEconomy: An Irrelevant, Pernicious Economic Package for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 20, 2014)

On November 21, 2014. VenEconomy: A Thorn in the Side of the Venezuelan Dictatorship

November of 2014 will definitely be remembered in the history of Venezuela for the grotesque advance of its dictatorial regime.

On the one hand, 28 decree-laws (only 16 have been revealed so far) were passed all at once as the special legislative powers granted by the Parliament to President Nicolás Maduro for 12 months last year reached their expiration date this week. All of these decree-laws clearly violate constitutional provisions and ignore economic and citizens' rights.

And on the other, the Government is giving clear signs that it won't have any respect either for the Constitution, or the political plurality of a democracy or the ideological diversity of participatory citizens to form a Supreme Court of Justice and a National Electoral Council, both autonomous and independent from the Executive Branch. Quite grotesque are all the dirty little tricks and manipulations of the processes for the selection of candidates that will take part of these two institutions that are key to the survival of democracy and the system of freedoms in Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: A Thorn in the Side of the Venezuelan Dictatorship (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 21, 2014)

On November 24, 2014. VenEconomy: Destroying Venezuela's IVIC is No Rocket Science

And now the Venezuelan dictatorial regime is focusing on a new target: the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC).

The IVIC is an autonomous entity created on February 9 of 1959, which brings together the most diverse areas of science (biology, medicine, physics, mathematics and chemistry) in order to find solutions to different problems of the population in the areas of genetics and human reproduction, immunology, tropical diseases, ecology and environmental pollution, among others.

An entity that gave rise to other institutions also of high scientific importance to the country such as: IDEA, or Center for Advanced Studies for the formation in fourth educational level of Venezuelan scientists and other countries in the region; Intevep, the technological arm of the Venezuelan oil industry and developer of Orimulsion; Quimbiotec, a non-profit state company devoted to produce and commercialize blood derivatives; and the Institute of Engineering.

See VenEconomy: Destroying Venezuela's IVIC is No Rocket Science (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 24, 2014)

On November 25, 2014. VenEconomy: New Antitrust Law fosters Unfair Competition in Venezuela

Among the decree-laws promulgated by President Nicolás Maduro nearly a week after the expiration of an Enabling Law that granted him special powers is the Antitrust Law, published in the Official Gazette No. 6,151 on November 25.

This promulgation puts an end to a pending task of the Parliament since May of 2006. And even though it should be pointed out that at first glance the Antitrust Law of Maduro seems to be better written than the one resting in the Parliament already, the same still leaves much to be desired and doesn't measure up to a law that protects and promotes free competition (Pro-Competition Law) in force since January of 1992. That law, enacted during the second presidential term of Carlos Andrés Pérez (1989-1993), is considered as a model law that effectively combats monopolistic and oligopolistic behaviors and practices and other means that may prevent, restrict, distort or limit the enjoyment of economic freedoms, while protects and promotes free competition. These are real objectives that a good antitrust law must pursue.

See VenEconomy: New Antitrust Law fosters Unfair Competition in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 25, 2014)

On November 26, 2014. VenEconomy: Situation in Venezuelan Prisons Worsens

Venezuela's penitentiary system has been ravaged by the revolutionary "marabunta" for many years now.

The situation of local prisons is getting worse every day. These are run nowadays by a Ministry of Penitentiary Affairs and managed with partisan criteria under the guidelines of the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" by a Minister who has proved to have a poor knowledge on the matter.

The chaotic situation in prisons, far from being corrected, gets worse by the day. Now, as if the blood bath imposed to other prisoners by the 'pranes' [the de facto rulers of Venezuelan prisons] was not enough, it is added to this the practice of repression, especially against a new type of prisoners: students and demonstrators who have disagreed with the Government, who are being sent to highly dangerous prisons not only to serve their sentences, but for preventive detention while they stand cooked and supervised trials by the National Executive.

A week ago it was learned that Raúl Emilio Baduel (the son of Gen. Raúl Baduel, former Defense Minister and one of the prisoners of the late President Hugo Chávez) and Alexander Tirado, who are standing trial for the protests that started in February of 2014, have been cruelly tortured by troops and custodians of the Uribana prison, leaving after-effects of fractures and burns all over their bodies. The Uribana inmates declared a strike on Monday due to the precarious conditions in the prison and to denounce alleged violations to their human rights and cruel and degrading treatment.

See VenEconomy: Situation in Venezuelan Prisons Worsens (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 26, 2014)

On November 27, 2014. VenEconomy: The 'Shield' of Venezuela for 2015

The economic, political and social situation in Venezuela keeps getting worse. And the worst thing is that actions of the government of Nicolás Maduro and its policies don't help in any way to outline a clear path towards exiting the crisis.

On the economic front, a set of 28 decree-laws promulgated by Maduro over the last two weeks will not curb the impact of the slump in oil prices or boost the international reserves, or stop the debacle of the productive sector, or alleviate the drought of foreign currency or the mounting shortages of goods.

What these decree-laws will achieve for sure is to continue bleeding businesses through taxes, to deepen the devastation of the private productive sector, to encourage more waste of resources and corruption, and to aggravate shortages, inflation and unemployment. And in the meantime, the State gets additional tax revenue to try to make it up for the revenue loss caused by a drop in oil prices.

While building this totalitarian wall, the political persecution and repression against the "enemies" of the "Revolution" continues unabated, with a cruelty only seen before in dictatorships from the 20th century such as those of Juan Vicente Gómez and Marcos Pérez Jiménez. The numerous cases of torture and cruel treatment against detainees haven't stopped fattening up the dismal human rights record of Venezuela at several international bodies. The government of Maduro continues to accumulate political prisoners: Leopoldo López, Enzo Scarano, Daniel Ceballos, Raúl Baduel (father and son), Alexander Tirado, Inés González (a blogger with the Twitter account @inesitalaterrible), and now are likely to enter the already long list: Gustavo Tarré (a constitutional lawyer), Henrique Salas Romer (the former governor of Carabobo state), Diego Arria, María Corina Machado, among other renowned personalities from the Venezuelan opposition, over the umpteen thousand alleged coup d'état and presidential assassination plots made up over the last 15 years.

See VenEconomy: The 'Shield' of Venezuela for 2015 (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 27, 2014)

On November 28, 2014. VenEconomy: Venezuela Has to Settle with Same Old OPEC Quota

On Thursday, as hinted by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other member countries for several weeks, the OPEC decided not to cut crude oil production as urged by the government of Venezuela on different occasions in a bid to contain a sustained drop in prices over the last five months.

Everybody is aware that Venezuela's special envoy Rafael Ramírez, the current Foreign Minister and former Minister of Energy and Petroleum and head of state-run oil company PDVSA, went on a world tour that included Russia and the majority of OPEC countries trying to convince them of the importance to cut production in order to reverse the continued decline in oil prices. It was also made public all the frustrated efforts to advance the meeting held on Thursday in Vienna, among many other output cut attempts.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Has to Settle with Same Old OPEC Quota (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 28, 2014)

On December 1, 2014. VenEconomy: The Enabling Laws of Venezuela's Maduro in Small Doses

In the middle of the second week of November, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro hastily enacted a set of laws before the expiration of a period of 12 months of special powers granted by the Parliament in November of 2013.

Altogether, Maduro had enacted 51 decree-laws by November 18, 45 of which were passed during his last two days of empowerment, according to the official gazettes No. 40,543 (24 laws) and 40,544 (21 laws), and whose texts indicated these would be subsequently published in eight additional gazettes dated November 18 or November 19 of 2014.

To date, 25 decrees laws have been published, four of which were reprinted for flaws in the originals, including an Antitrust Law and one for the simplification of administrative procedures, due to the fact that the text did not include the repeal of the laws in force for November 18.

See VenEconomy: The Enabling Laws of Venezuela's Maduro in Small Doses (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 1, 2014)

On December 2, 2014. VenEconomy: How Many More Will Have to Die in Venezuelan Prisons?

One of the many rights taken away from Venezuelans by their rulers is that of life as the country becomes the new "sea of happiness" of Latin America.

And if the situation of insecurity is serious enough for those who live in "freedom", it becomes particularly virulent for those who have been deprived of it.

Thus the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) expressed its alarm at the situation of violence in local prisons in a recent report, calling the penitentiary system of Venezuela a "tragedy". And this is not an exaggeration, taking into account that prison riots have intensified over the last decade to accumulate casualties of 5,000 people who were under custody of the State.

See VenEconomy: How Many More Will Have to Die in Venezuelan Prisons? (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 2, 2014)

On December 3, 2014. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Original Sin

After a streak of low oil prices, and before the inescapable reality of a flat broke Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro has begun his search of money here and there so he can keep the nation's communist revolution alive.

Many of the 51 decree-laws recently enacted by him go down in that direction, with tax increases and other measures aimed at the banking and insurance sectors.

That's also the intention of the assets sale of the Republic, as was the Hovensa refinery deal with Virgin Islands-based Atlantic Basin Refining; as well as the impending threat of selling CITGO, the U.S. refining unit of PDVSA.

It was thought that the urge of the Government in making additional cash would lead it to bond issues backed by receivables from Petrocaribe and Energy Agreement countries (which owe about $20 billion to an annual interest of 1%-2%), since Venezuela may obtain around $5-6 billion through this method.

It was learned this week that the sale of bonds for $4.09 billion owed by the Dominican Republic to the Republic of Venezuela is being negotiated with U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, with the State getting 41% of the total face value of the debt, or an accounting loss of about $2.4 billion.

It was also learned that the Venezuelan government would be in talks with Goldman Sachs to strike a similar agreement with the oil debt of Jamaica with PDVSA.

This means that Venezuela's original sin was to provide 25-year financing for 50% of the value of the oil sold with a two-year grace period and interest rates between 1% and 2% - well below current market rates. If Venezuela had been able to resist until the year 2038, only a few would have understood or realized about the huge gift made to these countries.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Original Sin (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 3, 2014)

On December 4, 2014. VenEconomy: Government's Mission - Neutralize the Venezuelan Opposition

The government of Nicolás Maduro is using one of its hands to push Venezuela down the ravine of crisis, while the other crushes all dissent through its judges of horror.

This year 2014 has been a busy one for the Public Prosecutor's Office, which has opened trials over any allegation made up by the nation's governing elite. The goals of that persecution are varied, and may involve political opposition leaders, trade unionists, businesspeople or academics, as well as journalists, students, bloggers, members of NGOs or human rights organizations, or common citizens complaining or having any criticism against the Government.

On Wednesday, the guillotine from the judiciary was placed onto the neck of former opposition lawmaker and political leader, María Corina Machado, who was summoned to the Public Prosecutor's Office to be "formally" charged for her alleged involvement in one of the thousands assassination plots denounced by Maduro in his short presidential term. This investigation was opened in March of this year and also involves Diego Arria, Henrique Salas Römer, Gustavo Tarre Briceño, Ricardo Emilio Koesling Nava, Pedro Mario Burelli Briceño and Robert Alonso Bustillo, who have been issued arrest warrants for their alleged participation in the assassination plan.

See VenEconomy: Government's Mission - Neutralize the Venezuelan Opposition (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 4, 2014)

On December 5, 2014. VenEconomy: Party On for Corruption in Venezuela

A year ago, President Nicolás Maduro requested the Parliament with a matter of urgency special legislative powers so he could fight corruption and his bogus "economic war", which he blames for the harsh economic crisis eating away Venezuela.

Once the 12-month period was over, Maduro had failed in both of these purposes. The economic crisis continues to wreak havoc while corruption takes root across the entire government system of the Revolution.

See VenEconomy: Party On for Corruption in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 5, 2014)

On December 8, 2014. VenEconomy: The 'Four Legs' of Venezuela's MUD

Today Venezuela is going through one of its darkest hours in economic, political and social matters. The dictatorial government of Nicolás Maduro is giving desperate samples of its willingness to continue its unrestrained spending spree in order keep a sinking Revolution afloat.

The facts also bring to light that the constitutional mandate will continue to be violated so that "legality" can be subordinated to a corrupt and amoral political regime and public authorities remain "kidnapped" by the State. This in addition to an increase in repression, violation of human rights and persecution against all political dissenters.

It is no exaggeration to say that Venezuela is going through a dark period in its history that makes it imperative for the opposition coalition to show itself being cohesive, proactive, creative, and ubiquitous to deal with the situation in all corners.

There are no excuses or arguments that could justify an opposition leadership that is weak, fragmented, contradictory or absent from any of the issues vital to the nation. And there are no apologies for a leadership pursuing partisan or individual goals, when the interests of the Republic and the rights of the population are being violated as never before in the country.

See VenEconomy: The 'Four Legs' of Venezuela's MUD (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 8, 2014)

On December 9, 2014. VenEconomy: A Blow against Corruption in Venezuela

Corruption is neither a new scourge nor is it confined only to Venezuela. This practice has spread worldwide. It excludes neither rich countries nor poor ones, nor governments of capitalist, socialist or communist class.

Its harmful effects not only include the deepening of poverty and misery of the population, but also maximizes the instability of countries, "undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and opens the possibility for other threats to human security".

See VenEconomy: A Blow against Corruption in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 9, 2014)

On December 10, 2014. VenEconomy: A Totalitarian Regime on the Brink of Extinction in Venezuela

The harsh economic and social crisis in Venezuela is dragging the communist regime down with it, to the point that its agony can be felt everywhere, in each queue to buy food, medicines, or any other basic product or service, in hospitals, morgues, prisons or government offices.

An agony reflected in opinion polls showing the collapse of the popularity of President Nicolás Maduro and his administration, with a rejection rate of 85.7% and one of acceptance that barely reaches 13%, according to a report released by local journalist Nelson Bocaranda in his RunRunes website on Wednesday. The lowest levels recorded in the history of the so-called Socialism of the 21st century.

See VenEconomy: A Totalitarian Regime on the Brink of Extinction in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 10, 2014)

On December 11, 2014. VenEconomy: Time for Justice, Accountability in Venezuela

It seems that the time has come for President Nicolás Maduro and his entire revolutionary court to be held accountable for their actions before justice.

It is not only in economic matters where things have become way too complicated for the revolutionaries. Now it seems that the time has come for those who thought were untouchable and above the law to be held accountable for disobeying the rules of civility, violating human rights, and subjecting their fellow Venezuelans to ill-treatment and torture. All this covered by the complicit and shameful silence of most countries and international bodies such as the OAS.

See VenEconomy: Time for Justice, Accountability in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 11, 2014)

On December 12, 2014. VenEconomy: Drug Trafficking - The Other Pest of the Venezuelan Revolution

Because of the harsh economic and social crisis eating away at Venezuela as a result of the failed policies of the "Socialism of the 21st century", as well as the brutal persecution and repression against citizens reluctant to embrace the Revolution's "Plan for the Homeland", among other factors, a pest that has grown stronger for the past 15 years in the country has been practically overlooked: drug trafficking.

Venezuela has stopped being a transit country for illegal narcotics to become a territory that guarantees freedom of action and immunity to large groups of drug traffickers.

See VenEconomy: Drug Trafficking - The Other Pest of the Venezuelan Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 12, 2014)

On December 15, 2014. VenEconomy: Fifteen Years of 'Mudslides' in Venezuela

It's been 15 years (December 15 1999) since the "Mudslide of Vargas" tragedy took place in this Venezuelan state of the same name that comprises the country's Greater Caracas region. Back in that time, 10 other states were also affected by heavy downpours for several days, particularly those located in coastal zones such as Falcón, Miranda and (naturally) Vargas.

This mudslide has been the most severe natural disaster in the history of Venezuela since an earthquake in 1812. The fatal victims of that day - and of at least four days in a row - were counted by thousands (more than 16,000 dead or gone missing according to official records, and close to 30,000 according to some unofficial sources); as well as thousands of wounded and people affected and millions of dollars in material losses of both the State and individuals. A tragic loss that led this disastrous event to its inclusion in the Guinness World Records as the mudslide with most fatalities in history.

But that was not the only indelible tragedy left by the end of the 20th century on the minds of Venezuelans.

That day, thus ignoring the scale of this tragedy and the drama lived by thousands and thousands of Venezuelans, as well as the alerts issued by various State agencies and the state of alarm declared by Vargas' fire department a day earlier, the late President Hugo Chávez decided to press ahead with unchangeable steadiness the completion of a referendum that would lead to the approval of a new Constitution of the Republic. A Constitution that represented the first brick laid down for the establishment of the so-called "Socialism of the 21st century".

With this Constitution, approved with the 71.37% (2,982,395 voters) of the votes in a referendum that registered an abstention rate of 54.74%, Chávez began to blur the Republic of Venezuela (to that date a democratic and representative State) to shape the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was supposed to be a State with a legal system and room for "social and participatory democracy", and that ended up becoming an amorphous scheme doomed to failure known as "Plan for the Homeland".

The new Magna Carta has been the legal text with more violations, distortions, manipulations and misinterpretations by all public authorities in Venezuela over the past fifteen years.

However, it was the promulgation of that Bolivarian Constitution in December of 1999 what marked the milestone of the worst mudslide in the history of Venezuela that has dragged with its "revolutionary mud" all the values, principles, ethics, public morals, respect for the economic, political and civil rights, and the entrepreneurial and individual freedoms of Venezuelans. A disaster that has ruined the domestic oil industry, destroyed the whole productive system of the country, dried the fields and lands of the nation, persecuted and taken innocent Venezuelans to prison, given rise to an unprecedented diaspora in Venezuela, not punished the responsible ones for thousands of murders and deepened the hunger and misery conditions of its population.

A "revolutionary mud" that has swept away an independent justice system, as much as subordinated the autonomy of public authorities (guarantors of democracy and the respect for citizens) to a political project that began in a communist country such as Cuba.

Today, as never before, the national sovereignty of Venezuela has been violated and tied to the Castro dictatorship, while its population, just like it has in Cuba for more than half a century, plunges into despair and economic and social hardships.

Just like there was an urgent need in Vargas back in 1999 to join efforts in order to rescue lives and properties buried in the mud, there is an urgent need in Venezuela 15 years later that its citizens dig out of the values of democracy, freedom and the right to be respected over their differences.

See VenEconomy: Fifteen Years of 'Mudslides' in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 15, 2014)

On December 16, 2014. VenEconomy: How to Wish our Readers a Merry Christmas, Happy 2015?

Being this the last editorial for 2014, the only message from VenEconomy to its readers should be wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Unfortunately, the critical situation of Venezuela doesn't make this message credible at all.

For starters, how can this be a Merry Christmas for the millions of Venezuelans in their daily suffering for obtaining food, medicines or any other basic product for their own subsistence and that of their families? Or for the thousands who have seen their businesses disappear, or their jobs going down the drain of the policies of a predator government? Or for the thousands still waiting for the State to keep its promise of providing them with decent housing?

Neither can be receptive to a Christmas greeting those who see their families fractured or divided today, because of the loss of one or several of their members to the hands of criminals who go unpunished most of the time; or because one of these members is behind bars, or is being persecuted or harassed by a system of administration of justice at the service of political interests; or because several of them have fled to a forced exile due to the harsh economic, political and social situation in Venezuela.

This holiday season finds Venezuela entangled in the meshes of persecutory control policies imposed by the late Hugo Chávez, his successor Nicolás Maduro and his court of "pharaohs".

Every company, entrepreneur, worker, trade unionist, student, journalist, or ordinary citizen that doesn't bend to the Executive' will may be subject to some of the "laws" that put aside the right of "presumption of innocence" until proven otherwise and hence be found "guilty" by orders of Maduro, any other Bolivarian hierarch or from Cuba.

The country is being affected by all kinds of economic plagues: An inflation rate over 70% by year-end, the highest in the region and one of the highest in the world. Shortages that exceed 30% ranging from food to medicines, and even any other basic product or supplies under the aegis of the nefarious "Law of Fair Prices", or that is dependent on one of the foreign exchange rate systems restricting the allocation of currency, or any other of the dozens of mandatory permits, formalities or commissions to operate in the national territory.

Extremely low levels of international reserves because the huge oil revenues reaped over the last fifteen years resulted in an unrestrained spending spree from the ruling elite inside and outside the country. An enormous fiscal deficit between 17%-19% of the GDP by the end of 2014. With the bonds of the Republic falling to 36 cents. And, as the icing on the cake, oil prices below $60 per barrel.

And what is coming for 2015 does not look any better, but quite the opposite. It's so hard to wish a Happy New Year when constrictive regulations will remain in force, domestic production will continue to plummet, the inflation rate will reach three digits, shortages will intensify, oil prices will remain at all-time lows, foreign currencies will vanish, public debt will be impossible to pay, the budget will barely cover the first quarter, and recession will come swiftly.

Worse still, with the announcement of Maduro that he will leave the political and social issues in the hands of his underlings because he will be fully dedicated to fight an "economic war" against the country, greater political repression, more social conflicts and worsening healthcare, housing, education and security problems are expected, as is usual when control is handed over to dictator apprentices.

See VenEconomy: How to Wish our Readers a Merry Christmas, Happy 2015? (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 16, 2014)

On January 12, 2015. VenEconomy: A January of Uncertainty, Concern in Venezuela

As expected, Venezuelans had a terribly depressing Christmas holiday last year.

The days of December went by with a constant struggle to get all the basic supplies for the Christmas Eve and New Year dinners; to make ends meet after the huge daily expenses; to save a little money from the Christmas bonuses in a bid to save the holiday tradition for the sake of the children and our closest relatives; and to overcome insecurity and rampant crime, which already had taken the lives of more than 25,000 Venezuelans in all 2014.

But, if December was a difficult month for most Venezuelans, January is turning out worse. Widespread shortages of all kinds of food products, medicines, and supplies returned with double the impact during this first month of the year.

See VenEconomy: A January of Uncertainty, Concern in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 12, 2015)

On January 13, 2015. VenEconomy: And the Venezuelan Church has spoken!

On May 1 1957, it was read a pastoral letter written by the then-archbishop of Caracas, Rafael Arias Blanco, in all the churches of Venezuela. In it, he described and analyzed the precarious situation the country's workforce was going through.

Such was the power of this liturgical piece that he managed to awaken the already restless conscience of many Venezuelans, especially students, thus sparking a series of protests that forced the dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez to board a plane nicknamed "the sacred cow" to never return to the country.

A public statement of Venezuela's Catholic Church signed by the bishops of the country released this week once more focused the attention of the population on the rapid political, social and economic deterioration that is plunging Venezuelans into despair and depression.

See VenEconomy: And the Venezuelan Church has spoken! (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 13, 2015)

On January 14, 2015. VenEconomy: The Institutional Collapse in Venezuela

A statement by the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference with assertive stance on the political, economic and social situation of Venezuela released this week also revealed a more serious situation as is a "moral crisis, of values, attitudes, motivations and behaviors that need to be corrected."

The bishops warned that "attitudes must be overcome as much as the lust for easy riches and corruption, the political pride, the arrogance and hunger for power, selfishness, laziness, hatred and violence." And that "principles of legality, legitimacy and morality that underpin the fabric of social coexistence must be rescued."

Unfortunately, this message arrives at a time when the greatest totalitarian onslaught against public institutions in all the republican life of Venezuela has taken place, thus violating those indispensable principles of legality, legitimacy and morality vindicated by the Episcopate.

See VenEconomy: The Institutional Collapse in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 14, 2015)

On January 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Life is Worth Nothing in Venezuela in Times of Revolution

One of the key issues over the past 16 years of revolutionary governments in Venezuela has been the indifference and incompetence to tackle the problem of crime and violence, which seem to be on purpose and aimed at intimidating and keeping the population prisoner of fear.

It's not just that in the past two years nearly 50,000 citizens have lost their lives in the hands of criminals, not to mention all the victims of State violence against peaceful demonstrators, but that more than 90% of the cases have never been resolved by the system of administration of justice as culprits get off scot-free taking the lives of new innocent people in the streets of the country.

This indolent policy on citizen security has ranked Venezuela in one of the top spots of countries with the highest homicide rates, including nations amid ongoing armed conflicts.

See VenEconomy: Life is Worth Nothing in Venezuela in Times of Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 16, 2015)

On January 19, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's MUD Lays its Cards on the Table

It seems that something good is happening on the opposition's front, at least in terms of making efforts to build Venezuela's democratic unity right from the logical disagreements of those who understand what a democracy and the respect for differences and freedoms mean.

In this respect, Henrique Capriles, the Governor of Miranda state who at first was distant from the position adopted by opposition leaders Leopoldo López, María Corina Machado and Antonio Ledezma, is looking forward to holding encounters in a bid to find powerful answers that would help counter the bad management of the severe economic and social crisis from the national government. Encounters that have been welcomed by this political trio who have put forward the so-called La Salida (the way out) initiative as a means of democratic political transition since January of last year, and whose mutual agreements will be announced in the next few hours, Capriles was quoted as saying in a radio talk show on Monday. [César Miguel Rondón]

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's MUD Lays its Cards on the Table (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 19, 2015)

On January 20, 2015. VenEconomy: Wrong Diagnosis, Remedies to Tackle the Venezuelan Crisis

The endless queues of eager Venezuelans in their search of diapers for their babies, a single roll of toilet paper, a carton of milk, corn flour, coffee, vegetable oil, among other basic products; the daily protests of citizens in angst are some of the symptoms of an ailing economy suffering an old disease that has killed other nations throughout history: communism, today hiding in Venezuela under the name of "socialism of the 21st century."

Other of the symptoms are the stockouts of companies that have been hit hard for over 15 years by the State's predatory policies of private property, which have imposed tight controls over the national production, imports and distribution of goods and commodities across the national territory. Policies deepened by Nicolás Maduro since December of 2013, when the official looting of the inventories of retailers began as he gave a nod to the so-called "Dakazo."

See VenEconomy: Wrong Diagnosis, Remedies to Tackle the Venezuelan Crisis (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 20, 2015)

On January 21, 2015. VenEconomy: While We Wait for Godot...

Venezuela today lives a reality that just looks like the one shown in the absurdist play written in the late 40s by Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot.

For example, while an entire country has impatiently awaited months for the announcements promised by the government of Nicolás Maduro, which supposedly will guide Venezuela's economy out of the quagmire, Beckett characters Pozzo and his slave Lucky appear on the scene not only telling those awaiting the announcements that these will not be made "today, but tomorrow," but also giving absurd explanations on the general shortages and excessively long queues outside food and drug retailers throughout the national territory, as they announce irrational measures not aimed at resolving the heart of the supply crisis in the country.

See VenEconomy: While We Wait for Godot... (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 21, 2015)

On January 22, 2015. VenEconomy: God Helps those Who Help Themselves!

On Wednesday, on his return from a fantasist and failed tour around the world and several days behind his constitutional duties, Nicolás Maduro addressed the Parliament to fulfill the legal requirement of the annual report and accounts.

The first thing that needs to be clarified here is that, in his nearly three-hour tirade, Maduro was unaccountable to the nation because, according to what he said with total impudence, a deputy minister did the job for him the previous week while he was traveling to Russia, China and other OPEC countries.

What he did acknowledge is that oil at $100 per barrel is not coming back and that's the reason why the country is going through an economic crisis, as he tried once more to shrug off the responsibility of a failed model of a country imposed over the past 16 years that gave rise to the so-called Socialism of the 21st century in Venezuela.

This crisis, which Maduro just doesn't seem to understand, led him to announce for the second time in less than a year that an increase in gas prices is required (highlighting that it is the cheapest in the world) and, therefore, he said a debate on the subject must be opened and that his Vice President, Jorge Arreaza, should take care of carrying it out.

From there, many realized from the speech of Maduro that the worst is yet to come for Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: God Helps those Who Help Themselves! (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 22, 2015)

On January 23, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela Remains on the Road to Hell

The economic emergency that Venezuela is going through is so grave and its causes and solutions so obvious that brought together some 60 Venezuelan economists in agreement, including one or two supporters of the so-called "Socialism of the 21st century."

These 60 professionals have developed a 15-page document addressed to the National Executive and to all sectors of the country, explaining the reasons of the crisis as they draw up proposals to deal with the emergency. This document was published in the web site of NGO Pensar en Venezuela (www.pensarenvenezuela.org.ve) on Thursday. [22 de enero 2015]

These proposals are based on a reality that is well exposed in the document: "Venezuela requires the establishment of a market economy with strong social and economic institutions, forming part of a democracy where all national sectors will have their doors open to participate without fear in the national development." That is to say, a trilogy of democracy, legal certainty and inclusion.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Remains on the Road to Hell (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 23, 2015)

On January 26, 2015. VenEconomy: Half Full or Half Empty during Saturday's Demonstration

VenEconomy readers may be wondering whether the streets of Caracas and some other state capitals of Venezuela were filled by citizens during the so-called "March of the Empty Pots" called by the Democratic Unity (or MUD) party on Saturday.

Some say they were half empty. They had hoped that many more people would have attended because of: 1) The serious food and medicine shortages (a situation that forces people to humiliating queues, where consumers are branded like animals to have access to what they cannot find at regular stores and their right to purchase basic products is restricted to two days a week, depending on the last number of their ID cards.) 2) The number of murders in the hands of criminals due to a policy of impunity (25,000 victims in 2014 alone, which represents thousands more than any country at war in the Middle East.)

Others like ABC.es believe pots were full. This Spain-based newspaper stated that this civic demonstration called by the MUD was a litmus test that the opposition party successfully overcame. And it has reasons to spare to call this march a litmus test.

See VenEconomy: Half Full or Half Empty during Saturday's Demonstration (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 26, 2015)

On January 27, 2015. VenEconomy: The Power of Three Democratic Voices

There is nothing more powerful than the voices that are raised to demand freedom and justice for the oppressed peoples, particularly when those voices come from proven democrats of international recognition.

Three former Latin American presidents arrived in Venezuela this week to attend "The Citizen Power and Democracy Today" forum held in Caracas, organized by the leadership of the country's Democratic Unity (or MUD) opposition party.

These three gentlemen are Andrés Pastrana (Colombia), Sebastián Piñera (Chile), and Felipe Calderón (Mexico), three democrats who, undeterred by all the previous insults coming straight from the mouth of President Nicolás Maduro, came to this country to see and suffer in the flesh the rigors of the so-called "Socialism of the 21st century."

They experienced, for instance, how visitation rights of political prisoners are violated at the Ramo Verde military prison in Miranda state, when both Pastrana and Piñera ran into a military wall that, following the orders of the Office of the Vice-President and without any valid reason, denied them to visit opposition leader Leopoldo López, the mayor of the San Cristóbal municipality in Táchira state (Daniel Ceballos) and other Venezuelans in situation of imprisonment. They witnessed the long and obvious queues of desperate citizens at the doors of supermarkets trying to make it in in order to buy some food. They were struck by all the empty shelves found in grocery stores and retailers everywhere in a country that boasts the "biggest oil reserves in the world." And they attended two "very hard and heartbreaking" meetings where they heard about the experiences of journalists and victims of human rights violations.

See VenEconomy: The Power of Three Democratic Voices (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 27, 2015)

On January 28, 2015. VenEconomy: The High Price Paid for the Errors in Venezuela

Hunger and death are spreading across Venezuela because of a political project that was supposed to represent a panacea for the poor, and rather ended up being a factory of poverty, misery and marginality.

One way to measure the situation is paying attention to the voices of agrifood specialists calling for an emergency to be decreed in the sector; or listening to government spokesmen such as Food Security Regulator Carlos Osorio, who has recognized that food reserves will only last two and a half months, an extremely serious claim when it is clear that there is no guarantee of enough production to replenish shelves everywhere in the country with food products, or the necessary foreign currency to import them.

See VenEconomy: The High Price Paid for the Errors in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 28, 2015)

On January 29, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Political, Economic Dysfunction

"Venezuela is a toxic mishmash of corruption and misrule, and a drop in oil prices has resulted in general shortages, soaring inflation and an increase in repression. The nation that once was a role model for populist governments across Latin America, a system installed by Hugo Chávez, is today a typical case of political and economic dysfunction."

This pathetic, but honest, description of the country's reality was given by Freedom House's annual report on the state of global freedom published on Wednesday.
[2014 Freedom House's annual report on the state of global freedom - Venezuela]

A trend that, far from going down, seems to increase if we take into consideration the latest statement by Vladimir Padrino, the Defense Minister, with the resolution No. 008610 published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday establishing a new model of military control of public order that includes the "use of potentially deadly force that might as well be firearms or another life-threatening weapon," as a last resort to "avoid disturbances, support the legitimately constituted authority and reject any aggression by repelling it immediately with the necessary resources." That is to say, everyday actions by State security forces that have left over 50 people killed during the protests that started in February of last year are being legitimized and legalized.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Political, Economic Dysfunction (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 29, 2015)

On January 30, 2015. VenEconomy: Is Resolution No. 008610 a Cover for Venezuela's Drug Cartels?

Venezuela seems not only resting upon an erupting volcano, but violently hit by a hurricane at the same time, even though the country doesn't have any volcanoes or is a tornado area. The alarming and inexplicable events here happen so fast that is hard for anyone to get the chance to digest and analyze their implications.

On Wednesday, for example, the national and international public opinion was surprised with a report by Spain-based newspaper ABC talking about the defection of Leamsy Salazar Villafaña, a lieutenant commander and former head of security of the late Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, who had allegedly requested asylum in the U.S. and would be testifying as a protected witness of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

See VenEconomy: Is Resolution No. 008610 a Cover for Venezuela's Drug Cartels? (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 30, 2015)

On February 2, 2015. VenEconomy: Fueling Shortages in Venezuela

It seems that Venezuela's rulers are obsessed with not learning from the experiences (their own and those of others) and stubbornly keep repeating error after error, something that has brought so many hardships to the people of this country.

The warning bells rang on January 21 announcing that the critical situation of the country may worsen further after Nicolás Maduro presented his annual Report and Accounts before the Parliament.

That day, not only Maduro did not report anything at all and repeated the same old broken promises of distribution of wealth for political proselytism purposes, but he also announced that he will step up "inspections" to distribution companies and confirmed that he would carry on with the control policies that have caused so much damage to the national productive system.

As expected, given the grim record of such inspections, the "new ones" seem to continue ending up in new expropriations, more trials and imprisonment against Venezuelans in addition to further deterioration in the sources of employment.

See VenEconomy: Fueling Shortages in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 2, 2015)

On February 3, 2015. VenEconomy: Quo Vadis, Venezuela?

Where are they taking you, Venezuela? That's the question coming out of the mouths of millions of citizens, nationals and foreigners, after each unusual announcement or news by the local government on the economy, social and political aspects or investigations of international bodies that involve State officials committing a wide range of wrongful acts. What is serious about all this is that each new event is intertwined with another, indicating that the "revolution" is in full radicalization toward communism.

On the other hand, the economic situation is deteriorating further resulting in an increase of poverty. According to ECLAC data, the Poverty Index in 2013 was 6.7 percentage points higher than the previous year (from 25.4% to 32.1%). General shortages, recession and inflation are deeply felt in the quality of life of the population, not to mention the growing fear of rampant crime.

In response, the Government does not rectify any of its disastrous policies (among other things, remove price and foreign exchange controls; repeal tough laws such as the Labor Law or fully restore the Rule of Law and respect for private property.) On the contrary, it insists on using foreign exchange bands that are sources of more corruption; tighten the noose of controls; apply new criminal laws as that of Customs; return to the path of expropriations and step up the repression against the private sector by setting up civic-military groups that would "fight shortages." Among the latest victims of this so-called "Operation Sucre" are Distribuidora Herrera (a distributor of products of mass consumption), dairy producer Zuli Milk's production facilities, Farmatodo (a pharmacy retail chain) and Día a Día (a food distributor). All of them suffering from the onslaught of a biased judiciary that includes arrests, fines, humiliations and prosecution to owners, managers and workers.

See VenEconomy: Quo Vadis, Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 3, 2015)

On February 4, 2015. VenEconomy: Bipolarity in Times of the Venezuelan Revolution

One of the leitmotifs of the governments of Venezuela over the past 16 years has been that of attacking the U.S. "empire", accusing it of meddling in the internal affairs of the peoples of the Americas and, in the particular case of Venezuela, of being behind countless coups d'état against the "revolution of the 21st century".

The reality is that the U.S. has shown a certain level of indifference and apathy for the region in the last few decades. Another reality is that the regime of the Castro brothers took advantage of this indifference, through the Venezuelan petrodollars provided by Hugo Chávez, so it could penetrate several governments in this hemisphere and infect them with the plague of the socialism of the 21st century to undermine the democratic systems of countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

See VenEconomy: Bipolarity in Times of the Venezuelan Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 4, 2015)

On February 5, 2015. VenEconomy: Maduro's Government is disconnected from Reality

Nicolás Maduro took over the public airwaves on Wednesday on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the bloody events that resulted in a coup d'état that launched Hugo Chávez in the public arena.

It's not surprising that in times like these, so opposed to the democratic logic, such a violent event that sought to overthrow a constitutionally elected government and plunged entire Venezuelan families into mourning is being praised.

But it does call our attention that Maduro, evidencing a lack of sense of relevance and ubiquity, had the broadcast in parallel with a Caribbean Series game of Venezuela against Dominican Republic. In fact, many dictators in history have kept the population happy with bread and games, and it happens that baseball has a tranquilizing effect on Venezuelans, something that Chávez always bore in mind.

This "banality" is just a symbolism of the disconnection of the Maduro government from the reality of the country. A disconnection that becomes tragically clear in a new onslaught against the private sector, blaming it for the economic meltdown that has made several food items, medicines and other essential stuff disappear from the shelves of the nation's domestic distribution network (both public and private).

See VenEconomy: Maduro's Government is disconnected from Reality (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 5, 2015)

On February 9, 2015. VenEconomy: The Disease killing Venezuela Today

Venezuela has come to a standstill. Venezuela is dying of inertia and uncertainty. It is perishing for the frenzy, anarchy, violence and repression of all kinds.

Producers, importers, distributors and service companies find themselves drifting and waiting for the Government to define the foreign exchange measures announced by President Nicolás Maduro nearly a month ago.

See VenEconomy: The Disease killing Venezuela Today (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 6, 2015)

On February 9, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's 'Law of the Funnel'

The loss of democratic institutions as well as the confiscation of the autonomy of public authorities in Venezuela are the causes of injustice and political exclusion doing great harm to the Venezuelan people.

And so are the automatic solidarities and the discretionary application of laws tilting the balance in favor of a "Plan for the Homeland" that has let a Cuban-style communist regime into the country. The law of the funnel has been institutionalized in Venezuela today, with the interests of the Government located in the wide conical mouth and those of the rest of the Venezuelan society in the narrow stem.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's 'Law of the Funnel' (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 9, 2015)

On February 10, 2015. VenEconomy: This Game has not changed at All for the Venezuelan Opposition

There are many things that remain inalterable with the passage of time in the Venezuela of the Socialism of the 21st century. One of them is the harassment, siege and exclusion of any opposition leader elected to hold public office by popular vote, no matter whether in the Parliament, a state government, mayorship or municipal council. Such harassment (little or nothing) matters as long as it ends violating the Constitution, laws or does harm to the population.

What is relevant to the elite that has been in power for the last 16 years is to get their political opponents out of the game, to discredit them, to prevent them from doing their job and to show the efficiency and effectiveness that a model of governance opposed to the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" can have.

See VenEconomy: This Game has not changed at All for the Venezuelan Opposition (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 10, 2015)

On February 11, 2015. VenEconomy: Another Missed Opportunity for Venezuela

On Tuesday, Rodolfo Marco Torres (Minister of Finance) and Nelson Merentes (president of the central bank) finally revealed what the "new" foreign exchange types are going to be "for now", after irresponsibly having kept the entire country and the battered Venezuelan productive sector on tenterhooks for quite a while.

As announced by Venezuela's economic duo, at least until the rules of the foreign exchange game are changed once more, three types shall govern:

1. A preferential rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar for priority and essential imports of food and medicines.
2. A "new" SICAD auction system - that is exactly the same as the old SICAD I - will start selling dollars from Bs.12 (or the rate of the last auction held for the SICAD I).
3. The Marginal Foreign Exchange System (Simadi), which they both explained is "open and free" and natural and legal persons will be able to participate.

To conclude:
1) No matter how much it tries to hide it, what the National Executive is after is to have the benefits of a devaluation (more profits for the Government) without affecting the costs of food and medicines.
2) Once more, the Bolivarian government has wasted an opportunity to take critical steps in the recovery of the economy.
3) It will solve absolutely nothing by turning to a new devaluation, because what the country urgently needs is to free the economy by removing price controls; respecting the rights of private property and free enterprise; restoring democracy and the rule of law, and, in a coordinated fashion, formulating a strategy to boost the productivity and growth of Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: Another Missed Opportunity for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 11, 2015)

On February 12, 2015. VenEconomy: Contempt for Education in Venezuela

If something has been evident during 16 years of "socialism of the 21st century" is that education has stopped being a priority, unless the State finds it useful to get its ideology into the heads of citizens.

Evidence of this contempt for education is there for everyone to see: schools and educational centers have collapsed; professors and teachers are poorly paid and poorly prepared; curricular changes eliminated basic subjects, distorted reality and introduced indoctrinating concepts and materials; evaluations and automatic promotions were eliminated, among others.

Perhaps this contempt for education showed by all dictatorial governments is because they know that education is the necessary weapon to stand up to any tyranny.

See VenEconomy: Contempt for Education in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 12, 2015)

On February 13, 2015. VenEconomy: Searching for a Free Economy in Venezuela

This Thursday marked the first anniversary of the student demonstrations that demanded the State more security for universities and a better quality of life for Venezuelans. Yet, things are a whole lot worse today than a year ago. Not only insecurity has mounted, but the economic crisis and general shortages are wreaking havoc in the productive sector and the population, while the rule of law, legal security, the freedoms and democracy have been hit hard as never before.

What's more alarming is that the nation's ruling elite is sticking to its guns, unwilling to rectify the country model in spite of the fact that tensions are felt in every corner, while it keeps insisting that it faces an "economic war".

See VenEconomy: Searching for a Free Economy in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 13, 2015)

On February 18, 2015. VenEconomy: Does the Venezuela Case Ring any Bells, Spain?

A report that representatives of Spain-based companies in Venezuela (Telefónica, Repsol, BBVA, Mapfre, Iberia, Air Europa and Meliá) were summoned for a meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace so they could apply pressure on their government and the Spanish media to put an end to an alleged smear campaign against the Venezuelan government, as well as the harsh criticisms against its sponsored Spanish party Podemos (we can) and the information on an investigation against Parliament head Diosdado Cabello for his alleged links with drug trafficking, has caused such a stir in the public opinion of that European nation.

According to Spanish daily ABC, the representatives of these companies also confirmed they had been warned that, if they don't do this, the Venezuelan government may retaliate against them with expropriations.

See VenEconomy: Does the Venezuela Case Ring any Bells, Spain? (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 18, 2015)

On February 19, 2015. VenEconomy: Not Gone with the Venezuelan Revolution

On Wednesday, a year after democratic leader Leopoldo López turned himself in to the system of administration of justice of Venezuela's communist revolution, CNN en Español, CNN's Spanish-language channel, broadcast a telephone interview conducted by journalist Fernando del Rincón on February 8 from the Ramo Verde military prison located in Los Teques, a city near Caracas.

It should be noted that by the time CNN broadcast this interview, López, just like Daniel Ceballos, the former mayor of the San Cristóbal municipality in San Cristóbal state, had been in solitary confinement in a 7-by-7-foot punishment cell for a week, without access to sunlight or natural air and with visits suspended for not letting a group of law enforcement officers wearing ski masks thrash his usual prison cell.

It should also be remembered that López was brought to a spurious trial a year ago without evidence supporting the allegations of him being the mastermind behind a subliminal message that allegedly resulted in acts of violence in the area surrounding the Prosecutor's Office on February 12 of last year. Events that led to protests in several states throughout the country with a death toll of 49 young people in the hands of the State's security forces and vigilantes, and hundreds of detainees (60 of them haven't been released yet and 1,900 are still subject to a reporting regime before a court).

Of all the truths told by López, besides the tough personal and family situations he has faced this year, three stand out:

The first is that, besides him, the opposition mayors, the students and the rest of the political prisoners, all Venezuelans are being held prisoners in their own country over the situation of insecurity, healthcare crisis, and shortages. And that prison known as Venezuela has been also built with controls on the economy, investments and the coercion of free enterprise, as well as with violations to the freedom of speech and opinion that keeps almost 80% of the population uninformed of the harsh reality of the country.

The second is that the prison depriving López and the rest of Venezuelans of liberty today is only temporary. As López told del Rincón during the interview, "...there is no political or social ground supporting this government and that's why (...) it increasingly seeks to restrain communications, it increasingly seeks to restrain dissident voices (...). The Government is looking to sow fear (...). Faced with that situation of widespread persecution, we need to have the courage to confront the State, understanding that there will be consequences, because there will be some for sure".

López is also right when he said that those ruling Venezuela today must understand "that their proposal failed, that they have caused the collapse of Venezuela, that the opportunity they've got from Venezuelans all these years, in particular since the arrival of Maduro in power, has proven to be a failure in all areas."

And he is convinced that the country will "move forward" while pinning his hopes on a "Venezuela soon to be built on the conviction that all rights must be for all the people".

Those are the hopes, the convictions of struggle, of freedom to think and determination to build a Venezuela where everyone will be welcome with the same rights and duties that exist in millions of citizens that the revolution of the Castro brothers, the Chávezs and the Maduros has not been able to bring down.

See VenEconomy: Not Gone with the Venezuelan Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 19, 2015)

On February 20, 2015. VenEconomy: Will 'Emperor' Maduro get New Clothes after All?

With a growing loss of popular support, and without having being able to tackle the drought of foreign currency, a situation that has Venezuela in ruins and its population hungry; and with growing discredit at international level, the government of Nicolás Maduro and the military elite supporting it appear to have decided to move forward at whatever cost, completely removing the democratic mask without caring about the ways to get the democratic leaders openly opposing them out of the way once and for all.

This way, while Venezuela is being devastated at political, economic and social level by the country's communist Bolivarian regime sponsored by the Castro brothers of Cuba, Hugo Chávez and Maduro; while the country has started showing cracks and the population is being decimated by violent criminals, the government of Maduro has returned playing its favorite dictatorial games and gave a demonstration of its brute force with a commando-style operation in Caracas on Thursday.

Antonio Ledezma, the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas and an authority of the regional Executive Branch who was elected with the highest number of votes, was taken forcibly by members of Venezuela's political police SEBIN, who broke into his office without an arrest or search warrant, allegedly following the instructions of the Attorney General's Office, as explained by Maduro on a national TV and radio broadcast. Ledezma is being accused of alleged crimes against homeland security, supposedly evidenced in a statement that called Venezuelans for a peaceful political transition in the framework of the Constitution, jointly signed by other opposition leaders such as Leopoldo López and María Corina Machado (the latter was illegally removed from her parliamentary seat last year).

At the same time, and just like every despot acting behind the backs of the people, Maduro took over the public airwaves to make a series of confusing announcements: 1) The Prosecutor's Office had issued an arrest warrant against Ledezma, who would be applied the full force of the law for conspiring against his legitimate Government. 2) Feasible early parliamentary elections with the intention to catch the opposition unaware. 3) An unexpected and unannounced trip he made to Cuba on Tuesday to meet with the Castro brothers. 4) A series of threats he launched against Lorenzo Mendoza, the CEO of Venezuela's largest foodmaker Polar, and Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda state.

This new witch-hunt conducted by the Venezuelan revolution demonstrates the weakness of a government showing cracks everywhere except for one side: the brutal repression against the democratic sector of the population, which casts doubts about who really is in command in Venezuela (perhaps the military sector)?

Julio Borges, Machado, Capriles and other leaders of the democratic opposition also face prison and prosecution threats by the State, government officials familiar with the situation have suggested. This should be added to the latest wave of arrests of military officers who were allegedly planning a coup d'état, the umpteenth attempt denounced over the past year and the brutal repression against the youth daring to protest in the streets, which claimed the lives of two people and dozens of new detainees this week. Plus the unfounded accusations against the government of the United States for interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela.

The smell of fear and despair of a government that finds itself lost due to the evident failure of its "anti-management" is what remains in the air after all this.

We just need to wait and see if the opposition sector emerges from its lethargy and responds with intelligence, proactivity, and true unity in the face of this dictatorial unmasking.

See VenEconomy: Will 'Emperor' Maduro get New Clothes after All? (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 20, 2015)

On February 24, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelans must not Yield to Resignation

In Venezuela the events worsening the economic, political and social crisis are mixed together like they were inside a tornado of large proportions wiping out everything in its path.

Many objective analysts have agreed on this as they have expressed their concern over the critical and devastating situation Venezuela is going through. Two of them, Oscar García Mendoza, a local banker, and Luis Ugalde, a Jesuit, agree that the situation of the country is unsustainable.

García Mendoza sums it up in his article entitled Resignation when saying that "education, infrastructure, healthcare, the industry, the rule of law, justice, everything, absolutely everything in Venezuela is going down into a precipice getting destroyed".

And Ugalde said in an interview for digital magazine Prodavinci: Objectively, the way things are, "the country looks hopeless. There is no way out with this government. And neither is with the opposition, such as it is. With the economic and social data we have, the situation becomes unbearable as social unrest aggravates".

There is no more time to redress the situation because, as says Ugalde, "if you have a patience in the emergency room, you have to take care of him/her. Then you can deal with the meal plan or tell him/her if he/she can walk already. The emergency is not in 2019: it was in 2014 and now in 2015".

It is as García Mendoza pointed out, "the more time passes, the worse will be the condition of the country, the worse the education of its inhabitants, the worse their health, the worse their competitive skills, the worse its infrastructure ...".

The solution lies in what VenEconomy has been saying on the restoration of the Rule of Law and Justice; on the rectification of economic policies, the respect for private property, the removal of controls; on respecting again the civil and political liberties. In sum, the return to democracy.

See VenEconomy: Venezuelans must not Yield to Resignation (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 24, 2015)

On February 25, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela Breaks Down in Tears

Venezuela today cries from the heart the murder of Kluiverth Ferney Roa, an eighth grader who was shot in the head after leaving school and unexpectedly running into a demonstration in full development near the National Experimental University of Táchira (UNET) in Táchira state on Tuesday.

The 14-year-old teen was born amidst the so-called "peaceful but armed" revolution of the 21st century, an era when the late Hugo Chávez began to show the true face of his revolution.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Breaks Down in Tears (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 25, 2015)

On February 26, 2015. VenEconomy: What kind of Democracy does Maduro want for Venezuela?

The violent tone, a threatening attitude and repressive actions and persecution by the government of Nicolás Maduro in the last few days are not in tune with a country that requires consensus, inclusion and joint actions urgently in order to get it out of a serious economic, political and social crisis. Maduro starts making ridiculous accusations that range from an ongoing "economic war" to coup plots, all without presenting a single evidence.

One might have thought that when faced with an economy on the brink of collapse, inflation levels close to 100% and the depletion of the central bank's international reserves, the Maduro administration would come closer to the private sector that is still producing and making real efforts to bring relief to all the misery caused by the misguided policies of the governments of the late Hugo Chávez and Maduro. Dead wrong! Maduro has replied with tighter control and more aggressive intimidation against private companies, especially those cooperating in the effort to alleviate shortages of basic consumer goods. Distribuidora Herrera, Farmatodo, Día a Día and dozens of smaller companies, including two chicken processing plants, fell into the hands of the Bolivarian government during the first two months of 2015. Added to this are the intensified threats against Venezuela's largest foodmaker and brewer Polar.

And instead of seeking the participation of the democratic opposition to get the country back on track, the Government is becoming increasingly more arbitrary and repressive. Accusations of a conspiracy against his government involving three opposition leaders are heading in that direction: Antonio Ledezma, Leopoldo López and María Corina Machado whose sin is to irritate the delicate skin of the Government with their criticism and public appeals.

Ledezma was arrested and sent to the Ramo Verde military prison on the outskirts of Caracas this week, without any evidence of conspiracy after having signed a manifesto known as "National Agreement for the Transition", in principle together with Machado and López, and now with the addition of more than 100,000 signatures of Venezuelans, including democratic parties such as Copei and López's Voluntad Popular (popular will).

This agreement calls to (a) restore democratic institutions and the Rule of Law, (b) develop programs to address the "social emergency" and (c) implement sensible economic programs. That is to say, no aspiration that seems, sounds or looks subversive or conspiratorial.

It is feared that Machado may also be arrested and indicted on charges of conspiracy. Even though his Primero Justicia (justice first) party has not signed the agreement yet, it has been reported that the PSUV ruling party has started an investigation against opposition lawmaker Julio Borges to charge him with conspiracy and that way remove him from parliamentary office.

That is to say, based on an extensive list of people involved in the alleged conspiracy, Maduro would be preventing the entire democratic leadership from running for public office. Some democracy you want for Venezuela, Maduro!

See VenEconomy: What kind of Democracy does Maduro want for Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 26, 2015)

On February 27, 2015. VenEconomy: Media Blackout Worsens in Venezuela

Friday marked the 26th anniversary of the "Caracazo", the name given to a series of protests and riots that took place throughout Venezuela between February 27 and March 8 of 1989. These events left some 300 people dead and about 2,000 missing, apart from an incalculable economic loss for hundreds of retailers that were looted and burned down.

Back then, every media outlet (television, radio or printed) had reported and documented the looting, riots, the destruction of establishments and presented graphic information of the casualties in different areas of Caracas, Guarenas, Guatire and other cities where the violent protests spread through.

A media coverage that was possible in a time when the State owned a single TV and radio station and no printed ones, except for the Official Gazette. Those were the times of a free press, where the responsibility for information was entirely of each media outlet and the ethics of their managers, always in accordance with the national Constitution. Those were times when the media was not harassed at administrative level, closed down, acquired or forced to impose silence on itself, at least not systematically or as State policy.

Today, 26 years later, the question is the following: how many Venezuelans could find out about the incidents taking place in the country in 2015 with the same immediacy as 1989?

Readers can have an answer by only checking who the new owners of Venezuela's media are today, or by just listening to or reading the headlines on the radio or the written press of national coverage, or by only turning on their radios or TV sets and find a government broadcast covering up events of interest happening in the national territory, and that the only possible way to learn about what is going on in the country is through the social networks or their families living abroad.

For a long time, the State has been stealing TV signals (such as the case of RCTV a few years ago), closing down dozens of radio stations, and media outlets are being acquired by figureheads or friends of Venezuela's socialist process, as have been the cases of news channel Globovisión, the Cadena Capriles media group, and El Universal and Notitarde newspapers, in pursuit of a communicational hegemony.

Just like all those owned by the State, these media outlets have stopped covering news such as the recent murder of Kluiverth Ferney Roa, a 14-year-old boy in Táchira state; or the allegations against Parliament head Diosdado Cabello by Lieutenant Commander Leamsy Salazar to U.S. authorities; or the millions of dollars deposited in Swiss-based bank HSBC by state-owned bank Banco del Tesoro and the National Treasury; or those regarding the "Tomb", an underground prison in Caracas where Venezuelans are subjected to torture; or the endless queues of people trying to buy diapers, milk or medicines. Neither do they report on the huge debt owed to airlines, or the foreign companies leaving the country, or the growing rejection of the international community towards a political regime that is already being seen as non-democratic.

On Friday, after 26 years of Caracazo, another media outlet was heavily affected by the harassment of the Government (seven lawsuits in 15 years), an increased pressure on its advertisers and "several unjustified audits" by tax, social security and Ministry of Labor officials. We're talking about TalCual, a critical newspaper to the policies of the Government founded by Teodoro Petkoff, an economist, former guerrilla, founder of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) socialist party, and Planning Minister during the second term of President Rafael Caldera (1994-1999).

Unfortunately, TalCual printed its last daily edition on Friday and will come out as a weekly edition and on the web on the blog www.talcualdigital.com.

Another objective place for information that will not be available for citizens. Which one is next on the Government's list?

See VenEconomy: Media Blackout Worsens in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 27, 2015)

On March 2, 2015. VenEconomy: Another Missed Opportunity for Venezuela

On February 10 of this year, different actors in the national productive sector felt a sigh of relief, including nearly all economic analysts and a good part of the Venezuelan population.

On that day, Venezuela's economic duo Nelson Merentes (president of the central bank) and Rodolfo Marco Torres (the Finance minister) announced a new Exchange Agreement (No. 33), which would involve two separate foreign exchange markets: one of them 100% controlled by the central bank and the other subject to the "controls" of a free market, or at least, one that is almost free.

The novelty here, naturally, was the "free" market known as the Foreign Exchange Marginal System (Simadi).

However, Simadi hasn't started after having been announced more than three weeks ago, which evidences it is no free currency system at all because the Government is the one that unilaterally fixes the ceilings, thus making the same mistakes as with Sitme.

Sitme hasn't started for two basic reasons: Neither the public sector or state-run oil company PDVSA have provided the necessary foreign currency to jump start the market by not allowing sales above Bs.180 per dollar, while private bidders haven't sold foreign currency in the system yet.

Meanwhile, the dollar of the parallel market - a truly free market - skyrocketed trading at Bs.226 per dollar on Monday.

And the criteria for the allocation of foreign currency and the three types of exchange rates remain as fuel for corruption.

The bottom line: once more the Government threw away another golden opportunity to make things right and with this, both the supply crisis and inflationary spiral are likely to get worse.

See VenEconomy: Another Missed Opportunity for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 2, 2015)

On March 3, 2015. VenEconomy: Has the Government of Maduro Blocked Venezuela's Democratic Road?

Refused to understand that the debacle of his government and the chaos and ruin of Venezuela is owed to his obsolete political model that has failed in the entire history of mankind, Nicolás Maduro continues to insist on the nonsense that everybody is involved in a plot to unseat him.

Now he is blaming several members of the international community who, alarmed by the growing political persecution against the Venezuelan democratic leadership, the repression against the student sector and the flagrant violation of human rights in the country, have been progressively opening their eyes and urging the government of Maduro to come to senses and get back on the democratic route.

The international media already speaks of tyranny in Venezuela.

Organizations such as the prestigious Club de Madrid, comprised of some 90 former heads of state and government, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), have argued that a "necessary condition" for any democratic system is the possibility for making opposition "whether it is from politics, the media or civil society" as they demanded the release of all political prisoners in Venezuela.

The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies also rebuked the Venezuelan government after the arrest of Antonio Ledezma, the Mayor of Metropolitan Caracas, by adopting a "motion of repudiation" against it for "breaking democratic principles with offenses to individual freedoms and the due legal process". Meanwhile, Uruguayan and Argentine lawmakers keep questioning the human rights violations and also would be raising the possibility of Venezuela leaving the Mercosur bloc.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the MEPs also expressed their repudiation for the arrest of Ledezma and the overall situation in Venezuela.

As was to be expected from an autocratic mind, the overblown and meaningless response from Maduro was not long in coming:

On February 20, Maduro accused "the right wing of Madrid, the far right of Bogota and Miami, of having made a Madrid-Bogota-Miami hub to conspire against our homeland".

A week ago, he lambasted the MEPs when he said that "members of the European Parliament who don't know Venezuela, people without any information of the country, who hate Latin America, come to stick their noses in the internal affairs of Venezuela". And he pointed out that "nobody must stick their noses in Venezuelan affairs!"

But the biggest attacks were launched on the U.S., Maduro's bitterest orange, accusing it of planning a coup d'état, in which several members of the Venezuelan opposition would be involved.

And as "punishment" for this alleged interference, Maduro is taking a series of steps against the "U.S. empire" that include: a requirement for American diplomats to report their activities in the country and request permission from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry so these can be fulfilled; the reduction of diplomatic staff (from 100 to 17 officials) at the U.S. embassy in Venezuela in 15 days' time; the issuance of visas for American citizens, and a report containing staff and former staff members, who will be banned from entering the country "because they are terrorists".

But the worst thing is that in his temperamental outburst he opens a Pandora's Box after calling his supporters to "step out into the streets" along with the Bolivarian Armed Forces and apprehend those who attempt to take power "through violence", while threatening to make opposition political parties illegal and hinting that he will not allow "the opposition to go to parliamentary elections if it is involved in promoting violence" with the cry of "make no mistakes, people!" It won't go to an election pretending it didn't do anything", he said.

Is he looking to repeat the tragic scenes of pain and violence from the past so he can remain in power through a state of exception?

See VenEconomy: Has the Government of Maduro Blocked Venezuela's Democratic Road? (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 3, 2015)

On March 4, 2015. VenEconomy: Will the Venezuelan Government Pull the Plug on the Parliamentary Elections this year?

The two rulers of the so-called Socialism of the 21st century are well known for blaming others for their own actions, tactics or strategies all these years of "revolution" in Venezuela. This strategy is particularly being applied to the political movement that opposes its totalitarian model to rule the country.

These days, Nicolás Maduro and his ruling elite have stated that the opposition is planning a coup d'état and an assassination attempt against the president, in which an imaginary group organized in Madrid, Colombia and the U.S. would be allegedly involved.

According to the announcement of Maduro the attempted coup, which included a heavily armed "Tucán" training aircraft that would have come from abroad to kill him and other leaders of the PSUV during one of the Youth Day events on February 12, was foiled by his intelligence corps. The aftermath of this umpteenth assassination plot against the Venezuelan president without any kind of evidence in these past sixteen years, apart from a series of measures against the U.S. and its Diplomatic Corps, has been: the arrest of Antonio Ledezma, the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas, today being held in the Ramo Verde military prison; arrest threats against opposition leaders Julio Borges and María Corina Machado; violent repressive actions against students with more dead, wounded and arrested people; and the threats of Maduro to disable political parties, including the Democratic Unity, so he can prevent a "double game" allegedly played by the majority of political leaders in this country, which means to conspire against him and stand for election at the same time.

With this threat, as repeated in several of his speeches and various scenarios, Maduro is projecting and transferring his own intentions to the opposition, also making evident that the opposition will never take power "by hook or by crook".

Everything seems to indicate that the Government would be tempted to pull the plug on the parliamentary elections to be held this year, should polls continue to show that the population rejects the Maduro administration and the possibility of losing the Parliament, even with the machinations of the biased electoral authority that has helped Venezuela's communist regime gain important ground in the last fifteen years.

See VenEconomy: Will the Venezuelan Government Pull the Plug on the Parliamentary Elections this year? (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 4, 2015)

On March 5, 2015. VenEconomy: The Legacy of the 'Eternal Commander' Hugo Chávez

On Thursday, at 4:25 in the morning, it was heard a bugle call in all the barracks of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. This bugle call sounded like one of the tributes that the government of Venezuela paid to Hugo Chávez, the "eternal commander" who created the so-called "socialism of the 21st century", on the second anniversary of the announcement of his death.

It would have been fairer if that tribute was paid to the nearly 300,000 people murdered in the hands of violent criminals in the past 16 years. Or to Franklin Brito, a local farmer who Chávez let die of starvation for defending his principles and rights. Or to the 195 political prisoners of Chávez (including Gen. Francisco Usón, the police commissioners Lázaro Forero, Iván Simonovis and Henry Vivas, the eight Metropolitan Police officers, the former Supreme Court justice María de Lourdes Afuini and Gen. Raúl Isaías Baduel, among many others.)

Or to the more than 20,000 workers that Chávez had fired from state-run oil company PDVSA and other thousands of Venezuelans who he carried out his apartheid policy and denied them the right to work. Or to all those children living in the streets today who he vowed to get off the public roads and take out of a situation of starvation and misery. Or to the thousands of citizens still waiting for the decent houses that he promised years ago.

Obviously, it's a pipe dream to expect that the government of Nicolás Maduro would sound the bugle for these and other thousands of Venezuelans who Chávez himself stripped from their most basic civil, economic and political rights for the sake of implementing his so-called "Plan for the Homeland". We must not forget that Maduro is his "rightful heir" who is enhancing his rule through repression and violence because of his lack of charisma, grassroots support and resources.

Now then, Chávez would have deserved a "tribute" as long as he had fulfilled at least some of the fine promises he made to fight corruption, promote social justice, the inclusion of the most disadvantaged ones and, of course, his commitment to the democratic values that led him to power through popular vote in December of 1998.

But he never did, in spite of the fact that these were promises he could have easily fulfilled. Chávez not only boasted an undeniable charisma and had the power of a snake charmer with which he would have been able to sell the necessary measures to correct the existing economic and social distortions in Venezuela. He also counted on the support of most part of the population, and with almost all the media hoping for a shift toward progress. Apart from the fact that he counted on the vast resources from oil revenues and that he contributed, in principle, good ideas for promoting social justice.

Unfortunately, Chávez chose the wrong path and rather than leading Venezuela to progress, he condemned it to misery, a historic retrogression and plunged it into a pit of rampant corruption.

His grim legacy is palpable today in the misfortunes besetting every single Venezuelan. His legacy is in the huge social debt reflected in the poverty figures that are comparable today with the worst years of the 20th century; in the deterioration of the healthcare system, in the huge housing deficit and in the already incalculable homicide figures. It is also palpable in an unjustifiable drop in oil production, in the devastation of the national production system, as well as in an inflation rate hovering around 60% and in general shortages never seen before in the history of the country. And verifiable in the unstoppable spiral of political prisoners that includes opposition leaders and mayors, and in a biased judiciary system that sentenced Raúl Baduel (the son of Gen. Baduel) and popular leader Alexander "Gato" Tirado to eight years in prison on Wednesday just for protesting against the government of Maduro.

His history will be darkened by the destruction of democratic values, ethical principles that have made the citizen coexistence feasible; by the systematic violation of human rights, economic freedom and private property.

History shall not pay tribute to Chávez with a bugle call.

See VenEconomy: The Legacy of the 'Eternal Commander' Hugo Chávez (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 5, 2015)

On March 6, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Economy is hanging by a Thin Thread

The foreign exchange issue is going from bad to worse in Venezuela as the country's economy keeps hanging by a thin thread. Should it break, Venezuelans would have to deal with the worst economic and social crisis in its entire history.

As expected, none of the economic officials of Nicolás Maduro heading the new Marginal Currency System (Simadi) has been able to jump start this new foreign exchange mechanism.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Economy is hanging by a Thin Thread (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 6, 2015)

On March 9, 2015. VenEconomy: The Intemperance of Venezuela's 'Anti-Imperialist' Measures

Knowing that the sun is on its back, the government of Nicolás Maduro has not been able to find a way to show the world that the misfortunes of Venezuela come from the American "empire" other than by "taking drastic measures" against that country, and shrug off its responsibility for the current debacle of the nation.

First of all, it is demanding the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela to reduce its diplomatic staff members from more than 100 to 17 in a period of 15 days. This is a case of reciprocity with the number of diplomats Venezuela has in the U.S. that was understated because, including consulates, there are 74 Venezuelan diplomats in the U.S., according to spokespersons of the Department of State.

Then through a resolution published in the Official Gazette on February 28, it prohibited consulates to issue entry visas to seven conservative current and former staff members of the U.S.: former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, and congressmen Marco Rubio, Bob Menendez, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros Lehtinen.

Even more bizarre, for the intemperance of the measures, are the visa requirements for American tourists to enter Venezuela. It should be noted that the requirements for U.S. tourists are a mirror of those required for Venezuelan tourists, and from other parts of the world, traveling to that country.

See VenEconomy: The Intemperance of Venezuela's 'Anti-Imperialist' Measures (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 9, 2015)

On March 10, 2015. VenEconomy: Caught in a Crossfire between Venezuela, U.S

Monday wrote another chapter in the confrontation between Venezuela and the U.S. since the late President Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999. A confrontation that has gotten worse during the last year in office of Nicolás Maduro after a series of violations committed by his government against the human rights of protesting students and political leaders from the opposition.

President Barack Obama issued an executive order on Monday punishing seven Venezuelan government officials by freezing their assets in the U.S., also banning them from entering the country. Six of them are military officers that currently hold, or once did, key positions in State security agencies during the student protests that took place throughout the country since February of last year, and that left a death toll of 43, hundreds of injured and more than 3,000 detainees, 60 of whom are still in prison. The seventh official sanctioned by the Obama administration is Katherine Nayarith Harringhton Padrón, a National Prosecutor of the Public Ministry, who, among other people, accused student leader Gómez Saleh of committing offenses referred to in the laws against Corruption, Aliens and Immigration, and the Special Computer Crime Law, as well as student leader Gaby Arellano, the Caracas Metropolitan Mayor Antonio Ledezma and former opposition lawmaker María Corina Machado of conspiracy and planning a presidential assassination with evidence that has been allegedly falsified.

This executive order is the second issued by the Obama administration since the "Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014", signed into law on December 18 of that same year, which according to a statement released by the Obama administration reflects its commitment to "advancing respect for human rights, safeguarding democratic institutions, and protecting the U.S. financial system from the illicit financial flows from public corruption in Venezuela".

One of the differences with the previous executive order is that the first did not identify the officials by name and surname, or was specific about the number of officials being sanctioned. The other is that the Obama administration is taking a more decisive step on this occasion by declaring a national emergency because of an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to homeland security and the foreign policy caused by the situation in Venezuela.

As expected, the Maduro government responded on Monday night, first by calling the Chargé d'Affaires of Venezuela in the U.S. for consultation, and then by expressing its rejection of the measure on a national TV and radio broadcast full of contradictions and reinforced threats against the North American nation.

The most important aspect on the broadcast was an announcement of Maduro on Tuesday requesting the Parliament a new Enabling Law that would grant him "anti-imperialist enabling powers". A law that is expected to become a new Pandora's Box to continue the communist onslaught against democracy, to keep undermining the rights of Venezuelans and that will make Maduro remain in power for good. A fact that is leading many analysts to consider a strategic error of the Obama administration in its relations with Venezuela for giving it excuses to keep blaming it for the hardships of the country.

However, these punitive measures from the U.S. government are specific against officials who have violated human rights of Venezuelan citizens, and will not affect the population, the State or the trade relations of both countries in any way.

See VenEconomy: Caught in a Crossfire between Venezuela, U.S (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 10, 2015)

On March 11, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela Looks like 'Dried Out Leather'

The Venezuela of the revolutionary era looks like "dried out leather", because when someone grabs it on one of the sides, the remaining ones pop out.

A series of major scandals have set off this week alone, astonishing the public opinion as it has become customary all these years.

The first of them is in progress: at the request of Guyana, and with the permission of Cuba, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the U.S., oil company ExxonMobil started exploration drilling at the Stabroek block that shares sea areas of Guyana, the Essequibo and Venezuela. The drilling had the implicit approval of Venezuela, because the country has never made any objection in the years since Guyana announced plans for the development of Stabroek.

This territorial move of Guyana, under the complicit silence of the administrations of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, will end up stripping Venezuela of its Essequibo rights, possibly including the maritime rights derived from the Orinoco Delta. A territorial dispossession that has been allowed for the sake of the political support of Guyana and the Caribbean countries to the dictatorial project of Venezuela through multilateral agencies across the region.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Looks like 'Dried Out Leather' (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 11, 2015)

On March 12, 2015. VenEconomy: U.S. Sanctions are not aimed at Venezuela, its Population

The decisions and actions announced this week by the government of Barack Obama must be carefully analyzed with a magnifying glass.

On Tuesday, acting within the framework of the "Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014" unanimously passed by the U.S. Congress Obama froze the assets and bank deposits in the U.S. of six military officers and a prosecutor involved in the violation of human rights of students and political leaders in 2014. They were banned from entering the country as well.

That same day, Obama issued an executive order decreeing a "state of national emergency" in the face of an "unusual and extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy of the U.S." because of the acts of corruption from the Venezuelan government.

The spokespersons for the Obama administration made it clear from the beginning that the measures taken were not aimed at sanctioning the country, but at those who violate human rights as well as corrupt Venezuelan officials using financial resources of the U.S. to mobilize capital of doubtful origin from Venezuela's public purse.

The strength of these facts is corroborated with other two announcements this week: 1) That the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment determined on Wednesday that the government of Venezuela has violated international law after "not taking steps to prevent acts of ill-treatment", as well as acts of "torture" to demonstrators and detainees, such as opposition leader Leopoldo López. 2) That the European Parliament issued a resolution against the violations of human rights in Venezuela on Thursday, with 384 votes in favor, 75 against and 48 abstentions.

It is advisable to those with access to microphones and the Internet to make it clear to everyone that the U.S. sanctions are not against Venezuela or its population, but only against those who have violated the Constitution and the laws of the nation.

See VenEconomy: U.S. Sanctions are not aimed at Venezuela, its Population (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 12, 2015)

On March 13, 2015. VenEconomy: The Aviator - One Less Political Prisoner for Venezuela

There is one less political prisoner at the headquarters of Nicolás Maduro's political police, or SEBIN: Rodolfo González, a 64-year-old man who Maduro nicknamed "the aviator" when announcing the arrest of the "mastermind behind the 'guarimbas'" on national TV and radio broadcast on April 29 of last year, while appearing before a court of justice.

This 90 plus population decline in political prisoners does not have to do either with the result or the release of González, or with an interim measure in his favor by the office of justice of Maduro.

González was released by his own death on Friday. González was set free from the oppressive policy of the government of Maduro. He had been in prison for 10 months without having started a trial against him. He was the victim of a government that confined him in a SEBIN prison cell on charges of "criminal conspiracy, possession of explosives and trafficking in firearms". It is disturbing that "there is no forensic evidence" in the case file, as confirmed by his daughter Lissette González, a sociologist, in her story "A Grandfather made a Political Prisoner", written and published in October of 2014.

That poignant story could have been written by any daughter, mother, wife, sister or granddaughter of the dozens of political prisoners in communist Venezuela. It recounts the events that have transformed the lives of her family the same way as with those of hundreds of other families in the same moment they become instruments of political vendetta against people seeking freedom and democracy for their future. (Un abuelo que es preso político, at Conjeturas para llevar, Lissette González, jueves, 9 de octubre de 2014).

Three more Venezuelans are also affected by the cause of González: Douglas Morillo, Renzo Prieto and Yeimi Varela, who must go to trial deprived of their liberty.

See VenEconomy: The Aviator - One Less Political Prisoner for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 13, 2015)

On March 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Maduro's New Enabling Law is the True 'Frankenstein's Monster'

On Sunday, the parliamentary majority of Venezuela's ruling party PSUV once again granted special powers to President Nicolás Maduro so he could legislate at will by passing the so-called "Anti-Imperialist Enabling Law for Peace", published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 6,178 on Monday.

This law authorizes Maduro to do as he pleases for more than nine months, from March 16 to December of this year, when the legislative period of the current Parliament (aka National Assembly or AN) comes to an end.

The topics covered are broad and ambiguous as is the text of the law indicating that "the matters delegated to provide an enhanced warranty for the sovereignty rights and protection of the Venezuelan people and the constitutional order of the Republic" are condensed into four articles.

With this new law, the "red" lawmakers have satisfied an urgent request from the Venezuelan ruler, arguing "a need to have constitutional powers that allow me to move freely in a complex scenario that has been opened for Venezuela", referring to an executive order signed by President Barack Obama to declare Venezuela as a threat to the U.S.

This is the second enabling law granted to Maduro in one year and eleven months at the helm of power, apart from 20 months of unilateral and discretionary legislation, behind the backs of citizen participation and the assistance of political forces. This is no major surprise since this has been the norm of the Bolivarian government to install its so-called socialism of the 21st century in Venezuela through thick and thin in these past 16 years.

The dangerous precedent of enabling laws in times of the Bolivarian revolution are tangible and valid. These can be felt in each of the four enabling laws granted to the late Hugo Chávez, which allowed him to pass 215 decree-laws at his discretion during 36 months of his 13-year tenure. Or in the 57 decree-laws granted to Maduro in 2013 supposedly to tackle "corruption" and fight an imaginary "economic war" against his government.

Until now the 272 decree-laws passed by revolution officials have only served for the progress of a communist regime that has led a country with one of the world's largest reserves of oil and gas to ruin. A country model that takes pleasure in plunging the population into misery; a population that is getting used to being humiliated and subjected to restrictions to access food, medicines and other scarce basic goods, while violent criminals and the ongoing political repression decimates it.

There is nothing to guarantee that the enabling law history will not be repeated again, and that this "Anti-Imperialist Enabling Law for Peace" will serve a different purpose than "protecting the people" from an inexistent U.S. invasion threat.

This enabling law will only serve to further sharpen the existing conflicts against the private sector of the economy, increase the repression against anyone opposing the "Plan for the Homeland" and avoid the return to democracy, while they lower the curtain to hide the serious economic, social and political crisis going on in Venezuela, as well as the rampant corruption and government officials linked to money laundering activities at international level.

What is certain is that this enabling law will end up being the true "Frankenstein's monster" rather than the executive order signed by Obama, as Maduro has called it from the beginning.

See VenEconomy: Maduro's New Enabling Law is the True 'Frankenstein's Monster' (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 16, 2015)

On March 17, 2015. VenEconomy: More Darkness for Venezuelans

Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has carefully followed the lessons of the late Hugo Chávez in meeting his external obligations, as he paid off 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in maturities of the Eurobond 2015 on Monday. This way he made one of the many payments of external debt that Venezuela must meet during 2015.

There is no objection to such lesson from us. It is a fact of life that those who owe are obligated to pay.

Our objection is actually based on that motto that goes "what's good for the goose is good for the gander". The Government should apply that lesson of good obligor to its internal obligations as well; that is to say, for example, to the entire private sector to whom it owes some $10 billion in imports for the last two or three years, with the approval and endorsement of the nation's foreign exchange authorities.

However, this is not the case. Maduro holds a policy of vendetta with the private sector by delaying and denying the payment of its debts because, in his view, the Venezuelan business community has declared a hypothetical economic war on him to destabilize his government.

See VenEconomy: More Darkness for Venezuelans (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 17, 2015)

On March 18, 2015. VenEconomy: Teachers of Venezuela go on National Strike

Teachers across Venezuela stood up for their violated rights on Wednesday as they claimed wage improvements for their private insurance policies and those of the Social Security Institute of the Magisterium, or Ipasme.

These education professionals called on a strike in all schools nationwide. They will attend their usual classrooms and comply with their regular working hours, but will not teach, and in that national strike they will be joined by the educational community, which is also comprised of students and parents and legal guardians.

Their reasons are more than valid: demand their wage rights and social security.

See VenEconomy: Teachers of Venezuela go on National Strike (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 18, 2015)

On March 19, 2015. VenEconomy: Who's going to Bell the Venezuelan Government

Today the Venezuelan population lives a serious ordeal when it comes to obtaining basic foodstuffs and medicines. Apart from the daily struggle to overcome the rampant shortages, mitigate the effects of the high consumer prices and adapt to mile-long queues around supply centers, now the purchases of basic products at regulated prices were limited to two days a week (depending on the last number of the consumers' ID cards) through the use of biometric fingerprint readers.

Local business associations, in a clear demonstration of their democratic spirit always in strict accordance with the laws, are insisting on building bridges of conciliation and rectification of an economic policy that has proved to be a failed one many times over.

See VenEconomy: Who's going to Bell the Venezuelan Government (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 19, 2015)

On March 20, 2015. VenEconomy: A New App for Fighting Corruption in Venezuela

Rooting out corruption in Venezuela is one of the many (unfulfilled) promises of the late Hugo Chávez. Chávez boosted it rather than fighting it over the past 16 years, apart from hiding behind an impunity derived from the automatic solidarity from all those who call themselves loyal to the "socialist homeland".

According to figures of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Venezuela was ranked 161 in 2014, out of 175 countries analyzed, from 77 in 1998. It was close to be considered the "most corrupt" country on a global scale.

See VenEconomy: A New App for Fighting Corruption in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 20, 2015)

On March 23, 2015. VenEconomy: A Wake-Up Call for Venezuela's Politicians, Media

These lines are a wake-up call for President Nicolás Maduro, the Public Prosecutor's Office and other branches of government; for the opposition political party Democratic Unity (MUD) and its leaders; and for nearly all the local media. It's a call for you to cut the anti-imperialist crap once and for all and focus on what really matters: the uncovering at international level of several cases of corruption in which are involved a growing list of Venezuelan government officials that have looted the public purse to swell their own bank accounts.

Maduro, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the hegemonic network of the state-run media, and even the leadership of the MUD persist on dubbing the executive order of U.S. President Barack Obama as "interventionist", while ignoring all the corruption schemes that have been uncovered after this order and a subsequent inquiry from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) against Banca Privat d'Andorra (BPA) for money laundering, in which Venezuelan officials have had leading roles.

See VenEconomy: A Wake-Up Call for Venezuela's Politicians, Media (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 23, 2015)

On March 24, 2015. VenEconomy: Crying Out for Wisdom in Venezuela

While the government of Nicolás Maduro continues to sideline the Venezuelan population in the alley of hopelessness, frustration and humiliation, sectors of national and international public opinion are crying out for the return of coexistence and civility in the country.

Now the cry comes from the Central University of Venezuela's Red de Apoyo Psicológico (network of emotional support) and the Venezuelan Psychologists Federation, whose members have "expressed their deep concern over the psychosocial risks associated with the current economic, political and social situation of the country, which is the result of various circumstances that impact the daily lives of citizens".

See VenEconomy: Crying Out for Wisdom in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 24, 2015)

On March 25, 2015. VenEconomy: Does the Government of Maduro have any Boundaries?

The strategy of the government of Nicolás Maduro of appealing to nationalism and its attempt to connect Venezuelans with its cause of preventing a U.S.-led invasion in Venezuela is moving forward.

Currently the Government's huge propaganda machinery has been put at the service of a crusade to convince the population that an executive order signed recently by U.S. President Barack Obama is aimed at attacking Venezuela, at violating its sovereignty and at becoming a "latent weapon" to be activated for any reason and at any time against the country.

Maduro and his entourage are blatantly distorting the true purpose of this executive order, which is putting an end to the rampant corruption drying up Venezuela's huge public resources and standing up for the human rights of its citizens.

See VenEconomy: Does the Government of Maduro have any Boundaries? (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 25, 2015)

On March 26, 2015. VenEconomy: The Stuff Being Swept under the Carpet of Socialist Venezuela

It can be said that the two governments of the "Socialist Homeland" resemble a carpet under which is being swept all the failure of these past 16 years of "beautiful revolution" that has plunged Venezuela into a "sea of happiness".

These two governments have swept the real figures of unemployment and uncontrollable inflation under this carpet as well after changing all the traditional measurement methodologies. They have been concealing the performance of the national economy, the figures related to the production and exports of crude oil or making invisible the several cases of corruption already exposed at international level. This carpet currently hides underneath serious problems such as severe shortages of basic foodstuffs along with various rationing mechanisms. Right underneath can also be found the real crime figures, or the reality of the human rights violations or the criminal cases of a fair amount of political prisoners, with the State taking false arguments about alleged assassination plots and coup attempts to the international community as an excuse for the number of trials and incarcerations of political leaders from the opposition and civilians.

These masking tactics, and the nearly extinction of Venezuela's independent media, have served to sweeten up thousands of Venezuelans who still don't seem to understand the gravity of the crisis in all aspects of national life. What's more, that complicit carpet plus generous handouts, is still making the international left wing sell the alleged benefits of a political regime that touts itself as being partisan and defender of the poor.

But what is already impossible to sweep under that Bolivarian carpet is the general and criminal collapse of the healthcare sector.

The dramatic failure of 16 years of anti-policies in this area is being evidenced in every healthcare center, either private or public, and its impact reaches millions of Venezuelans, patients and their families.

See VenEconomy: The Stuff Being Swept under the Carpet of Socialist Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 26, 2015)

On March 27, 2015. VenEconomy: What Lies Behind the U.S. Invasion Speech by the Venezuelan Government

The speech of the Venezuelan government insisting that the U.S. "empire" is attacking the country may be earning Nicolás Maduro a few points of popularity, out of the many lost due to the harsh social-economic crisis he has plunged the country into.

This in spite of the fact that Maduro, in fear of the high political costs, is refusing to apply efficient measures to remedy the spectacular crisis caused by himself. On the contrary, some of his announcements in February regarding economic matters, which appeared to go in the right direction, have been either a fiasco or unrealized, as he persists on staying on the path of populism.

So even if the Government insists on its nonsense of alleged economic wars, U.S.-led invasions and attempted coups, the only wars and invasions affecting Venezuelans will always be misery, scarcity, inflation, hunger, insecurity and repression.

See VenEconomy: What Lies Behind the U.S. Invasion Speech by the Venezuelan Government (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 27, 2015)

On March 30, 2015. VenEconomy: The Word Unity Must Be More than Just a Slogan for Venezuela's Opposition

In a logical and normal world, an economic recession, recurrent shortages and soaring inflation would be more than enough reasons to turn things around for the Venezuelan government in the face of an upcoming electoral process.

And if this economic trio is spiced up with rampant insecurity, the collapse of the healthcare system, the ruin of the national infrastructure and a huge housing deficit, all elections should be a piece of cake for the democratic opposition.

Moreover, if the several cases of political corruption exposed plus the lack of charisma of Nicolás Maduro are added to the country's economic and social ills, the ruling coalition would have had no chance to continue building its communist-led "Plan for the Homeland".

But... things in Venezuela are neither logical nor normal in the Chávez-Maduro era.

This way, for example, it may be deduced from opinion polls that things are are not as simple as they seem. One of them, a study from polling company Alfredo Keller y Asociados, showed that despite 82% of respondents saw the country amid a serious crisis and 65% thought that Maduro was not going to be able to handle it, only 36% said that they would vote for an opposition candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections this year.

Evidently, Venezuela's democratic opposition coalition (also known as the Democratic Unity or MUD), is doing some - or many - things wrong not to capitalize on the widespread discontent of the population.

See VenEconomy: The Word Unity Must Be More than Just a Slogan for Venezuela's Opposition (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 30, 2015)

On March 31, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's 'Way of the Cross'

Sixteen years, sixteen long years ... and nothing good to show. ...

Venezuela has passed through the "Way of the Cross" since 1999, when Hugo Chávez was sworn in as Constitutional President of Venezuela, because rather than consolidating the positive things of the past and replace the negative ones with new progressive proposals, he changed everything for the worse.

Looking back, Chávez received a strong and growing economy. The financial crisis of the mid-1990s was already history and his predecessor, Rafael Caldera, had consolidated the constructive changes previously introduced by Carlos Andrés Pérez during his second presidential term.

Chávez also found a state-run oil company (PDVSA) that boasted being compared with the world's top oil companies and that was amidst an ambitious expansion program that would boost its production quotas of 3.5 million barrels per day to 5.6 million barrels per day in only a few years. While there was still room for improvement at PDVSA, other state companies were doing just fine. Likewise, most privately-run companies had adjusted - or were adjusting - to the idea that they were competing in a global market.

Furthermore, in 1999, the non-oil GDP per capita finally showed some growth after barely budging for more than 20 years. Back then, Venezuela was a country with public authorities that were virtually independent, just like the central bank (BCV). The country was being guided by the rules of the Constitution promulgated in 1961, while laws and contractual commitments were respected.

But Chávez changed everything in order to impose his inexplicable "socialism of the 21st century".

For starters, he changed the Constitution in 1999 so he could adapt it to his political project. But this has largely remained a dead letter when it doesn't serve the purposes of the Government. The socialist legal fabric was designed through enabling laws granted to the President.

Today there is no public authority where autonomy is respected. Not only the BCV finances the Government's deficits, but it massages the economic figures at its convenience, unsuccessfully disguising the failure of its economic and political model. PDVSA is prey of the populism of the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" as it has become a corrupt and inefficient company, whose production has dropped by more than 1 million barrels per day since 1998. And there is no state-run company today that is free from corruption and inefficiency, including the dozens of "expropriated" privately-run companies that became property of a monopolist State.

At the same time, the Government dedicated itself to imposing a policy of controls that has wreaked havoc in the productive system for the enormous distortions it has caused in the economy and for being an effective source of corruption. As a result, thousands of national private firms have disappeared, and with them more than 200,000 jobs.

The communist "marabunta" has also ravaged the education and healthcare systems. Meanwhile, the communicational hegemony injects into the majority of the population the utopian achievements of the revolution every day.

This is the "Way of the Cross" Venezuela has to pass through, and unfortunately Nicolás Maduro is not willing to change course for two main reasons: One because of the political costs that this would represent, and two because of the conviction that the Plan for the Homeland is the only model to follow.

Hence the importance and urgency to push for a change of course led by the democratic opposition, who apart from focusing on an upcoming parliamentary election has to pursue two main goals: 1) Outline and demand an adjustment program that gets the country out of the idleness, corruption, poverty and inflationary spiral it has been plunged into. 2) The urgent strengthening of leaders who have the courage and ability to explain to all Venezuelans that the change will intrinsically come from a different culture, values and democratic and coexistence principles.

In a nutshell, the road to a renewed prosperity, growth and democracy may be long and difficult, but not impossible.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's 'Way of the Cross' (Latin American Herald Tribune, March 31, 2015)

On April 6, 2015. VenEconomy: Tighter Controls on Sales of Basic Products in Venezuela

On Monday, Venezuela's entire public and private network of supermarkets began selling the products that go into the basic food basket based on the last digit of the consumers' ID cards.

This way, the country's top private food retailers including Unicasa, Makro, Central Madeirense, Plan Suárez, Excelsior Gama, Automercados Plaza's, Automercados Luz, and El Patio joined the State's food distribution network comprised by Red de Abastos Bicentenario, Mercal and PDVAL.

All the establishments will apply the same distribution routine: consumers with ID cards ending in 0 and 1 will be able to buy basic products only on Mondays; in 2 and 3 on Tuesdays; in 4 and 5 on Wednesdays; in 6 and 7 on on Thursdays; and in 8 and 9 on Fridays. Furthermore, products will be sold to citizens with ID cards from 0-4 on Saturdays and from 5-9 on Sundays.

It should be noted that despite they will theoretically be able to buy products such as flour, rice, milk, sugar, toilet paper, coffee, margarine, oil, chicken, meat, shampoo, soap and detergent, among others, in these establishments two days a week, in practice they will be able to buy these products only once a week. That is to say, if their ID cards end in 0, and they already bought toilet paper on Monday, when it's their turn again on Saturday, they will not be allowed to purchase this product again until Monday.

This rationing methodology is being "voluntarily" put it into practice by these privately-run establishments upon a "cordial" request of the National Executive, as it waits for the fingerprint scanners that will formalize an automated rationing system for purchasing food, personal hygiene/household cleaning products and medicines in the country.

When fingerprint scanners are finally installed across establishments, these will serve to centralize the control of consumption of all Venezuelans, thus restricting their frequency of purchases and limiting the quantities for each regulated product.

The food rationing and control measure was devised by the National Executive in the framework of its socialist-inspired "Plan of Guaranteed Supplies", using the fallacious argument it would allow it to combat the illegal resale of basic products at higher prices by street vendors (known locally as "bachaqueo"), a new and lucrative informal economic activity resulting from the widespread shortages situation that has firmly taken root in socialist Venezuela. In addition that this will supposedly help shorten the mile-long queues by citizens to purchase scarce basic products available in the domestic market. Queues that have heavily affected the international image of a government that sells itself as the ultimate solution against poverty and promoter of welfare state.

As has become usual in times of the establishment of the so-called "Plan for the Homeland", this measure is in line with a model of deception and control once described by American writer Saul Alinsky that establishes, within the key principles for achieving a "Social State", the control of food sales as a form of domination of the population.

That's why Nicolás Maduro - as did the late Hugo Chávez in previous years - refuses to listen to and analyze the suggestions from the private sector. If he ever does, then he would understand that the right thing to do is: 1) Increase the productive capacity of the industrial base of both the State and the private sector. 2) Use the available foreign currency to encourage domestic production, and not to favor imports and foster corruption. 3) Let go of price controls and promote a free-floating currency. 4) Decriminalize private sector activities and promote productive work instead of handouts.

If these corrective measures are not applied, the only thing the Government will be doing is remove the population from its right to food, while it condemns it to poverty, oppression and humiliation.

See VenEconomy: Tighter Controls on Sales of Basic Products in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 6, 2015)

On April 7, 2015. VenEconomy: The Silence of Venezuela's Government as an Act of Treason

Venezuela now faces the possibility that Guyana not only deprives it of its rights in the Essequibo area, but those of thousands of kilometers belonging to an offshore platform in the Orinoco Delta. All this because of the indifference and negligent silence of the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro when defending the rights of the neighboring nation.

The situation for the territorial integrity in the Essequibo area became riskier than ever for Venezuela in the last 16 years, due to the fact that the government of Chávez deliberately played down the importance of the agreed obligations under the Geneva Agreement of 1966. It should be recalled that in 1962, and on the basis of a new information related to an arbitration process in 1899, Venezuela rejected an arbitration award that had granted 61,583 square miles of national territory to the then-British Guiana during that year. A claim that became legalized at international level with the signing of the Geneva Agreement, which leaves in the hands of Guyana and Venezuela the search for solutions through built-in mechanisms in order to satisfy both countries.

But, the government of Chávez, and now that of Maduro, following the advice of the meddlesome government of the Castro brothers, which has its own economic interests in the area, neglected that agreement diminishing the country's sovereignty. A voluntary "mistake" to make Caribbean countries give their automatic solidarity to Chávez's political project known as "Socialism of the 21st century", and overlook the continued violations of freedoms and the democratic norm intrinsic to this project.

Because of these murky political dealings opposed to the interests of the Venezuelan State, the Chávez government allowed various illegal actions from Guyana that violated the territorial sovereignty of the country.
For example, it didn't challenge the different steps taken by the Guyanese government regarding the maritime area in dispute.

One of them was the drawing by Guyana of a new borderline throughout the coast that violated Venezuela's exclusive maritime zone in the Delta, a case that has not yet been reported to the UN. Another action without a resounding rejection from the government of Venezuela was the granting of concessions for the Stabroek, Pomeron and Roraima blocks that share maritime areas of Guyana, Essequibo and Venezuela. The Bolivarian government also had a lax attitude toward the fact that oil company ExxonMobil began drilling the Stabroek area.

This laxity in claiming the rights of the State has put Venezuela in an imminent risk of also losing its maritime rights derived from the Orinoco Delta. According to applicable international standards, the lack of formal protest is considered an acquiescence. The fact of not defending the country's sovereign rights is to let the adversary win, meaning that "silence is consent".

The only thing that Venezuela has done in the defense of its rights is the publication of a series of articles in several newspapers of the region, complaining about Guyana's oil activity in the area and declaring the arbitration award of 1899 as "void", which led 15 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries to issue a statement in support of the "territorial integrity of Guyana", as a response to the approaches of the Venezuelan Ministry regarding the oil exploration activities taking place in the Essequibo area; this despite the fact that these countries are reaping benefits from Venezuelan crude oil on very advantageous conditions.

For having remained tight-lipped on such a sensitive topic, the governments of Chávez and Maduro have committed an act of treason against the homeland, which would translate into a serious negative impact on the economic future of Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: The Silence of Venezuela's Government as an Act of Treason (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 7, 2015)

On April 8, 2015. VenEconomy: One Summit, Several Agendas

On Friday, Panama will host the Seventh Summit of the Americas where the Heads of State and Governments will address the theme "Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas". A total of 35 countries of the continent, including Cuba that returns after an absence of 53 years, will be attending this summit.

The hopes of Juan Carlos Varela, president of Panama and host of this summit, is that discussions will focus on the search for solutions to major problems affecting all countries, among which stand out: "insecurity, inequality, the progress made by the organized crime, the lack of public infrastructure and the need for education in the developed world".

However, the U.S., Cuba and Venezuela will be bringing their own agendas for this summit in order to reach dissimilar and conflicting objectives.

The U.S., for example, has been looking forward to reinforcing its democratic leadership in a region that had neglected for years, and that now has its attention back allegedly due to the marked influence that its historical adversaries, such as Russia and China, as well as the dangerous penetration of Iran and its extremist tentacles, are having on this side of the world.

President Barack Obama would be playing multiple cards during the summit. One of them is an offer to CARICOM countries to facilitate energy investments in the Caribbean region, in conjunction with the World Bank. With this move, he also aims to remove the influence of Venezuela on these countries, which have been key to curb the actions of multilateral bodies such as the OAS and the UN against the undemocratic progress of the Venezuelan government. Another card that is even more important than the previous one is the flexibility of relations with the government of Cuba. According to some analysts, Obama could take advantage of the summit to decide upon the removal of the government of the Castro brothers from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. A long-awaited dream from Cuba, indeed.

For its part, Cuba, a country that will attend a hemispheric conference for the first time since 1962, after the OAS dismissed it from the organization at the request of Venezuela as a result of the failed attempts of Cuba to invade this country, is also bringing its own agenda to the summit. After more than five decades of having been pushed out of the concert of nations, one of the objectives of Raúl Castro will be that of emerging as the protagonist of this summit, where he will get the support from several pro-Castro government presidents. Perhaps the most memorable moment will be when Castro shakes hands with Obama, as a gesture of symbolic confirmation of the restoration of relations between Cuba and the U.S.

The third separate agenda is that of the government of Venezuela with its struggle against the U.S. imperialism. Nicolás Maduro intends to twist Obama's arm by forcing him to repeal an executive order that punishes seven Venezuelan officials accused of having violated the human rights of their fellow citizens and of acts of corruption. To that end, Maduro carries a letter supported by 8 million signatures from minors, public employees, missionaries, State contractors and foreigners (Cuban, Ecuadorians, Nicaraguans and other citizens from ALBA member countries).

A fourth agenda will be developed by several Human Rights NGOs at the Hemispheric Forum with Civil Society and Social Actors, organized in the framework of the Summit to be attended by the heads of State. There, the Venezuelan NGOs will remind the attending leaders about the importance of the OAS and the Unasur bloc "for the institutional stability in Venezuela; they will request the removal of a complaint filed by the Venezuelan State with the American Convention on HumanRights; they will encourage a dialogue process in the country that would also involve the OAS", as well as the release of all the political prisoners, respect for human rights, electoral guarantees and international observation during the upcoming elections. Furthermore, 21 former presidents of the region will disseminate a statement in defense of democracy and human rights in Venezuela.

Hopefully this measurement of strength of the U.S. vs. Venezuela during the summit will serve to reinforce the rights and freedoms of citizens.

See VenEconomy: One Summit, Several Agendas (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 8, 2015)

On April 9, 2015. VenEconomy: The Electoral Winds Blowing in Venezuela

2015 is an election year in Venezuela. According to the National Constitution, the five-year period that lawmakers get to perform their functions expires in December of this year. The new lawmakers elected no later than December 2015 must be sworn in by January 2016, a month when the Parliament starts its regular activities.

The political composition of the Parliament (aka National Assembly or AN) is critical in these times of political hegemony. These elections are crucial so that public authorities, today kidnapped by Venezuela's ruling elite, start regaining their autonomy; so that the functions of the legislature, today seized by the National Executive, can be restored; so that the national government can be demanded some accountability; and so that the rule of law and the civil, political and economic liberties can be put back in motion in Venezuela.

These elections will be a measurement of strength, and their political actors will be seeing either good or bad results depending on the direction the winds blow.

To democrats, the political winds are blowing in their favor. From there, the Democratic Unity (MUD), and all the opposition political parties that make it up, are taking the lead in demanding the National Electoral Council (CNE) to convene and set the date of the parliamentary elections.

The economic and social crisis affecting Venezuelans, induced by the erroneous vision of a country from a Cuban communist model, should give the opposition a smashing victory over the candidates of the Government despite all the known advantages they've got plus the machinations of the CNE. The population is sick and tired of the inflationary spiral; of the shortages of food, medicines and other basic products; of burying relatives and friends who have been victims of violent criminals acting with impunity throughout the national territory; of the rampant corruption and broken promises of the Government; and, more recently, of the limitations for buying food and other basic stuff once a week based on the last digit of their ID cards.

But, according to opinion polls, the opposition has not been able to capitalize on this discontent. The winds of personalism of its leadership and petty partisan interests are not appealing to the population. The opposition political leadership seems bland and disunited. Besides, a single message on the proposals for changing course are not clearly perceived.

Nor is it seen strongly demanding electoral guarantees to generate credibility in voters by the time of the election results are generated, nor is it perceived that the democratic parties are fine-tuning the organizational machinery that is vital to counteract the pressure tricks of the Government made present during every electoral process over the past 14 years.

It is curious, for example, that during the Summit of the Americas to be held in Panama, the civil society and human rights NGOs will be the ones to raise their voices to demand that the countries of the Hemisphere request the government of Nicolás Maduro for electoral guarantees and that a plural and objective international election observation is allowed without the supervision of the ruling party PSUV that the opposition has meekly accepted so far.

For its part, the Government, even knowing that it has the winds of popular support blowing in the opposite direction, is already in the electoral race. The campaign of the ruling coalition has already kicked off with the approval of additional funds for the "missions" and other populist social programs; with advertisements in the media; with the threats from Maduro of making opposition political parties illegal and warnings that the opposition has a hidden agenda to ignore the election results. And despite the troubled waters moving under the surface, the PSUV pretends to be united under the command of the Maduro-Cabello duo. There is no reason to doubt that the ruling elite will be using every dirty little trick available so it can move on with the establishment of its so-called "Socialism of the 21st century" and the implementation of the "Plan for the Homeland" inherited from the late Hugo Chávez.

However, the country still has high hopes that the democratic political actors will succeed through constitutional means in restoring the rule of law and respect for civil, political and economic liberties in Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: The Electoral Winds Blowing in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 9, 2015)

On April 10, 2015. VenEconomy: The Declaration of Panama in Solidarity with Democracy in Venezuela

Thursday April 9 will go down in the history of the entire American Continent with the so-called Declaration of Panama, lubricated by 25 former presidents of 12 nations of the region and Spain. (http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Declaracion_NACFIL20150409_0001.pdf)

A statement that comes, as indicated by the document, from the concern "about the path that the severe institutional, political, economic and social disruption affecting our Venezuelan brothers without distinctions is taking".

And that it is justified because "democracy and its effective exercise, foundation of solidarity between the States, consists in the respect and guarantee of human rights, the exercise of power under the rule of law, the separation and independence of public authorities, a political pluralism, free and fair elections, freedom of speech and press, the probity and government transparency, among other standards". This is reflected in the Declaration of Santiago adopted by the OAS in 1959, and developed by the Inter-American Democratic Charter of 2001.

This Declaration has gained unprecedented importance in the history of the region because it pauses on the Defense of Human Rights and then reaches to the overall situation of the deterioration of democracy and the critical economic, political, and social situation in which Venezuela has been plunged into.

Among other things, the Declaration of Panama highlights the fact that the Government of Venezuela condemned the American Convention on Human Rights, and that sustains "a policy of non-recognition or compliance with the decisions and statements issued by international and inter-American human rights bodies", which affects the international protection of rights for the benefit of the people.

By demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners, including Leopoldo López, Antonio Ledezma and Daniel Ceballos, a reality among many others suffered by millions of Venezuelans every day is highlighted: the absence of independence of the Judiciary, the judicial persecution of dissidents, the persistent presence of acts of torture by State officials, the existence of armed paramilitary groups and an atmosphere of total impunity.

It complains about the existence of a communicational hegemony imposed by the State, and highlights the existence of control laws for information content; the increase of sanctions for crimes of contempt for authority that promote censorship and self-censorship; the criminalization and violence against journalists, columnists and Twitter users; and the closure of independent media outlets.

It lays stress on the lack of a system of separation and independence of public authorities, an essential component of democracy according to the own Inter-American Democratic Charter.

With regard to the critical economic situation, it focuses on the climate of corruption and the Government's wastefulness of the national wealth as generators of a series of issues and imbalances in Venezuela's economy that go far beyond a decline in international crude oil prices, and that can be found "in tax, monetary, financial, foreign exchange, oil and real areas, giving rise to a very deep recession and soaring inflation in the country that are undermining the purchasing power and household incomes, increasing poverty, generating unemployment and deteriorating the quality of life of the population, particularly the one with scarce resources".

The former presidents conclude the Declaration stating that "the only possibility for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela and an effective guarantee for the political, economic and social rights of Venezuelans goes through the rescue of the principle and system of separation of powers, through the appointment of their incumbents while respecting the democratic, representative and participatory guarantees established in the Constitution, in order to ensure its independence and autonomy, starting with the Electoral Power so that free and fair elections can be held with impartiality".

Was this clear enough or is there any further explanation needed so that the governments of the region echo the voices of their former presidents?

See VenEconomy: The Declaration of Panama in Solidarity with Democracy in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 10, 2015)

On April 12, 2015. Latin American Herald Tribune: Venezuela Alarmingly Low on Food

"There is a real storm developing due to the lack of dollars. The situation is desperate and may get a lot worse", said Russ Dallen, head of local investment bank Caracas Capital Markets, who has spent several years keeping a close eye on the Venezuelan situation. "In the next two or three months we are about to see a terrible shortages situation, much worse than we have seen so far -- not only because inventory levels are quite low already, but because at this point imports of the products needed within 8-12 weeks are not being allowed into the country".
By Antonio Maria Delgado

CARACAS -- Venezuelans - who have been waiting in long queues to get into supermarkets and purchase basic products - have not yet seen the worst part of the shortages issue caused by a collapse in the chavismo-sponsored populist model, but they may do so shortly in the face of the warnings of the alarming levels food stocks have fallen to in the country, according to local industry groups and experts.

"Inventories, including those of the pharmaceutical and food industries, are hitting critical levels", said Eduardo Garmendia, head of the Venezuelan Confederation of Industries (Conindustria), a business association, in a recent interview with local radio station Unión Radio.

"The entire industrial system has been affected by the difficulties in acquiring raw materials, but it is worse in essential products because these are receiving a greater direct impact; we are talking about medicines and food", said Garmendia.

In the case of food, stocks of the country's main industries will last less than a month, according to data released by the Venezuelan Food Industry Chamber (Cavidea).

"There are food companies that haven't been allocated a single dollar so far this year", Pablo Baraybar, president of Cavidea, told the local press. "In some production lines, we only have stocks for 10 or 20 days".

This will surely make things exponentially harder for those Venezuelans trying to put food on their tables every day.

"In the next two or three months we are about to see a situation of terrible shortages, much worse than we have seen so far. Not only because inventory levels are quite low already, but because at this point imports of the products to be needed within 8-12 weeks are not being allowed into the country".

Most industries in the country have been operating at much lower levels than their capacity for quite some time due to extreme difficulties in finding raw materials, among other reasons.

But what might occur in just a few weeks from now is the total standstill of the country after running out of supplies, because companies are not getting the necessary dollars from the Government to pay for imports, Dallen said.

Some businesspeople believe that this is due to the doubts raised by the economic authorities of the regime of Nicolás Maduro over which of the various exchange rates should be applied to perform operations, given the vast differences between each one of them: with one official rate that is currently at Bs.6.3 per dollar, another one close to Bs.12, a third one that stands at Bs.190 and fourth, the black market rate, hovering around Bs.250.

But experts now believe that the regime simply does not have the necessary dollars to pay for the imports of products.

A sharp drop in crude oil prices - the export that brings in more than 95% of the country's dollars - coupled with huge debts incurred by the Bolivarian regime over the past 15 years, have left the Government with a need for external financing of more than $23 billion so that it can maintain the supply levels seen until last year.

That's why the Government has been making extensive publicity of the possibility that China is ready to provide up to $10 billion in loans for development projects in Venezuela, said Dallen.

"They are saying 'here come the Chinese, here come the Chinese; the Chinese are the ones who are going to get us out of this mess'", he added.

But by the time the Chinese money comes in -- should it materialize this year -- it may only be used for importing goods from the Asian country or used in specific projects previously approved, which will not necessarily provide relief for the millions of Venezuelans who in a few weeks from now might not find milk or corn flour on shelves after spending the whole day queuing up to make it into a supermarket.

To economist Alexander Guerrero, a worsening of the shortages would affect the food and product supplies of large supermarket chains and grocery stores, which are already being controlled by the regime with the implementation of limits on the sales of products based on the last digit of the ID cards of consumers.

In the end, many of the products that will be available in Venezuela will end up selling on the so-called black market, a place that despite having become the target of frequent accusations of the regime itself for being one of the main causes of the general shortages in the country, is in fact being fed by corrupt elements of the own Government.

That market has turned out very lucrative because it offers the subsidized products at prices up to 10 times higher than what consumers pay for them in stores after spending hours waiting in line.

Local popular markets will continue to offer the "six or seven products" that the Government imports for the nation's neediest sectors at subsidized prices, Guerrero said.

As a result, the working middle class is the one that is going to suffer more because, on the one hand, it will not be able to pay the high prices of products on the black market and, on the other, it doesn't have access to popular markets or doesn't want to go there since the available products are of very poor quality, Dallen explained.

See Venezuela Alarmingly Low on Food (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 12, 2015)

On April 13, 2015. VenEconomy: A Sounding Board at the Summit of the Americas

On Saturday wrapped up the seventh Summit of the Americas held in Panama with the attendance of 34 presidents and heads of state of 35 countries of the hemisphere. (The only one missing there was Chile's Michelle Bachelet).

The theme addressed was "Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas", whose ultimate goal was to establish a common agenda to help improve the lives of the poorest across the Americas.

Unfortunately, it was not possible that the Summit produced a final statement due to the lack of consensus that would have included in the document a request for the repeal of an executive order signed by Barack Obama against seven Venezuelan officials who violated human rights and committed acts of corruption, as demanded by the government of Venezuela and several of his allies in the region.

This way, the host of the summit and President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, will issue a final report with the arrangements agreed between the rulers. Rapporteurs of the different working roundtables at the summit will follow a similar procedure, since the opposing visions of participants prevented the unanimity in the decisions made. The selfish interests of certain politicians at the helm of some countries prevailed once more during this summit.

Based on these two facts of lack of understanding between the rulers and radical sectors, it could be concluded that the summit did not produce the results expected by organizers, since a joint and consensual agenda so the poorest in the region could have an option to a better quality of life was not ultimately set.

However, this summit will go down in the history of the continent for a political fact still in full development: the return of Cuba to a hemispheric summit after 53 years of having been expelled from the OAS at the request of Venezuela, due to the unsuccessful attempts of Fidel Castro to invade the country. Cuba was in the spotlight as Raúl Castro had planned it from the start. Without apologizing a bit for its interference in the countries of the region, or reducing the dictatorship imposed to the Cuban people, this country emerged at the summit as an equal to democratically elected leaders. With a speech that lasted more than 45 minutes, his words of praise for his new best friend Obama, and his ambivalent position against the anti-imperialist discourse of Nicolás Maduro, Castro consolidates his leadership in the governments of Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, as he fights with Obama over the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.

It will also go down in history for several important facts that will become a sounding board for the defense of democracy in the Americas.

One of them is the several achievements scored by Obama. With an integrationist, equalitarian, and not meddlesome message, Obama opened spaces in the region that had been neglected by previous U.S. governments. He consolidated the decision of putting an end to the cold war with Cuba. With that move, and without an opposition to his executive order against the Venezuelan officials, Obama rises as a champion of democracy and human rights defender who will not tolerate violations of human rights in the countries of the region.

Another vitally important fact materialized outside the summit: The Declaration of Panama. An unprecedented statement in the history of democracy in the region signed by 25 former Latin American presidents, all of them with various political trends but with a true democratic conviction. This statement reveals with remarkable clarity the antidemocratic face of the Government of Nicolás Maduro. And despite its aftermath hasn't been felt yet, it marked a milestone in the defense of democracy and human rights in Venezuela and the continent.

And, perhaps, less important is the fact that Maduro was unable to deliver his million signatures collected condemning the executive order to Obama or anyone else.

Just as important is that the rulers attending the summit as well as the international community were able to hear what the human rights NGOs, the Venezuelan civil society, and those affected by the political persecution in Venezuela had to say without restrictions of any kind. And were also able to corroborate the violent and exclusionary attitude of the oppressors of Cuba and Venezuela, represented by small groups of people sponsored by these two governments.

See VenEconomy: A Sounding Board at the Summit of the Americas (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 13, 2015)

On April 14, 2015. VenEconomy: The Remedy for Venezuela's Economy Cannot be a 'Dose of its Own Disease'

The government of Nicolás Maduro is overwhelmed by the economic crisis caused by its controls policy. Yet, it continues to tighten foreign exchange and price controls further even though the most reasonable thing to do would be to rectify the course and remove all these controls for good.

Two of the latest measures taken by the National Executive regarding controls are: cutting dollar quotas for travels abroad and the centralization of supplies for drugs to treat chronic diseases. Both measures evidence that the ruling elite controlling the economy cannot - or doesn't want to - understand that this path keeps pushing the country into an abyss of scarcity and corruption.

It can be said, as did local economist Enrique González Porras in his article "A Transitional Control for Pricing Management?", to be released in the April edition of VenEconomy, that "the remedy cannot be a dose of its own disease, or has any normative logic to legislate and act on effects, leaving the causes intact".

González Porras explains in his analysis that he finds the proposal of a "transitional control" that would maintain price controls - among others, those on foreign exchange rates - excessive, because "it is believed that freeing controls before increasing production" would end up being counterproductive.

To the economist, this would suggest a "complete denial or presumption of ineffectiveness of the price system and consumer sovereignty, replaced by bureaucratic-regulatory actions". And that "unless it can be proved with arguments and hard evidence, proposing a continuity in price controls turns out an ad hoc position".

He warns that "such position would derive, first of all, from the prejudice that all companies subject to price controls have a dominant position and incentives in order to exploit it; and, second of all, that price controls do not constitute one of the main sources of economic distortions at present".

González Porras argues that "for constituting restrictions to freedom and economic rights, price controls represent a sanction, which under the law - existence of the Rule of Law and Due Process - requires either an administrative procedure (should the regulatory structure follow the tradition of the continental European administrative law) or a trial (should it follow the tradition of the Common Law)".

He explained the existence of "inflationary causes such as the inorganic financing of the deficit or an excess of liquidity for the economic activity level and the supply of goods and services; price controls will do little or nothing about this - except stimulating the black, parallel, arbitration and smuggling markets".

In short, as González Porras points out, "price controls are not perfect instruments for protecting equity and much less for the control of inflation. There are fiscal policies as much as for transfers and subsidies for the first case and, for the second one, policies of macroeconomic stability. In fact, inflation constitutes a public evil and not the product of the exercise of a widespread market power, a thesis that lacks micro-foundations."

González Porras recalls that "social inclusion and employability and the safeguarding of the currency's purchasing power, of wages and salaries, cannot be achieved by means of price controls, but by means of dynamic incentives in favor of creating economic activity and jobs as well as improving productivity as a key social benefit to generate wealth and well-being".

And in conclusion, he makes it clear that "when there is a serious shortages issue, the price controls as bureaucratic rules of distribution of the value of assets, are absolutely and completely innocuous for social welfare, because they do not represent a loss in allocative efficiency or an increase in the satisfied demand". That is to say, they do not promote production increases making the shortages issue worse.

See VenEconomy: The Remedy for Venezuela's Economy Cannot be a 'Dose of its Own Disease' (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 14, 2015)

On April 15, 2015. VenEconomy: Much More than a Simple Dollar Quota Restriction to Venezuelan Travelers

The Administrative Ruling No. 011 issued by the National Center for Foreign Trade (Cencoex) imposing new requirements, amounts and restrictions to Venezuelan travelers hides several aspects that go far beyond the arguments given by the Government for a more rational use of foreign currency or putting a stop to the citizens traveling abroad just to take advantage of the dollars allocated to them at preferential rates. It even goes beyond the discussion of whether it is a right or a benefit that the Government grants to citizens traveling abroad, or if it segregates the private banking system in the management of foreign currency for travelers, or the apartheid that thousands of citizens who do not have access to the public banking system are subjected to.

In addition to all these truths, this administrative ruling clearly shows that a government that has handled the biggest flows of foreign currency in the entire history of the country has left Venezuela with a severe dollar drought, largely caused by generous financial handouts to other countries and the rampant corruption from the ruling elite. And the serious thing is that this administrative ruling won't help patch the hole of Venezuela's huge deficit. Calculations suggest that while this new foreign exchange regime may save the country between $2.8 billion and $3.2 billion this year, that's peanuts since to cover the domestic requirements of foreign currency it would take between $16 billion and $23 billion.

This administrative ruling also evidences the complete failure of the foreign exchange controls imposed by Venezuela's ruling regime since 2003. Just like the collapse of price controls and the control over all economic activity that both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro gave a lot of support. A collapse concealed beneath high crude oil prices that, once they began to steadily decline, heavily affected the lives of Venezuelans with unparalleled inflation and scarcity. As Luis Vicente León, the head of polling company Datanálisis, put it in his article "10 notes regarding the changes in the dollar quotas for travelers by Cencoex", published by local digital magazine Prodavinci on April 11: "The real core of the issue here is that no one can make use of their money with freedom".

The Administrative Ruling No. 011 also makes clear that this is a government that resorts to lies and manipulation to cover up its failures and keep blaming others for them. Instead of dealing with the necessary easing of foreign exchange controls, it resorts to a de facto devaluation in a covert way. First of all, with a mistaken perception that the measure will only affect a few thousands of Venezuelans who don't belong to the Government's electoral target. A mistaken perception all the way, indeed. The foreign exchange distortions are to blame for thousands of Venezuelans (including the Government's own supporters) taking advantage of their dollar quotas when traveling abroad. In some cases, many of them obtained some easy juicy profits from this activity thanks to the complicity of friends working for the State's foreign exchange bodies. Second of all, because the State persists in obviating the massive corruption from the so-called "Bolivarian bourgeoisie" that emerged from the foreign exchange control system, which has bled Venezuela to death through illegalities such as: 1) The "hiring" of shell companies by the State via direct foreign exchange allocation and without any accountability, an operation in which about $20 billion in funds were embezzled, according to Venezuela's former planning minister Jorge Giordani. 2) And the illegal issuing of "diplomatic passports" to white-collar criminals, who laundered large sums of money through Banca Privat d'Andorra and the Swiss branch of London-based bank HSBC.

The administrative ruling also confirms that the foreign exchange controls have served, and still do, as a mechanism of political and economic control over large sectors of the population. It ruined the national productive sector, which is seeing the worst case of harassment on the part of the State in all its history. It has dramatically reduced the population's purchasing power and worsened the shortages of food, medicines and basic goods as never before.

And lastly, it confirms that the Maduro administration will not rectify the course towards the precipice.

See VenEconomy: Much More than a Simple Dollar Quota Restriction to Venezuelan Travelers (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 15, 2015)

On April 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Assault on Venezuela's Latin American Parliament!

The ruling-party bloc in the Venezuelan Parliament (or National Assembly) passed a motion of "urgency" requested by its president, Diosdado Cabello, on Tuesday to ask the National Electoral Council (CNE) not to convene elections for the 12 members comprising the Latin American Parliament (aka Parlatino). It should be noted that the Parlatino is a regional entity, whose main premise is the defense of the representative democracy, and is made up by parliamentarians of the democratically constituted States Parties.

In a unjustified and unilateral decision, Cabello said that these lawmakers will now be hand-picked "within the Parliament, according to parliamentary membership" and not by means of universal, direct and secret suffrage as contemplated in the Electoral Statute of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) of 2000, which is the way it has been done up until now.

The motivation for this arbitrary change in the mechanism of the election of Parlatino lawmakers seems to come, on the one hand, from the resounding political failure and image shown by the government of Nicolás Maduro during the Seventh Summit of the Americas last week. And on the other, from the inability of the ruling elite in accepting and respecting dissenting opinions and autonomous actions from representatives of any public authority in Venezuela. If there is any doubt about this, just pay close attention to the words of Cabello when he says that Parlatino lawmakers "can't go around doing as they please", when referring to a Venezuelan commission of Parlatino meeting with the new secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis de Almagro, in Panama to deliver him a written report on the status of the Venezuelan political prisoners "without saying a word to him or asking for his permission."

The truth is that Parlatino members would not have any autonomy in their functions if they are hand-picked; they would follow the guidelines of the Presidency of the Republic and would be vulnerable to be removed from parliamentary office if they decided to go against the policy guidelines of the Government. And even more serious is that this would undermine the proportional representation of different sectors of the population in the Parlatino, and thus the voices denouncing abuses and violations of rights across the continent will be silenced forever.

See VenEconomy: Assault on Venezuela's Latin American Parliament! (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 16, 2015)

On April 17, 2015. VenEconomy: The Sovereignty of Hunger in Venezuela!

VenEconomy held its traditional update on the Economic, Political and Social Outlook for Venezuela on Thursday, April 16.

In this update, VenEconomy covered the 2014-2019 period with two possible scenarios: The first is 1984 (a version of the novel written by George Orwell) projecting that Nicolás Maduro will cling to power, imposing his misguided "socialist" and dictatorial policies on the population, and making Venezuela stay on the road toward collapse, misery and poverty, factors characteristic of a communist society of the 21st century. The other scenario is "Chinazuela", in which the Government, after opting for an adjustment program with the support of the IMF, will recover the economy and lead the country towards the "Chinese model", combining a dynamic market economy with a totalitarian dictatorship.

As deducted by several guest analysts who attended the VenEconomy event, the 1984 scenario would be unfolding at present as evidenced by, on the one hand, the reluctance of the Maduro government in rectifying the policies contained in the so-called "Plan for the Homeland", and, on the other, in the recent public statements of the Venezuelan ruler announcing he would radicalize his "revolution" even further, followed by actions that have already ratified this unalterable decision.

All analysts in their presentations agreed that Venezuela is going through a deep economic, political and social crisis, affecting all the productive sectors without distinction, including that of oil, pillar of the national economy.

Perhaps an analysis by Rodrigo Agudo, an expert consultant in the agrifood area, had the greatest impact among the attendees for being about a sensitive area that affects the daily lives of Venezuelan citizens.

Agudo made a retrospective of the policies that have been implemented in the sector since 1999, when the late Hugo Chávez came to power, among which stood out the expropriations of productive lands, the seizure of industries and retail chains, the application of socialist criminal laws, and arbitrary inspections of retailers. A policy that has imposed the absolute power of the State on the private sector of the economy, reducing it to the very minimum, which has caused suspicion among investors, taken away the domestic and foreign capitals, and condemned the population to the scourge of inflation and scarcity.

Agudo said that the nation's productive system has been hit hard over the past 14 years, boosting imports despite the huge oil revenues derived from record prices of this non-renewable resource. Revenues that are no longer huge following a collapse in oil prices.

To Agudo "Venezuela has entered a process of loss of its productive sovereignty amid an environment of increasing scarcity". A scarcity that is already a structural problem derived from the destruction of the entire supply chain on the part of the Government (loss of foreign borrowing, loss of supply, attacks on wholesalers, attacks on retailers, etc.)

A dramatic example is in the meat industry, where price controls and the lack of investment have reduced the supply of meat in the country. A situation that repeats itself with cereals, oil, milk, sugar, and a long list of products that make up the basic food basket. This is an issue that affects both private and state-owned companies, which according to figures released by the ministries of Food and Industries in their reports and account, state-run companies such as Lácteos Los Andes, Industrias Diana, Vtelca, Orinoquia and Venezolana de Industrias Tecnológicas were unable to meet their modest goals set for 2014, not only for the difficulties in the acquisition of domestic and imported raw materials due to the lack of foreign currency, but for the inefficiency and corruption of the State.

Agudo said that the shortages problem, which today affects some 3.5 million families, is impossible to solve in the short term. According to his own calculations, it would take up to three years for some products, from four to six years for others, and up to 10 years for some products like meat. That is to say, it would take a decade to restore the supply chain, inventories and consumption there was back in 1999.

That's some superb sovereignty of hunger that Venezuela is enjoying thanks to its socialist government!

See VenEconomy: The Sovereignty of Hunger in Venezuela! (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 17, 2015)

On April 20, 2015. VenEconomy: There is a Future Here in Venezuela!

In the last few decades, Venezuela went from being a country of immigrants to a country of emigrants.

There is no doubt that the mass exodus of Venezuelan citizens seen today is much more than a political issue. This is about a socio-economic issue with profound implications for the future of all Venezuelans.

According to Iván De La Vega, a professor of the Simón Bolívar University in Caracas and an expert in the migration field, some 1.5 million Venezuelans would have fled the country over the past 10 years because, among other reasons: 1) The insecurity levels and fears over the shocking homicide figures. 2) The political crisis and state of conflict that cause uneasiness among Venezuelans. 3) The economic factor that dashes the aspirations and hopes of young professionals and businesspeople.

According to figures by the Venezuelan Medical Federation, some 13,000 local doctors have taken off already, a fact that opens a new crisis hotspot in the national healthcare sector so battered by inflation, shortages, and disinvestment.

This migratory wave made up by thousands of Venezuelans in their best productive age, mostly young people with training and work experience, is hitting companies already affected by anti-investment policies harder than ever before. The exodus of local talent is creating a decapitalization in human resources and, therefore, weighs on the progress of the nation.

Without prejudice to the reasons that each person has to take that difficult path known as exodus, it is the adverse consequences that mass emigration may have for the future of Venezuela where, to VenEconomy, lies the importance of a message of optimism and confidence given by Lorenzo Mendoza, head of Venezuela's largest foodmaker and brewer Empresas Polar, to all of his workers on Sunday.

Mendoza said that 30 million Venezuelans cannot leave for Panama, or Colombia or any another country. That he is with "the people who cannot go anywhere". He also said that "as any Venezuelan company, they have to work, they have to produce, they have to achieve better things somehow."

Mendoza claims that he shall stay in Venezuela because it is his home country. Because it is what he loves most. Because it is his responsibility; it is what he believes in; it is what he likes better than anything.

He sent the youth a message of hope: Firstly, "this country has so much more to offer us than any other foreign country, as persons emigrating somewhere else". Secondly, "it is very important for you to analyze your own reality and your own personal context, and then make your decision".

He confirmed that within the Polar business group "there is a future, there is an approach to continue thinking forward, to continue working and to continue producing, and generating opportunities..."

"This business group has gone through different stages for 74 years; here we are and here we shall remain".

His message of optimism is for everyone. "As Venezuelans, we have to deal with our problems, we cannot be indifferent no matter the way we think, no matter the way we feel about things, no matter what we believe in, we have to deal with our problems because we Venezuelans have rights and duties. Let's fulfill our duties and demand our rights; if we do that, Venezuela is going to be a better place regardless of how we think".

He offered "an optimistic view" and concluded that there is a future in Venezuela and that the country needs all of its citizens.

See VenEconomy: There is a Future Here in Venezuela! (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 20, 2015)

On April 21, 2015. VenEconomy: For This and Many Other Reasons

On Monday, the governor of Aragua state and reportedly one of the pivots of the Venezuelan revolution, Tareck El Aissami, gave a hint on one of the many reasons why corruption levels in Venezuela have grown so much in these times of "socialism of the 21st century". A fact that becomes tangible in the corruption perceptions index released annually by Transparency International, in which Venezuela has had the top places among the most corrupt countries for more than a decade.

In a fit of (naivety or cynicism?), El Aissami said during the Regional Assembly of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) that the former governor of Aragua, Rafael Isea, had been accepted to a witness protection program in the U.S. in exchange for "garbage information" against the Government of Venezuela. This way he confirmed a rumor that had been circulating across several sources of information.

What was "original" about this announcement was not that El Aissami referred to his countryman as a traitor to the "Bolivarian Revolution", or that he linked him to alleged acts of corruption. That's most likely to happen when someone decides to leave the revolutionary lane.

The detail that catches our eye is that he was already aware of Isea's alleged acts of corruption and that he did not denounce him at the request of the late president Hugo Chávez.

According to the media, El Aissmi said: "I wanted to make a serious complaint. I remained silent for two years because Commander Chávez told me as soon as he sent me here (the Governorship of Aragua): I'm withdrawing a son of mine from here because he is a traitor; do not fail me because you're another son to me". We need to ask how to define this kind of automatic cover-up. Maybe complicity? Prevarication? Incitement to impunity? Tolerance toward the crimes committed by their fellow party members?

Is this kind of automatic solidarity, supported by a Government-State that has monopolized the country's public authorities, the perfect ingredient for the development of corruption and for making the civil service opaque? In Venezuela, the monopoly of power is being applied with particular pressure to the System of the Administration of Justice, a system used in a discretionary manner to exonerate those who support Venezuela's "socialist process" or to punish those who disagree with it; also being applied the same political pattern for the exercise of their functions are the Parliament (aka the National Assembly) and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, bodies responsible for the monitoring and control of the public sector.

The result of this has been, as described on several occasions by Mercedes de Freitas, executive director of NGO Transparencia Venezuela: The Venezuelan State is one of the most powerful in the region, one of the most closed and less exposed to public scrutiny.

These are the reasons why so many allegations of money laundering, influence-peddling, kickback schemes, direct public contract awards from national and/or international bodies are kept under wraps by the Public Ministry, the courts of justice, the National Assembly and the Office of the Comptroller.

Thus, no public authority in Venezuela would seriously and openly make an investigation on the billions of dollars that went through the Swiss branch of London-based bank HSBC or the complaints of money laundering schemes in Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA) and its Banco Madrid offshoot, where officials close to the Presidency of the Republic would be involved in the payment of commissions to Spanish companies for "consulting services" in the attraction of contracts. One of these contracts was for the recovery of the Line 1 of the Caracas Metro ($1.85 billion for a commission of about $88.8 million) and another for the construction of a thermoelectric plant (1.5 billion euros for a possible commission of more than 82 million euros).

This "indifference" on the part of the judiciary in the face of specific allegations of corruption is in contrast, for example, to the performance of the system of justice in Brazil, an autonomous and solid system with good investigative capacities that has exposed corruption at state-run oil company Petrobras, where officials of the government party that belongs to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and President Dilma Rousseff are involved.

There is an urgent need in Venezuela to put an end to corruption, where officials and frontmen from the Bolivarian revolution are squandering the public money that should be invested in healthcare, education, infrastructure, security and food production.

See VenEconomy: For This and Many Other Reasons (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 21, 2015)

On April 22, 2015. VenEconomy: The Other Face of Corruption in Venezuela

In a government that has taken the public authorities by assault, that believes itself as owner of the lives and thoughts of citizens, that has transformed the non-transparency, impunity and lawlessness into an institution, corruption is not limited to the theft of public funds, which as we all know is the customary practice of Venezuelas ruling elite.

No, in this era of the so-called socialism of the 21st century, the lack of transparency (which facilitates corruption) in the actions of public authorities and other State bodies is the channel where Venezuela's democracy has been going away, thanks to a vicious circle created by the government's hegemonic power.

By forcing changes in the electoral law and with the acquiescence and permissiveness of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Parliament, the late Hugo Chávez - and now Nicolás Maduro - have been able to move ahead with a so-called "Plan for the Homeland" that is leading the country to utter economic and social disaster. Changes in the electoral system that granted both of them a majority of parliamentary seats without this being proportional to the votes obtained. A parliamentary majority that was then inflated through manipulations to get the opposition out of the electoral game, or to buy consciences of some people with lack of scruples.

Dirty little tricks by no means negligible, since thanks to that spurious majority (1) enabling powers to pass laws that have curtailed civil and economic rights and freedoms were granted; (2) several extraordinary funds for campaign and propaganda expenses during election times were approved; (3) absolute majorities of the ruling party were guaranteed in the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Court of Justice, as well as the fact of appointing supporters of the "socialist process" to the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Attorney General's Office and the Office of the Ombudsman.

That is to say, all the power of the State is concentrated to favor the ruling political bias.

To this it can be added an existing communicational hegemony that not only has taken over the public information network to put it at the service of the State, but has also put economic and legal limits to independent privately-run media in a gradual - but steady - way. From there is a new alert issued by the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) on the deterioration of democracy and press freedom in Venezuela, due to discriminatory measures and recurring restrictions imposed by the Government against the critical and independent press. Measures currently affecting several media outlets, including El Correo del Caroní, El Impulso, El Carabobeño, El Nacional and El Regional de Zulia, all battered by a serious newsprint supply crisis caused by the rationing of foreign currency on the part of the Government as a form of political control. A political control that is also being applied to the rest of the private productive sector.

Similarly, the nontransparent political discretion also applies its control after the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic announced alleged inconsistencies in a sworn statement of net assets against María Corina Machado, Henrique Capriles Radonski and Julio Borges. A decision that seems a first step before eventual political disqualifications for these three leaders of the democratic opposition.

Another act of political corruption is that, in a desperate attempt to win the upcoming parliamentary elections, the National Institute of Statistics in conjunction with the National Electoral Council have modified the criteria for the allocation of population values in at least 19 of the 24 states. This modification at the level of municipalities, parishes and districts producs a displacement of parliamentary seats from an electoral constituency to another.

It turns out that the ruling-party bloc in the Parliament on Tuesday, disregarding the opinion of the opposition, gave the go-ahead to these changes, which in all cases benefits the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV. This because the same percentage of votes in 2010 would give the Government's party four additional lawmakers to the detriment of the parliamentary representation of the opposition.

These dishonest political actions radicalize positions and put a new shackle on the democratic alternative, whose fastest route out of this mess is through elections.

See VenEconomy: The Other Face of Corruption in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 22, 2015)

On April 23, 2015. VenEconomy: Maduro's 'Plan for the Economic Counteroffensive' to do Nothing for Venezuela's Battered Economy

Nicolás Maduro, in light of the upcoming parliamentary elections this year and in observance of Labor Day on May 1, stepped up his attacks on the private business sector.

Perhaps he will do so in a bid to repeat the "Dakazo" experience on the country's retail stores that yielded so many electoral dividends for him in 2013, and that way regain some popular support. What there is no doubt about is that he is doing things by faithfully following the Socialist Homeland plan that the late Hugo Chávez left him as inheritance, and that has also left Venezuela in ruins.

Over the last couple of days, Maduro has been threatening and intimidating the nation's entrepreneurs with having a new enabling law enacted soon and sending all of them to prison. He announced that he is making, together with his general staff, the final adjustments to a special plan through which he will face an alleged "economic war" from the private sector of the economy, and that he will unveil the details on May 1, Labor Day.

From his show Contacto con Maduro (contact with Maduro), broadcast on national TV and radio, the President urged the labor sector to "take charge of the plan for the economic counteroffensive" that will consolidate "a great economic revolution of socialist and productive character".

Now Maduro aims to create "popular supply councils". He sees these councils as groups of people that would oversee the operations of each supermarket in order to avoid irregularities and ensure supplies of basic products.

The goal is to defeat, according to Maduro's own words, "the parasitic and thieving bourgeoisie and oligarchy, who is pulling the strings of the country's product distribution network and has broken all the rules of the game of the law, the Constitution and the economy. Who has broken all of the basic rules of coexistence, respect for the laws and rules of the economy".

Then, on Wednesday from Puerto La Cruz in Anzoátegui state, Maduro threatened entrepreneurs again by telling them that Fedecámaras (Venezuela's main business association) won't be getting any more dollars as he accused them once more for being responsible of the economic war, which he insists is taking place as we speak.

Perhaps Maduro may convince again a specific sector of the population that entrepreneurs are to blame for the general shortages and unbearable inflation issues thanks to this virulent message. Perhaps because of that saying that goes "a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth", a few thousands of Venezuelans may buy him that capitalists caused the devastating problems of production and distribution of food, medicines and other products and basic goods.

But surely Maduro will not be able to get the country out of the hole it has been plunged into for the last 16 years of a failed political and economic model if he doesn't rectify the course, no matter how many tall stories he may come up with, or how much he insults the private sectors of the economy that are producing and keeping the country afloat, or how many times he corners them, prosecutes them and put them behind bars.

Foreign suppliers will not deliver their inputs, raw materials, and other products and goods until they get paid some $10 billion owed to them for merchandise already delivered. The investment capital will not flow into the country unless the rules of the game are clarified and the rule of law in the country is restored. The production apparatus will not start up if the resources to operate are not guaranteed. It has been written in the pages of history that no country in the world with controls, a persecution of the productive sector and no clear rules of the game, has been able to lift its people out of poverty and misery.

As simple as that!

See VenEconomy: Maduro's 'Plan for the Economic Counteroffensive' to do Nothing for Venezuela's Battered Economy (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 23, 2015)

On April 24, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela Goes Downhill!

People just need to have a look at news reports coming from the Government to realize the magnitude of the economic crisis affecting Venezuelans.

On the one hand, President Nicolás Maduro announced new "economic steps" as he will no longer allocate foreign currency to entrepreneurs linked to business association Fedecámaras, which means that the shortages issue will worsen further. And on the other, the Health Minister said he is going to start rationing medications for chronic diseases through the so-called Integrated System for Access to Medicines, or Siamed. In other words, more controls for Venezuelans.

In addition, the public opinion is shocked because the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) has pawned part of the gold of the international reserves for almost $1 billion, a fact that may drain the public coffers.

The central bank said, for example, that the National Institute of Statistics (INE) had reported that unemployment stood at 5% in December of last year (a month in which employment commonly peaks). In reality, unemployment must have been twice as high because what the INE understands as being an "employed person" is someone who recorded a single hour of remunerated activity during the previous week.

Another conundrum is inflation. Although the BCV reported that the inflation rate was 68.5% in 2014, it also explained that it restructured its basic basket of products since the middle of last year to make it "more representative of current consumption patterns", without elaborating on the details of the structure of the new index. Therefore, it can be assumed that the intention was (and still is) to present inflation figures lower than the real ones. Perhaps what they are trying to hide is the Cendas-FVM index, whose figures have historically differed very little from those of the BCV: According to this index, the cost of the family shopping basket rose 99.9% from April 2014 through March 2015.

Another conundrum raised by VenEconomy is PDVSA. The state-run oil company claims it is exporting between 2.4 and 2.5 million barrels per day and that is producing 2.85 million barrels per day. This doesn't add up because: 1) Domestic consumption is approximately 650,000 barrels per day, so that leaves 2.2 million barrels per day for exports. Unless, of course, this includes 200,000-300,000 barrels per day of light crude imported for mixing to be reexported again. 2) OPEC believes that Venezuelan production is about 2.35 million barrels per day (only crude oil) from which it can be inferred that Venezuela's net exports are about 1.8 million barrels per day, a fact that helps explain the drought of dollars in the country. Why doesn't the Government invite the OPEC to the country so that it can corroborate the real figures?

VenEconomy also explains that the balance of payments is shrouded in mystery. The few figures released by the central bank are questionable. The BCV announced earlier this year that it would count certain non-monetary assets (for example, diamonds) as "reserves". Likewise, the BCV valued its vast holdings of gold at $1,258 per troy ounce in February, when gold was trading at $1,210 an ounce in London. Just like PDVSA, the BCV has disguised its total exports (by offsetting differences in the Capital Account), a procedure that allows it to present surpluses in the current account when, in reality, the country is running deficits.

VenEconomy concludes that "paralysis" is the term that best describes the economy.

Venezuela has too many problems, but these can be solved. However, the first step to take must be clearing the path of lies and distortions so that everyone, including our policymakers, becomes aware and understands where we are standing.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Goes Downhill! (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 24, 2015)

On April 27, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelan NGO launches 'Mission Impunity'

Venezuela has become a country where the general perception is that nothing works the way it should. Not the economy, or the production of goods, or public services, or security, or justice. No sector at present is providing quality of life to the country's citizens, but quite the opposite. The resounding failure of the so-called "Socialism of the 21st century" resembles all the similar political projects seen throughout the history of mankind.

Just as serious is that a nontransparent administration, a lack of accountability, the complicity of the different levels of government, the nepotism and influence peddling lie behind each failure of the Bolivarian revolution, as much as the certainty the ruling elite has of holding power until the end of time, and of getting off scot-free.

However, this "elite" is forgetting that no power lasts forever, and that there is no statute of limitations for crimes against public heritage and human rights violations.

Hence the importance of initiatives such as Misión Impunidad, or mission impunity, (http://transparencia.org.ve/impunidad/) launched by local NGO Transparencia Venezuela for documenting, monitoring and determining whether various cases of corruption have already been investigated and prosecuted. Misión Impunidad counts on the contribution of a group of prominent Venezuelan journalists, who have conducted several investigations on several corruption scandals that have been made public in recent years.

Transparencia Venezuela said in the launch press release of Misión Impunidad that it seeks to rekindle what the Magna Carta says in its article 271 that there will not be statute of limitations for judicial proceedings aimed at punishing offenses against the public heritage. It notes that while corruption is bad, one that goes unpunished is twice as bad. Among its goals is also catching the attention of the country so those committing abuses can be blamed and justice can be served.

Until now, the investigations of the journalists have revealed that, in the corruption cases analyzed, it became clear the absence of the implementation of justice.

They pointed out that "the results of the journalistic investigations conducted for Misión Impunidad are devastating. Accused of having defrauded the nation, these people hold high office in the Government today; they're part of the national directorate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV); they occupy parliamentary seats in the National Assembly and they even represent the country at international level. Meanwhile, Venezuelans find themselves suffering the daily effects of those abuses that have cost the Republic billions of dollars".

Corruption and impunity are not alien to the myriad problems suffered by Venezuelans. These hit citizens hard every day.

They hit them hard, for example, in the food area. Or as Misión Impunidad puts it, "in that mother who cannot get milk for their children". Or both make up one of the main causes "for a patient to tour pharmacies looking for a medicine with no luck; for the lack of steel bars to build houses; and for the power outages that leave Venezuelan families completely in the dark".

Worse still, it points out that "impunity is present and falls into oblivion".

VenEconomy bets on the success of Misión Impunidad by Transparencia Venezuela. It deems it vital so that it doesn't become another mission impossible for the restoration of the democratic order and progress in the country.

See VenEconomy: Venezuelan NGO launches 'Mission Impunity' (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 27, 2015)

On April 28, 2015. VenEconomy: 'Mission Impunity' Turns its Attention to Venezuela's Healthcare Sector

Misión Impunidad (mission impunity), an anti-impunity program from Venezuelan NGO Transparencia Venezuela, is turning its attention to the country's battered healthcare sector. A sector where corruption has wreaked havoc and put the lives of the Venezuelan people on the razor's edge.

An investigation conducted by local journalist Lissette Cardona for Misión Impunidad revealed that - at least - 881,850 pounds of drugs expired between 2010 and 2014. That means that those drugs were never distributed to the hospitals of the country. The investigation showed that these drugs "expired while stored in the ports of La Guaira and Puerto Cabello or in containers belonging to the State Service of Pharmaceutical Processing, or SEFAR".

And explains that some 18 containers with 110,230 pounds of damaged products found, in 2014 alone, contained, among other things, batches of medicinal products today scarce in the country such as bicalutamide (150 mg), used in the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer.

The investigation also showed that lawmakers of the democratic opposition belonging to the Movida Parlamentaria group revealed that, since 2012, the Ministry of Health had all the expired or damaged drugs incinerated with the help of companies such as Calderas Serv-Jet from Maracay, Aragua state, and Incineradora Hornos from La Guaira in Greater Caracas.

The investigation also pointed out that while there is no accurate data on what was spent on the importation of such expired medicines, "the parliamentary report notes that the Government paid $31 million to Cuba to import these drugs in 2011" for storage purposes and subsequent incineration; that "in 2012 the payment amounted to $46.5 million" and that "the drugs found between 2013 and 2014 cost $400 million".

The investigation carried out for Misión Impunidad showed that to date Venezuela's control and justice bodies have not yet been able to identify the culprits or provide answers related to this case. The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic did not define direct responsibilities. The Supreme Court of Justice rejected an appeal by NGOs such as Espacio Público, Acción Solidaria, Transparencia Venezuela and Provea demanding the Ministry of Health to respond for the loss of medicines imported from Cuba. This besides rejecting a request for information on the results of the investigations.

Investigations with respect to the expiration of medications in containers of SEFAR, a body responsible for the development of 10 types of essential drugs, as well as for the distribution of materials and imported drugs through international conventions, whose storage is also responsible for, were never made, either.

A most recent case of corruption was revealed to the public this week by Marcos Figueroa, a lawmaker of the Democratic Unity party coalition, who denounced the signing of agreements for the construction of a factory of medicinal products slated for completion in 2012, but that has not been executed so far, in spite of the fact that $96 million have been shelled out already for that purpose.

Now when damage has been done in the production and supplies of medicines because of the rampant corruption, inefficiency and foreign exchange and price controls, the National Executive is applying measures that are detrimental to the freedom of patients by the time they need to buy medicines, the same way it has restricted the access to food and basic goods rather than attacking the root of the problem.

Thus, the Ministry of Health launched the so-called Integrated System for Access to Medicines (SIAMED), a system that will surely end up being another hurdle for consumers, another tentacle to monitor the activity of pharmacies and another source of corruption, which will subject the population affected by cardiovascular, endocrine, metabolic and chronic neurological diseases to a new ordeal by the time they need to buy the drugs essential for their survival.

See VenEconomy: 'Mission Impunity' Turns its Attention to Venezuela's Healthcare Sector (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 28, 2015)

On April 29, 2015. VenEconomy: Corruption, Impunity Turn Off the Lights in Venezuela

Corruption is bad, and one with impunity is twice as bad as argued local NGO Transparencia Venezuela when launching its Misión Impunidad (mission impunity) anti-impunity program late this month. And it is three times as bad when it affects the power supply to millions of Venezuelan families and hinders productive activity.

That's why power management has been one of the subjects to be investigated by Misión Impunidad, a task taken up by local journalist César Batiz.

Batiz dates back his investigation to February 15 2010, when the late President Hugo Chávez signed a decree on electric power emergency while Alí Rodríguez Araque, the then-minister of the electricity sector, announced that in May of that year, and as part of the so-called "Plan for the electrical shielding of Caracas", the Picure thermoelectric plant would begin to operate with 134 MW of installed power thanks to an investment of $125 million.

Batiz recalled that this "shielding" was about "preventing that a drop in the water level of Guri Dam, as a result of very little rainfall known as El Niño, would cause electricity rationing or blackouts in Caracas, as was already the case in the rest of the country".

He also recalled that with that goal the already nationalized electricity company Electricidad de Caracas (Elecar) "scheduled the construction of Picure and six other plants, whose contract was awarded to Spain-based business group Duro Felguera for more than $2 billion; the Raisa III plant was awarded to local firm GTME; and the planning, engineering and construction of other five plants to Derwick Associates", an unexperienced company that "never had built a plant before as the one required by state-run electricity company Corpoelec". With only 14 months after its foundation, this new company was awarded 12 projects valued at a cost of more than $2.1 billion.

Complaints on well-documented acts of corruption, which ended up in some drawer of a court of justice, the Prosecutor or Comptroller General's Office that sworn allegiance to the Bolivarian government, didn't take long to be made public.

But, the tentacles of corruption also reached another Elecar contractor: Duro Felguera, a Spanish business group hired to build several infrastructures with the Chávez government.

After a money laundering scheme in Banca Privada d'Andorra and its Banco Madrid subsidiary was exposed, it was known about the millions of dollars in payments from Duro Felguera for "consultancy services" (some of them verbally) to companies and Venezuelan officials so it could obtain contracts with the National Government: one for $50 million paid to Venezuelan company Técnicas Reunidas C.A. (Terca) and another for $50 million to Nervis Villalobos, a former Vice Minister of Electric Power, through Ingespre (a consulting firm), both of them to obtain the contract for the Termocentro thermoelectric plant in 2009. However, neither the National Executive, nor the rest of its faithful public authorities, has said a word on these allegations.

It is unacceptable that so much corruption goes unpunished. And it becomes even more inadmissible, because in spite of so many financial resources spent on the so-called National Electricity System (SEN), it is in the same - or worse - conditions that it was in 2010 when Chávez declared the electric power emergency.

Just a week ago, Jesse Chacón, the Minister of Electricity, denied the possibility of a crisis in the generation, transmission and distribution system of electricity. What is more, Luis Vásquez Corro, an electrical engineer and adviser to local business association Fedecámaras, was arrested, opened a criminal case and issued precautionary measures for publicly warning about the risks of shutting down the turbines of the Guri hydroelectric system if it didn't rain at the headwaters of the Caroní River, causing massive blackouts in nearly all the national territory.

On Tuesday, Chacón announced a series of electricity rationing measures that include: a reduction in working hours in the public administration to five and a half hours and a requirement to restrict the electricity consumption to the private sector and the rest of the population.

A restrictive measure that comes at a time when the low domestic production, both of public and private companies, is at critical levels and when the help and efforts of everyone are required to get Venezuela out of the hole it has been plunged into.

See VenEconomy: Corruption, Impunity Turn Off the Lights in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 29, 2015)

On April 30, 2015. VenEconomy: What can Venezuela Expect this Labor Day?

This Labor Day will be laden with uncertainties and unexpected situations for Venezuela.

While nearly the entire population has to put up with massive blackouts, long queues to buy some food and medicines, or touring hospitals and morgues nationwide; another important part of the population awaits the presidential announcements of President Nicolás Maduro in fear and anguish.

On May 1, many Venezuelans, especially workers and entrepreneurs, will be curious to find out what the new plan to revive the economy from Maduro is about as announced on a national TV and radio broadcast on April 22.

Being 2015 an election year, this "plan" can mean anything that his feverish revolutionary mind can conceive; what is for certain is that none of the measures to be announced will be favorable for the development of the country or will improve the quality of life of the population.

At least this can be deducted from what he has been insinuating from that very same day. He is likely to continue tightening controls, to insist on carrying out inspections to the private sector and on the renewed threats of prison time to those he says are the authors of an "economic war" he made up to justify the failure of the so-called "Plan for the Homeland".

Without anyone having to take a wild guess, he is expected to continue with the manipulation and distortion of facts such as, for example, saying that he would not give more dollars to Fedécamaras, a business association that neither requires, nor has requested, nor has been given foreign currency. The purpose of this statement is to demonize this business association, selling the idea that the business sector is to blame for the drought of foreign currency, the shortages issue and the economic crisis.

The own words of Maduro can serve as a sample: "I have an enabling law in my hand and I'm going to use it forcefully to protect the people, to provoke the necessary economic turnaround", and then he defended his administration and pointed out that he is not "sitting back and doing nothing", because if this was so the population would not have "any food in their homes".

Also, as is now customary, Maduro will announce a new increase in the minimum wage (possibly between 40% and 50% to compensate for accumulated inflation); and he may even announce a general increase in wages. Or as some analysts fear, he may nationalize the private banking sector, order new expropriations of private companies and boost the criminalization of alleged economic "crimes" through an enabling law.

This way Maduro will keep mastering two of the most successful tasks carried out by the "revolution of the 21st century":

One of them is to devalue the private sector of the economy by applying anti-business policies that undermine their capacity of production, of creating decent and sustainable jobs and of paying salaries that would ensure their workers a decent quality of life. Which means bad news for employers, employees and the society in general.

The other is to continue breaking the economy and destroying democracy; to persist in an inefficient and corrupt management of public companies; to fail to comply with the constitutional mandate of ensuring life, health, education, food and housing to citizens; to misinform the population by denying them to know the monthly figures of the most basic indicators of the economy and to fail to fulfill the pledges as it has done over the past 16 years.

In a nutshell, we can expect more or worse of the same failure of government during this Labor Day. Yet anything goes in this Orwellian world where Venezuela is slipping right into the hands of Big Brother.

See VenEconomy: What can Venezuela Expect this Labor Day? (Latin American Herald Tribune, April 30, 2015)

On May 4, 2015. VenEconomy: The 'Economic Turnaround' from Venezuela's Maduro that Never Became a Reality

The much-feared May 1 already passed, a day on which Nicolás Maduro had announced he would "turn the economy around" in order to fight an imaginary war unleashed by the private sector against his government. Maduro never turned the economy around as he said he would, although there were several "turnarounds" on that International Workers' Day:

One of them was a round trip to Cuba. An unannounced and unauthorized trip by the Parliament so Maduro could preside over the acts of the Workers' Day on the island jointly with Raúl Castro. There are people who claim that Maduro went to Cuba to go over the last details and get the nod from the Castro brothers for the announcements he was to make during the Workers' Day acts in Venezuela later on that day.

The second of them was about an increase of 30% in the workers' "vital" minimum wage and pensions payable in two installments (20% from May 1 and 10% from July 1st).

With this second increase so far this year, the minimum monthly salary went to Bs.6,746.97 ($1,071 if calculated at the fictional official rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar or $23.67 at the real black market rate of 285 bolivars per dollar) in May and to Bs.7,421.67 ($1,178 or $26.04) from July 1 from Bs.5,622.48 ($892 or $19.73).

Maduro also pointed out he was going to decree an "adjustment and increase in every part of the salary scale and table of the public administration and the National Armed Forces of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FANB)", without elaborating on the amounts and dates.

And the third "turnaround" Maduro got came from the trade unionists of the PSUV ruling party who booed him as he made the announcements. The paltry increase simply does not meet the needs of anyone.

1. It does not meet the aspirations of trade unions calling for an increase of 100%.
2. It does not make up for the losses of workers' purchasing power, which has been eroded thanks to skyrocketing inflation that has accumulated an increase of 22% just between January and February of this year alone, and does not cover the costs of the basic food basket, which according to figures by NGO Cendas-FVM was Bs.35.124,45 ($5,575) in March, or 4.0% higher than February and 99.8% (Bs.17,551.95 or $2,786) higher than a year ago.
3. It leaves out about seven million workers of the informal sector of the economy.
4. It is a shameful mockery of workers from the public administration who have been waiting to sign their collective bargaining agreements for more than a decade.
5. It represents a severe blow to companies already battered by inflation, low inventories and production due to the lack of supplies and raw materials because of the restrictions on foreign currency, the myriad of controls and the lack of a policy to boost production.

The fourth "turnaround" continues to be present in the threats of Maduro to enact laws through his "super enabling powers" granted by the government-dominated Parliament for "undertaking actions amid this anti-imperialist battle to defend the people, to shore up this battle". This means that he may apply his own economic turnaround, which may include a new salary increase on the eve of the parliamentary elections this year, without anyone expecting it.

The members of the 3,815 popular councils for the supply and production who took oath on Monday and who were entrusted with taking all the distribution networks of "all the factories and establishments in the country" will play a key role in this fourth "economic turnaround". These councils, as warned by opposition lawmaker Vestalia Sampedro, are "worrisome and dangerous because they represent a significant step towards Marxism in the development activity of the business, political, economic and social life of the country".

This is a program that will serve to further coercion and repression from Venezuelans (and thugs of the Castro dictatorship) against their own Venezuelan countrymen, and will lead to the closure of businesses and entrepreneurs being sent to prison -- much like what is already happening with the so-called "cooperating patriots", who under the condition of anonymity are taking innocent citizens who are against the Government to prisons without presenting any evidence of having committed a crime.

Instead, an "economic turnaround" that would indeed generate returns for both the country and Venezuelans is that Nicolás Maduro should put into action the words of Lorenzo Mendoza, the head of Venezuela's largest foodmaker and brewer Empresas Polar, from a letter made public on April 30: "The best way to provide the population with solutions, relating to the supply situation, is through the integration of efforts between the State and private companies". Because, as Mendoza concludes, "The best thing that could happen to Venezuelans is that we all do well, and the only way to achieve this is working together for the sake of our country".

See VenEconomy: The 'Economic Turnaround' from Venezuela's Maduro that Never Became a Reality (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 4, 2015)

On May 5, 2015. VenEconomy: Silence Means Consent

According to the international rules of diplomacy, the fact of not defending a country's sovereign rights is to let the adversary win, meaning that "silence is consent".

These international rules should applicable to Venezuela's electoral sphere, particularly to the leadership of the democratic opposition that makes up the Democratic Unity (or MUD) party. This suggestion is valid at a time when new parliamentary elections, considered of vital importance to face the dictatorial regime imposed in Venezuela, are to be held this year.

As is well known, the Bolivarian revolution has increased its dominance over the nation's public authorities, including the National Electoral Council (CNE), over the past 16 years. A body in which the predominance of the political bias of the ruling party not only has allowed reforms in the legislation, thus changing the form and substance of the Electoral System, but it has also allowed the elimination of electoral guarantees apart from the countless manipulations, abuses of power, misappropriations of public resources for the benefit of the ruling party so it can remain in power until 2020 and beyond.

In favor of this aspiration is the certainty that a low turnout in the elections will affect the opposition most, since a lower participation of voters may result in a lower public pressure and a greater possibility for the Government to play dirty.

With this certainty, the Government is acting accordingly with silence, omissions and carrying out tests in order to measure forces and generate suspicion, which is likely to move voters away from the ballot box.

That same certainty about how harmful abstention is for Venezuela's democratic choice has led the leadership of the MUD to maintain a very low profile on a policy to denounce all these machinations and dirty tricks of the Government. A silence that many analysts and political leaders deem a serious mistake.

Put another way, once the vote is cast, there is nothing that the CNE can do to change it. That is why both the CNE and the Government are hoping that opposition supporters stay home on Election Day. And that is why the MUD must do everything in its power to encourage participation in the election.

This is the case, for example, of former opposition lawmaker María Corina Machado who has been reporting and still maintains a critical attitude towards the electoral outrages of the Government since her days as head of local NGO Súmate. One of her latest allegations is a warning on the intentions of the CNE to eliminate the physical voting centers' registries so they can be replaced for electronic devices. This is a procedure that would be tested during the primary elections that the MUD will hold on May 17, to then impose it during the parliamentary elections later this year.

Machado described this approach as perverse and unacceptable, given that this would remove the only control witnesses currently have to prevent the number of voters from being altered. As Machado pointed out, there can be no delay in "defending the truth with the truth, in calling things by their name and in warning about the traps and frauds they are up to".

A very true remark as also is her claim that "denouncing the CNE will not demobilize the people, or will cause abstention; on the contrary, it will awaken the necessary fighting spirit so the majority is recognized".

Today, most opinion polls have shown that the electoral winds are blowing in favor of the democratic proposal. That's good news on the one hand. Bad news, on the other hand, is that the Government will do whatever it takes during the parliamentary elections to ensure the survival of its political project. That's why, as never before, it has become imperative to apply all kinds of citizen and international pressure to stop it from getting away with it.

See VenEconomy: Silence Means Consent (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 5, 2015)

On May 6, 2015. VenEconomy: Beyond a Decent Pay in Venezuela

The economic "turnaround" of Nicolás Maduro with his announcement of a 30% increase in the minimum salary payable in two installments, a fact that does nothing but hit the pockets of the Venezuelan population harder than ever before, was enough to bring the dire situation of Venezuelan universities to the surface.

It turns out that the bad news of an increase in the minimum salary to Bs.7,421.67 ($1,178 at a fictional official rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar and $27 if calculated at a black market rate of about Bs.275 per dollar), is not that it comes with a deficit of Bs.27,703 (78.9%) with respect to the cost of the basic food basket in March of this year, according to monthly data compiled by the Center of Social Analysis and Documentation of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM). Nor is it that the minimum wage increase between May 2014 and May 2015 was 58.7% in real terms. In other words, the minimum salary in Venezuela has decreased by 41.3%.

The very bad news here is that since most of the pay scales of the public sector have been frozen, Venezuelans are now seeing how poorly qualified and newly appointed employees will earn Bs.7,421,67 a month as of July 1, while highly qualified workers in the public sector may be earning less or slightly more than that; for example, a doctor who works six hours a day now earns Bs.6.899 a month ($1,095 or $25); a teacher with 25 years of experience earns Bs.8,425 a month ($1,337 or $31); and needless to say a university teacher, whose largest wage scale barely reaches 2.73 minimum wages now in comparison with 2001 when it was up to 13 minimum salaries, while teachers at Instructor level fall well below the new minimum salary.

This seems to have escalated tensions within the university teachers federation, whose members began a series of protest actions this week. The first of them was by the Association of University Teachers of the Central University of Venezuela (Apucv), which called for a 24-hour strike on Monday to demand salary increases; this action was followed by the University of Zulia (LUZ) with a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, also rejecting the attacks of troops from the State security forces on the Faculty of Engineering on April 30, thus violating the autonomy of universities; and, subsequently, the University of Los Andes (ULA) decided to start a "zero hour" on May 15, which means half day of work and half day of protest.

And as former opposition lawmaker María Corina Machado put it in her Twitter account, "when in a country a university teacher earns below the minimum salary, it is clear that ignorance is a State policy".

This is so true that, since the beginning of his first Government, Hugo Chávez proposed to interfere in the training and education of Venezuelans at all schooling levels for the sake of creating Venezuela's "new socialist man". That is to say, an indoctrinated being, one without independence of a critical and rebellious thinking, ready to serve the purposes of the nation's ruling elite. To that end, in addition to undermine the quality of primary and secondary education by imposing a manipulated and biased curriculum content, the State has set up parallel higher education institutions with very low academic quality and drastically cut budgetary resources of autonomous universities.

A fact that is already proving to have devastating consequences over only a few public "autonomous" universities that don't have financial resources to purchase inputs, or equipment, not to mention funding research projects, and much less for the maintenance of facilities or guaranteeing security in the classrooms, in an attempt to disrupt their autonomy so it can impose a model of a country where a single way of thinking prevails.

From there, the struggle of universities is the struggle of all Venezuelans who want democracy and freedom.

See VenEconomy: Beyond a Decent Pay in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 6, 2015)

On May 7, 2015. VenEconomy: The Powerless Power of the Venezuelan Government

It is more noticeable every day that Venezuelans are overwhelmed by a feeling of being rounded up by an oppressive Government-State, like a caged and wounded tiger.

In his weekly column published by daily El Universal on Wednesday entitled "The Powerless Power", Father Luis Ugalde made an interesting analysis explaining the effects and possible outcomes that this sort of power can produce, in light of past experiences. VenEconomy also published part of this important view in its daily editorial.

Father Ugalde creates a reality: that the seizure of power in Venezuela is so absolute that society feels there are only two options to escape from their captors: give up or leave the country.

And he wonders: is that power powerful or powerless? What is power?

Then he explained that "power is domination over others". "Dictatorial governments dedicate themselves to control all the authorities and mechanisms so they can impose their own rules and dominate: weapons, police forces, the economy, the media, or the daily lives and feelings of each individual". It is about "making sure that everyone is being closely watched, that their activities are monitored and that they need permission to eat, work, play, buy, go in or out, travel and think".

That's the way a vast majority of Venezuelans feels today and, as Father Ugalde recalls, this used to happen in East Germany, where people who felt watched "even by their own neighbors and relatives, lowered their voices so conversations could not be heard by third parties or reach the spheres of power".

He recalled that "the German communist regime achieved very high levels of control with the help of Stasi - an omnipresent secret police - and closed borders, impassable walls and barbed wire". Today in Venezuela, borders are being closed every night with the excuse of fighting smuggling.

Father Ugalde also recalled that that regime once thought to be "invincible and its collapse or change unthinkable", and one fine day "it collapsed like a building without foundation, like a tree with dead roots, without anyone shooting from within or outside". And claimed that "the wall easily came down, just because the regime was dead in the heart and hopes of the people".

And asked,"Why the powerful power fell apart and this society where everything was tied up, controlled and monitored opened up?" The reason is that "power is not only about dominance, or the ability to impose one's own will on others. Power is the ability to achieve something and do it right".

"Governments are for ruling, for making citizens achieve their fundamental aspirations. If they succeed, they will strengthen their popularity, otherwise they will be able to impose their will, but with lack of support and acceptance and agonizing until they finally die because of the wounds".

As a result, as says Ugalde, "a substantial vacuum is created in the hearts of the people when the hopes they had die".

"One day, both rulers and subjects find out that power is powerless to achieve what is fundamental for each family, each citizen and society as a whole. Those who are in power see their subjects without oxygen and the more they step up repression, the more they violate the will of those who bowed their heads and remained silent in the past", Ugalde pointed out.

Then he added that "in Venezuela we are moving rapidly toward a powerless power". All that is good becomes scarce while the "revolutionary" fervor diminishes for being short of breath. Of course some "mouth-to-mouth" can be done, and several wars and conspiracies from the U.S. Empire can be made up in order to resort to patriotism and thus mobilize people, but each day is more obvious that this is all a bunch of lies to manipulate people.

He said that the "unwanted regime transforms itself into usurpation and tyranny, and it is learned that the power of the ruler is no higher than that provided by the subjects when following orders; once they rise up in rebellion, it will all fall apart".

As has happened in other times and dictatorships, and as says Ugalde, "when the edge of the precipice is seen, the conservation instinct undermines power (even from the bunker of Adolf Hitler came out negotiators!) and some will look for a transition as a solution for the majority".

And he concluded: "The powerless power of a minority comes to an end".

See VenEconomy: The Powerless Power of the Venezuelan Government (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 7, 2015)

On May 8, 2015. VenEconomy: The Battered Freedom of Expression in Venezuela

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan government gave the world another sample of its retrograde and dictatorial nature, by preventing Venezuelan journalist and politician Teodoro Petkoff from traveling to Madrid to receive the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award 2015.

Venezuela has become a prison for Petkoff, as also has for former opposition lawmaker María Corina Machado and many other Venezuelans who have been banned from leaving the country for spurious political trials against them.

The measure against Petkoff is the result of a lawsuit filed by Diosdado Cabello, the head of both the Parliament and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), for publishing in his newspaper TalCual a story from Spain-based daily ABC denouncing the alleged ties of Cabello with drug trafficking. Apart from Petkoff, the lawsuit extends to shareholders, directors, editorial board and owners of TalCual, as well as to other media outlets such as daily El Nacional and La Patilla, a news portal.

Although the impact this may have on his image at international level is not likely to make Nicolás Maduro depart from the path of dictatorship and communicational hegemony, this fact has revealed even more about the oppressive nature of the Government and "describes well the situation of the country", Petkoff told the community of politics, culture and international economy.

The move of the Venezuelan government of having prevented the TalCual editor-in-chief from receiving his journalism award in person was harshly criticized by nearly everyone, while Petkoff grew in strength.

On the one hand, it was very meaningful that former Spain's Prime Minister and socialist politician, Felipe González, was the one to collect the award on his behalf. And on the other, that famed Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa had expressed in the award ceremony that the absence of Petkoff "has proved that the Chávez regime, and now that of Maduro, is not as they claim it to be, a progressive regime with important social reforms, but rather authoritarian, tyrannical and populist" and argued that this is "an example of serenity, democratic action and spirit of resistance in a country where the opposition is being harassed, persecuted, imprisoned, fined and prosecuted. They haven't been able to break him".

This demonstration of authoritarianism and tyranny is also being reflected in the results of studies on freedom of expression and information. For example, Venezuela was classified as "not free" and ranked 186th out of 199 countries evaluated in the Global Report on freedom of expression conducted annually by Freedom House, an NGO based in Washington, D.C. Freedom House cited an increase in attacks and threats against journalists; the lack of media ownership; an economic siege endangering the viability of the written press and the use of laws to silence criticism. Or as also shown by the Index of Press Freedom by local NGO Reporteros sin Fronteras (reporters without borders), Venezuela fell 21 points to occupy the position 137 (out of 180 countries).

It should be remembered, as pointed out this week by the Venezuelan Union of Press Workers (SNTP), that there are currently about 20 laws, codes, rules and regulations that directly or indirectly establish control over communications in Venezuela.

This loss of freedom of expression and information is a mechanism of control of the population that must be tackled by all citizens, because the exercise of other freedoms and life in democracy depend on this particular one.

See VenEconomy: The Battered Freedom of Expression in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 8, 2015)

On May 11, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Exchange Control as Confusing as it Gets

In the midst of the chaos afflicting the Venezuelan economy, many have started to talk about dollarization as an alternative to look for an exit to the crisis. And it seems the National Executive is performing some testing in this regard.

At least this is what one may think after seeing the parallel market being decriminalized and the U.S. dollar becoming a benchmark for the transactions in the local real estate market; after inducing airlines to sell tickets in foreign currency; or after seeing the Government coming to terms with automakers such as Ford and General Motors so they can sell their vehicles in dollars, a fact that will be extended to the auto parts industry without a doubt. Nor is ruled out the possibility that this will extend shortly to the procurement of goods in the computer, telecommunications and home appliances industries.

It should be noted that what would being applied in Venezuela is very far from being a dollarization of the economy, and close to becoming a far too confusing sort of exchange control; an exchange control hybrid with a free exchange rate to be used for most goods and services, but heavily distorted for the purchase of other goods and services.

A true dollarization of the economy would mean to adopt the U.S. dollar as legal tender, as did Ecuador. This would mean that the bolívar currency would disappear to let the greenback perform all the financial and commercial transactions of the country.

The dollarization per se is not a panacea for the current economic destruction of Venezuela.

In principle, and in the short term, dollarization may bring some advantages or benefits, such as the following cited by economists Andrew Berg and Eduardo Borensztein: "Avoiding currency and balance of payments crises. Without a domestic currency, there is no possibility of either sharp depreciations or sudden capital outflows driven by the fear of a devaluation"; but of difficult initial implementation in an economy with gigantic distortions such as those of the Venezuelan economy.

In addition it is said that it would help stabilize and lower inflation at international levels; lower interest rates and grant greater access to capitals; eliminate the risk of issuing money with no backing, which is one of the causes of high inflation rates; minimize the political influence in the country's fiscal and monetary policies; regain credibility in the monetary scheme and, in consequence, lure foreign capital; allow a greater integration of international markets, especially with the U.S., and that the trade balance reflects the productive reality of the country by not devaluing the currency and benefit exporters with this measure.

But in the end, and in the medium and long term, the benefits of dollarization are not such.

First because by dollarizing the economy, the central bank would be transferring its functions to the Federal Reserve System, and give up its main functions such as controlling inflation and stabilizing the exchange rates. Thus, the central bank will be unable to bear the brunt of potential changes in crude oil prices or fiscal deficits.

In addition, dollarization represents a loss in seigniorage income (or a gain for the issuance of paper money) for the Treasury; it prevents the central bank from helping the financial system in the event of a crisis and this is a decision that is almost irreversible.

For those who insist on the dollarization to solve the fiscal deficits issue, we suggest them take a look at what happens in Greece, where no effort was made to control spending; or Ecuador, which in the absence of a monetary policy simply increased tariffs by 40% as a measure to reduce the deficits in the balance of payments, but in spite of this move it is about to explode.

Countries with greater economic success such as the U.S., Canada and the European Union, among others, operate with free exchange rates - set by a free market. Venezuela has lived through periods with free exchange rates and fared well. But it should be noted that the free exchange rates would be only one of the many measures required to lift the Venezuelan economy out of the morass it is in. The ultimate goal should be the elimination of all controls gradually in one or two years in order to mitigate the impact.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Exchange Control as Confusing as it Gets (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 11, 2015)

On May 12, 2015. VenEconomy: Is Anarchy in Venezuela Part of the Bolivarian Revolution's Plan?

About 24,000 homicides in 2014 alone, to reach nearly 50,000 in only two years, is not something that can go unnoticed by a population that bears the brunt of the scourge of violence and crime every day.

And is that the Venezuela of the Bolivarian revolution has become a no-man's land in the area of security. Countless security plans have been useless to stem crime or put a brake on homicides. More serious is that the Government, rather than protecting the lives of citizens, is implementing measures without any serious criminal basis or concerted planning between the different actors of society, taking the problem of violence to unsustainable levels of anarchy.

This is the case of so-called "peace zones", created in the framework of "Proyecto Movimiento por la Vida y la Paz" (The Movement for Life and Peace Project), coordinated by the Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace, supposedly aimed at "pacifying armed gangs wreaking havoc in communities, primarily those located in 79 municipalities in the country with the highest crime rates, according to studies conducted by the Government".

The National Executive started to develop this project since September of 2013, when kicking off a pilot scheme that distributed these "peace zones" in about eight sectors of the Andrés Bello municipality (located in the Barlovento area of Miranda state), and that today extends to various municipalities across several states of the country, including Miranda, Aragua and Capital District.

The project was supposedly aimed at dismantling the criminal gangs operating in these areas and, through negotiation and dialogue, coming to "some kind of terms" with criminals so they could surrender their weapons and that way lowering crime rates.

But, as usual, when power wants to impose itself with total hegemony, the project went ahead without consultation and launched without the participation of the heads of the regional police forces, or the members of the Public Ministry, or specialists in the field of criminology. Now the police and security forces are not allowed to help communities in the case of attacks by criminal groups within the peace zones.

Local experts such as Marcos Tarre, a lawyer and criminologist, told the press a few weeks ago that the apparent failure of this security plan is mainly owed to the fact that "criminal gangs lack a pyramidal organization with visible leaders; some of these gangs are suddenly created and the same way they disappear, and there is also the issue of them not having a formal interlocutor to negotiate with and come to terms".

These "peace zones" got off on the wrong foot in February 2014 when, in an alleged confrontation between criminal gangs and officers from the scientific police force (CICPC) in Valles del Tuy (Miranda state), three people died, including one of the members of Proyecto Movimiento por la Vida y la Paz. After this confrontation, anarchy reigned for three days in the area, leaving the criminal gang known as "Los Orejones" (people with big ears) with absolute control of the region.

And things don't stop there. A week ago in Ocumare del Tuy (also Miranda state), a gang gunned down nine members of a family that was celebrating the assignment of an apartment in a building of the Government's Misión Vivienda housing program.

And things keep getting a whole lot worse after guerrillas of Colombia's FARC started asking citizens and businesses within the peace zones fair amounts of money to guarantee their safety.

At least this is what is being reported from the industrial zone of San Vicente (Maracay, Aragua state), where after the first zone of peace was set up there, citizen security was entrusted to civilians, while having a command post of the National Guard withdrawn from the area, thus banning police and military forces from accessing the zone. In addition, work tables comprised by residents, in conjunction with the state governor and mayor of the zone, were established, which according to reports have begun to "suggest" that companies operating there pay a monthly fee for the benefit of getting a "security service".

The bottom line is that criminals do as they please nowadays with an uncontrollable capacity for action, while impunity has become the rule for the police and security forces of the State.

See VenEconomy: Is Anarchy in Venezuela Part of the Bolivarian Revolution's Plan? (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 12, 2015)

On May 13, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelan Press is Banned from Doing Anything!

The spectrum of what is banned in Venezuela broadens each day. What cannot be banned through laws and penalties, the system of administration of justice takes care of that, or the General Attorney's Office, or any other public authority in line with the wishes of the country's ruling elite.

Among the most violated rights of Venezuelans by the Bolivarian revolution are the freedom of expression, opinion and information. It doesn't matter whether these are explicitly guaranteed by the Constitution. A flurry of laws restricting the freedom of press include, among others, the Law on Social Responsibilities on Radio, Television and Electronic Media; the Organic Law of Telecommunications; and the Communications Act as denounced by the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP).

The erosion of these freedoms is clearly reflected in every measurement at both national and international level: as a sample of this is the annual report of Freedom House, in which Venezuela obtained last year its worst rating in over a decade, mainly due to an increase in attacks and threats against journalists and the lack of transparency in media ownership. Or the Index of Press Freedom by local NGO Reporteros sin Fronteras (reporters without borders), in which Venezuela fell 21 points to occupy the position 137 (out of 180 countries).

Since 2007, when Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) was taken off the air after the Government withdrew its concession, independent TV channels have been steadily disappearing one by one, including one of great impact as 24-hour news channel Globovisión, acquired by people with strong ties to the Government. Also fell into the State's hands several radio stations and, more recently, the written press that is bearing the brunt of the severe restrictions to foreign currency and purchases of newsprint.

This latest assault on the local media is a form of censorship to information. Recently, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) reiterated its warning about what the restriction for the access to newsprint represents for democracy and the freedom of press in Venezuela. El Correo del Caroní, El Impulso, El Carabobeño, El Nacional, El Regional de Zulia, Reporte de la Economía and Tal Cual are seven of the newspapers that currently face a serious crisis of supply of newsprint. The two last are barely surviving with their online editions, with TalCual having a weekly printed edition as well.

And that is not counting the judicial persecution - for the smallest reason - against journalists, reporters, analysts, editors and media owners.

One of the most unusual and emblematic judicial processes against the press started with a lawsuit filed on April 23, 2015, by Diosdado Cabello, the head of the Parliament, against the shareholders, directors, editorial board and owners of El Nacional, TalCual and La Patilla (a news portal), for publishing a story - also published by the international press - of Spain-based newspaper ABC denouncing the alleged ties of Cabello with drug trafficking.

On Tuesday, María Eugenia Núñez, the judge handling the case, issued an order forbidding 22 executives of the three media outlets to leave the country, accusing them of continued aggravated defamation as they were subjected to a regime of presentation before a court of justice every week.

These outrages come a time when the international press finds itself denouncing acts of corruption, one after the other, from Venezuelan government officials. As is the case of dailies El Universo de Ecuador and El Nuevo Herald de Miami, which have exposed fraudulent transactions through a few shell companies that received some $90.2 million from the so-called "Sucre system" from Venezuela without exporting goods.

What is silenced, ceases to exist!

See VenEconomy: Venezuelan Press is Banned from Doing Anything! (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 13, 2015)

On May 14, 2015. VenEconomy: The Primaries of Venezuela's Democratic Unity

The path towards the election of members of the Parliament in Venezuela for the period January 2016-January 2021 begins on May 17 with the primary elections of the candidates of the opposition coalition known as Democratic Unity (or MUD).

On Sunday, the MUD will hold primary elections across 12 states (Anzoátegui, Bolívar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Capital District, Falcón, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Táchira, Trujillo and Zulia) with legislative candidates to run for the Parliament in 33 circuits out of 85 electoral constituencies that currently exist in the country. The rest of the candidates are being elected by consensus among the political forces that comprise the MUD.

These are the highlights for this parliamentary election:

1) That until today, the National Electoral Council (CNE) has not informed the date on when this election will be held, which according to the Constitution should be before the end of this year, because the new Parliament must be installed in January of 2016.

2) The CNE own infrastructure will be used for this election process, as happened during the primaries for the presidential candidates of the MUD in 2012.

3) Fingerprint readers will be used, too.

4) No candidates for the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) and the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) will be elected this time through free elections, but handpicked by the Parliament itself. This is because the parliamentary bloc of Venezuela's ruling party PSUV and the CNE unilaterally decided to eliminate the elections for Parlatino and Parlasur members, despite the opposition of the democratic bloc and some of the leaders of the PSUV, such as Ana Elisa Osorio, a current member of Parlatino.

5) The candidates of the MUD have been campaigning since March 31 with hard work, very limited budgets and resources, without any access to the mass media taken over by the Government and by doing some face-to-face contact with would-be voters in the areas where primaries are to be held.

6) On their part, Nicolás Maduro, the PSUV and the Government are in campaign mode since the beginning of this year, taking full advantage of the State media to disseminate their thoughts and propaganda favoring the ruling party.

In addition, the election issue is causing controversy within a growing sector of Venezuelans who opposes a further advance of the dictatorial process presided over Maduro.

Against who persist in the electoral route as the only option for dealing with the Government are those who, despite supporting an election process, consider inappropriate the fact of holding primaries under the tutelage of the CNE, arguing that this electoral body is absolutely biased in favor of the ruling party apart from its proven lack of transparency. Also there are those who believe that the struggle for the rescue of democracy should take place using the Constitution in every possible way. And others even argue that the electoral path has ceased to have effect in a country where a dictatorship has been clearly imposed, where there is no rule of law or separation of powers, and where the rules of democratic coexistence are not respected at all.

It is for certain that facing the power of Venezuela's ruling elite gets harder with each day that passes but, as acknowledged by the international community, the parliamentary election is vital to those who aspire to live in a democracy.

As said by famed Venezuelan journalist Marta Colomina in her column entitled "The Government has the Weapons and the Opposition the Votes", published by daily El Nacional on May 3: "if chavismo wins the upcoming elections thanks to resorting to its usual dirty tricks and the abstention of those people who keep telling themselves that 'dictatorships are not defeated through votes', the hopes of restoring democracy and welfare will be impossible to achieve. For those using the social networks to say that with votes is not possible to get out of this nightmare, we ask them the following question: how many missiles, tanks and weapons of war do you count on to fight against those people and servicemen who really are armed to the teeth? The weapon of democrats is the vote, although in regimes such as that of Maduro several irregularities have been committed. Watching the Government with our arms crossed destroy what is left of the private sector, take full control of education, leave us without food and medicines and defenseless in the hands of criminals, is suicide".

The electoral fight is with a fight. So let's vote!

To learn more about the process, visit www.votaunidad.com

See VenEconomy: The Primaries of Venezuela's Democratic Unity (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 14, 2015)

On May 15, 2015. VenEconomy: Government of Maduro Desperately Looking for Money

A slump in oil prices since mid-2014 found the coffers of Venezuela all empty due to 16 years of revolutionary "marabunta" that swept away the country's entire oil bonanza.

And even though oil prices would be gradually recovering, the average price of a barrel so far this year is only $47, a little more than half of the $88.42 recorded last year, and very far from the $100 per barrel sought by the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Due to its high reliance on oil exports, Venezuela faces a huge deficit in its Balance of Payments. As a result, the Government, unable to grab the bull by the horns and apply serious and sustainable adjustment measures, has opted to look for money everywhere in an attempt to cover the fiscal gap estimated at $20-$40 billion.

Among other moves, for example, it collected a $1.93 billion debt (with a discount but in cash) that the Dominican Republic had with Petrocaribe.

It performed another stunt with CITGO: a newly created subsidiary of state-run oil company PDVSA (CITGO Holding Inc.) issued $1.5 billion in bonds with maturities in 2020, and a yield of 12% until maturity. CITGO Holding Co. was created as a means to obtain the financing that CITGO could not achieve by itself due to the agreements (restrictions) established during the issuance of the 2022 bonds in 2014 for $650 million.

Another move in its search for money was to pledge around 900 ounces of the central bank gold reserves for $1 billion through a swap negotiated with Citibank. According to unofficial reports, this is about a five-year loan with an interest between 6.0%-7.0%. The gold shall remain in the Bank of England as a guarantee in the event that the central bank does not pay off the debt on time. In addition, there is unofficial information that the Government is trying to make a deal with the airlines so it can return to London the gold that was brought to Venezuela by the late Hugo Chávez, with the goal of having the necessary support for new pledges.

Now, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its April report, it was learned that the Central Bank of Venezuela withdrew $383 million (out of $2.25 billion available) that month for the Venezuelan quota in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR). This amount is the maximum Venezuela can withdraw without making an agreement on a plan of adjustments with the IMF.

According to the official website of the IMF, the SDR account of Venezuela closed at $1.9 billion in April.

The Government doesn't have many places to get money from at this time so it can obtain fresh foreign currency. This means that the drought of dollars in the public coffers will get worse.

There is no room for restricting dollar allocations to nationals, either. Today dollars are intended only for basic foodstuffs, medicines and other sort of goods deemed as priority. But, the Government has also opted to import these products directly, which keeps the doors of inefficiency and corruption open. It would be much better if it allowed private companies to make the imports.

In sum, the picture is bleaker today than ever before. The country is at the edge of a precipice, and will hardly make it to December with adequate inventories of food, medicines and basic goods.

See VenEconomy: Government of Maduro Desperately Looking for Money (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 15, 2015)

On May 18, 2015. VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's MUD Be Able to Take the Bull by the Horns?

The Democratic Unity (or MUD) opposition party overcame its first electoral test of 2015 without any major traumas, on the route to this year's parliamentary elections.

On Sunday, according to Jesús (Chuo) Torrealba, the head of the MUD, a total of 543,698 Venezuelans voted in the primaries to elect 42 candidates of 33 electoral districts across 12 states who will be running for the Parliament (aka National Assembly).

Due to the little enthusiasm generated by primary elections for the Parliament in all the countries of the world, it was thought that a voter turnout of 6% would be considered an extraordinary outcome. So a voter turnout of 7.43% in the electoral constituencies these primaries were held can be considered extraordinary, if we took into consideration that the rate this year was higher than that of the primaries for the Parliament in 2010.

Without making a lot of noise, given the information blackout as a result of the Government's communicational hegemony, we can say that a significant segment of the opposition demonstrated its commitment to democracy and its insistent belief that the electoral route is still valid to put a stop to the progress of a communist regime in the country, in spite of all the injustices, abuses and clear advantages from the Government.

Among the MUD primaries highlights are:

Primero Justicia (the party in which Henrique Capriles militates) and Voluntad Popular (the party championed by Leopoldo López) were the ones to obtain the highest number of candidates (11 and 8, respectively). These results are in line with a poll conducted by Datanálisis showing a virtual tie of these two political leaders.

Acción Democrática (AD), one of the oldest parties of the country, came in third place (with 6 candidates) with better resources of organization and mobilization. The rest of the candidates were divided between other opposition parties such as Un Nuevo Tiempo (5), Cuentas Claras (3). For their part, Copei, La Causa R and Avanzada Progresista have got one candidate each.

That two "victims of political persecution" (and political prisoners as well) became candidates in their respective electoral constituencies: Daniel Ceballos (Voluntad Popular) will run for San Cristóbal (Táchira state); and Enzo Scarano, (Cuentas Claras) will do so for the north of Valencia, Naguanagua and San Diego (Carabobo state).

Student leader Gaby Arellano (Voluntad Popular) will run for Circuit 3 of Táchira state.

Economist José Guerra (Primero Justicia), a former director of the central bank and one of the most adamant critics of the Government's economic policies, obtained 95% of the votes, the highest rate in the country.

At the last minute, and without invitation or warning, suddenly appeared a "technical" representation of Unasur to "join" the election process. Perhaps this is a special commission that came to validate the electoral system and transparency of the National Electoral Council (CNE) with a view to the parliamentary elections?

Also at the last minute, the CNE confirmed something that had been announced over the past few days: the elimination of physical voter registries in order to impose illegal electronic devices. Is this another test for the parliamentary elections and a new non-transparent electoral step?

Let's wait and see what happens next!

In the meantime it is needed that:

1) The MUD reports who the candidates to be elected by consensus for the remaining 54 constituencies will be.

2) The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) elects its candidates for the Parliament on June 28 from a total of 46,515 militants, in a nomination process characterized by the "fingercracy" and internal dictatorship of that party.

3) The CNE sets the date of the elections and reports what the essential rules of the Permanent Electoral Register (REP) to govern those elections, in which 167 members shall be elected for the upcoming legislative period 2016-2021, are going to be.

4) Most importantly, that with a well-structured organization, the MUD feels ready to take the bull of a communist regime by the horns, including all its illegalities and abuses of power.

See VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's MUD Be Able to Take the Bull by the Horns? (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 18, 2015)

On May 19, 2015. VenEconomy: Has Venezuela Become a Narco-State Yet?

Venezuela made it to the front pages of Latin American newspapers with some unfortunate news by The Wall Street Journal: An elite division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Washington and federal prosecutors in New York and Miami are building drug trafficking cases against several top government officials from Venezuela, using evidence from former drug dealers, informants with close ties to government officials and deserters of the Venezuelan armed forces.

This way, a breaking news story by Spain-based newspaper ABC a few weeks ago was being confirmed. This very same story was also published by Venezuelan dailies TalCual, El Nacional and the news site La Patilla, which resulted in a criminal trial for defamation thanks to a lawsuit filed by Diosdado Cabello, the head of the Parliament, and cost 22 of their directors, employees and stockholders a prohibition on leaving the country, as well as the subjection to a presentation regime before a court of justice on a weekly basis.

According to the WSJ story, the U.S. government is also gathering information on the bankers and financiers handling the money of top Venezuelan officials.

For several years now, White House spokespersons have been complaining about the little (or no) collaboration of the Government of Venezuela with U.S. anti-drug authorities in their attempt to put a brake on drug trafficking operations in this country. Being the allegations very specific and in line with air traffic reports in the drug route between Apure state toward countries of the Caribbean and Central America. An issue that, for example, was raised in 2009 after Manuel Zelaya was ousted from the presidency of the Honduran Republic, and a heavy traffic of aircraft that had been detected by radar, broken down or shot down in that country was exposed.

In 2012, the New York Times published an interview by journalist William Neuman entitled "Cocaine's Flow Is Unchecked in Venezuela", detailing a drug trafficking operation into the U.S. being carried out from Venezuela. The article explained the alleged permissiveness of Venezuelan officials with drug trafficking, despite the Government boasted about its operations to seize drug shipments, shoot down or recover aircraft and destroy laboratories and airstrips.

This way, the U.S. government set eyes on Venezuela due to an excessive growth in drug trafficking operations from this country. It is said that in 2013 (the latest year for which data is available) some 131 tons of cocaine would have made it into the U.S. from Venezuela. That investigation of the U.S. government has involved both civilian and military officials and, as reported at the time, caused sanctions to more than 50 Venezuelans (whose identities were not revealed, although the U.S. had their visas revoked and their assets and bank accounts frozen).

As is already history, the late President Hugo Chávez, in his drive to antagonize the U.S., interrupted the joint work between Venezuela and the DEA when it expelled the anti-drug body from the country in 2005, accusing its agents of espionage. This, coupled with the ideological proximity of the Bolivarian revolution to narco-guerrillas of the FARC, a less effective border surveillance and the lack of independence of public authorities called upon to investigate, control and punish drug offenders entrenched in the Government, shifted the traffic of drugs toward the border states of Venezuela.

Today, as may be deduced from international media reports, it seems that Venezuela has unfortunately become a narco-state, a scourge that comes from the very heart of the so-called "beautiful" revolution.

See VenEconomy: Has Venezuela Become a Narco-State Yet? (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 19, 2015)

On May 20, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelan Economy is Bottoming Out

The Venezuelan economy is bottoming out.

On the one hand, international reserves fell to $17.93 billion through May 14, their lowest level since September 5 2003.

And on the other, shortages of food, medicines, auto parts, home appliances and other products have reached critical levels.

For example, with regard to food items, it is reported that 18 of the 58 products (31.0%) that make up the food basket of the Cendas-FVM index experienced scarcity problems.

In consequence, the population is forced to spend an average of two to five hours a week queuing in various establishments trying to find basic food supplies. Not to mention it has to overcome a series of hurdles in order to have access to the much-needed goods, among others:

- Its right to buy products at regulated prices is limited to two days a week, depending on the last digit of ID cards;

- It is subjected to a humiliating marking to get a number while standing in the queue;

- Or it is forced to leave a fingerprint in a scanner in order to control when and where any given product was purchased, as mandated by a plan of the National Commission to Fight Smuggling.

Apart from the fact that it barely covers the constant increases in the prices of goods and services with its income.

In the meantime, the Government keeps hurting the country's private productive sector by means of several penalties and financial strangling.

The food sector reported, for example, that the debt with international providers reached $1.022 billion in May due to the lack of access to foreign currency, a fact that will put at risk the shipments of raw materials and worsen the production levels and food supplies in the country.

Then there are the recurrent failures in the shipments of food products on the part of the so-called Integral System for the Control of Agri-food Products (SICA). As reported by the Venezuelan Food Industry Chamber (Cavidea) in a statement on Monday, the "SICA system cannot be accessed once more, which has caused delays of several hours in the processing of mobilization waybills of food required by the National Superintendence of Agri-food Management (SUNAGRO)". This affects the frequency of shipments and, therefore, exacerbates shortages throughout the national territory.

And if this weren't enough, the Government continues to stubbornly attack Empresas Polar, Venezuela's largest food producer and distributor. So far this year, Polar has received more than 165 inspections from public bodies and responded more than 1,500 requests for information. "Only in the last three weeks, six different government agencies have conducted 27 visits in 13 plants, that is to say, more than 150 hours of inspections that affect our daily operations", said Manuel Felipe Larrazábal, general manager of the company.

But shortages are not only limited to the food industry: The collapse of both the exchange and national production systems has also had an impact on the depletion of inventories of all the national productive sector.

Even more crucial is the situation of the healthcare sector given a severe shortage of reagents, equipment and other basic inputs, both in the public and private sector, and a shortage of medicines due to a debt of about $4 billion in foreign currency not paid to the pharmaceutical sector.

The situation is so extreme that parents of children with cancer being treated at the Hospital J. M de Los Ríos in Caracas closed a busy avenue in San Bernardino (western Caracas) this week to complain about the lack of at least 14 antineoplastic drugs used to treat leukemia and other types of cancer.

When is the Government going to stop making excuses so it can put an end to the collapse of the country?

See VenEconomy: Venezuelan Economy is Bottoming Out (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 20, 2015)

On May 21, 2015. VenEconomy: Another Nail in the Coffin of Education in Venezuela

The government of Nicolás Maduro has not given a rest to the deepening of the involution process it intends to apply in Venezuela.

This week it put another nail in the coffin where the agonizing education of Venezuelans will be buried soon. The Office of Planning of the University Sector (OPSU) announced that, in order to ensure access to public universities in accordance with the so-called "Plan for the Homeland", it had absorbed between 70% and 100% of the admission quotas of public universities. This way, 13 Bolivarian universities and public universities supposedly autonomous such as the Central University of Venezuela (UCV); the Simón Bolivar University (USB), the University of Carabobo (UC), the University of Los Andes (ULA), and the University of Zulia (LUZ), were lumped together.

This modification by OPSU to the admission quotas of autonomous universities is completely illegal, because apart from having been done without consultation and unidirectionally, it goes against the resolution No. 450 of the National Council of Universities, which establishes that places for public universities would be allocated 70% via internal exams and academic, cultural, sports and sectoral agreements of each university, while the remaining 30% would be approved by OPSU.

This was a joint resolution agreed since March 2008 between the Ministry of Higher Education and university authorities, in accordance with the Law of Universities establishing that the University Council of each university is the body that stipulates "the number of students for the first year and lays down the procedures for selecting applicants", as well as the instance with the power to make pertinent recommendations on procedures for selecting applicants.

It should be recalled that the Government of the late Hugo Chávez eliminated the Academic Aptitude Test from the National Council of Universities in 2008, and at the end of that year the National System of Admissions came into force, according to which the academic index for high schools provides only 50% of the points for admissions (versus 95% until 2014) and the remaining 50% must come from factors such as: socio-economic conditions, territorialism, participation in previous admission processes and extracurricular activities (i.e. community work that may be subject to the recognition of the Ministry of Higher Education, or that of Science and Technology).

While this change in the admission parameters may provide equal opportunities and help with the decentralization of universities, by opening higher education options closer to the place of origin of a huge number of students aspiring to higher education, it can also mean a step backwards in terms of quality of education, given the poor level of preparation for primary and secondary education, both laden with the strong ideology of Venezuela's socialist regime prevailing in the country for more than a decade.

This arbitrary step is being taken by OPSU in a time when universities have been - or still are - amid an admission process for the next academic year. With this, when it allocates between 70% and 100% of the admission quotas, OPSU creates an irresolute dilemma for universities: either leaves all the students selected through these tests hanging or assumes a classroom overcrowding without budgetary resources, teachers, infrastructure, equipment and materials to ensure quality education.

In some universities, such as the case of the USB, absurd limits were reached after all the places available for this year were occupied, a fact that would leave everyone who passed the admission tests out, since the USB does not have any economic resources to expand its installed capacity, and the National Executive only approved 26% of its budget for its academic exercise in 2015.

That is to say, for the sake of an educational vision based on quantity and supposedly equality, the Government is adding a new discrimination factor to truncate the future of thousands of young Venezuelans, besides obviating what the educational system should have: quality. This contempt for the educational quality, for meritocracy, for training and for the spirit of improvement of learners has been evidenced already after imposing a ban on teachers flunking their students from primary and secondary education levels, thus favoring the imposition of an ideology over the development of knowledge and learning.

This step taken by OPSU is a new blow to the universities that have not bowed to the ideology whims of the Government; a death knell for some institutions that for about seven years have been struggling with the budget without any possibility to cover the basic costs of staff salaries, expansion and maintenance of infrastructure, replacement of equipment, acquisition of inputs or undertake research and technological development projects.

That's some serious educational involution in a country that needs the talent of its population to rebuild it as never before!

See VenEconomy: Another Nail in the Coffin of Education in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 21, 2015)

On May 22, 2015. VenEconomy: Is Venezuela Collapsing?

An unprecedented jump in the U.S. dollar sold on Venezuela's parallel market jolted the social networks on Thursday afternoon.

The greenback, as reported by the web pages tracking its movement, climbed 25% to Bs.402 for cash transactions at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. A figure 63.8 times higher than the Cencoex (Venezuela's foreign exchange authority) rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar, the lowest in the market; 33.5 times higher than the Bs.12 per dollar of the SICAD I alternative method; more than Bs.200 per dollar on the free rate of the so-called Foreign Exchange Marginal System (Simadi), which closed at Bs.199.77 per dollar on Thursday, and Bs.87 per dollar higher than the opening value of this week that began on May 18.

The dollar sold on the parallel market, regardless of what the Government has to say about it and what it wants to impose through its exchange control policy, is the informal benchmark for nearly all costs and prices of the goods and products required by Venezuelans.

This lack of control of the parallel dollar as never seen before in history, which affects an entire economy of a country that depends on imports, is just a symptom of a dying economy and of a "revolutionary" political process that can no longer hide its terminal illness.

The imposition of tight exchange and price controls is keeping the national productive sector strangled and has resulted in the nearly nonexistence of business inventories.

The deterioration of the rule of law, the politicization of public policies, the disrespect for the rules of the game and the use of the judiciary for the harassment and persecution of the private sector have undermined investor confidence. Added to this is the widespread corruption denounced in international bodies barely showing a little bit of the looting of billions of dollars from the public coffers, and the latest allegations involving Venezuelan officials with international drug trafficking and terrorism, which also generate a climate of distrust among foreign investors.

A drop in oil prices found the public coffers empty due to wasteful spending and corruption, a fact that revealed the severe distortions that exist in the economy after 16 years of wrong and demonstrably failed policies of the Bolivarian revolution. Today Venezuela is being hit by an unstoppable inflationary spiral and widespread shortages due to a sharp drop in production and declining revenues. The State is heavily indebted, with scant international reserves and little room for maneuvering to continue turning the wheel.

Worst of all is that the government of Nicolás Maduro, rather than rectifying the course, keeps threatening with the implementation of new price and exchange laws. It is also insisting on continue looking for financial resources in every corner so it can revive spending and the populist handouts that have yielded so many dividends for the revolution, both at national and international level. A fine example of this is a recent withdrawal of $383 million from its quota of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) deposited in the International Monetary Fund.

The situation of mistrust, anarchy, lack of control and inaction in Venezuela is such that it looks like a patient with a terminal illness, where the slightest sneeze may cause pneumonia.

The collapse of Venezuela is also present in a strong social tension that is felt in the streets of the country:

1) In the despair and hopelessness as a result of the endless queues to buy any product at regulated prices; an odyssey that consumes valuable time of Venezuelans and affects the productivity of companies.

2) In the looting to trucks loaded with goods by ordinary people in great part of national roads.

3) In the increasingly frequent and dangerous executions performed by a population that has decided to take justice into their own hands because they are tired of seeing crime go unpunished.

4) In the clashes between police forces and prison gang leaders known as "pranes" to decide who dominates the so-called peace zones.

Venezuela is a time bomb that may go off any minute before the eyes of a defenseless and dazed population that still finds hard to believe this kind of mess is taking place.

See VenEconomy: Is Venezuela Collapsing? (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 22, 2015)

On May 25, 2015. VenEconomy: These Dark Hours of Venezuela

In the last few days, as the U.S. dollar skyrocketed to an all-time high of Bs.423.39 last Friday and new reports from abroad linking Venezuela's top officials with drug-trafficking kept coming in, the government of Nicolás Maduro prepared a repressive onslaught against two of the political prisoners under the protection of different international bodies: Daniel Ceballos and Leopoldo López, both leaders of the Voluntad Popular opposition party.

Social networks in Venezuela exploded last Saturday morning with reports that Ceballos, the newly-elected candidate for mayor of the Democratic Unity (or MUD) party for the San Cristóbal municipality (Táchira state), had been irregularly transfered in the middle of the night, without a court order or notifying his lawyers, to a prison in San Juan de los Morros (Guárico state).

Similarly, Lilian Tintori, wife of López, said via her Twitter account that she did not have any information on López, or knew of his whereabouts, or his health status, making Maduro responsible for what might have happened to both López and Ceballos.

A few hours later, it began to circulate a video of López announcing that both him and Ceballos had begun a hunger strike in order to vindicate the struggle of the Venezuelan people demanding the cessation of persecution and repression against those who think differently to the Bolivarian regime, as much as the release of all political prisoners. In addition to calling upon the National Electoral Council (CNE) to set a final date for the parliamentary elections this year, demanding guarantees of transparency and the presence of the OAS during the voting process.

Today Ceballos is being held in a common prison with highly dangerous prisoners, with his head shaved off, and cohabiting with prisoners charged with murder, burglary, armed robbery, kidnapping, drug-trafficking, among other crimes. This treatment for political prisoners is totally unusual, and something of great concern because of the well-known control of "pranes" (prisons gang leaders) exerted over other inmates and their links with some of the leaders of the Bolivarian regime.

It should be remembered that Ceballos, made prisoner in the aftermath of the demonstrations staged at national level in February of 2014, has already served a 12-month term in prison for allegedly disregarding a precautionary measure of the Supreme Court (TSJ), which required mayors nationwide to prevent people from setting up "guarimbas" (roadblocks with burning tires, large boulders, etc, mainly at the entrance of residential zones and on public roads). Nevertheless, he remains in prison because the TSJ decided that he should serve a separate term for rebellion and illegal association, both charges related to the events of February 2014.

For his part, López was placed in solitary confinement again, without the possibility that his lawyers and family can visit him to verify his health status.

This arbitrary and unreasonable treatment is a new violation of the human rights of political prisoners in Venezuela, something that has been already acknowledged by various international organizations including the UN, the OAS, the European Parliament, Amnesty International, various governments of the world, including a few ones close to Hugo Chávez's much-touted revolutionary process, congresses in Latin America and Spain, as well as more than 30 former presidents, who are demanding their immediate release and protection.

It is not in vain that Venezuela has obtained its worst rating ever in the annual report of the OAS' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), or that has occupied the place of honor in the group of countries with "massive, serious and systematic violations of human rights" since 2005.

Without doubt these are dark hours for Venezuela, as claimed by opposition leader Diego Arria in all his social network accounts, "The violation of human rights in Venezuela has been so serious that world governments that had been indifferent to the issue before have finally opened their eyes", assuring that the actions being taken are indicative of that "many of them are aware that when the dimension of the Venezuelan tragedy is exposed, these lawmakers and senators from many countries across Latin America will not want to say they did not raise their voices".

See VenEconomy: These Dark Hours of Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 25, 2015)

On May 26, 2015. VenEconomy: Things Do Not Bode Well for Venezuela

A few days ago, many wondered about the endurance capacity of Venezuelans, beset by many misfortunes.

For starters, the pressure for an economic collapse, with the central bank's international reserves at their lowest level in 13 years, and free exchange rates out of control, are keeping the country on a razor's edge, translated into hardships for the population.

To this is added the social pressures that have given rise to general shortages, blackouts, failures in water supplies, the escalation of violence, and even armed confrontations between criminal gangs and the authorities; corruption and drug-trafficking scandals involving senior officials of the Government, etc.

Even more serious is that the government of Nicolás Maduro does not seem to have any idea on how, or has the willingness to, bell the cat.

In family and friends reunions, people always end up asking themselves when the Government will finally understand that its much-touted political/economic model has failed already, and that is necessary for it to rectify? How much time will pass before inventories are completely exhausted? How much time will pass before businesspeople decide to throw the towel? How long will it take for people to stop complaining and start to be proactive?

If we paid attention to some reactions of citizens so far this year, and particularly so far in May, we can conclude that this capacity for tolerance of the population may be reaching the limit.

The anger of citizens today is so serious that is leading them to violence and confrontation between one another; and this is despite the fact that many of them are considered people of peace and good neighborliness.

This is the case, for example, of two attempted lynchings by some neighbors against two burglars caught in the act, an event that took place in Caracas at the beginning of May. Indeed, a despicable act committed by any civilized group forced by years of dealing with a criminal violence that has taken the lives of thousands of victims, without these criminals getting their just punishment from the country's judicial system.

Another excess by the population that must be strongly condemned and penalized is the increasingly frequent looting against cargo companies, which not only affects the companies providing this kind of service as a whole, but their drivers and consumers who stop getting their merchandise. At the beginning of May, a dozen robberies against cargo trucks in less than a year had been reported, with people taking anything that got in the way: cattle, poultry, tires, beer, corn flour, and a big long etcetera. The dehumanization during these lootings is evidenced in several videos and photos, where one can watch people passing over the wounded bodies of the truck drivers, preferring a scarce commodity over the humanitarian act to help a human being.

Other case where things are pushed to the limit is the violence seen in the queues outside establishments selling foodstuff or medicines. Apart from the multiple complaints of consumers being robbed by common criminals, now are added verbal and physical abuses between the same consumers queuing up, or the employees of the establishments against consumers who made it in, or vice versa.

Two weeks ago, in Zulia state, a few customers at a establishment punched a cashier until disfiguring her face for having followed the order of limiting the purchases of vegetable oil to two bottles per person. Last week, in Lara state, two housewives were arrested for expressing their displeasure at the hours lost in the queues. And on Monday, in Margarita Island, a man was murdered in a brawl with other consumers after getting mad at the victim for expressing dissatisfaction with the current economic situation.

This dangerous reality indicates that the time has come for the Government to rectify its course and apply sound policies required to shore up the economy, to restore the lost democratic governance and the peaceful coexistence among citizens. Tomorrow may be too late.

See VenEconomy: Things Do Not Bode Well for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 26, 2015)

On May 27, 2015. VenEconomy: Eight years after the Closing of RCTV in Venezuela

Eight years ago today, on May 27 of 2007, the late President Hugo Chávez had the signal of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), one of the most emblematic TV stations in Venezuela with a wider national coverage and higher ratings than other similar media, turned off.

This way, Chávez brought an end to a TV station that had been on Venezuela's public airwaves since November 15 of 1953, when it broadcast a baseball game between Cuba and Venezuela during the 14th Amateur World Series, held in the newly-founded stadium of the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, as part of its beginning of transmissions.

Chávez had sentenced this privately-run channel to death a few months earlier, when he announced in a national TV and radio broadcast on December 28 of 2006 that he would not renew RCTV's broadcasting license. The argument by Jesse Chacón, the then-Minister of Communications, was that the Government required RCTV's signal to provide a public service. A false argument given that the State had at least one channel available in the VHF band (channels 2-13) and dozens of UHF bands (channels 14 to 70). Eight years later, it is well known that the state-run channel replacing RCTV (TVES) is far from providing any kind of public service.

The truth is that the reason was more than evident: RCTV never agreed with the policies of the so-called "Socialism of the 21st century" promoted by Chávez. But this was only the beginning.

The totalitarian axe that has fallen over the media since then has been truly devastating. And it can be said, without exaggeration, that both the freedom of expression and opinion in Venezuela have a "before and after" the closing of RCTV. This in spite of the fact that Chávez had already made some well-judged moves towards intimidating the media and silence the dissenting voices such as, among others, the enactment of the Law on Social Responsibility on Radio and Television (aka Gag Law), which regulates content and hangs a sword of Damocles over all independent media.

At present, as the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) was recalling recently, there are several laws, codes, rules and regulations aimed at establishing control over communications and information directly or indirectly, and that also have become the State's weapons to impose censorship and induce self-censorship, such as the Law on Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media; the Organic Law of Telecommunications and the Communication Law for the "Popular Power".

Today the Venezuelan government is winning the battle against the freedom of expression and for the imposition of a communicational hegemony in the country. Media outlets that have passed into the hands of people with close ties to the Venezuelan revolution, as the case of news channel Globovisión and daily El Universal; print media on the brink of closure because of the lack of newsprint such as El Impulso, El Carabobeño, and La Razón; or that have been constrained as the case of TalCual that went from being a daily newspaper to having a single weekly edition and circulating on the web. Even international TV stations such as Colombia's NTN24 have been taken out of the cable TV grid by orders of Conatel, Venezuela's telecommunications regulating body.

This without taking into account the targeted actions of the Government against journalists and analysts who are either harassed through administrative measures, or fired from their jobs for not to following the uncritical editorial line of the Bolivarian "process" or any of its officials, or have been forced into exile. Among the most recent outrages are a prohibition order to leave the country with a presentation regime before a court of law on a weekly basis after Diosdado Cabello, the head of the Parliament, filed a defamation lawsuit against 22 executives, shareholders and managers of TalCual, El Universal and news site La Patilla.

As VenEconomy had stated in one of its editorials some time ago: "When Radio Caracas Televisión closes its doors on May 27, the most vital of freedoms for Venezuelans will come to an end: the freedom of expression". Today this has become an unfortunate reality.

See VenEconomy: Eight years after the Closing of RCTV in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 27, 2015)

On May 28, 2015. VenEconomy: Democrats of Venezuela Must Paddle Together Against the Current

There are times in life when making the right decision is vital for survival.

Venezuela finds itself at that crucial moment today. The economic and social collapse makes it imperative for everyone whose ultimate goal is to get the country out of the abyss it has been plunged into because of the imposition of a demonstrably failed political model to start paddling together against the current.

This is not the time for personal or partisan quarrels. This is not the time for vying for the limelight or making calculations based on political costs and benefits in the future.

The Voluntad Popular opposition party and its most important leader, Leopoldo López, today a political prisoner confined to a punishment cell and doing a hunger strike along with former mayor Daniel Ceballos, the political leader José Gregorio Briceño and the student Raúl Baduel, called upon Venezuelans to staging a peaceful demonstration for the following reasons:

1) Claim "the way we are living" immersed in "an economic and social crisis, general shortages, high inflation, impunity, lack of justice and autonomy of public authorities".

2) Demand an end to repression and censorship; a point at which international bodies, governments of different political overtones and democratic leaders from various parts of the world agree.

3) Demand the release of political prisoners, whose number exceeds 70, including students, political leaders, military personnel, police commissioners and officers, journalists and bloggers.

4) That the National Electoral Council (CNE) shoulders its duty to convene and set a date for the parliamentary elections, which by constitutional mandate must be held before the end of this year.

5) Guarantee the presence of the OAS and the European Union as not politically-biased international observers and guarantee a transparent election process.

All of those approaches are respected, appreciated and shared by the Democratic Unity (MUD), as pointed out by the secretary general of this opposition political party, Jesús (Chuo) Torrealba, in a public statement on Wednesday, who confirmed that "these are points that are a structural part of the MUD agenda, present in all of our documents and public stances".

But having said that, the statement also pointed out that the MUD will not take part in the summon by López for instrumental reasons, because "circumstances prevented that the invitation to the May 30 activity counted on the necessary participation of all the factors comprising the MUD regarding design, formulation and summon". Those failures in seeking consensus, in making the proper consultations and the urgency of the call prevented consensus in the various organizations making up this democratic alliance, which made observations of form and substance to the upcoming activity.

Regardless of the fact that these organizations were right or not when making their observations, it would seem that the MUD is committing a political mistake by not joining citizens on the same front of legitimate and constitutional struggle for the Saturday demonstration. This is a crucial day to demonstrate that unity should strengthen the electoral battle this year, where the opposition seems to have a clear opportunity to score a convincing victory, as well as a parliamentary majority that would halt the advance of the destruction of Venezuela's democratic system.

Fortunately, parties such as Copei, and MUD leaders such as Henrique Capriles, said that they are planning to attend the event this Saturday. Former presidents Andrés Pastrana (Colombia) and Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia) would also be attending, according to reports by Lilian Tintori, the wife of López. This and other Venezuelans summoned to hit the streets in different countries on that very same day, gives this demonstration a greater international significance.

So the time has come for all democrats to raise their voices and paddle together in the same direction.

See VenEconomy: Democrats of Venezuela Must Paddle Together Against the Current (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 28, 2015)

On May 28, 2015. VenEconomy: From Zurich to Venezuela

Corruption has no boundaries, and is coming a long way from Zurich to Venezuela with impunity, passing through China, Russia, Spain, Andorra, Panama, Cuba, and several other countries.

This scourge has become widespread in world economies, involving governments and companies which, as pointed out by NGO Transparencia Internacional, "not only deprives the poorest sectors from fundamental human rights, but also undermines governance and produces instability in the countries".

This week shocking news arrived from Zurich that seven leaders of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) had been arrested in a luxurious hotel of that city, at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, in an unparalleled security move.

The operation, coordinated in conjunction with the FBI and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, is part of a legal investigation against nine heads of FIFA and five businesspeople, allegedly involved in a web of corruption, tax evasion and money laundering for 24 years. These people, who today justice has issued a "red card" and placed them straight in the dock, will face some 47 counts including bribery, blackmail, fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and to influence the direct decisions regarding the organization of football matches.

The hand of corruption was involved in everything, from deciding what channels would broadcast football matches, what countries would host the World Cup, to the person who would be heading the FIFA. The amounts involved are said to exceed $150 million. And this scandal turns out more shocking because it tarnishes the image of football management, the sport that brings the entire planet to a halt every four years when it's time for a new World Cup.

The trial would take place in a U.S. court, and conducted by Judge Loretta Lynch, after the seven detainees are extradited. In addition, Lynch claimed that all of them will have a fair trial.

The operation carried out was very singular, in which the U.S. Department of Justice played a key role in a covert investigation that lasted 12 years and an element of surprise that succeeded in catching everyone red-handed just when any of them expected it, just when they were enjoying all the pleasures and luxuries of their top managerial positions. By catching them all at the same time, the risk of escape was greatly reduced while the extradition request was narrowed to a single country, which eliminates paperwork and goings-on with different governments.

It is inevitable that minds of analysts are linking this corruption scheme that ended in Zurich with today's Venezuela. A link that doesn't come down to the fact that a Venezuelan citizen was one of the detainees, but the intrinsic characteristic of the nation's current ruling elite: corruption; a total lack of transparency in all areas; the arrogance of those governing the country who think of themselves as untouchable before the national and international justice system, and that believe they can all go unpunished for an eternity. This is all happening at a time when a money-laundering scheme at Banca Privada d'Andorra is still fresh and in full development, in which Venezuelan officials are being charged with similar counts to the heads of FIFA, as well as other investigations conducted by the U.S. government for narco and money-laundering activities and linkages with international terrorism.

Will these officials get away scot-free?

See VenEconomy: From Zurich to Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, May 29, 2015)

On June 1, 2015. VenEconomy: Democrats Raise their Voices in Venezuela

Last week, the voice of opposition leader Leopoldo López was heard once more from his cell at the Ramo Verde military prison in Greater Caracas asking citizens who truly believe in democracy to raise their voices in order to demand the restoration of their violated rights at a massive demonstration that took place last Saturday.

López, through a pre-recorded video statement, demanded the government of Nicolás Maduro the cease of repression and censorship, as much as the release of all political prisoners. In addition, he demanded the National Electoral Council (CNE) the announcement of a final date for the parliamentary elections to be held this year, in which both the OAS and the European Union should be present as observers. At the same time, López announced that he and Daniel Ceballos, the former mayor of the San Cristóbal municipality in Táchira state currently being held at a prison in San Juan de los Morros in Guárico state, had begun a hunger strike until these goals were achieved.

A call that was not supported by three (Acción Democrática, Primero Justicia and Un Nuevo Tiempo) of around twenty member parties that make up the Democratic Unity Roundtable (or MUD) for procedural reasons. Therefore, its secretary general, Jesús (Chúo) Torrealba, informed the public opinion that the MUD was not joining last Saturday's rally. A decision rejected by sectors that believe that in the face of the serious economic, political and social situation the country is going through, the unity of the opposition must be proved with deeds, not only in the electoral field but with everyone leading the movement opposing the progress made by the dictatorial regime in Venezuela.

But, despite the absence of the MUD and with all that climate of repression and fear that is preventing dissidents from expressing themselves, thousands of citizens stepped out into the streets across several cities of the country and the world, where thousands of Venezuelans have sought protection from Venezuela's communist regime, last Saturday.

Last Saturday was a great day for democracy. A civil day that counted on the participation of former presidents Andrés Pastrana (Colombia) and Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia) besides that of Venezuelan well-known party leaders. It should be noted that these two continental leaders called on the International Red Cross to accompany both López and Ceballos while conducting the hunger strike, so that their lives are guaranteed.

These mass rallies prove that the fighting spirit of tens of thousands of Venezuelans has not been subjugated, despite all these years of brutal repression from a government that has murdered dozens of students while attending protest marches; that has opened criminal cases with false allegations against demonstrators; that keeps political leaders, students and other Venezuelans in prison for participating in the demonstrations or for helping those who have; and that has imposed censorship (or encouraged self-censorship) on the media.

There is no muzzle to silence the voices of those who love freedom and democracy. It is touching and makes us proud to see the wives and mothers of those political prisoners risking their lives to defend and enforce the rights of their husbands and children, and voicing their demands beyond borders. Lilian Tintori, Patricia Ceballos, Mitzy Capriles and Antonieta Ledezma, together with María Corina Machado, another warrior woman of the Venezuelan opposition, have proved that the courage of women is like no other. A courage that calls for unity, as pointed out by Patricia Ceballos, the wife of Daniel Ceballos: "Today we have to work together, without hate, without rancor; we have to rebuild this democracy that does not exist today, because only in a dictatorship we live what we suffer at present".

See VenEconomy: Democrats Raise their Voices in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 1, 2015)

On June 2, 2015. VenEconomy: The Government of Venezuela Cannot Escape International Scrutiny!

One of the many tasks that the government of the late Hugo Chávez, and now that of Nicolás Maduro, has undertaken all these years is to have condemned the international bodies ensuring the human rights and freedoms of citizens endorsed by the State of Venezuela.

In January 2012, for example, he denounced the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention, a body that both countries and companies turn to for the resolution of disputes related to foreign investment, thus creating a vacuum in the mechanisms or means through which investors are able to settle possible discrepancies in their contracts with the Venezuelan State. Similarly, in September 2013, the Venezuelan State opted out of the inter-American human rights system after a complaint by Chávez to withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights took effect.

However, in today's globalized world, it is nearly impossible that states can escape international scrutiny, especially in everything that relates to human rights, drug-trafficking, money laundering or terrorism.

Evidence of this is the one-year deadline set by the UN so that Venezuela's current ombudsman, Tarek William Saab, proves the autonomy of his office with respect to the National Executive and its political process, and explains why he remained silent before the decision of Venezuela to withdraw from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; the repeated threats of Maduro against union leaders; the trials of civilians before military courts and the arbitrary arrests of opposition leaders.

The Venezuelan government could neither escape the scrutiny of an evaluation regularly carried out by the UN, with the participation of a committee of independent experts to assess compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to which States have made a commitment.

Venezuela was to be evaluated by three UN bodies, and on three occasions, on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) was the first test to overcome by the Venezuelan State, because it had to respond to the allegations made by Venezuela's National Workers Union (UNETE) regarding the persecution of workers and trade unionists, the arrests and open trials against them and a persistent reluctance of the Government to discuss and endorse collective agreements of the public sector. Other allegations the Government was to face are those related to sex discrimination and the non-release of information with regard to social indicators.

Then it would deal with ICESCR experts and respond to the multiple allegations of Venezuelan NGOs regarding the serious problem of food and medicine shortages affecting the Venezuelan population, soaring inflation that may reach three digits by the end of the year, and an upsurge of poverty, which has left thousands of Venezuelans without anything to eat or denied them access to decent housing. Allegations that have been documented by non-profit organizations such as Provea, Espacio Público, Venezuela Diversa, Asamblea de Educación, among others.

And the last test to pass was a debate with the Committee on Civil and Political Rights on the lack of independence of the Judiciary, the criminalization of protests, the situation of national prisons and the brutal repression by police and military forces during the peaceful demonstrations that took place in 2014.

Now we need to monitor compliance with the recommendations to the State made by this specific body, because all of them are binding.

Editor's Note: Detailed description of the tests, the reports submitted by the State and Civil Society, as much as information on the program, course and test results can be found on www.examenonuvenezuela.com.

See VenEconomy: The Government of Venezuela Cannot Escape International Scrutiny! (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 2, 2015)

On June 3, 2015. VenEconomy: A Story that Should Not Be Repeated in Venezuela

There are stories that should have never happened and, therefore, should never be repeated, especially those about arrogant governments that violate basic human rights.

One of them is that of Franklin Brito, a Venezuelan biologist and farmer who died on August 30 of 2010 when conducting his sixth hunger strike in six years, an extreme measure he took after seeing his civil rights violated by the government of Hugo Chávez.

Brito was just demanding the Government to provide a clarification on the acts of corruption surrounding the case of his farm, wrested from him after an illegal move by the National Land Institute in 2004, and that the compensation offered by the National Executive for his land, after several hunger strikes, was made in a legal way. A demand that was not heeded, besides falling in the indifference and negligence of a ruling elite unable to rectify errors and keep promises.

You can read a summary compilation by VenEconomy on this regrettable story by clicking on the following link: http://www.veneconomia.com/site/files/articulos/artEsp6163_4576.htm

Other stories that should have never happened are those being currently written with the cases of opposition leader Leopoldo López and Daniel Ceballos, the former mayor of the San Cristóbal municipality in Táchira state. Both arbitrarily detained after the massive protests staged in Venezuela since February of last year that left some 41 citizens dead, hundreds of wounded and nearly twenty allegations of torture against demonstrators by the security forces of the State. Apart from 3,351 detainees, about 70 Venezuelan citizens remain in prison cells today and more than two thousands of demonstrators are subjected to trials and precautionary measures.

López was accused without evidence of "public incitement, damage to property, arson and criminal association". On the other hand, Ceballos was accused of committing crimes of rebellion and illegal association for not having complied with an order of the Supreme Court of preventing the set-up of "guarimbas" (roadblocks with sticks, stones and other debris across public roads and residential zones) in his municipality.

At this time, both López and Ceballos are conducting a hunger strike demanding the government of Nicolás Maduro the cease of repression and censorship, as much as the release of all political prisoners. In addition, they are demanding the National Electoral Council (CNE) the announcement of a final date for the parliamentary elections to be held this year, in which both the OAS and the European Union should be present as observers.

These two young Venezuelan politicians and democratic leaders, who also happen to be family men in their productive years, should have never gone to prison. And even less they should have resorted to such an extreme measure as is conducting a hunger strike to claim statutory rights in the Constitution of the Republic and guaranteed by international law.

The health of these Venezuelans is threatened, and the State must guarantee their lives even when they are being held prisoners for political reasons.

Many voices of international bodies, parliamentarians, former presidents of the region, and even presidents of governments, have raised for more than a year demanding their freedom, and that of all the political prisoners of the Government.

Those voices have been taken up a notch this week now that the lives of López and Ceballos are at stake. Last Friday, former presidents Andrés Pastrana (Colombia) and Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia) urged the International Red Cross to visit López and Ceballos in their respective detention facilities pointing out that: "They are on a hunger strike, this is not a game".

Former president Ricardo Lagos already said it in April of this year: "In the field of human rights, there is no meddling in other countries' politics. And that is what we are doing. Their struggle is for liberty and the restoration of democracy".

See VenEconomy: A Story that Should Not Be Repeated in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 3, 2015)

On June 4, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Ruling Elite Cannot Fool All the People All the Time

For 16 years, the members of the "revolutionary" elite entrenched in power in Venezuela, believing that all their crimes will go unpunished, have imposed a political model that has brought the country closer to an economic abyss, social anarchy and a dictatorship. Meanwhile, using the economic power of an era of high oil prices, they bought allegiances around the world, from governments, international bodies and political, artistic, and intellectual personalities.

But, the members of that elite seem not to know this: nothing lasts forever. As Abraham Lincoln put it once, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time". And it seems that, just as the era of high oil prices came to an end, so did the blindness and silence of the international community in the face of the destruction of Venezuela in the hands of a communist regime.

The government of Nicolás Maduro gets criticism where it least expects it. Parliamentarians from different countries, heads of government, former presidents of the region, artists, intellectuals and even international bodies, such as the European Parliament and the UN, are watching closely the excesses of the dictatorship led by Maduro and denouncing all the illegalities committed by his government officials and the countless violations against universal rights in Venezuela.

These last few weeks have seen a lot of action particularly regarding complaints from overseas.

On the one hand, 27 former presidents and former heads of state, who previously signed the Declaration of Panama denouncing the dictatorial progress during the Seventh Summit of the Americas in April of this year, issued a new statement reiterating these allegations, and demanding compliance with, among other things:

1) Setting a final date for the parliamentary elections.
2) That the same are fair and transparent.
3) That the electoral power behaves in an impartial way.
4) That qualified international and independent observers attend these elections.

And on the other, some 30 members of the Congress of Colombia are formally requesting the activation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter in Venezuela to the Organization of American States.

Furthermore, there is a message from Gen. John F. Kelly, head of the U.S. Southern Command, who in front of the auditorium at an international conference against drugs held in Cartagena, Colombia, questioned the fact that the government of Maduro does not collaborate with the fight against drugs, and that, conversely, it has been found that "a large part of the cocaine moving towards international markets comes out of Venezuela".

But, the proof that the speech loaded with insults blaming opponents for everything and resorting to the self-determination of peoples and national sovereignty don't work anymore, was given at the UN in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, in the framework of the meeting for a periodic review carried out by this body to assess compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Venezuela had no valid arguments to refute the well-argued allegations from bodies such as the National Workers' Union (Unete). Provea, Espacio Público, Asamblea de Educación and Transparencia Venezuela, among other NGOs, talked about the collapse of the Government in the areas of corruption, human rights, the lack of independence of the Judiciary, the criminalization of protest, the situation in prisons and of brutal repression, the access to information, the no release of data on social and economic indicators, sexual discrimination, the rise of poverty, the housing issue, soaring inflation, general shortages and a sharp decline in domestic production.

Impartial observers from Venezuela and the world can no longer believe arguments of an ongoing economic war, assassination attempts against the President and coups d'état.

Now, what is being understood here is that the so-called "asymmetrical war" with which the late Hugo Chávez used to threaten the opposition so many times, is a war from a ruling elite to subjugate a defenseless population.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Ruling Elite Cannot Fool All the People All the Time (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 4, 2015)

On June 4, 2015. VenEconomy: When Barbarity Governs Venezuela

When barbarity takes control of justice and has dominion over all public authorities, any kind of unimaginable nonsense can happen anytime, anywhere.

Barbarity governs Venezuela today, and this is no common place or exaggeration.

Among other barbarisms from various kinds, today stands out one that came out in the press happening in regional and municipal governments elected by popular vote.

It turns out that a witch-hunt against elected mayors opposing the National Government is taking place at this moment. Legal proceedings have been opened against 33 (42.8%) of 77 opposition mayors after the elections of December 2013 for different reasons.

There are precedents of Daniel Ceballos, the mayor of the San Cristóbal municipality in Táchira state, who was sent to prison for not enforcing an order of the Supreme Court (TSJ) that required not to allow guarimbas (the set-up of roadblocks with sticks, stones and other debris across public roads and residential zones) when protests broke out in February 2014. Enzo Scarano, mayor of the San Diego municipality (Valencia, Carabobo state), had similar criminal charges but was released from prison a few months ago.

Both the health and life of Ceballos are at risk after conducting a hunger strike for a week, which he started to demand the cessation of repression and censorship, the freedom of political prisoners and free parliamentary elections with the observation of independent international bodies. There are measures of protection on Ceballos, as much as on Leopoldo López, requested by the OAS, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the European Parliament.

Another precedent is the case of Antonio Ledezma, the former metropolitan mayor of Caracas and most voted mayor of the country, today under house arrest for health reasons as he stands trial for alleged offenses of conspiracy and association with criminal intent, provided for and punished under the Criminal Code and the Organic Law against Organized Crime and Financing of Terrorism.

More recently, the vengeful axe of the State cut off the head of the mayor of the José Antonio Páez municipality in Apure state, Lumay Barreto, who was removed from office after a ruling of the TSJ's Constitutional Chamber determined she had irresponsibly left her office for a period of six days. It should be noted that article 87 of the Law of the Public Municipal Power establishes that mayors and governors can leave up to 14 days without requesting permission. And it should be remembered that the late Hugo Chávez was out of the national territory with extreme health conditions for three months, without the Parliament or the TSJ declaring his absolute absence as required by law.

But, perhaps the most evident case that there are no limits when it comes to committing abuses against governments of the opposition, is that of the mayoralty of the Mario Briceño Iragorry municipality (Maracay, Aragua state), where serious acts of violence occurred after a group of workers loyal to the ruling party broke in the mayor's office. Not only they caused physical destruction to the facilities, but left a balance of three journalists from the mayoralty's press team wounded, with one of them, Alejandro Ledo, a graphic journalist, in serious condition after they dropped him off the second floor of the building.

That kind of violence, wherever it comes from, can't have any justification from any citizen, even less from those holding office in regional governments or public authorities.

Logic and common sense should prevail in these cases, and not automatic solidarities. Condemning, investigating and punishing the guilty should be the right move. The opposite is complicity before a crime where the lives of Venezuelans have been put at risk.

See VenEconomy: When Barbarity Governs Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 5, 2015)

On June 8, 2015. VenEconomy: The Reality of Venezuela that FAO Overlooked

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) gave recognition to the Government of Venezuela for having achieved two of the main objectives of the Millennium before 2015: the eradication of hunger and poverty. A recognition received by Jorge Arreaza, Vice-President of the Republic, after Nicolás Maduro unexpectedly suspended his trip to Italy and his meeting with the Pope due to health reasons.

It is ironic that this recognition comes, just when a few weeks ago three of the most renowned Venezuelan universities (Central University of Venezuela, Simón Bolivar and Andrés Bello) released the results of the survey "Living Conditions of Venezuelans 2014", which warns about the deterioration of food conditions in households in all social strata, showing that the daily menu contains very low levels of protein, with absence of fruits and vegetables and a very high intake of carbohydrates. In addition, 11.3% of respondents said that they ate only once or twice a day, a percentage that rises to 39% in the poorest strata.

Even more contradictory is the fact that while the FAO gave recognition to the Government of Venezuela (during a UN summit in Rome, Italy), in the context of the presentation of the Venezuelan State's third periodic report of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Experts Committee was not satisfied with the arguments given by representatives of the Maduro government on the vulnerable situation of Venezuelans and their rights to adequate food and protection from hunger.

It seems that the FAO did not take into consideration the general shortages, a drop in domestic food production and a drop in imports recorded over the last few years in Venezuela.

A situation that, as stated by NGOs Venezuelan Observatory of Health, the Bengoa Foundation and the Agri-Food Research Center in their so-called "Alternative Report", has resulted in "a situation of high vulnerability with regard to the protection against hunger, since the existing programs are not able to reach the most needed sectors of society".

Perhaps the FAO has been misinformed because of the severe restrictions on access to information and availability of data, also denounced by the NGOs in their report, which doesn't "let anyone know about the impact that the economic measures have on shortages and these on the current nutritional conditions of the population".

Hence the importance that the UN Committee, as requested by the Venezuelan NGOs, urges the Government of Venezuela to:
1) Promote a free and open economy, and review price controls.
2) Apply measures to stimulate the production of food, in line with the calorie and nutrients needs of the Venezuelan population.
3) Eliminate its policy of land confiscations to ensure that the State does not contribute to the abandonment of agricultural projects.
4) Respect private property, so the State does not become the sole owner and incentives for producers are generated.
5) Diversify the industry and conduct efficient food imports in order to fight shortages and avoid hunger in the future.
6) Strengthen programs aimed at subsidizing healthy foods in popular sectors in an efficient way.
7) Restore the information systems on the nutritional status of the population, while ensuring public access and the generation of reliable and detailed data through Venezuela's Food and Nutritional Surveillance System (SISVAN), among other recommendations.

The bottom line is that it seems that the FAO paid attention to the reality of the National Institute of Statistics and the Venezuelan government, rather than the one lived by Venezuelans every day.

See VenEconomy: The Reality of Venezuela that FAO Overlooked (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 8, 2015)

On June 9, 2015. VenEconomy: Another Made Up War to Hide The Failures of Venezuela's Government

A couple of days ago, the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence [Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia (OVV)] reported the dramatic deaths of 252,073 citizens who had died in a violent way between 1999 and May 2015, the golden age of communism in Venezuela. A terrifying figure that brings the homicide rate up to 82 per 100,000 inhabitants, while current global rates stand at 22 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, placing Venezuela as the second most violent country in the world.

This is despite the fact that the Government has laid out 21 security plans during 16 years in power without any positive results. The extent of the failure of the governments of both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro on citizen security is such that the rotation of cabinet ministers (15 in 16 years) has been done almost on a yearly basis, which does not allow the continuity of programs, accurate measurements and much less the correction of errors based on results.

Local daily El Universal published on May 31 an excellent interview from a talk show broadcast by privately-run TV channel Televen with criminal lawyer Fermín Mármol García, explaining the underlying reasons for the excessively high crime rates in Venezuela. Among other relevant facts:
(1) there are about 18,000 criminal gangs engaged in activities ranging from kidnapping to drug-trafficking operating in the country;
(2) the criminal population circulating freely outside prison facilities is greater than the prison population (72,000 criminals roaming free vs 60,000 inmates);
(3) only 6 offenses out of 100 are punished, a fact that proves the current degree of impunity and that violent crimes "such as murder, kidnapping, and very violent primitive offenses have heavily affected Venezuelan families. Crimes that have undermined the quality of life of Venezuelans";
(4) the middle class is the most affected by this scourge;
(5) deficiencies are not limited to the number of law enforcement officers patrolling the streets, but to a deficit of crime investigators (300%) and a technological deficit of preventive institutions;
(6) Venezuelans have relaxed their moral and ethical levels;
(7) there is a lack of political will to demonstrate citizens that no one is untouchable.
He explained that today the armed groups known as "colectivos", the trade unions in the construction sector, the mega-criminal gangs and the prison gang leaders locally known as "pranes" are untouchable, and that there are also micro-states "born and raised" in times of revolution that are untouchable as well.

Among his recommendations for tackling the problem are:
(1) the rescue of meritocracy;
(2) the restructuring of the budget of State security institutions so confidence in these bodies can be restored, a matter he described as "an outstanding debt of the State";
(3) send out a clear message that those who violate the law in Venezuela are going to be treated the same way;
(4) evaluate the defendants enjoying procedural benefits derived from the so-called "plan cayapa" implemented by the Ministry of Correctional Services that, just like other benefits, is not supported by the law;
(5) eliminate the so-called "peace zones", which are the materialization of the "Pacification program" carried out with negative results in Central America. He claimed that it "makes no sense having brought this plan to Venezuela", because police forces and the State have opened up spaces to focus on a "meaningless political project".

But these reasonable considerations of Mármol García seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Or at least that is what is perceived after hearing Maduro blame the oligarchy, paramilitary groups, the far-right, among others, for the rampant levels of violence, crime and insecurity in Venezuela three days ago. According to Maduro, they are supplying criminals with weapons, dollars, and drugs to cause damage to the Government.

In other words, another made up war to hide the failures of the Government.

See VenEconomy: Another Made Up War to Hide The Failures of Venezuela's Government (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 9, 2015)

On June 10, 2015. VenEconomy: Spain's González Goes Hand-In-Hand with Democracy in Venezuela

Indeed, a series of unbelievable things were revealed during the visit of Felipe González, the former Prime Minister of Spain and a respected leader of world socialism, to Venezuela.

It turns out that the determination of González of becoming part of a group of ex-presidents who decided to support and defend Leopoldo López, Daniel Ceballos and Antonio Ledezma, three opposition leaders who became political prisoners of the government of Nicolás Maduro, is proving that the dictatorial nature of the Venezuelan president is far worse than that of Augusto Pinochet, the staunch dictator who ruled Chile in the '70s.

The case is that Pinochet made a clever political decision in 1977: in August of that year, he allowed González (by then a young lawyer who had emerged as the main opposition leader in the nascent democracy that arose in Spain after the death of Francisco Franco) to visit Santiago de Chile and freely interview Erich Schnake and Carlos Lazo, two political prisoners sentenced to prison for sedition and treason, whose criminal cases were taken up by González.

The political skills of Maduro seem very distant from those of Pinochet.

His stubbornness to continue deepening the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" in the best style of Cuba's Castro regime has led him to take an obtuse path: by denying González his right to represent, accompany or advise López, Ceballos and Ledezma during their respective trials, Maduro exposes the dictatorial process taking place in Venezuela that he is attempting to hide even further.

Another tactical error in order to maintain that stance is a series of outrages committed against González:
That he was declared persona non grata by lawmakers of the ruling party PSUV in the Parliament.

That there was an aggressive tone towards González from most representatives of Venezuela's public authorities. This action clearly corroborates the lack of independence and political allegiance of these authorities.

That the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) had denied González time after time the possibility to become part of the defense team of Ceballos, López and Ledezma, due to his foreign status. It even denied him the possibility of becoming an unpaid adviser to the defendants.

That during his stay in Venezuela since June 7, he was not allowed to attend the public hearings of López, Ceballos and Ledezma. Or allowed him to visit López and Ceballos, who conducted a hunger strike for three weeks and are being held incommunicado in the prisons of Ramo Verde (Greater Caracas) and San Juan de los Morros (Guárico state), respectively.

He was only able to meet with the families of López and Ceballos in the two days he was in the country. In addition, he was able to visit Ledezma at his home where he has been under house arrest since April and Teodoro Petkoff, who he gave the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award that received on his behalf in Spain, since the editor-in-chief of the former daily newspaper TalCual was not allowed to leave the country to attend the prize ceremony early in May.

The rudest gesture toward González was an attempt to sabotage his visit with street protests and via Twitter accounts of government officials, but the call did not get any popular support and ended up being a resounding failure.

But what has raised a series of questions is the untimely departure of González on Tuesday in an aircraft belonging to the Colombian Air Force, with the express authorization of President Juan Manuel Santos. Particularly when the Government is taking advantage of that fact to lambast González, saying sarcastically that he "came for money and left the country empty-handed".

For those who already know the modus operandi of the Government of blaming others for everything that goes wrong in the country, it can be assumed that it boasts today what it really lacks, especially when Santos stood in solidarity with González and categorically claimed that "former president González has been an unconditional friend of Colombia and its peace process".

See VenEconomy: Spain's González Goes Hand-In-Hand with Democracy in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 10, 2015)

On June 11, 2015. VenEconomy: Bad Practice of Venezuela's Government Sends Out Worse Sign

While Venezuela is showing cracks in political rights, social indicators and the overall economy, the government of Nicolás Maduro persists in using what is left of the country's scanty international reserves.

According to the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), international reserves had plummeted to $16.86 billion (including $3.0 million for the Macroeconomic Stabilization Fund or FEM) by June 9, thus dropping $209 million in four days and $5.21 billion (23.6%) so far this year. This way, reserves had the same level recorded on May 2 of 2000 ($16.86 billion). This decline was recorded in spite of $1.38 billion in revenues for the pledging of around 900 ounces of gold for $1.0 billion conducted in May, and the withdrawal of $383 million from the quota of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) deposited in the International Monetary Fund by the Government in mid-May.

Now it seems that the Government has developed a strong taste for this kind of move, because these withdrawals do not involve a program of adjustments, or require prior approval from the international body. This is so because barely two weeks after the first withdrawal from its SDR holdings, it was learned off the record that the Government would have made another withdrawal, this time for $1.5 million, according to reports of local daily El Nacional on Thursday.

It should be noted that while a SDR is an international reserve asset within the accounting of the Venezuelan International Reserves, it only serves as a complement to these. Its value is based on a basket of four key international currencies. This refers to SDRs as potential assets against the currencies of free use by IMF member countries. The SDR holders can obtain currency in exchange for their SDRs through two operations: 1) the conclusion of agreements of voluntary swap between member countries and, 2) the designation by IMF member countries with a sound external position to purchase SDRs from member countries with a shaky economic situation (the case of Venezuela, where its flawed monetary and fiscal policies have led the Government to redeem its SDR holdings with other member countries so it can obtain foreign currency to maintain the levels of domestic consumption and not for investments that have a rate of return on capital).

Venezuela had $3.2 billion in SDRs (calculated at a rate of $1.45 per SDR) at the close of 2014. During the first three months of the year, Venezuela maintained its special SDR holdings at 2.26 billion (equivalent to $3.12 billion at the end of March, at a rate of $1.38 per SDR). In April, the Government made its first withdrawal of 277 million SDR for $328 million (at a rate of $1.41 per SDR). SDR holdings are expected to drop by $1.5 billion in June, with some $1.3 billion calculated at a rate of $1.38 per SDR still available. Of all the countries in the region, Venezuela has been the only one to swap or sell its SDR in order to obtain foreign currency. Neither Argentina nor Brazil, which foresee a gloomy economic picture, have reduced their SDR holdings (see table in the original article of VenEconomía (Mala práctica, peor señal): Bad Practice of Venezuela's Government Sends Out Worse Sign at the Latin American Herald Tribune, June 11, 2015).

This is, so to speak, a bad practice from a government that insists on squandering the savings of the Venezuelan State, rather than applying indispensable corrective measures to its disastrous policies of a stillborn "Plan for the Homeland".

And worse still is the sign that is sending out to everyone, including potential investors, partners, creditors and even the staunch supporters of this government: the "socialism of the 21st century" has led the most important oil-rich nation of the region to bankruptcy, despite this having thrived during the golden era of black gold.

See VenEconomy: Bad Practice of Venezuela's Government Sends Out Worse Sign (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 11, 2015)

On June 12, 2015. VenEconomy: Maduro's Regime Starts off June on a Bad Note

This first half of June has been devastating for the image of the regime of Nicolás Maduro.

Reports everywhere have shown it has not fared well in any area of performance.

On the one hand, the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index 2015, an initiative of the American Bar Association that dates back to 2006, showed that Venezuela was the worst-ranked country among 102 nations evaluated. This poor result highlights the deterioration of the rule of law and justice in the country.

This index evaluates how the population of a country experiences the rule of law in everyday situations, through surveys conducted in some 100,000 households. These surveys are analyzed by 2,400 specialists, based on 44 indicators grouped into eight categories: absence of corruption, restrictions on government power, openness of the government, respect for fundamental rights, compliance with regulations, order and security, civil justice, and criminal justice.

And on the other, local NGO Transparencia Venezuela released early this month its report on corruption found in "social missions", the key wealth distribution programs created during the government of the late Hugo Chávez, and now expanded by Maduro, that have yielded so many electoral dividends for the PSUV ruling party.

This report evaluated "the impact of corruption on the enjoyment of social rights for understanding the deficiencies of policies and programs to which the State has assigned numerous resources in the last decade".

The study revealed that this scourge has infringed upon human rights in individual cases and has negatively impacted the exercise of economic, social and cultural rights due to the lack of transparent rules, systems and procedures and of responsible institutions to prevent, restrict and punish abuses, the diversion of resources, over-invoicing and influence peddling. The failure of the missions is reflected in the increase of poverty, which according to the Living Conditions Index (ENCOVI) 2014 went from 46% in 1998 to 48% last year.

Another report that condemns the administration of Maduro is one released by local NGO Provea for the year 2014, which shows figures, statistics and testimonies of the massive violations of human rights in Venezuela. Among other violations, Provea reported the criminalization of human rights defenders, the reversal of the progress made in poverty reduction in Venezuela, the shortages of medicines, the privatization of healthcare services through direct action, the construction of a police state, and an increase in insecurity.

In addition, there is a lack of direct dialogue with the State, which is forcing Provea to turn to international bodies so the State provides answers to questions about the human rights situation in the country.

Meanwhile in economic matters, HSBC Bank raised its forecasts of economic contraction for Venezuela to 7.5% in 2015, 0.9 percentage points higher than the forecasts at the beginning of this year. According to the HSBC report, inflation will close at 175% (31 percentage points higher than expected).

But it seems that Maduro and his people couldn't care less about all this bad news. The speech of violence and confrontation continues unperturbed, as demonstrated by Maduro a few days ago, when, from Ciudad Belén (a slum in Miranda state), he said in a threatening tone that "if the Bolivarian revolution ever fails and imperialism takes control of the country, may Venezuelans be prepared for times of massacre and death".

See VenEconomy: Maduro's Regime Starts off June on a Bad Note (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 12, 2015)

On June 15, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelans Must Not Take Nonviolent Methods of Struggle to Extremes

The barbarity that has prevailed in Venezuela for the past 16 years has led its population to use extreme nonviolent methods of struggle, among them, hunger strikes.

At present, opposition leader Leopoldo López, and students Raúl Baduel, Jr. and José Gregorio Briceño (the three of them political prisoners of Nicolás Maduro), plus over twenty other students, have been conducting a hunger strike for more than a week demanding: the release of all political prisoners; the end of persecution against those opposing the Government; that the National Electoral Council (CNE) sets a final date for the parliamentary elections this year; and that these are held in a transparent manner with the presence of observers from the OAS and the European Union.

World leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi, have resorted to this form of peaceful struggle in the past. In 1918, Gandhi resisted the British domination through this method. Between January 12 and January 18 of 1948, he fasted for the third time to promote unity among Hindus and Muslims. The hunger strike influenced political and communal leaders to outline a plan to restore normalcy in a riot-torn India that accompanied the imminent end of the British rule. Or Golda Meir, the fourth Prime Minister of Israel, who in 1945 conducted a hunger strike to protest against the detention facilities where the British kept the survivors of the Holocaust.

In the Venezuela of the Bolivarian revolution, students, workers from the public/private sector, physicians and political leaders have undertook this form of nonviolent struggle in many occasions, albeit only a few times objectives were met in the face of a deaf government to citizen demands and that only believes in repression and persecution as a method of dialogue. A tragic example of this is the case of Franklin Brito, a local agricultural producer and biologist who after six hunger strikes finally died of starvation in the Military Hospital of Caracas, where he was detained by the Government without it giving him back his lands.

VenEconomy respects the decision made by López, Baduel, Briceño and all the students who took this path to demand the restoration of the many rights of Venezuelans infringed by the regime of Maduro. This is a sacrifice like no other for the sake of principles and values of democracy and freedom, as is characteristic of beings with great moral fortitude and determination.

However, VenEconomy also considers that this form of struggle would be valid if the opponent they are facing had a bit of respect for human life, something that is not the case of Venezuela's ruling elite, as it has been amply demonstrated in several occasions. A ruling elite that underestimates its opponents, who are objectified and reduced to subhuman levels as Adolf Hitler did with the Jews, and as the Castro brothers do with Cubans who dare oppose them.

Going on an indefinite hunger strike against the regime of Maduro is a lose-lose solution. The Government will not make any concessions to the strikers, as it never did with Brito. And those who are on strike will hopelessly see their health situation deteriorate as they risk their lives.

VenEconomy calls for the end of the strike since the lives of López, Baduel, Briceño, as much as those of every single one of the students, are valuable for their families and the country. The democratic struggle needs them and this can - and must - take place in some other constitutional scenario.

See VenEconomy: Venezuelans Must Not Take Nonviolent Methods of Struggle to Extremes (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 15, 2015)

On June 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Questions Arise Over U.S.-Venezuela Relations

More questions arise over the relations between the U.S. and Venezuela since March 9 of this year.

That day President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency because of an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to homeland security and the foreign policy that caused the U.S. the situation of Venezuela, plus sanctions to seven Venezuelan officials with the blocking of their U.S. assets and a prohibition on entering that country.

Since then, it is true that the government of Nicolás Maduro intensified its hate speech against the U.S., showed an automatic solidarity with its officials linked to human rights violations and did not open any investigation in Venezuela on those involved. But it is also true that, according to news from the northern giant, the U.S. justice is determined to do whatever it takes to punish those involved in narco-terrorism, the violation of human rights and corruption, and to that end they have witnesses under protection programs to provide conclusive evidence of the denouncements. News that has incurred the wrath of emblematic Bolivarian officials such as, among others, the head of the Parliament, Diosdado Cabello, who filed a lawsuit against Spanish newspaper ABC and U.S.-based The Wall Street Journal as well as against managers, partners and executives of the Venezuelan dailies TalCual and El Universal and the news site La Patilla for publishing a story of Cabello allegedly being a high-ranking drug lord.

At the same time, and perhaps because of the weakness of the national economy and the strong evidence against the government officials, there has been rapprochement between Maduro and the Obama administration. In the framework of this rapprochement, Thomas Shannon, the Counselor of the U.S. Department of State, visited Venezuela in two opportunities in less than a month. No official explanations were given to the country during the Shannon-Maduro meetings behind closed doors, something that has led to a series of rumors that include the negotiation process to bring Cabello to the U.S. justice system.

However, news last weekend graphically documenting a high-level meeting between Cabello, Delcy Rodríguez (the foreign minister of Venezuela) and Shannon in Haiti, with the support of the president of that country, caused controversy in the public opinion while speculation on the subject quickly took over the social networks. Among the many questions raised: Why did not Maduro attend that meeting? Otitis, which also prevented his meeting with Pope Francis and receive recognition from the UN's FAO in person, was the excuse.

Another question left hanging in the air is whether Cabello was looking to demonstrate his power to the U.S. and make it clear that any rapprochement with Venezuela should be made with his consent. Even make it clear that if Maduro leaves power, because of the obvious failure of his government, he would become the alternative to sit in the President's Chair.

Others suggest that Cabello was negotiating the elimination of Obama's Executive Order, which seems to have his name on it as a central element to serve justice.

But the picture becomes even more confusing when El Cooperante, a news site supporting the Bolivarian revolution, reported on Tuesday that "the presence of the second most powerful man in Venezuela was not in the plans of the American diplomat", and that Shannon was in shock and awe.

Everything seems to indicate that no one will clarify (at least for now) this movement of pieces, in a game where the most affected opponents are the Venezuelan citizens. These citizens, in the midst of the worst economic and social crisis in decades, find themselves once more with no information about what the Government is doing behind their backs.

See VenEconomy: Questions Arise Over U.S.-Venezuela Relations (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 16, 2015)

On June 17, 2015. VenEconomy: Should Venezuela Renegotiate or Default on its Foreign Debt?

Fully meeting its foreign financial obligations would be the right move for a government that is rarely seen making wise economic decisions.

Defaulting on debt would not bring anything positive or good for either the country or the population in particular. On the contrary, it would lead to inevitable consequences due to a series of lawsuits and embargoes; due to the difficulties in getting exporters willing to work side by side with Venezuela and the closure of businesses because of the lack of credit that are sequels conspiring to cost Venezuelans dearly; a cost that would not be justified by a supposed relief of the suspension of international payments.

In September of 2014, economists Ricardo Hausmann and Miguel Ángel Santos published an article entitled "Should Venezuela Default?" In that analysis, both Hausmann and Santos wondered whether Venezuela should pay its foreign debt. A question to which they provided an answer: "If you can make good on your commitments, then that is what you should do. That is what most parents teach their children. But the moral calculus becomes a bit more intricate when you cannot make good on all of your commitments and have to decide which to honor and which to avoid".

In their article, Hausmann and Santos listed the number of defaults of the Venezuelan government with creditors and internal suppliers, which have increased in recent months. They claimed that the Government not only was in the ethical obligation to satisfy its foreign creditors, but also its domestic ones, and even believed that the latter should be given priority, because they take care of ensuring the good performance of the country and the quality of life of citizens.

The country's international reserves have been steadily declining in recent months, falling at a rate of $85 million per working day in the last six weeks. A spectacular decline that clearly indicates that each day will be more and more difficult to continue servicing the debt, especially if we took into account some $5 billion to be paid by November of this year.

From there, the question is raised whether the Government may continue servicing the debt without having to sacrifice many other vital needs for the well-being of Venezuelans. It would seem that the country is at a crossroads.

But, VenEconomy is of the view that the dilemma of the Government is not defaulting on its debt or let the nation die of starvation. And believes that the best option is the restructuring of the debt.

From there, the most reasonable thing to do by the Government, rather than persisting on making that payment, should be calling its creditors so it can renegotiate the debt with them, and thus extend the maturities by two or three years. This would certainly give it some freedom to manage the economic crisis the country is going through at present.

In their article, Hausmann and Santos suggested that "If the authorities adopted common-sense policies and sought support from the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral lenders, as most troubled countries tend to do, they would rightly be told to renegotiate the country's debts". That way, "the burden of adjustment would be shared with other creditors"; "the economy would gain time to recover" and "bondholders would be wise to exchange their current bonds for longer-dated instruments that would benefit from the upturn".

Nine months after the publication of their article, the remarks of Hausmann and Santos are still as valid as the very first day.

A renegotiation would be, in the view of VenEconomy, a honorable solution for the Government that would give some respite to Venezuelans. Yet difficult for policymakers, because any renegotiation process would involve the disclosure of full and reliable information on the performance of the economy.

See VenEconomy: Should Venezuela Renegotiate or Default on its Foreign Debt? (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 17, 2015)

On June 18, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Broken Wings

Once upon a time there was a country that boasted one of the world's largest reserves of crude oil. A country that had all the human and technological potential to consolidate its industrial development, boost its productivity and promote its competitiveness to guarantee its citizens quality of life and progress.

But, two rulers came to power delivering illusory populist promises and squandered all that capital for 16 years, destroying everything in their path, leaving the productive system in ruins and the country plunged into a deep crisis with the public coffers empty, which is preventing the Government from paying a huge debt with the domestic private sector.

One of the most heavily affected sectors is that of international airlines, which is owed $3.7 billion in tickets sold between 2012 and 2014, at exchange rates set by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV). The airlines have worked tirelessly to find a solution in reaching payment agreements with the Government, and thus guarantee the service to the population at any time. In March of 2014, the goal was apparently to be reached through several payment methods, including fuel supply, bonds of the Republic, cash, or credits. It was even suggested that the debt would be recognized at a SICAD I rate (an average of Bs.10 per dollar). But, the Government never did anything to remedy the situation.

Now the situation seems to be going from bad to worse.

According to unofficial sources, the Autonomous Institute of the Maiquetía International Airport (IAAM) is forcing companies to pay for the airport services in American dollars, but refuses to deduct these amounts from what it owes to the airlines. IAAM authorities argue that they are autonomous and don't have the power to perform that kind of compensation. An excuse that is hard to believe!

Another arbitrariness of the IAAM is that faced with the refusal of some airlines to pay for these services in foreign currency, they were denied access to the "jetways", forcing them to park the aircraft away from the terminal and bring passengers to the terminal on buses. Other airlines have decided to suspend their flights to Maiquetía.

It was also learned that the Government would be attempting another bond issue so it can pay off its debt with the airlines, a possibility these don't rule out under some previously agreed conditions, among them to find out about the discount they will be getting (it is already known that airlines had increased their fares in an effort to protect their assets). It is said it would be acceptable for them if 50% of the debt was paid, or 100% with an interest of 1-2%; and also with the right to charge airfares in either dollars or bolivares, depending on the needs of each airline.

Meanwhile, those airlines that still have Venezuela as a destination are doing difficult balancing acts to see if they can survive and not leave the country. For their part, Venezuelans have ended up practically confined within the borders of their own country without being able to buy airline tickets at affordable prices, finding themselves looking for alternative options such as boats or "green paths" to travel abroad.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Broken Wings (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 18, 2015)

On June 19, 2015. VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's Maduro Provoke Major Crisis in a Bid to Regain Popular Support?

The claims of Venezuela to the Essequibo region of Guyana were settled 116 years ago with the decision of a high-level arbitration panel that (a) confirmed the exclusive rights of Venezuela to navigate the Orinoco River, and (b) assigned most of the land area in question to Great Britain.

More than 60 years later, in 1962, Rómulo Betancourt, then President of Venezuela, contested that Arbitral Award of 1899.

And, in 1966, when Guyana achieved its independence, the conflict went from the small Venezuela against the giant British Empire to the powerful Venezuela against the impoverished former British colony.

That year, Venezuela and Guyana agreed to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict, and this way the UN was appointed as a facilitator of the negotiations in 1970.

Since then, different Venezuelan governments have sought to resolve the dispute, without any success.

Since his arrival on power, the late Hugo Chávez abandoned the effort to resolve the dispute partly by pressures from Fidel Castro (an ally of Guyana who had been using the country as a refueling station for his planes during the war in Angola) and, partly, because he didn't want to offend members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), whose support was crucial in international forums such as the OAS and the UN.

Chávez neither defined the maritime boundaries of Venezuela with Guyana, thus facilitating Guyana the awarding of oil exploration contracts in blocks in the own Guyana region, in disputed areas and in areas that clearly belonged to Venezuela.

Now, with Nicolás Maduro at the helm of power, a new chapter of this legendary dispute has begun, when an exploration platform of ExxonMobil struck oil in one of those blocks: Stabroek.

The first reaction of the Maduro government was accusing ExxonMobil for violating its territory, and not Guyana as the one who awarded the concession.

Months later, on May 27, the Government took a turn in its complacency with Guyana and went to the other extreme: it decreed a "defense zone" that includes most part of the waters in the disputed area, without any access to the Atlantic. With this, it unnecessarily worsened the border dispute.

Guyana did not take long in issuing a well-reasoned statement from the legal point of view that was rejected by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry for its "exaggerated wording and false claims", and accused the new government of Guyana of displaying a dangerous policy of "provocation against the Bolivarian Venezuela of peace", supported by the "imperial power of a U.S.-based company such as ExxonMobil".

The new dispute: the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry requested an early meeting of foreign ministers to address the issue. Guyana resorted to the UN Secretary-General to legally solve this territorial dispute.

With its clumsy and illegal decree, the Venezuelan government served Guyana on a silver platter an excuse to make the UN and international tribunals take action on this matter.

It is inferred from all this that the Maduro administration is seeking to provoke a major crisis that would help it regain popular support - today highly reduced - with a view to the parliamentary elections this year.

For now, the strategy is limited to accuse ExxonMobil for having violated the Venezuelan waters, as evidenced by statements of the Foreign Ministry and claims of Ángel Rodríguez, the head of the Latin American Parliament - Venezuela Chapter, and lawmaker for the ruling party PSUV, who argues that the operations of ExxonMobil in Essequibo waters "seek to impose a war agenda in South America, as part of the strategy of the most radical sectors of the U.S. to take control of the huge deposits of crude oil across the continent".

The allegations could soon be against the new government of Guyana and (why not?) a naval and military mobilization toward the eastern border of the country.

If so, it would be confirmed that the Government's intention is to provoke a crisis and that Venezuelans, including those of the opposition, will close ranks behind their "leader" (Maduro) in the "patriotic defense" of the Venezuelan border.

Perhaps Maduro will lose the support of CARICOM, but would win an election.

See VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's Maduro Provoke Major Crisis in a Bid to Regain Popular Support? (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 19, 2015)

On June 22, 2015. VenEconomy: What is Venezuela's Government So Afraid Of?

A leitmotif of the Bolivarian government in the past 16 years has been to invoke the sovereignty of the peoples and the non-interference in internal affairs, so it can evade observation of the international system with regard to any topic, including drug-trafficking, terrorism, the electoral system and human rights.

In spite of this, Venezuela today is perceived by nearly all international institutions as:
1) A country that protects drug-trafficking activities, which serves as a route for the transit of drugs to Europe and the U.S.
2) A country that hides and supports terrorists of FARC, ELN, ETA and other extremist organizations.
3) A country without rule of law, where electoral processes are little transparent and credible due to the lack of autonomy of the Electoral Power, a fact that weakens democratic institutions.
4) A country where the human rights of citizens are constantly violated, particularly of those who disagree with government policies, and fight for the rescue of democratic rights and freedoms.

The violation of human rights in Venezuela has reached such a point that international human right bodies, democratic governments, former presidents from the region and parliaments from different countries have turned their eyes to Venezuela in recent months. Eyes that fully disapprove what Nicolás Maduro and his people are doing, even though their intransigence has only exposed to the world with strong evidence the dictatorial nature of the Venezuelan government.

This was the case, for example, of former presidents Andrés Pastrana (Colombia), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia) and Felipe González (Spain), who traveled to Venezuela in an attempt to pay a visit to Leopoldo López, Daniel Ceballos and other political prisoners without success due to the arbitrary and illegal refusal of the Government. These three former presidents, along with two other dozens of them, have no doubt that the Maduro government has fallen in excesses and violations against human rights, and they are telling the world.

Last weekend, eight Brazilian senators (from the foreign affairs committee of the Brazilian Congress) traveled to Venezuela in order to visit the prison facilities and check the situation of the political prisoners, with the consent and support of their own government and supposedly authorized by the Venezuelan government.

But the visit was sabotaged by the Government using the same "modus operandi" as with all the peaceful demonstrations of the Venezuelan opposition: the deployment of civil attack groups. This way, these organized group of violent supporters of the Venezuelan regime prevented the Brazilian senators from making it to Caracas from the Maiquetía airport, as they blocked the roads and caused damage to the vehicle they were riding in. After several hours of confrontations, the Brazilian parliamentarians were forced to return to their country and requested President Dilma Rousseff to express her rejection for this aggression against them.

But, as it has become sadly customary with the rulers of Venezuela's "allied" countries, Rousseff showed her solidarity with her Venezuelan comrade and described the visit of the Brazilian delegation as "shameful" for being "an interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela". In addition, the government of Maduro denied having sabotaged the visit of the senators and accused "national and international right-wing groups" for attempting a "media stunt created out of lies".

But, since the Sun cannot be covered with a finger, neither can the undemocratic and dictatorial nature of Venezuela's government.

See VenEconomy: What is Venezuela's Government So Afraid Of? (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 22, 2015)

On June 23, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's CNE Lucena Has Spoken... and So Has Maduro

After long months of multiple pressures from the Venezuelan opposition, former presidents and parliamentarians from across Latin America, and several international bodies, Tibisay Lucena, head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), finally spoke and announced the date, rules and schedule of the parliamentary elections on Monday.

What she announced is summarized as follows:
1) The elections will be held on December 6, 2015, a date when Hugo Chávez came to power through the electoral way 17 years ago.
2) Voter registration will take place until July 8.
3) The limits for the electoral constituencies shall be set the same way as for the 2010 parliamentary elections (changes will be seen in the number of lawmakers already assigned that subtracts four members of the Democratic Unity party, currently with 66 seats of a total 165), while maintaining the same structure used on that occasion by the CNE.
4) The nomination of candidates shall be carried out between August 3 and August 7.
5) The electoral campaigning period is set to take place between November 13 and December 3.
6) Only members of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) were invited to "accompany" the process.
7) And, as it has become customary, the CNE ratified once more that the Venezuelan electoral system is the safest in the world.

This announcement by Lucena meets one of the four requests made by Leopoldo López, Daniel Ceballos and the students, today political prisoners of the government of Nicolás Maduro, at the beginning of their hunger strike. López and the students made a wise decision by putting an end to their respective hunger strikes on Tuesday. Pending requests are that the elections are carried out under the impartial observation (not a simple accompaniment) of the OAS and the European Parliament; the release of the remaining political prisoners; and the cessation of persecution and censorship against political dissidents.

Unfortunately, that respite given to Venezuela's democratic sector by Lucena lasted less than a heartbeat, because Maduro also spoke that same Monday afternoon...

The ruler, faced with an election process deemed vital to start the rescue of democracy, with the "socialism of the 21st century" showing its lowest levels of popularity in 17 years, with a sustained decline in oil revenues and the most serious economic and social crisis, gave an aggressive and threatening speech filled with violence and everything that goes against a democratic coexistence. Maduro expressed with high-flown words and resorting to the strategy of domination through fear that if the opposition won the elections, they would eliminate the social programs and benefits. Then he said that "our people are not going to give up; our people are going to fight in the streets, no matter the circumstances we have to deal with. So I say, so I assume. I would be the first one to hit the streets with the people to defend their social rights".

This is a speech that may be categorized as incendiary and demonstrative that the Government refuses to resolve the ongoing political, economic and social crisis via constitutional and democratic means. Or is it a speech that hides a fear of being overwhelmingly defeated by a population that will withdraw its electoral support for finding the State responsible for the collapse of the country?

The question is what the democratic population will do now to pursue a change of route. Or what steps will the democratic leadership take to ensure that the decision of the majority of the population will be respected all the way.

The work to be done is not easy, but not impossible either. Move together and in the same direction is the ultimate goal to achieve so that in January of 2016 everyone starts working hard for the recovery of the country, with a new Parliament that is plural and representative of all sectors of the Venezuelan society. Let's get on with it!

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's CNE Lucena Has Spoken... and So Has Maduro (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 23, 2015)

On June 25, 2015. VenEconomy: Inflation Soars in Venezuela

The decline in purchasing power of the Venezuelan population is such that the methodology used by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) for measuring the items that make up the various types of basic basket of products has become worthless already, without detailing the changes or its effects, attempting to prove that inflation levels are under control, or simply to stop reporting the performance of economic indicators in order to hide the real deterioration of the national economy.

Today, people see how their incomes slip out of their hands as they become insufficient to cover their minimum nutritional, healthcare, transportation, clothing, housing or any other need to guarantee their quality of life.

Just to have an idea on how much inflation has spiked, given that the BCV has not released the figures on consumer prices since December of 2014, it is enough to have a look at the monthly variations in the costs of the basic basket of goods released by the Center of Social Analysis and Documentation of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM).

This may not be an accurate measurement of current inflation, but it is more than enough: the increases in the costs of the Cendas-FVM basket were fairly similar to those reported by the BCV in the period between 1994 and 2013. It is assumed that the increases this year are also quite similar to those not reported by the BCV, which means that inflation is well above 100% as it remains the highest in the world.

Cendas-FVM data showed that the cost of its basket increased 41.9% in the first five months of 2015, surpassing the accumulated variation of the CPI for the Caracas Metropolitan Area by 18.9 percentage points during the same period in 2014. If that pace is maintained in the remaining months of 2015, the basket price would increase by more than 130% this year. The Cendas-FVM basic basket of goods was located at Bs.42,846.91 in May, or 12.9% higher than April and Bs.23,392.11 (120.2%) higher than a year ago. Six of the seven items that make up this basket increased in May: Housing Rental (1.5%); Personal Hygiene and Household Cleaning Items (3.8%); Food Basket (9.2% ); Education (27.7%), Healthcare (1.4%); and Clothing and Footwear (46.5%). This price spike made a 20% increase in the minimum wage in force since May 1 of this year vanish, because even with this salary increase Venezuelans needed 6.4 minimum wages to purchase the basket.

No matter how much the Government tries to dodge its responsibility for this economic collapse, the facts are there for everyone to see that this situation is the direct consequence of the misguided policies outlined by the so-called "socialism of the 21st century".

It should be remembered that inflation rises when the amount of money available for purchases increases while the number of goods and services on offer remains the same; that is to say, more bolivares for the same products. One of the reasons why there is no supply of goods and services is the destruction of the national productive apparatus by a confiscatory, statist and controlling policy.

Added to this is that the BCV has been creating money out of nowhere for several years to finance the nation's fiscal deficits... and, more recently, the cash deficits of state-run oil company PDVSA.

Just to give an idea:

Monetary liquidity (M2) increased 25% during the first half of 2015, and 76% in the last twelve months. At present, M2 is nearly 11 times higher than five years ago.

While the GDP rose by a scant 5.8% between 2010 and 2014.

That is to say that while the mass of money increased tenfold, the availability of goods and services just went up 6%.

The impact of this imbalance was not perceived by the population because of a ports policy that led the Government to meet the domestic demand with imports, financed with the high prices of oil.

But, with the arrival of the lean season, imports are no longer an escape valve, and Venezuelans are now paying for the damage caused by the late Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro and their people.

See VenEconomy: Inflation Soars in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 25, 2015)

On June 26, 2015. VenEconomy: Good, Bad News from Venezuela's Oil Industry

Eulogio del Pino, who replaced Rafael Ramírez as head of PDVSA, seems to be making a great effort to manage the operations of the state-run oil company.

He traveled to an OPEC meeting in Vienna, to Russia and India, seeking to strengthen the battered relations of PDVSA with the different international companies and countries, as he announced several agreements that seem to be pointing in the right direction:

The first one of them is an agreement with PBF Energy Inc. to sell the 189,000 barrel-per-day Chalmette refinery (Louisiana) for $322 million. This refinery is a 50:50 joint venture between ExxonMobil and PDVSA, and is particularly fit for processing upgraded crude from Petromonagas (formerly Cerro Negro). The deal apparently would make sense from the perspective of PDVSA that in spite of the fact it may lose a "captive customer" for 95,000 barrels per day of Petromonagas crude oil, everything indicates that it will be able to maintain the customer, since it was especially reformed so it could process the upgraded crude of Cerro Negro in an efficient way. To this is added the fact that the sale puts an end to PDVSA's uncomfortable partnership with ExxonMobil. (Needless to say, it would have been better to prevent the illegal and expensive expropriation of the ExxonMobil stake in Cerro Negro).

The second is an announcement by PDVSA on the imports of Urals 30-32 degrees API crude oil from Russia's top oil producer Rosneft for mixing it with the extra-heavy and hard-to-sell crude of the Orinoco Belt to produce "Merey" 16-17 degrees API that is sold easily on the market. The unknown seems the size of the operation and the price, data that the Government does not provide with transparency.

The third is an announcement that Suelopetrol will give Petrocabimas, a joint venture that is majority-owned by PDVSA, $625 million to finance investments aimed at doubling production and bring it to 60,000 barrels per day in a period of five years. Suelopetrol is a private Venezuelan oil company that has expanded its activities to exploration and extraction since its foundation in 1984. It also holds a 1.0% stake in the extra-heavy crude Petroindependencia project from the Orinoco Belt along with Chevron, Mitsubishi and Inpex Corp.

The fourth is a request made by PDVSA to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on February 8 of this year to annul an ICSID arbitration court ruling in October of 2014, according to which grants a compensation to ExxonMobil of $1.6 billion for the expropriation of its stake in the Cerro Negro upgrader and other operations in the country. If the purpose of that request is to buy some time, then PDVSA is reaching its goal. The appeal was accepted. A new arbitration panel was appointed on May 8 and, the way things look so far, it will take at least a year before it decides on the subject. In the meantime, ExxonMobil has no other option but to put its claim for payment on hold before a New York court.

However, something seems to be hiding under this sun, and is the reason for some of these operations.

For example, the sale of the Chalmette refinery would be owed to a goal that remains unclear: The Government is resorting to extreme measures, selling every asset available so that it can collect "fresh money" to weather the cash crisis before the time comes to elect new members for the Parliament on December 6, and not to invest in the revival of the productive apparatus and thus take Venezuela out of the abyss it has been plunged into. Maybe this sale is also hiding a move in advance to get rid of this asset before ExxonMobil tries to collect the money of its compensation?

And even though the Chalmatte refinery may be considered a modest asset compared to PDVSA's refining unit Citgo, is another small piece taken away from the Venezuelan State, whose gold has already been stolen, whose external debt has been sold at a discount, whose international reserves have run dry, and whose national territory has been given away to other countries.

As usual, the petty political interests come before the interests of the nation.

See VenEconomy: Good, Bad News from Venezuela's Oil Industry (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 26, 2015)

On June 29, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's MUD Must Keep a Watchful Eye on PSUV Primary Elections

The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) held primaries on Sunday to select half of its candidates in 87 districts of 22 states plus the Capital District. This way, militants of the PSUV went to the ballots as they attended an election process that lasted for more than 15 hours, and had 5,613 polling stations spread over 3,987 voting centers.

According to information from Diosdado Cabello, Vice-President of the PSUV and President of the Parliament, 3,162,400 people went to the ballots; that is to say, 16.4% of the 19,260,775 registered voters in the Permanent Electoral Register - a slightly lower rate than the 17.1% achieved by the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition party during their primaries in 2010.

The political actors, both from the Government and the opposition, can read into these results and jump to their own conclusions.

The PSUV should take note of the poor turnout (slightly above 30%, according to Cabello, and around 5% according to independent analysts).

These results were in spite of the illegal use of public resources and blatant propaganda, at the expense of the nearly empty public coffers and the misuse of the State's media network, which is unfortunately the only conduit of information available for the majority of the people living in popular sectors and the interior of the country with no access to alternative media or the Internet.

In spite of the mounting pressures on public employees and the control exercised over the beneficiaries of the social programs dubbed as "missions", as well as the demagogic distribution of a portion of public revenues.

In spite of the abuses and violations of the Constitution and electoral laws, as demonstrated when President Nicolás Maduro, before the closing of the polling stations, threatened to know who had voted and who did not, as well as with the extension of the closing time of polling stations on three occasions, so these could remain open until 10:00 p.m. and this way have reluctant voters picked up at their homes by supporters of the regime.

It should be noted that these meager results also evidenced a growing rift in the PSUV. For starters, the 1,162 candidates who participated were mostly imposed by the Miraflores presidential palace, and not necessarily representatives of natural leadership in their respective regions. In addition, on this occasion, the ruling party suffered a major split with Marea Socialista, a local left-wing political organization, breaking away from it.

The MUD should keep a watchful eye on the guidelines set out by the Government with the consent of the National Electoral Council (CNE) during these primaries, which always become "the norm" despite their flagrant illegality.

Extending the closing time of polling stations to make things work for the ruling party.

The elimination of the physical voting centers' registries makes it impossible to perform an audit of the voting results.

Another factor to be looked closely is the illegal coercion of broad sectors of the electorate, with which the PSUV intends to tilt the balance in its favor.

In addition to the frequent abuse of putting the entire governmental apparatus at the service of a political bias with total impunity.

These elections served as trial and error to fine-tune the details for the parliamentary elections to be held on December 6 of this year.

Until then there will be all kinds of machinations, with the intention to hinder the participation of the opposition. One fine example is a change of rule announced by the CNE, according to which both parties shall have 40% and 60% of their candidates of each gender in order to ensure "gender equality". The MUD has only 13 female candidates so far, which means the consensus achieved must be revised in order to fill the quotas.

Lastly, it should be noted that the Government's strategy is one of discouraging people from going out and cast their votes in December. Causing a low voter participation is the key that explains the behavior of the Government.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's MUD Must Keep a Watchful Eye on PSUV Primary Elections (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 29, 2015)

On June 30, 2015. VenEconomy: Will Venezuela Survive without Empresas Polar?

The entire productive apparatus of Venezuela has been destroyed. The few private companies still standing have come to a standstill as a result of the lack of raw materials and availability of foreign exchange.

How can't it be destroyed if during these past 16 years the Government has persistently implemented a policy of confiscations, thievery, harassment and persecution against the private sector, a tight control over the economy, penal laws that criminalize entrepreneurship, while the National Executive proves totally incompetent, negligent and corrupt when it comes to the management of state-run companies?

The serious part is that the Government, rather than rectifying the situation that immersed the country in a deep crisis, is looking to cause more damage than it already has.

Thus, it is now stepping up its harassment against one of the survivors: Empresas Polar, Venezuela's most emblematic private company that produces food staples such as the Harina Pan maize flour for making the traditional "arepa" (an indispensable food item in the diet of the population), mayonnaise, margarine, tuna fish and vegetable oil, among others. In addition to traditional beverages such as the Maltín Polar non-alcoholic malt beverage and Polar beers.

The harassment against Polar has come through many ways, among others, the restriction of foreign exchange (a mechanism used against all the private sector in order to suffocate it).

With no foreign currency, several of the production lines have been forced to halt their operations, including Atún Margarita (tuna), Lipton Tea, while that of mayonnaise had to be shut down "until further notice", told the sauces and spreads management of the company's Alimentos Polar food division to some 200 workers of that production line a few weeks ago. The reason was that inventories of soybean oil have run out and that Cencoex (the nation's foreign exchange authority) has not approved the necessary dollars for imports.

A few weeks ago, José Anzola, the operations manager of Alimentos Polar, said in a press release that since October of last year "the prices of precooked flour have not been covering our production costs, so we have requested the State to sell us the corn at its import value rather than the corn produced nationally, which is three times more expensive" being the National Government the only importer of this food item. Yet Yván Gil, the Minister of Agriculture and Lands, had the audacity to accuse the company of distorting the local cereals market for not growing its own corn.

Another plant brought to a standstill was that of Polar's canned food division in Mariguitar, Sucre state, since state-run oil company PDVSA refuses to sell the fuel it needs to keep the equipment and machinery there up and running. With this closure, the production of 1,500 tons of canned tuna and 750 jobs were put at risk. PDVSA argued that its refusal to sell the fuel is due to the fact that one of the permits of the food plant required by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining is not up to date.

Now Polar may paralyze the production plant of caps and lids due to the lack of raw materials. Polar had been receiving the tinplate for production from Sidor until five years ago, but the state-owned steel corporation stopped doing so and now has to import it from countries such as Brazil and the Netherlands doing without the dollar allocations from the Government.

In addition, the Law on Fair Costs and Prices is forcing companies to sell their products below production costs.

To this economic siege is added the harassment of union groups from the State that have been penetrating the company to give it the same treatment as other industries from the private sector in the past. One of these groups is Sintraterricentro that represents 1% of the workers of Empresas Polar, which is making demands impossible to meet with the aim of strangling the company and make things easier for the Government to get its hands on it.

Let's just hope the water never reaches the river. Not only because it would represent job losses for thousands of Venezuelan families, but because without the contribution of Empresas Polar to the supply of food in the country, hunger levels would simply be unbearable.

See VenEconomy: Will Venezuela Survive without Empresas Polar? (Latin American Herald Tribune, June 30, 2015)

On July 1, 2015. VenEconomy: The Bolivarian Revolution Has No Clothes

The Bolivarian revolution, just like the emperor in Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, has no clothes now.

At the beginning of June, the government of Nicolás Maduro was exposed before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in an assessment made to Venezuela over its compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

On that occasion, envoys of the Venezuelan government were unable to provide coherent answers to complaints on the persecution of workers and trade unionists, on the arrest and open trials against them nor the persistent reluctance of the State to discuss and endorse collective agreements of the public sector. Nor could they come up with credible arguments to support the food and medicines shortage crisis affecting the population of Venezuela, soaring inflation and a spike in poverty. Much less refute allegations on the lack of independence of the Judiciary, the criminalization of protest, the dire situation of prisons or the brutal repression by police and military forces during peaceful demonstrations in 2014.

In short, it was demonstrated before those bodies the backwardness of the nation in labor, social and economic rights and civil liberties.

On Monday and Tuesday, Venezuela was placed back in the international dock so that the UN Human Rights Committee could carry out a rigorous assessment on the state of human and political rights there, as much as how the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is being implemented. Venezuela is making a reappearance before that body after an absence of 15 years.

Unfortunately, despite the hearing was public, most Venezuelans did not have access to this information of national interest, since the event was not televised in Venezuela as it was virtually ignored by the local print media. As it is widely known, news reports contradicting the State's idyllic vision of a country are not worth broadcasting or spreading. However, the Government was not able to impose a total media blackout, because citizens with access to the Internet could follow it live on www.treatybodywebcast.org.

Through that link they were able to see the pathetic performance of the Venezuelan delegation headed by Luisa Ortega Díaz, the attorney general, and that included the President of the Supreme Court of Justice (Gladys Gutiérrez); one of the directors of the National Electoral Council (Sandra Oblitas); the High Commissioner for Peace and Life (Isis Ochoa) and the president of the nation's telecommunications regulating body Conatel (William Castillo).

This delegation did not answer the questions from 18 independent experts of the evaluation committee. As expected, the Venezuelan officials stuck to their usual lines that in Venezuela the right to protest is being fully exercised; that there is respect for the life of citizens; that there is freedom of expression and no censorship of any kind. Apart from justifying the illegalities and violations of constitutional guarantees with the tired claim of coups d'état, assassination attempts against Maduro and attacks against national sovereignty.

The members of the committee listened with astonishment and amazement to the lies and unusual allegations told by the Venezuelan officials, who were not able to deny the reports and documented evidence submitted by various national and international NGOs, whose hard work helped expose the precarious situation of human, political, economic and civil rights of the country's citizens.

The refutations from members of the committee destroyed both the accusations and arrogance of Ortega Díaz when referring to the case of María Lourdes Afiuni, a former justice of the Supreme Court, who was reminded that everybody had the same rights to express their opinion in that body, while driving Castillo into a corner with evidence of the persecution against several local media outlets and the penalties imposed to 22 executives of two daily newspapers (TalCual and El Nacional) and a news website (La Patilla).

In a nutshell, there is not much that the government of Maduro can do or say to justify, deny or hide the obvious failure of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century", the flagrant violations of human rights and the loss of freedoms suffered by Venezuelans.

See VenEconomy: The Bolivarian Revolution Has No Clothes (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 1, 2015)

On July 2, 2015. VenEconomy: The Five Horsemen of Venezuela's Socialism

In VenEconomy's June issue, Armando Gagliardi, a local economist, explains the differentiating factor between rich and poor societies.

Gagliardi points out that one of the most useful indicators to get to know the well-being of a country is to get acquainted with the most feasible way and nature of the processes to enrich itself.

He says that, as the so-called Bolivarian revolution deepens its political model, the Government of Venezuela is doing everything it can to make the legitimate forms of wealth creation unfeasible, while facilitating those that are illegitimate and destructive.

Gagliardi claims that the country seems to be gradually falling into the hands of prison gang leaders, drug traffickers, the illegal resellers of staple goods known as "bachaqueros" and corrupt military officers, whereas businesspeople, academics and the general public are being increasingly marginalized.

To Gagliardi there are five specific policies (aka the five horsemen of Venezuela's socialism) causing a pernicious effect on the generators of wealth and making its destroyers richer. These five horsemen are:

A foreign exchange market that, by bolstering the black market at the same time, produces a transfer of wealth from the Government (whose revenue is no longer in bolivares) and consumers (who must pay for the products they purchase at black market prices) to corruption mafias with preferential access to dollars that are deeply entrenched in the government structure.

A market of goods whose prices are controlled in the middle of an inflationary environment. In this case, the transfer of wealth takes place from the producers of goods (who do not obtain fair profits for the goods they produce) and consumers (who must pay for overpriced goods) to the "bachaqueros", a new economic class that is quite heterogeneous and in constant growth.

The third horseman is the fiscal deficit, which is a direct result of the previous two horsemen. The fiscal deficit in Venezuela was located around 20% of the GDP in 2014. The Government, by having to sell imported goods directly through public distribution networks such as Mercal, PDVAL and Bicentenario at subsidized prices, is wasting many of the few dollars that make it into the country and throwing its fiscal accounts out of balance. With current foreign exchange controls making the State give away many of the dollars not spent directly at a rate as low as Bs.6.30 per unit, the country has fewer dollars to meet upcoming debt commitments, a fact that puts it on the brink of a possible default.

But there are two other "horsemen" as - or even more - harmful than the three previous ones.

A labor market that is seriously affecting the productive sector, given that the so-called "Law of Socialist Labor", which makes labor costlier and severely limits the possibilities of employers to get rid of employees not complying with their duties, is one of the mechanisms used by the Government to get many companies out of the game.

The fifth horseman is a real estate market stifled by rental and urban land laws from the socialist regime that excessively protect tenants and forsake landlords. As a result, the market for rental homes has disappeared, just like most of the privately-run construction sector.

These five horsemen of Venezuela's socialism are systematically transferring the wealth from businesspeople, consumers, workers and those who want to make a decent living, to drug dealers, brokers, speculators and freeloaders.

This kind of distortions is what make poor nations remain permanently poor. Poverty is the support of these political regimes, as acknowledged by several officials of the Bolivarian revolution.

Gagliardi pointed out that the Venezuelan economy may not go back to normalcy until those distortions are resolved. Resolving them is the key challenge for the people who will eventually lead a political transition!

See VenEconomy: The Five Horsemen of Venezuela's Socialism (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 2, 2015)

On July 3, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela Should Avoid Designation as State Sponsor of Terrorism

Michael Rowan, a longtime collaborator of VenEconomy, wrote an analysis for the monthly issue of June on the controversial meetings held by U.S. and Venezuela senior officials in a bid to normalize relations and restore ambassadors in both countries. Rowan believes that it would have been interesting to hear what they said behind closed doors, though perhaps "all the flies on the wall would have been shocked to death for what they heard".

Rowan, as many political analysts, wonders whether the negotiator of Barack Obama, Tom Shannon, will normalize relations between the U.S. and Venezuela through negotiations with the president of the Parliament, Diosdado Cabello.

He claims that "if the accounts published in recent years matter, and they may not after all, concerns of both the U.S. and Venezuela are then on the table".

He explains that there are the interests of the U.S. on the one hand, which orbit around the issues of national security, terrorism, drug-trafficking and associations with terrorists, as well as around the values of the U.S., which include the political prisoners, human rights violations and the absence of transparent elections in Venezuela.

And on the other, there are the existing fears of Venezuela, that is to say, if rulers ensure their perpetuation in power, if national sovereignty is maintained, if its designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism is prevented and if the criminal sanctions imposed against more than a dozen government officials are lifted.

Rowan argues that talking about the "economic war" is unlikely, because both parties know that this is a public relations stunt for domestic consumption. Putting the economic war on the table would mean that the U.S. has succumbed to the magical realism, before starting the talks. In his view, the U.S. is negotiating to protect its interests based on "realpolitik" and values that are about hope.

Rowan says that realpolitik comes in first place. The U.S. has military bases or military staff in more than half of the 192 countries of the planet. It participates in the business of all the others. Therefore, the standard operating procedure for the U.S. is to continue with its interests - security - and commitment to its values, as an obligation towards human rights or democracy.

Rowan says that when the U.S. believes that its security is threatened, it takes action, and frequently finds itself alone, acting unilaterally. And thinks Venezuela would have something to worry about. Another explanation would be that Venezuela is doing the same as did Fidel Castro, who took advantage of the same fear of being harassed by the U.S. so he could economically and socially repress the Cuban population for half a century. Now both the late Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro have done the same thing for 17 years. And it's working.

So, what is the truth? Is it possible an American-led intervention in Venezuela or not?

Another highlight in Rowan's article is the possibility for the U.S. to designate Venezuela as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. He explains that this would ultimately destroy Venezuela within a week, because international banks would refuse to engage in transactions with a country designated as State Sponsor of Terrorism, due to fears of huge fines from the U.S Department of the Treasury.

The designation of Venezuela as a State Sponsor of Terrorism would seriously limit or prevent all transactions in dollars (oil, imports, everything) and would seize funds from the Government of Venezuela in American territory (which extends to Europe and Asia, according to the interpretation of the banks), thus giving rise to a frozen and dollar-ependent Venezuelan economy.

What is even worse for Venezuela's regime is that to get rid of this designation, it is necessary that a possible new government doesn't have any relationship with the government designated as such. This eliminates the possibility of appointing an unconditional person as President to continue doing things as before. The party would be over for the regime with the designation as State Sponsor of Terrorism, so that's the reason it should avoid it at all costs.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Should Avoid Designation as State Sponsor of Terrorism (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 3, 2015)

On July 6, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Maduro Repeats Same Old Vargas Mistakes in Apure State

Prevention, care and damage repair are definitely not the strengths of Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution, as has become evident in these 16 years.

The incompetence and negligence regarding this has been widely demonstrated since the first days of the late Hugo Chávez back in December of 1999, after severe mudslides devastated Vargas state, and caused terrible damage in other states such as Miranda and Falcón. The mudslide was considered as one of the worst natural disasters that have ever occurred in Venezuela, resulting in thousands of casualties and hundreds of missing persons, countless injured and tens of thousands of people affected, as well as the enormous material losses from the destruction of property and infrastructure belonging to both the State and individuals.

On that occasion, Chávez proved negligent for not recognizing the size of the natural disaster in a timely manner, as he refused to suspend a referendum on the Constitution and declare a state of emergency in the affected states and thus give proper aid to safeguard the lives and properties of the population -- giving his Bolivarian project top priority over the lives of the people.

Now, setting aside the impact on human and material losses caused by the landslide of 1999, the improvised response of President Nicolás Maduro in the face of the overflowing of the Arauca and Sarare rivers (Apure state) and the cracks found in several dams last week, only proves that the revolutionary Government is still inexperienced in preventing and addressing emergencies caused by natural phenomena after 16 years, just like happened in 1999, as its political process remains its top priority.

The floods in the last few days have left more than 40,000 Venezuelans affected; more than 1,000 families have lost their possessions, properties and homes, particularly in the city of Guasdualito. After a week of heavy floods, Ramón Carrizalez, the governor of Apure state, decreed a state of emergency and reported that the Government would provide support to those affected through seven security quadrants, as he would distribute food, drinking water and other supplies. However, the cries for help from the population and the complaints about failures in the assistance process to the people affected by the floods remain widespread.

The criticism begins with the seven-day delay in decreeing the emergency, despite houses, pharmacies, banks, public squares and streets being under water. Also, there was no electricity, natural gas, gasoline or drinking water, while the population was struggling without the necessary resources to survive.

In addition, it was reported that the aid from the State was not provided in an efficient way. There are significant failures in the distribution of non-perishable food, medical supplies, water, sleeping mats, among others. As warns Lumay Barreto, the former mayor of Guasdualito, there is no clarity about the humanitarian aid operations, because municipal and military authorities seem not to know what they are doing, for they "intend to distribute stuff to an affected population in 170 slums through seven quadrants", when these quadrants are only "for security purposes, not for taking action regarding this particular emergency situation". There are also allegations that military officers were charging sums of money for the supplies.

It was reported that the insecurity issue has not been addressed effectively, which raises fears of the population over further losses to their property. There has been no support from the State to bury the deceased, either.

Now that threats of more floods are over, people in the affected areas are facing the risk of an outbreak of diseases such as chikungunya, malaria, leptospirosis, and diarrhea -- a situation that becomes more critical by the minute because the only hospital in Guasdalito is flooded, with no medical supplies and damaged equipment.

The Vargas mudslide experience that Chávez let happen in 1999 is being repeated once more by Maduro today. Those who don't learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Maduro Repeats Same Old Vargas Mistakes in Apure State (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 6, 2015)

On July 7, 2015. VenEconomy: Shortages Issue Worsens in Venezuela

Nicolás Maduro, just like Hugo Chávez, has not tried hard to rule Venezuela fairly well. Quite the opposite. The worst thing, for being emulating his predecessor, is that he does not pay heed to any reasonable suggestion from anyone, as he refuses to take the measures needed to help the population cope with recession, general shortages and soaring inflation. And worse still, is that his actions and those of his officials have worsened the economic and social situation that was already quite serious before.

The wrong response of the National Executive to a shortages issue reaching unbearable levels has been, in the first place, rationing and controlling the amount of goods arriving in major food distribution chains through mobilization guides and the so-called "Fair" Prices Law, which is currently under review. A review that is no guarantee that things will get any better because, according to some reports still developing, the changes will bring more distortions to the national economy.

Another bad move was trying to control the purchases of food and staple goods from citizens through fingerprint readers, as much as limiting these purchases to two days a week depending on the last number of their ID cards. As explained by Rodrigo Agudo, an expert in the agri-food area, in light of the destruction of the entire production chain (from the agricultural production, the agro-industrial sector, the import sector, the distribution sector to the wholesale/retail sector), citizens have turned their homes into some sort of "warehouses" in which they stash away assorted products due to the uncertainty they might ultimately not be getting the supplies they need to survive. Now, the Government is announcing as a measure of grace that it would eliminate the fingerprint readers in establishments. But that won't translate into an improvement since apparently the Government's software is sufficiently advanced as to recognize the number of purchases made throughout the week - or month - thanks to the consumers' ID card numbers.

What is foreseen is that, after queuing up outside establishments for long hours, consumers will continue to wander from place to place as they get a resounding "NO" every time they ask for the products they need.

For instance, canned tuna cannot be found anywhere. The tuna industry has declared an emergency due to the lack of supplies, raw materials and spare parts for machinery.

The same goes to milk. Pasteurizers are in crisis because of a spike in prices and the lack of milk packages. The companies of the sector have accumulated a debt of $300 million in imports that local authorities have not yet repaid.

Chicken is also hard to find. The deficit of chicken production is 50,000 tons per month according to reports by the Poultry Federation of Venezuela.

There is no meat, and when it is found is between Bs.600 and Bs.900 per kilo, despite the fact that prices were set at Bs.250 per kilo for prime cuts, according to an administrative ruling issued by the Superintendency of Fair Prices (SUNDDE); lower-quality cuts are Bs.220 per kilo and for meat with bone is Bs.160 per kilo.

There are no personal hygiene products such as diapers, soap, detergent, among others, despite the fact that the Government controls their distribution. Nor is there bottled water due to the lack of containers and lids.

Regarding medicines, the situation is not the same as that of the food sector.

There are no drugs for blood pressure control, or Parkinson's disease, or fever reducers, or contraceptives. The shortage of medicines was located at 70%, while the debt of the State with international suppliers is $3.5 billion. And the Government is imposing a new control channel for the distribution of products when the real problem lies in supplies.

So there is nothing to indicate there will be changes for the better, on the contrary, the situation will get much worse. This is because, on the one hand, foreign exchange will become more scarce, and on the other, the operations of many of the few companies still standing are grinding to a halt due to the shortage of raw materials and foreign exchange. According to the Venezuelan Confederation of Industrialists (Conindustria), about 67% of industrial companies have reported a drop in production during the first quarter of this year, and there is a risk that many of them will stop their production lines as a result of the failure in the supply of raw materials and inputs, both domestic and imported.

Worst of all is that, instead of taking action to cope with the crisis, Maduro labeled Fedecámaras (Venezuela's most important business association) as enemy of the homeland. And other government officials, such as Francisco Ameliach, the governor of Carabobo state, decided to continue with his allegations against businesspeople of the private sector for being responsible of an ongoing "economic war", calling them speculators, monopolists and smugglers; all this to "justify" the strange reluctance of this government to address the problems affecting the nation.

Meanwhile, the hunger of Venezuelans nestles in scarcity.

See VenEconomy: Shortages Issue Worsens in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 7, 2015)

On July 8, 2015. VenEconomy: About the Wave of Violence in Venezuela

A few days ago, Víctor Maldonado, head of the Caracas Chamber of Commerce, published an accurate analysis on the violence going on in Venezuela, whose assertions synthesize the everyday reality lived by Venezuelan citizens.

He begins with an unquestionable assertion: Venezuela is a violent country. He explains that Venezuela ranks No. 1 in all lists on the topic at global level with 2.85 deaths per hour; he also says that Venezuelans are living under a self-inflicted curfew that begins at sunset and lasts through dawn.

Maldonado is also right when saying that the country is suffering the effects of a complex system of illicit activities, increasingly organized and in constant conflict, fighting one another for the control of the national territory and the monopoly of the resulting profits from those activities.

He accurately explains that the first reason to criminal violence is found in the merciless exploitation of the Government's speech of resentment, focused on the argument of hatred. A speech that always blames other Venezuelans thinking differently for the bad things happening in the country: "If the poor are hungry is because the rich are taking their food. If there is inflation is because the 'stateless' bourgeoisie wants to put an end to their prosperity". And "the massive blackouts are due to the lack of awareness of some Venezuelans who spend energy at the expense of the hardships of others".

Sadly, he claims that is not possible to reconnect the Venezuelan people. "The regime has specialized in making some sectors fight against each other and educate us with resentment". "Dialogue is a chimera that quickly dissolves in the practice of retaliation". He points out that as a result this resentment justifies the physical disappearance of other Venezuelans.

He hits the nail on the head when explaining that the corollary of this division between "good and bad guys", between revolutionaries and "stateless" citizens, is impunity. And he portrays reality: "They all feel supported in the goal of their own vindication. Those who suffer deprivation feel they have been authorized to steal. Those who feel mistreated feel they are entitled to commit crimes. Those who do not have anything are authorized to invade properties and become their new owners". And says that the Bolivarian revolution is unaware of the two fundamental rights of living and owning, as it reduces us to the traditional "run for your life" once more.

But that is not all, he points out: The people's empowerment has been made through the 'colectivos' (a type of community organization that supports the Bolivarian revolution), with many of them armed and guarantors of their own laws".

He claims that "the revolution must be defended at all costs and all militants have to feel called together to carry out that mission. The colectivos are the guardians of the revolution, but their price is having territorial immunity. The so-called "peace zones" have been transformed into quite the contrary: violent spaces where the brute force is imposed over any consideration of guarantees and rights."

And makes a snapshot of the day by day life in Venezuela by explaining that "impunity is played within the following logic: "For those who are with the process, everything is allowed. The rest must face the consequences."

Just as serious is the following reality: "The police system does not work, is poorly managed and accompanied by a judicial and prison system that do nothing but make things worse. It has not been made to protect citizens and reintegrate offenders into society, but to put society in a worse situation while it improves wrongdoing at the same time. There is more fire power and capacity to kill on the other side. There is nothing on this side, because the message from the Government is ambiguous, doubtful, fragile and wicked."

To complete the picture, he raises another grim reality: "Drug-trafficking has taken root in the country."

Maldonado is also right when he argues that the State seeks to exacerbate the fear.

And he reaches the following conclusions: 1) That Venezuelans want their violence to end.
2) That controlling our violence takes a government that establishes an adequate framework for the prevention of crime and the imposition of peace.

Is the Government up to the task?

See VenEconomy: About the Wave of Violence in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 8, 2015)

On July 9, 2015. VenEconomy: The Law of the Funnel in Venezuela

As in every cock-and-bull story told by the Bolivarian revolution, as to employer-employee relations, the Venezuelan government is imposing laws to strangle companies from the private sector, while blatantly neglects state-run companies and the entire public sector.

This is the case, for example, of a labor immobility decree that came into effect in Venezuela almost 11 years ago (since September 30 of 2004) to stay indefinitely. A measure that makes it impossible for any company to terminate the services of a worker, no matter how justified his/her layoff may be, and that pays a salary to someone who doesn't produce anything or doesn't make appropriate counterpart contributions throughout the labor relationship. An exception to this rule are journalists, writers, analysts, columnists, cartoonists and comedians that the Government finds uncomfortable; these workers are being fired from their jobs arbitrarily due to pressures from some government official or the Miraflores presidential palace itself. While in the public sector, to be removed from the payroll, it only takes not supporting the socialist process, or not obeying the call to attend a political event, or even expressing criticism of the Bolivarian revolution through the employees' private social networks.

Another case where the width of the funnel favors the Government is the implementation of an enabling decree of the Organic Labor Law (aka LOTTT) with regard to a regulation on outsourcing, which came into effect on May 7 of this year (after a vacatio legis of three years from the publication of the decree-law).

It should be noted that the LOTTT and its regulations were passed without consultation and the involvement of any of the two actors of the labor sector (workers and employers).

Its wording is ambiguous and discretionary. It doesn't make clear who the outsourced workers are, a fact that has raised concerns in the business sector, because companies hiring them can be subject to multiple sanctions and penalties provided by law. And, with regard to the outsourced employees of the public sector, this sector brings together most of the outsourced workers from cooperatives, social production companies and the countless of businesses owned by this monopolistic government: neither the National Institute of Statistics (INE) nor the Ministry of Labor report this data.

Now, Froilán Barrios, a professor of the Catholic University Andrés Bello (UCAB) and general secretary of the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV), complained about "further outrages" committed by government agencies and state-run companies against this particular LOTTT regulation in an article published by daily El Nacional on Wednesday.

Barrios said that both the Ministry of Defense and CORPOELEC agreed with the state power corporation's Operating Management of Distribution and Commercialization arm and the Bolivarian Militia for the implementation of a plan to prune the trees near power distribution lines, in compliance with the action plan of the Government's "Gran Misión Eléctrica" electricity program. This agreement that seeks to "provide electrical service for the good life of Venezuelans throughout the national territory" would use militiamen imposing questionable labor conditions, among which, those who are part of the Service and Maintenance Units of the tree pruning plan "have served for two years and received their payments with delay. What's more, they have been up to two or three months without seeing any money".

Barrios explained that "in reality, these are workers outsourced by CORPOELEC" and, according to their military bosses, "they are not entitled to anything, including social benefits or social security; they take advantage of the lack of definition of these workers to impose them conditions of slave labor, not even seen before in the 'maquilas' of Central America".

He pointed out that "it is abhorrent that a government that calls itself 'workerist' keeps and makes use of the staff under the military figure, denying them their labor and trade union rights. Similarly, it is regrettable that the Ministry of Defense through the Bolivarian Militia uses practices of staff merchants as in Communist China".

The serious thing, said Barrios, is that "these practices have been extended to state-owned companies such as SIDOR, PDVSA, Hidrobolívar, and Inviobras".

The irony is that while thousands of Venezuelan workers are treated as slaves, the Government is using its Bolivarian trade unions to stifle Empresas Polar, one of the local companies that provides greater employment and social benefits to all of its workers.

See VenEconomy: The Law of the Funnel in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 9, 2015)

On July 10, 2015. VenEconomy: Greek Lessons for Venezuela

An editorial by VenEconomy Weekly published on Wednesday brought an analysis on the situation in Greece and the results of the referendum, where more than 60% of the voters rejected the proposals of the European Union, the IMF and the European Central Bank (aka European Troika) and the lessons from this to be learned by Venezuela.

For starters, the article makes clear that it is not yet known for sure whether this rejection will lead Greece to drop the euro currency or withdraw from the European Union.

The problems of Greece are those of a country that decided to dollarize (or more like "eurize") its currency, which made it lose the ability to devalue when it couldn't balance its international accounts.

Fifteen years ago, Greece joined the European Monetary Union by adopting the euro as its currency instead of the drachma. As is usual when a dollarization process takes place, foreign investment increased and the economy grew during the first years. And, as often happens in governments that call themselves "socialist", the period experienced an explosive growth in earnings (for example, pensions) and deficits in the public sector, which were financed with more indebtedness. Over time, investment flows declined, the growth of the economy slowed and suddenly, the country realized that it couldn't continue to honor its foreign debt as a result of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. At that time, the European Troika provided emergency funding that allowed Greece to continue servicing its debt, in exchange for a series of austerity measures taken by the Greek government.

One of the problems was that, when the government cut spending, the economy lost momentum. The economy shrank by a shocking 25% during 2010-2014; unemployment rose to 25% (50% among the youngest segments of the population). But the deficits were reduced and the debt of Greece stopped growing. Subsequent Greek governments received little credit for their efforts and were constantly criticized for their inability to achieve more severe goals. Although total debt didn't change, the relation between debt and the GDP increased 33% to 170% (same debt, but a smaller economy), a figure that triggered alarms of financial centers around the world.

At the micro level, Greek citizens saw their incomes falling up to 20% during those five years. In a drachma-based economy, the currency would have been devalued; wages would have risen in terms of drachmas (while falling in real terms), while the cheapest drachma helped the economy begin to grow again. In Greece's dollarized economy, salaries were also reduced in both nominal and real terms, but there simply was no economic stimulus in the long run.

The heart of this analysis comes with the following question: what can Venezuela learn from this lesson?

Venezuela, just like Greece, enjoyed and squandered large amounts of money as a result of a remarkable oil bonanza and got heavily into debt by doing so. Venezuela, unlike Greece, does not have a Troika to give it a helping hand. Instead, it has the Chinese and the Russians who might provide some financial support (and they are doing so), which may represent an enormous cost for the nation in the long term. Venezuela, unlike Greece, has avoided the trap of dollarization (at least until now). The most important thing is that Venezuela, just like Greece, lacks measures to stimulate the economy, generate growth and create jobs. And this is precisely what renowned economists and businessmen have been calling for.

Are they asking too much?

See VenEconomy: Greek Lessons for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 10, 2015)

On July 13, 2015. VenEconomy: The 'Blinders' of Communism in Venezuela

Venezuela has definitely become the den of a big bad wolf wearing blinders that prevent it from seeing the economic and social disaster it has plunged the country into.

Coming right out of its big mouth are serious issues such as general shortages, soaring inflation, an extreme distortion in exchange rates that range from the privileged Bs.6.30 per dollar to the unrealistic and unpayable Bs.600 per dollar eating away the international reserves, including the savings in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), out of which there are only $1.28 billion left.

Meanwhile, Venezuelans are in a state of shock, all scared due to the uncertainty of not knowing how much longer they will be able to continue to cope with the shortages of food, medicines and a wide array of goods essential for their survival. They don't know anymore how much will cost a product they could barely afford yesterday with their salaries (most of them make minimum salary), no matter whether their employers may eventually double or triple them. There is no salary capable to withstand the constant increase in prices, including the controlled goods and products they buy from the illegal resellers known as "bachaqueros".

Those with higher incomes invest in foreign currency, the stock market or non-perishable goods in an attempt to protect the value of the currency.

The productive sector, including importers and retailers (and excluding those supporting Venezuela's political process), is highly indebted because the Government refuses to allocate the necessary dollars, as agreed upon when their merchandise orders placed abroad were authorized. Not to mention what the replacement value for raw materials or finished products will be for the next orders.

As Boris Ackerman puts it in his article "Monopoly Money" published in VenEconomy's June monthly edition, today Venezuelans are receiving in exchange for their work and effort nothing but "Monopoly money" that represents a tiny fraction of what previous generations of workers or employees used to earn. In reality, only a few people in Venezuela earn the equivalent of the minimum wage during those years of the wrongly named "Fourth Republic".

An analysis that raises the question why the bolívar has ceased to be quality money to become Monopoly money in practice? It lists the characteristics that an asset must have to become money, as it analyzes whether or not the bolívar has those same typologies.

These characteristics can be summarized as follows:

1) Being appreciated by many people willing to facilitate their work in exchange for that money and keep the money as a savings mechanism. And he claims that the bolívar has now stopped being appreciated as a savings mechanism.

2) Having the condition of scarce, so that people are willing to deliver the fruits of their labors. He says that unfortunately the quantity of bolivars in circulation is growing very rapidly, so much so that it has multiplied tenfold in the past five years.

3) Durability. Money can't be something that doesn't last long; money can't be something that constantly loses its value. And he explains that the bolívar loses value for growing in quantity thanks to the Central Bank of Venezuela. In other words, it stops being durable.

4) The ability to be transported or transferred. He argues that, while in theory, the bolívar can be transported, due to foreign exchange controls, it lacks value outside of the Venezuelan territory, and that is what makes it even worse quality.

In summary, the bolívar lacks the necessary conditions to be considered money. It is not appreciated. It is not scarce. It is not durable or transportable.

That situation is owed in its entirety to factors of populist policies from the State that go from excessive public spending derived from a fiscal deficit that is at the same time covered with monetary issue, the attack on private property that has destroyed confidence and, in consequence, the valuation of assets within the national territory and a foreign exchange control that prevents the convertibility of the bolívar.

In short, the country is a mess. And, as is perceived in the reluctance to take any remedial action, that's the ultimate goal of the so-called "Plan of the Socialist Homeland". It seems that the situation nowadays is the one Chávez was after all along when he introduced in Venezuela a model of a country in the image and likeness of Cuba's "sea of happiness".

See VenEconomy: The 'Blinders' of Communism in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 13, 2015)

On July 14, 2015. VenEconomy: A Boomerang Effect on Crime in Venezuela?

On Monday, Gustavo González López, Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, reported a joint operation with the participation of some 200 members of various police and military authorities in Cota 905 (a slum in the south west of Caracas) and the Gran Misión Vivienda Betania IV housing complex in Valles del Tuy, Miranda state. The Ministry report said that 14 criminals died at the hands of authorities. There were also 134 detainees (32 of them foreigners), while pointing out there are "direct links with Colombian paramilitary groups here in downtown Caracas". Some 20 stolen vehicles, 12 handguns, 2 rifles and 2 hand grenades were seized as well.

González López said that the move is part of the so-called "Operation of Liberation of the People" being carried out by his office, which has already taken place in the south of Aragua state and Ciudad Tiuna, a military zone of the Fuerte Tiuna military fort in Caracas, where the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela housing program built numerous housing complexes for the poor.

When citizens learned the news which was spread by the media and social networks, they didn't know whether to welcome or censor the excess use of force applied in those areas as much of the casualties reported were of alleged criminals.

They might be welcoming the move because they feel that the Government is finally doing something about the terrible crime wave scourging Venezuelans. As everybody knows, rampant crime has dramatically affected the lives of Venezuelans. The criminal violence and impunity have spread fear among the population, no matter the social class, political bias, race, sex or age. People today simply don't know whether they will enter the list of the more than 200,000 homicide victims in the last 16 years in Venezuela.

Censorship has also spread, because these spasmodic military and police operations can eventually hide unholy reasons, or become ways to settle a score and violate human rights, even making innocent people pay for the sins of others.

Censorship or criticism, because these bloody operations would be unnecessary today if the 15 Ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Justice and Peace has had over the past 16 years, the 21 security plans put into practice, or any of the various disarmament operations and public safety policies had prevented the growth of the criminal population that now exceeds 130,000 individuals, including those held in prisons and the ones currently wandering free across the country.

These kind of operations in which the military and police force is excessively applied in areas where innocent children, women and elderly people live would be unnecessary if the Bolivarian administration of justice would have guaranteed that crime and murder cases are solved rather than focusing on chasing around students, politicians or citizens expressing their discontent with the regime. According to Fermín Mármol García, a local criminal lawyer, impunity is the law since only six in 100 crimes committed in Venezuela are solved.

And obviously these operations that generate fear and anxiety among the neighbors of fenced areas would be unnecessary if Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro had not persisted in a poorly named "civic-military alliance" to defend the revolutionary process. This alliance has only been useful to arm loyal clients to the teeth with weapons of war produced, imported and distributed by the Government.

The question is how has it been allowed that guns, AK rifles, and hand grenades guarded by the State end up in the hands of civilians. How has the State allowed 18,000 criminal gangs to operate freely in the country, out of which 12,000 are dedicated to violent crimes and the rest to the offense of extortion. Or how it came up with the idea of establishing the so-called "peace zones", which have rather become areas of violence and death.

Is the boomerang coming back to the thrower's hand?

See VenEconomy: A Boomerang Effect on Crime in Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 14, 2015)

On July 15, 2015. VenEconomy: What Is It that the Government of Venezuela Does Not Want to Understand?

The latest developments of the so-called "Operation of Liberation of the People" highlight the foray of criminal groups in many of the housing units built by the Bolivarian government in the framework of the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela housing program for the poor.

This situation is a "chronicle of disaster foretold" from the same moment that the construction of these huge housing complexes of Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela made out of concrete, cement and iron began in urban land, arbitrarily seized by the National Executive, because it began to demonstrate the shortcomings of this program offered by the late Hugo Chávez during his electoral campaign. Shortcomings that not only have violated the right of private property; seismic, risk control and civil engineering standards; pre-established urban zoning policies for parks and recreational areas; the provision of public services, including water, electricity, solid waste collection and road access; without taking into account an oversaturation of the population concentration, social reinsertion programs and/or citizen coexistence.

To the complaints about corruption and lack of transparency in the construction of the buildings; to the structural failures and political use for the allocation of housing units, it is added that all the serious problems seen in the Venezuelan slums, where the law of the strongest prevails, have been transferred to urban areas.

As early as November 6 of 2013, an interview conducted by journalists Natalia Matamoros and Thabata Molina for daily El Universal to Roberto Briceño León, a sociologist and director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence [Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia (OVV)], explained in light of the acts of violence with resulting casualties in several of the conglomerates that what was happening "in these buildings of Misión Vivienda is the usual thing that happens everywhere in the country. Anomie settled down in these structures as a result of disorder, the non-compliance with the law, the use of force as a mechanism for conflict resolution, and the reason is that these people are bringing those kind of practices from the slums and shelters they used to live".

Briceño León pointed out back then that "the main failure in the constitution of these urban developments, in addition to the lack of planning, is the absence of monitoring to help new residents integrate and become functional communities". He added that "these people are in a limbo, because they are not owners of their apartments; they don't have social integration, because that sense of belonging is formed over the years; they live with a bunch of strange people who they don't feel any kind of respect and then comes the need to impose themselves".

And he also warned two years ago that bodies of political control (such as the so-called communal councils) that were able to impose control, had already "distorted their functions and 'collected tolls' from the neighbors".

But it seems that in spite of all the evidence and the proven failure of this mistaken "housing policy", the Government is releasing again its electoral program offering new homes in the framework of Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela, according to a statement a few weeks ago of Ricardo Molina, the Minister of Housing and Habitat, who announced new land reviews and earthworks in order to start building new homes.

Many urban areas are feeling already the rigors of the pressure from loyalist mayors, who are paying a visit to the neighbors with the support of representatives of the "communal councils" to let them know they have approved the housing projects without any consultation, which will result in overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, deterioration of the quality of life, insecurity and violence. If the Government doesn't learn from the mistakes of the past, everybody loses here!

See VenEconomy: What Is It that the Government of Venezuela Does Not Want to Understand? (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 15, 2015)

On July 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Giving It All for the Future of Venezuela!

Two days ago, in a column published by daily El Nacional entitled "The Government will do what it takes to remain in power", local psychologist Ángel Oropeza said that, in light of the clear disadvantage and an obvious minority position the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has in this year's electoral race, the Government had pinned its hopes in a strategy to demobilize a majority from the opposition so it doesn't go out and cast its vote in a parliamentary election to be held on December 6. He explained that one of its allies to achieve that goal is a thought pattern that the modern Cognitive Psychology calls "negative anticipation", which "leads the one who suffers it to constantly assume that something is going to go wrong, to never have doubts about that prediction, and to act on that assumption", even if he/she doesn't have data to support those conclusions.

Oropeza said that "in the political sphere, when negative anticipation is generalized to many people, it not only discourages popular organization, but also helps consolidate an attitudinal-psychological floor of collective acceptance and resignation on which authoritarian governments build their model of domination".

Thus, he pointed out that "if a lot of people are convinced that there is nothing to do about their political environment, that what will happen is bad but also inevitable, that surrendering is the only solution because there is no way to change or even face the oppressors, then the model of domination begins to take root and be perceived as irreversible. Not in vain one of the things that authoritarian-like governments seek first is to convince the population of its very precarious political effectiveness, i.e., of its very limited capacity to influence over political facts and much less to change them".

VenEconomy agrees with the approach of Oropeza that the electoral strategy of the Government is precisely to promote the "negative anticipation".

To fulfill that objective, the Government has already done the following things: it delayed the announcement of the date of the parliamentary election; it threatened to eliminate the physical voting books without which it would be impossible to carry out a proper audit of the election results; and suddenly changed the rules of the game with respect to gender parity without previous consultation after the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition party had announced their candidates. It should be clarified that the same National Electoral Council (CNE) had repealed this measure for being inappropriate during the parliamentary elections in 2010.

Now the Government is resorting once more to the same old banning from politics technique, with which it got other opposition leaders out of the game in the past such as Enrique Mendoza, who was looking for another term as Governor of Miranda state, and Leopoldo López, who was running off again for mayor of Caracas' Chacao municipality.

For the December 6 parliamentary election it was foreseen that the Government would forbid several candidates of the opposition to run for office, some of them political prisoners, exiles or with administrative or legal cases against them.

Already affected by this arbitrariness are Daniel Ceballos and María Corina Machado, two top candidates of the MUD for the parliamentary election.

Former mayor Ceballos was banned from politics for a year by the Office of the Comptroller General for not having submitted a statement of assets and liabilities after being illegally removed from his office and arrested in the military prison of Ramo Verde in Greater Caracas. But, according to Jesús "Chuo" Torrealba, executive secretary of the MUD, Ceballos will continue to be a candidate for the opposition party, since as explained by Freddy Guevara, assistant political coordinator for the Voluntad Popular opposition party, the resolution of the Office of the Comptroller General "only prevents him from handling public funds", even if the Official Gazette makes it clear that the ban is "for holding any public office....".

While Machado, a hard critic of the socialist government, was banned from politics for 12 months. According to a statement by the own Machado, the argument from the Comptroller's Office was not having declared, when she was illegally stripped from her parliamentary seat, "some food vouchers in my affidavit", which argues she never received. In order to repudiate the sanction, Machado expressed her determination to remain a candidate for the Parliament, a position endorsed by the MUD as confirmed by Torrealba.

Machado went much further and told the Comptroller that he has "no power to ban me from politics". She also had a strong message for President Nicolás Maduro: "Maduro, I've already got the blessing from the country and its citizens".

It seems that there is courage this time around as winds of change may be blowing in favor of the opposition.

See VenEconomy: Giving It All for the Future of Venezuela! (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 16, 2015)

On July 17, 2015. VenEconomy: Winds from the North

Evan Ellis, professor of the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College (SSI) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, recently [July 10, 2015] published a report entitled The Approaching Implosion of Venezuela and Strategic Implications for the United States. It should be made clear that Ellis is giving a personal view on the matter and not on behalf of the U.S Army or the government.

Just like many other analysts, Ellis considers that Venezuela is on the brink of collapse, which would have serious repercussions for Venezuela's neighboring countries and the region. He claims that "the current regime in Venezuela is locked in an economic and political death spiral from which multiple reinforcing dynamics make it difficult to escape calamity".

This statement has not escaped the thoughts and fears of thousands of Venezuelans. VenEconomy has raised this as a possible scenario, both in its monthly analyzes as in its Economic, Political and Social Perspectives study for over a decade now.

But, the approaches of Ellis bring along two additional points that must be analyzed.

The first of them relates to the impact that a collapse of Venezuela would have on other countries of the region, including the U.S. and Cuba. Among other things, he suggests that the violence in Venezuela will force its neighbors (Colombia, Guyana and Brazil), and nearby Caribbean states, to undertake the expensive and unprofitable task to increase border controls to handle the effects of refugees, terrorist violence and crime. At the same time, he points out that both the U.S. and Europe will have to dedicate more efforts to tackle drug-trafficking from Venezuela and to support the security forces of the Caribbean and Central America when crime becomes uncontrollable in the region.

The second approach of Ellis is based on the possible strategic repercussions for the U.S. Ellis considers that it is not in the U.S. strategic interest to intervene in Venezuela. This is bad news for those Venezuelans with high expectations that the northern giant would do their job.

Ellis claims that U.S. intervention in Venezuela would cause a greater damage to the U.S. relations with the region and its global strategic position, rather than the benefits it would provide for stability and the Rule of Law in the region. What's more, he argues that a hypothetical intervention from the U.S. would likely drive other nations of the hemisphere into a deeper embrace of extra-regional powers such as China and Russia, and would move the region one step further from democratic self-governance.

Among other negative consequences for the U.S., Ellis points out it may further need to help Colombia with:
1) Resources and technology to assist the country to prepare for waves of refugees, as millions of increasingly marginalized Colombians currently living in Venezuela are forced to return.
2) Resources to help Colombia control its eastern border, if spreading lawlessness in Venezuela creates a de facto sanctuary in which rebels fighting the Government can continue to operate, putting into jeopardy the ongoing Colombian peace process.

At the same time, the U.S. may also need to strengthen security cooperation with the newly elected democratic government of Guyana, which may heat things up at the border with that country as Venezuela would use this for propaganda purposes.

Among the suggestions of Ellis to U.S. authorities are:
1) Keep building criminal cases against Venezuelan officials.
2) Seek to work with Chinese and other foreign interests in the country to assure them that cooperation of Chinese institutions such as International Commerce Bank of China with international law enforcement will not necessarily undermine the Chinese position in the country, but rather, bolster its legitimacy.
3) Try to involve the OAS, even if some governments will prefer multilateral solutions that are led by UNASUR and thus exclude the U.S.
4) The U.S. should be prepared to work with Brazil on issues such as the nation's own shared border with Venezuela, and potentially find ways to collaborate with Brazilian forces in other aspects of the Venezuelan crisis.
5) Make it clear that Brazilian attempts, in conjunction with ALBA governments, to exclude the U.S. from a role in addressing the Venezuela crisis would be counterproductive.

Ellis considers that for the U.S. the crisis of Venezuela is also an opportunity to strengthen its role in maintaining the democracy, stability, and development of the hemisphere.

See VenEconomy: Winds from the North (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 17, 2015)

On July 20, 2015. VenEconomy: What Lies Behind Secrecy in Venezuela

The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) has disrupted the routine of releasing monthly economic data of the nation, as required by law, and turned it into a matter of total secrecy. Since 2013 the BCV began to release the economic figures with certain delay, ending that year with an obvious omission of its Annual Report. Delays have become more usual ever since, and now in 2015 there is a total absence of information about the performance of the economy, to such an extent that official figures are some of the greatest enigmas in Venezuela today.

This silence on the part of the BCV has led analysts to find alternative sources in order to find out the current situation of the local economy. One of these sources is the Center for Documentation and Social Analysis of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM), which for over 20 years has been releasing the cost of the basic basket of goods for a household comprised of five individuals on average incomes. While this source doesn't count on the statistical coverage the BCV official figures used to have, economic experts tend to resort to Cendas-FVM for its data generally matched that of the BCV until 2013, a year when marked differences between the two of them started to become evident.

During that year, it began to show that both the BCV and the National Institute of Statistics (INE) were manipulating the results of statistical measurements. Then it was reported that inflation figures were being massaged through methodological changes in the measurement of prices, introducing new criteria for the items that make up the basket of goods and services.

It should be noted that while these changes might be acceptable by taking into account the new patterns of consumption in society, the disinformation of the BCV after releasing the statistical changes has led to distrust and conflicting numbers with the actual behavior of prices.

But, what is the Government trying to hide by silencing the BCV?

One of the answers can be found in the figures released by Cendas-FVM this week, according to which the cost of the basic basket of goods reached an all-time high of 26.5% in June alone, that is to say, 1.5 minimum wages in a single month.

The Cendas-FVM basic basket had a cost of Bs.54.204,69 [$8,604 if calculated at the fictional official exchange rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar] in June, an increase of Bs.11.357,78 (26.5%) from the previous month.

While the cost of the basic basket rose 163.6% in the past 12 months, the equivalent of five minimum wages.

Another interesting information revealed by Cendas-FVM is the massive distortion between products with controlled prices and market prices, whose difference stands as high as 605.0%.

In conclusion, what the Government seeks to hide is that Venezuela has opened the door to hyperinflation. If proper measures are not applied as soon as possible, Venezuelans would be on the highway to hell, as described by VenEconomy in its "Economic, Political and Social Perspectives 2015-2020" study.

Just to mention some of the required measures: the unification of the exchange rates; an economic liberalization and respect for the private property. But, above all, it is essential to change the model of a country imposing communism, as well as to restore the rule of law and democratic institutions.

See VenEconomy: What Lies Behind Secrecy in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 20, 2015)

On July 21, 2015. VenEconomy: Will the Government of Venezuela Ever Agree with the Words of Diego Arria?

Fedécamaras issued a statement containing "10 proposals to revive the economy of the country" from the capital of Lara state, Barquisimeto, where Venezuela's largest business association held its annual assembly less than a week ago.

Ten reasonable and logical proposals for anyone who understands that without the contribution of the private sector, working in conjunction with the Government, it will be impossible to guide the progress and development of any country along the correct path.

There was nothing out of the ordinary in any of those ten proposals (at least not for any country with existing democratic institutions) and nearly all of them should be the objectives of a Government whose aim is the well-being of the population. In short, the proposals of Fedecámaras go as follows: an increase in production; change of the economic model; invest 20% of the GDP for an annual growth of between 7% and 8% in order to double the size of the economy in 10 years; clear and shared macroeconomic policies seeking the economic balance; an alliance between the public and private sector; build confidence through stable and clear rules that are applied with justice and responsibility; the recovery of public services; the creation of decent employment to protect workers without sacrificing the productivity of companies and their ability to create new jobs; establish the independence of the oil industry and improve citizen security.

But..., the statement had vital conceptual omissions in the Venezuela making great strides toward a dictatorship. Omissions not overlooked by Diego Arria, a Venezuelan defender of democracy and the system of freedoms around the world, who harshly criticized the proposals of Fedecámaras.

Speaking as a businessperson, Arria warned Fedecámaras that its proposals don't make mention of the absence of the rule of law in Venezuela, "without which there can be no economic model that makes sense". He also claimed that these proposals neither mention the seizure of private property; the suffocation of the media; the persecution of dissidents, the lack of separation of public powers; nor the existence of executioners who persecute and politically disqualify those opposing the Government. He criticized the proposals of Fedecámaras for "not having mentioned a single word" on the more than four thousand farms or the hundreds of industries that have been expropriated so far.

The words of Arria were blunt, indeed. Many may think with some justification they were harsh or undeserved, because the members of Fedecámaras, Conindustria, Consecomercio, and Fedeagro, as well as the rest of all the local business associations and from the private sector, are citizens and businesses that have been hit hard by the Bolivarian regime in the last 16 years. Their universe is today a handful of Venezuelans who have been barely capable of withstanding the harassment, persecution, and expropriation of assets and properties, and are also struggling hard to keep their jobs.

However, the stubbornness of Venezuela's communist government is such that, less than two days before this controversy between Fedecámaras and Arria was made public, it made the National Agri-Food Superintendence order member companies of the Venezuelan Food Industry Chamber to ship between 30% and 100% of their production to PDVAL, Mercal, Bicentenario and other establishments belonging to the public food distribution network on the verge of bankruptcy because of their own inefficiencies and corruption.

It should be recalled that the Government already controls the entire national productive system: it is up to the Executive to decide what, where and when to produce; who, what, and when will a product be imported; who distributes food and what part of the country will the products and goods be shipped to and in what quantity; what company gets the foreign currency to operate and produce and which one of them will be forced to fall into debt and go bankrupt. Meanwhile, 80% of the food found in the public distribution network is produced by companies of the private sector. That is to say, the State is the lord and master of Venezuela.

If it persists on this measure, the Government would be confiscating the nation's private production, a new form of plundering the private sector and a new demonstration of the absence of the rule of law and violations to the economic freedoms imposed in Venezuela.

In light of this measure, the words of Arria gain relevance: "Playing democracy with a regime that is an enemy of democracy, of the characteristics of the Republic, of free enterprise, of the productive vision of society, does not uphold spaces of political power or capital".

See VenEconomy: Will the Government of Venezuela Ever Agree with the Words of Diego Arria? (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 21, 2015)

On July 22, 2015. VenEconomy: It's Time for Plowing in Venezuela

As VenEconomy Weekly's editorial circulating on Wednesday wraps up, "The average Venezuelan is a democrat. It's their nature!"

A nature that is obviously out of tune with the desire of a dictatorial regime imposed from Cuba and the Miraflores presidential palace, guarded by Venezuela's armed forces and the paramilitary groups armed by the own Government, also manipulated by the public authorities seized by the regime to work in their favor when things get rough.

A fine example of this is a joint action carried out by the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic for targeted disqualifications against candidates of the opposition with greater possibilities for a seat in the Parliament.

It seems that both of them are working in favor of the current administration, whose rates of acceptance among the population have dropped significantly due to the harsh economic and social crisis as a result of 16 years of misguided communist policies.

First of all, by creating a climate of mistrust, also supported by facts such as a delay in setting the final date for the upcoming elections; the modification of polling stations to obtain a couple of seats in the Parliament; the creation of polling stations within centers of social programs known as "missions"; a last-minute modification of regulations to require gender parity in the selection of candidates; or not making it clear whether physical voting notebooks, which would allow subsequent audits in the process, will be used or not.

For its part, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, using the logic that "if you can't beat them, disqualify them", has been making public all the political disqualifications it had shelved for months over the past two weeks.

A fact that shouldn't have taken either the affected leaders or the Democratic Unity (MUD) party by surprise, because that sword of Damocles was already hanging over the heads of several of their candidates for the Parliament, including political prisoners, leaders with open trials and exiles, and with any criminal and administrative measures.

Four of the opposition's strongest candidates to win parliamentary seats in December have been affected with disqualifications so far: Daniel Ceballos, the former mayor of the San Cristóbal municipality in San Cristóbal state and currently a political prisoner; María Corina Machado, a former lawmaker; Enzo Scarano, the former mayor of the San Diego municipality in Carabobo state; Pablo Pérez, the former governor of Zulia state, and over 40 leaders of the opposition that remain under threat.

A few days ago, Luis Manuel Aguana, an opposition analyst, published in his personal blog an article entitled "The Two Sides of Voting" [Las dos caras del voto], in which he raised the following question: voting to make a dictatorship stronger or voting to rescue democracy? That is the question "as Hamlet would have put it if he had become a voter in this Venezuelan electoral drama".

That question takes on major importance at a time when millions of Venezuelans find themselves counting the days for the December 6 elections hoping to say "enough!" to a model of a country that is not in line with their idiosyncrasy or their desire for freedom, progress and development.

VenEconomy is convinced that the right side of voting is the rescue of democracy, the only avenue citizens have to express their views and defeat any dictatorial regime. But it's also convinced that this time is crucial for the opposition leaders to plow. It's time for them to stop making calculations of political, partisan and personal nature. It's time for organization, for oiling the parties' machinery, for activating the battalions of volunteers to become polling station members and serve as witnesses during the parliamentary elections. It's time for electoral technical advisory teams to reinforce their strategies in order to detect, denounce, alert citizens and curb the illegalities and abuses committed by the Government.

It's time for plowing to make changes happen in this land of liberators and freedom. That's the true nature of Venezuelans.

See VenEconomy: It's Time for Plowing in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 22, 2015)

On July 23, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelans are Democrats by Nature!

True to its dictatorial nature, the government of Venezuela once again struck a bewildering blow to local privately-run companies this week, this time through the National Superintendence of Food Management (Sunagro), by ordering companies affiliated to the Venezuelan Food Industry Chamber (Cavidea) to ship between 30% and 100% of their production to state-owned food retailers such as PDVAL, Mercal and Abastos Bicentenario.

It's not enough for the Government that these inefficient public distribution networks replenish their stocks with 80% of the production coming from a private sector it blames for everything, corners and strangles with its policies of the so-called "Plan for the Homeland". Now, this sector that produces milk, sugar, wheat flour, precooked corn flour, pasta, rice and cooking oil has to divert its already precarious production to the state network, leaving unsatisfied more than 113,000 sale points belonging to the private network and, therefore, millions of citizens who will now be joining the endless queues around PDVAL, Mercal and Abastos Bicentenario establishments nationwide.

A VenEconomy editorial this week, by raising this new illegality and attack against the economic freedoms, says that it is not clear what Sunagro may be expecting from this measure that will harshly affect both private establishments and consumers.

It indicates that Sunagro might be thinking that by ensuring higher volumes in public food retailers, the Government will enhance its public image and have greater acceptance by the electorate, to the detriment of the private sector. VenEconomy assures that, if so, Sunagro is about to be in for a surprise, because apart from longer queues, this move would generate new problems for the private sector, including a new way for the State to incur debt, since state-owned companies are famous for failing to comply with their payment commitments.

In a nutshell, another measure whose sole function is making the system less efficient.

Policymakers have not been paying attention to the numerous and persistent constructive criticism from analysts and economists to introduce changes in the exchange rate policies, price controls and the Labor Law, as well as in the labor, fiscal and legal areas.

Why is the Government ignoring these recommendations from experts, despite the fact that the failure of the model of a country outlined by the "Plan for the Homeland" has become evident already?

The answer lies in its nature. In a famous animal fable, a scorpion asks a frog to carry him over a river, promising he won't harm her because if he does, both would sink. This way, he convinces the frog and she accepts to carry the scorpion on her back. But midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog. When asked why he had stung her, the scorpion replied, "Because it's my nature".

Like the scorpion in the fable, the nature of the Bolivarians is that of a failed and obsolete communism, despite the fact of being aware they're sinking the country into misery. Marxism is their very nature for their commitment to put an end to the system of liberties, to leave a stain on democracy and the rights of citizens. Their creed is that the Government owns all the means of production.

A creed they have been developing slowly and persistently. Unlike the Castro brothers, they have maintained the form - but not the content - of a democracy: They have used the term "Bolivarianism" as a substitute for the word "communism" in order to avoid a reaction against the process during its early stages.

The "Achilles heel" of the strategy is the fact that it requires the legitimization of the regime through frequent elections.

But, despite its several political machinations, the Government cannot be sure if it is going to win them all. For this reason, it is crucial that all Venezuelans go vote on December 6 and that the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition party and its members get their witnesses and other electoral staff ready to guarantee that the people's will is respected.

Because the average Venezuelan is a democrat. That's their true nature!

See VenEconomy: Venezuelans are Democrats by Nature! (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 23, 2015)

On July 27, 2015. VenEconomy: Spanish Senators - Democracy Breakdown, Violation of Human Rights in Venezuela are Two Undeniable Facts

The sun cannot be covered with one finger, and neither can the breakdown of democracy and the violation of human rights in Venezuela.

Last week, the watchful eye of the international community gave two warnings on this disrespect for the basic rights of citizens by the government of Nicolás Maduro.

First of all, a group of experts of the United Nations and the Inter-American Human Rights System expressed their deep regret that a TV show aired by state-run television network Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) and hosted by Diosdado Cabello, the head of the Parliament, attempted to defame and intimidate the defenders of human rights. They specifically complained about three recent "unjustifiable televised retaliation incidents":
1) The defamation of several human rights defenders and their organizations, before and after their participation in the hearings on Venezuela before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., in March of 2015.
2) That the details on schedules and private meetings provided by the human rights defenders had been shared during the broadcast, while the director of the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), William Castillo, made false allegations via his Twitter account that they had received international funds to spread negative information about Venezuela.
3) That during the broadcast derogatory statements were made against several members of the civil society and their organizations after collaborating with the UN Human Rights Committee during the review of the fourth periodic report of Venezuela in Geneva on June 29-30.

Now, a group of Spanish senators traveled to Caracas over the weekend to pay a visit to the political prisoners and "help get things on track, in the sense that the elections to be held in December are as free as possible..." and help open a space for dialogue. Unfortunately, that was a visit not made possible due to the arbitrary will of the Government - and the televised insults of Maduro - with the exception of a meeting with Antonio Ledezma, the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas and a political prisoner held under house arrest.

These parliamentarians, in light of the crisis they witnessed on their trip to Venezuela, signed the so-called "Statement of Caracas", also signed by senators from different political parties in Spain (from left, center-right to right), as much as by parliamentarians from Uruguay and Peru. In addition, they confirmed there is an existing threat.

From there, they decided to:

1) Call on all parliamentarians to join other "parliamentarians all over the world for democracy in Venezuela" so that they serve as interlocutors to promote understanding between all the actors of the Venezuelan political life.
2) Urge the government of Venezuela to allow the return of exiles and the release of all political prisoners, as well as to ensure them the full exercise of their rights as citizens.
3) Express their concern at the repeated practice of disqualification of opposition leaders for political purposes.
4) Urge Venezuela's electoral authority to ensure a fair and qualified international observation for the parliamentary elections to be held in December of 2015.
5) Call on all inter-parliamentary organizations, particularly the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to ensure respect for the human rights of the Venezuelan parliamentarians.
6) Perform actions that contribute to disseminate information about the current situation of Venezuela in our respective countries.

But, since a stubborn blindness and obstinacy are two intrinsic characteristics of this government, its highest representative (Maduro) had another outburst of anger after learning that the OAS would receive Henrique Capriles, one of the leaders of the democratic unity, at its headquarters in Washington on Monday. And emulating his predecessor Hugo Chávez, in a similar adverse circumstance, Maduro assured that the OAS" is a worthless piece of garbage, dominated by an imperial bureaucracy that is plunging it into misery every time more". He said, perhaps seeing his government's own reflection in a mirror, that the OAS "is useless".

See VenEconomy: Spanish Senators - Democracy Breakdown, Violation of Human Rights in Venezuela are Two Undeniable Facts (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 27, 2015)

On July 28, 2015. VenEconomy: Caracas - The Face of the Failure of the Bolivarian Revolution

If something the Bolivarian government of Venezuela had been "careful" about in these past 16 years was to keep Caracas out of a series of problems that cities and towns of the interior have been suffering for years. This is the case of the electric power crisis, which is only felt in the capital when the crisis itself deepens, yet in the regions has become widespread with daily schedules for power interruption. The same went for the supplies of food and medicines, which ended up affecting Caracas only when shortages were already unbearable in the interior of the country.

In spite of this, the failure of the model of a country being imposed in Venezuela has reached such magnitude and has become so widespread throughout the events in the lives of citizens that Caracas has not been able to avert its nasty effects, also becoming the reflection of the rest of the states where the resounding failure of the revolution has already wreaked havoc.

Caracas had nothing to celebrate, and much to regret, on the occasion of the 448th anniversary of its foundation.

For example, the hospitals in the capital - previously models to follow in Latin America - are in ruins, undersupplied, with no maintenance, and running low on materials and medications.

Vehicle traffic is a chaos that makes the lives of citizens miserable every day. An excess of people owning motorcycles as a means of transport has led lawlessness to take over every street and/or avenue, where transit laws are worth less than the paper they were printed. Aggressiveness and violence can arise at any second and for any reason. In addition to the fact that motorcycles are commonly used by many criminals as a "tool for work".

Insecurity in the capital is rampant. So far this year, Caracas has accounted for 2,642 homicides, an increase of 178 with respect to 2014. Robberies and kidnappings have become so normal that security experts have delimited the areas, "working schedules" and modus operandi of at least six criminal gangs operating in the capital.

The scope of insecurity is such that it has sparked the interest of the Government during these pre-electoral months. It gave its nod for the 20th security plan in 16 years pompously called "Operation Liberation and Protection of the People" several weeks ago, which will supposedly help the entire country get rid of crime and paramilitary activities.

The thing is that this plan has had a major focus on Caracas, starting a few weeks ago with some of the housing facilities of the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela (GMVV) social program built around the Fort Tiuna military complex; then it raged against a west Caracas slum known as Cota 905, leaving 14 people dead and more than 140 detainees; and on Monday in GMVV buildings of Montalbán and Juan Pablo II, two residential areas also located in the west of the capital.

A joint military and police operation that, according to President Nicolás Maduro, has resulted in several arrests, evicted squatters, and dismantled criminal organizations that were operating in these apartments.

Paradoxically, the plan Maduro is looking forward to selling today as an achievement of his "public safety policy", has revealed yet another major failure of the Bolivarian revolution: that of GMVV, the flagship social program of the late Hugo Chávez when he ran for another term in office back in 2012. A social program that, as previously warned in several issues of VenEconomy, was doomed to failure mainly because of a lack of planning, the absence of urban studies and social work for the integration of different social groups in favor of peaceful coexistence.

As evidenced by each one of these security plans, those GMVV buildings seen in nearly all the capital, not only are monuments to improvisation that have deteriorated the urban harmony of Caracas, but dens of crime and violence. This is due to, among other things, the lack of transparency in the allocation of the apartments and the use of that allocation for the complacency of armed vigilante groups from governmental buildings, who use these housing units as a shield of defense and protection as stated by several officials of the Bolivarian revolution.

Do we need more evidence of a failure that had already been foretold?

See VenEconomy: Caracas - The Face of the Failure of the Bolivarian Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 28, 2015)

On July 29, 2015. VenEconomy: A Few Words from Argentina's Macri to Venezuela's Maduro

Political and economic analysts from Venezuela and the world are being more persistent in recording the inconceivable situation the country is going through. However, the arguments of many of these analysts are quite difficult to digest by ordinary citizens.

That's the reason why VenEconomy did not hesitate in making public an open letter written by Mauricio Macri, the head of Government of the City of Buenos Aires, to Nicolás Maduro, which describes the reality of the country with absolute simplicity, clarity and forcefulness. It should be noted that very few media outlets from Argentina, Venezuela and the region have echoed the words of Macri.

The letter goes as follows:

"Mr. Maduro, I only see Venezuelan citizens where you see the enemy.

Mr. Maduro, it is obvious that you and I see different things in different ways. For example, where you see enemies that you want to kill, I see upset Venezuelans demanding changes to your government. Where you see a conspiracy, I see how the 22-year-old Génesis Carmona is being taken on a motorcycle to a hospital, agonizing after being shot right in the face. And I don't see you. I didn't see you in the funeral ceremonies of those innocent people.

Where you see fascist people protesting, I see ordinary people, I see common persons, I see human beings at odds with you. They're doing their best; they are people; they are also the true people of Venezuela; or perhaps the true people of Venezuela to you are only the ones who applaud your actions, while others who don't are the enemy? I also see what you seem not to be seeing. I see terrifying motorcycles belonging to paramilitary groups shooting at unarmed civilians at night, even shooting at their houses and apartments, as seen in videos on YouTube.

Where you see in social networks only slander and lies (and trust me, I also see them and I condemn them myself), I find the true indignation of Venezuelans who have there a unique space to complain about everything, and this is because Venezuela has nearly run out of media outlets because you had them closed down, suffocated them, persecuted them and even kicked them out of the country. Lucky them there is Twitter and Facebook so that they can let us know about the situation in Venezuela!

The other day, the government of Argentina ratified its 'total and absolute support' to your government. The Argentine government should not be mistaken for the Argentine people, the same way your government is not being mistaken by us for the Venezuelan people. Not all of us totally and absolutely support your abuses. I, for one, prefer to demand you the immediate release of Leopoldo López and of all the Venezuelan political prisoners. I choose to ask you to take control of the paramilitary forces that spread fear and death with bullets. I prefer to ask you to ensure freedom and have an honest dialogue with all those who think differently.

Those protesting are not your enemies or conspirators, they are Venezuelan citizens".

See VenEconomy: A Few Words from Argentina's Macri to Venezuela's Maduro (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 29, 2015)

On July 30, 2015. VenEconomy: The Goal of Venezuela's Maduro is Not Only Getting Polar Out of the Way

The so-called "prophets of disaster" are proving they were right all this time. Both the economy and the country itself are headed toward disaster.

According to unofficial data, the economy contracted 6% during the first quarter and 7% during the second quarter, while inflation may reach 80% during this first half of 2015 and 132% in the 12 months that ended in June. The international reserves of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) have reached their lowest level in 13 years, while state-run oil company PDVSA is not generating enough dollars to cover the basic needs of the economy. The scarcity level has hit 60% according to the latest unofficial reports.

The most serious thing about everything is that any of this is going to change in the near future, quite the contrary.

That evidence comes from realities reported by productive sectors and companies in particular. Here are a few cases that are heavily affecting the daily diet of Venezuelans.

In early July, the Flour Workers' Federation (Fetraharina) reported that inventories of bread wheat were going to last until the end of the month, and with it was foreseen a decline in the already curtailed production of bread, pasta and crackers/cookies. The situation was so critical that several companies had already brought their operations to a halt due to the lack of durum wheat to make pasta, "one of the lowest-cost products that make up the basic food basket". It is still unknown whether the Venezuelan government has moved a finger to solve the crisis of this sector as July comes to a close.

Rice manufacturers are on tenterhooks as well. By July 16, the Venezuelan Rice Millers Association reported that inventories of paddy rice available for threshing, or the inventory that the industry is depending on, were going to last seven days. Thirteen days have passed already, and since there is no information that the supplies issue was finally resolved, it should be assumed that those inventories are all that is left of rice in the country.

Also affected was the production of soy oil, an essential product for the manufacturing of mayonnaise and the dairy sector. Regarding the latter, the National Federation of Cattle Ranchers (Fedenaga) insists on the fact that the nation has an installed capacity to ramp up its milk production by 40% in the short term. In order to achieve this goal, it is only necessary to implement a comprehensive plan for the extraction of the oil and the production of protein, which is the fundamental basis of the balanced food for animal consumption. But the Government is still turning a deaf ear to that kind of reasoning.

The meat industry is another with its back against the wall. Regulated prices below real costs, a national production that only meets one-third of the local demand, the lack of foreign currency for the required imports, and the siege from governmental bodies to demand the compliance with legal regulations that are out of step with reality, are only a few of the many issues that have made the supplies of meat and chicken nearly disappear from butcher shops, including the State's own food retailers such as Mercal and PDVAL.

But to Nicolás Maduro it seems that any of this is happening, as he persists on launching Empresas Polar, the nation's largest foodmaker/brewer and a great role model to follow for its extraordinary managerial performance, a privately-run company that serves as a mirror to see how deficient, unproductive and corrupt the performance of the Government may turn out, a deadly blow.

Late on Wednesday night, government officials went to the industrial zone of La Yaguara in west Caracas to notify the expropriation of warehouses belonging to companies such as PepsiCo, Alimentos Polar, Cargill, Nestlé and Zara, among others, allegedly for the construction of new buildings of the Government's social program known as Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela (GMVV). Buildings where the own Government has conducted searches through the so-called "Operation Liberation and Protection of the People" security plan for the high levels of criminality and violence seen there.

The most direct effects of this economic catastrophe come to the population in the form of an income that doesn't cover their most basic needs due to the excessive increase in prices of all goods and services; as much as the appalling reality of not finding the foodstuff, products and assets indispensable for their survival.

See VenEconomy: The Goal of Venezuela's Maduro is Not Only Getting Polar Out of the Way (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 30, 2015)

On July 31, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela is Running Low on Everything

The crisis will keep deepening in Venezuela affecting the tables of the country's citizens by depriving them from essential foodstuff such as bread, precooked corn flour for making the traditional arepas, pasta, meat and/or chicken. The economic crisis and destruction of the productive sector for 16 straight years is being fully felt with other items as essential for leading a moderately acceptable life.

Sixteen long years have passed in Venezuela with a government making discretionary interpretations of the Constitution; decreeing laws without consultation tailor-made to suit the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" outlined by the late Hugo Chávez; breaking contracts; imposing policies that discourage investment and generate mistrust among domestic and foreign investors; and violating the rule of law and economic freedoms. Almost two decades have passed with a judicial system that constantly bends the law to fulfill the desires of the Government, both at individual and collective level. The Government enacts laws that are clearly unconstitutional with the blessing of the Parliament (aka National Assembly) and the Supreme Court.

It's the same decades that have passed with the imposition of a "dialogue with the deaf", in which the Government never listens to the arguments and reasoning of the productive private sector. It's the same 16 years with the Government having a blindfold on its eyes not to see the inefficiency, unproductiveness, incompetence and corruption of the ever-increasing number of private companies that have passed into its hands via expropriation, confiscation or administrative maneuvers.

Today the effects of these misconceptions are seen and felt in every corner of the country. Destruction, confiscated lands and factories that have been either shut down or operating at half capacity.

One of them is SIDOR, a once thriving privately-run steel corporation of the Guayana region in Bolívar state, which passed into the hands of the State to become corrupt, inefficient, and unable to produce the tin needed to make bottle caps or packaging for canned foods.

A similar situation is seen at El Tablazo (Pequiven) petrochemical complex. This state-owned complex is the main provider of the necessary resins for the production of plastic in Venezuela. Now executives from the plastics industry are reporting to be running operations at 30% of installed capacity due to the lack of supplies, while forecasting zero growth this year.

Another of the new companies expropriated by the Government is Rualca, a manufacturer of alloy wheels, which finds itself on the brink of bankruptcy by operating at 5% of its capacity. Currently more than half of the machinery is out of service due to the lack of spare parts, both imported (cannot be brought into the country in the absence of foreign currency) and national (most supplies for their manufacturing are imported as well).

Another sector that has been hit hard by the crisis is that of the assembly of vehicles, which has reported low inventories of raw materials and supplies, including top names like Chrysler, which drew up a production schedule until September, and General Motors, which will be sending its workers on vacation starting August 14. This situation is the result of year and a half of no foreign currency allocation on the part of the Government so that these companies can acquire raw material to keep production running. If fears that companies of the automotive sector will finally close their doors in January of 2016 come true, it may translate into the loss of 10,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs.

Not to mention that the Venezuelan Chamber of Beer Breweries has warned that raw materials will last until August and that the local arm of U.S.-based company Johnson & Johnson, which had already been experiencing major supply problems and has cut its payroll, reported that only has enough raw materials to manufacture sanitary pads until September. In addition that the rampant shortages of medicines and medical supplies will continue putting the lives of thousands of Venezuelans at stake.

But what still matters here is to save the Bolivarian revolution, right?

See VenEconomy: Venezuela is Running Low on Everything (Latin American Herald Tribune, July 31, 2015)

On August 3, 2015. VenEconomy: Is the Big Bad Wolf Finally Coming to Venezuela?

Many voices have been warning that the serious shortages situation and high prices of food and medicines are pushing the patience of Venezuelans to the next level.

The long queues and quest for essential products throughout several distribution centers, which has intensified this 2015, have driven the population into a state of perpetual angst, fear, uncertainty, anger and impotence.

These voices are warning about the possibility of a new "Caracazo", or social upheaval that may be simply uncontrollable.

While the Government, driven by the desire of imposing the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" outlined by the late Hugo Chávez, seems to be in a catatonic state that prevents it from taking the reins of the critical situation and correct the course that is leading the country into the abyss, together with blaming the private productive sector for the ills caused by the "socialism of the 21st century".

Now it seems that the "big bad wolf" they have been announcing may be coming after all.

According to Marco Antonio Ponce, head of the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict [Observatorio Venezolano de Conflictividad Social], some 56 acts of looting and 502 demonstrations were recorded during the first half of the year due to the lack of food, medicines and hygiene products.

These figures illustrate what some privately-run media outlets that have survived the communicational hegemony imposed by the State, as much as the social networks, have been reporting lately:

The recent case of an overturned food truck that was looted by a crowd passing by, who didn't care about the driver being helplessly stuck in the vehicle's cockpit, was particularly horrible.

Also particularly horrible and violent were the acts of looting that took place in San Félix (Bolivar state) last Friday that left one dead and several wounded. Several grocery stores and a warehouse allegedly supplying "bachaqueros" (or illegal resellers) with merchandise were emptied there.

In the face of these social outbursts (isolated for now), the Government continues with its unbelievable intemperance of blaming the U.S. "empire", the opposition and the national business class for these acts of violence.

It also came up with another ridiculous and useless idea dubbed "Plan of Deep Replacement of Imports", claiming among other things that "this is about creating a planning model and immediately achieve early victories, thus demonstrating how we can already replace a set of imported things by perfectly manufacturing them right here in the country".

When will these people stop being so stubborn and recognize once and for all that the national productive sector was dismantled by them piece by piece through expropriations, theft of public property, incompetence from a monopolizing and centralist nation-state, strict laws for national and foreign investment, an excessive control over the economy, the dismantlement of the Rule of Law and democratic institutions and widespread corruption?

See VenEconomy: Is the Big Bad Wolf Finally Coming to Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 3, 2015)

On August 4, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Electoral 'Remix'

The electoral subject is back on the table as December 6 nears, a date belatedly set by the National Electoral Council (CNE) on purpose for an election in which Venezuela's two only political rivals will square off for a majority of seats in the Parliament.

The Government and its public powers find themselves fine-tuning every little detail so they can tilt the balance in their favor when the time comes, knowing that popular support has never been weaker. Sixteen years of outdated policies that have proved a failure are felt in every corner of the country, while its populist speech doesn't convince the staunchest supporters of chavismo anymore.

From there that its General Comptroller's Office has brought back the subject of political disqualifications to get candidates of the opposition who had secured enough votes for a seat in the Parliament out of the game, such as the case of Daniel Ceballos, Enzo Scarano and María Corina Machado, despite of an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling in 2011 that disqualifications imposed by the Comptroller's Office go against the American Convention on Human Rights and violate the rights to participate in an election, because these are not imposed by a judge through a trial.

On Monday, when the registration period of candidates running for the Parliament kicked off, it was learned that the CNE's so-called Automated Nomination System (or SAP) is preventing citizens disqualified at political level by the Comptroller's Office from running for the Parliament, as is the case of Machado who was not able to register as candidate. Machado will be replaced by Isabel Pereira, a sociologist, who despite not having a high media profile is deemed a hard-working woman in communities with limited resources nationwide, and is also well known in slums of eastern Caracas, which is precisely the district she aims to represent.

During the first day, some 687 candidates were registered. However, these citizens are crossing their fingers they will not be eventually taken out of the game, since they now have to submit the required documents to formalize their candidacies before regional boards. The Government may work something out during that stage in order to force the reduction of opposition candidates.

Another stage of the electoral schedule that is about to come to an end, silently and without greater dissemination on the part of the CNE, is that of the complaints on the Electoral Register for the December 6 voting process. Until August 8, voters will be able to file complaints before the CNE on errors and omissions that may affect their right to vote. From there the calling on them to make sure that their personal data, such as first and last names, ID number, current address, among others, are spelled out correctly in the Register, as well as to make sure that their deceased family members are off the list of voters.

Another meddlesome move being carried out by the Comptroller's Office and the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) is that of issuing interim measures that affect the internal affairs of parties such as Copei, Bandera Roja and Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo (MEP) and their nomination of candidates for the December 6 elections.

If someone had doubts where things were going, these were cleared up by President Nicolás Maduro himself at a UN meeting, when publicly claiming that he would not allow international observation during the Venezuelan elections. "We'll never accept it", he said, proving once more that in Venezuela there is no such thing as the Electoral Power, but the Executive Power.

An outrage that made Aloysio Nunes, the head of the External Affairs Commission of the Brazilian Senate, say that "Venezuela is heading towards a huge electoral fraud, and Dilma Rousseff should express her views on the matter immediately". According to Nunes, Maduro reneged on his commitment to the Brazilian government in terms of the Unasur group of allowing international observation on the part of impartial international bodies. Furthermore, the mediation of Luis Almagro Lemes, head of the OAS, has been requested at the initiative of the members of local NGO Forum of Venezuelans for the appointment of an "Electoral Observation Mission" to provide support and advice during the electoral process, for which signatures of Venezuelans and citizens from member countries willing to support this initiative are being collected.

The good news is that the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition party finally announced in a public act last Thursday some new agreements that include a single electoral card, the unification of its national campaign commando and a common strategy to "achieve victory".

So be it!

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Electoral 'Remix' (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 4, 2015)

On August 5, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution Ends up Destroying Lake Maracaibo

A chronic disease known as Socialism of the 21st century destroyed everything in its path in these past 16 years, including Venezuela's oil industry.

A PDVSA dedicated to extract vast amounts of oil at the lowest cost possible, with nearly no accidents reported, trying at the same time to maximize profits for the Venezuelan State, is a thing of the past. And lost in time is the fact that PDVSA was considered the top oil company in Latin America and one of the world's most important as well.

At present, the state-run oil company is a gigantic bureaucratic monster that only gives top priority to populist projects selling the Bolivarian revolution as a good thing, setting aside production and the commercialization of hydrocarbons. It has become an odd hybrid between an oil producer/refiner, a social projects agency and an implementer of monetary policy. The operating capacity of the socialist PDVSA has been called into question and, worse still, it is not foreseeable that the substantial deterioration may be reverted in the short- and mid-term.

Most announced projects, if not all of them, have been either aimed at attracting voters during electoral times or ended up in failure. From the so-called "Oil Harvest Plan" that would supposedly increase production, refining and commercialization capacity, to other projects such as "The Battle of Santa Inés Refinery" in Barinas state, or a refinery in Cabruta, Guárico state, or the "Mariscal Sucre" gas generation project in Sucre state, any of them lived up to their promise.

Just as failed are projects such as PDVSA Naval, which was supposed to have built - and being operating - shipyards for both the construction and ship maintenance sector, or PDVSA Desarrollos Urbanos for urban development.

The lack of investment and maintenance is the main reason that the national oil industry is not even a pale shadow of what it used to be long ago. A fine example is the Paraguaná Refinery Complex, in which malfunctions, accidents and interruptions in operations are nothing but normal.

The Orinoco Oil Belt, or the cornerstone of the Bolivarian revolution's oil policy, is yet another great fallacy. This territory that the Government boasts as having "the biggest oil reserves in the world" still awaits huge capital investments required for its exploitation. Meanwhile the country must resort to a less profitable process for mixing the extra-heavy crude oil with light crude oils for synthesizing tradable oil, for which is being made necessary to import oil for the first time in the history of Venezuela.

In previous years, high oil prices allowed to make up for and to some extent conceal the growing operating issues, the huge number of activity branches and increased social spending of the state-owned corporation. But, as the saying goes, "you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out".

The oil mess in Venezuela is such that a Bloomberg News report this week describes the dire condition of Lake Maracaibo in Zulia state, also known as the country's "pretty boy", which served as a source of income for Venezuelans.

The report said that the 13,200 square-mile surface area has the appearance of a graveyard for everything "from abandoned pipeline and tires to dreams of Venezuelan prosperity, stands as an emblem of a richly endowed resource nation descending into disarray". It claims that the lake has degenerated into a stew of contaminants that include sulphide, fluoride, kjeldahl nitrogen, detergents, residential chlorine and fecal coliform.

Like many other zones in the country, Lake Maracaibo doesn't escape the control of heavily-armed pirates that attack and raid ships crossing the lake - even those of PDVSA workers - with total impunity.

Destruction, ruin and rampant crime under the sun and moon of Maracaibo.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution Ends up Destroying Lake Maracaibo (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 5, 2015)

On August 6, 2015. VenEconomy: Bad Omen for Venezuela's Healthcare Sector?

Venezuela's healthcare sector has everything to lose in this socialist empire that is destroying the entire country and has the population in a state of anguish and despair.

Last week, the Insurance Activity Superintendency (Sudeaseg) said in a statement that all state and municipal bodies and entities belonging to the National Public Administration with valid health insurance policies issued by private insurance companies "must take steps and fill out the required paperwork so that these can be replaced by insurance companies and healthcare services from the public sector before December 31 2015". As of that date, it is specified that the public sector should "refrain from taking out insurance policies with private insurance companies".

The order is to migrate all public employees to the State's Insurance System and public healthcare services.

With this measure comes into full force the so-called Insurance Activity Act passed on July 29 2010, through which the eighth transitional provision gave a five-year period so that bodies and entities of the State were able to "promote, plan, program and implement the migration processes of officials, employees and workers under their control, to public insurers and the National Public Healthcare System".

First of all, VenEconomy believes that the best guarantee that the insurance system of a country is efficient and fair is that the same responds to forces of supply and demand of the market. In principle it rejects the fact that the State is the one seeking to monopolize the healthcare sector, because the role of the State is to monitor and ensure that the hospital network, outpatient clinics and healthcare centers are operating in good conditions and that these offer top-quality services to the entire population.

That said, it should be noted that in any country where organization, planning and good governance prevail, and whose ultimate goal is the well-being of its population, if the State decided to handle the insurance sector, its duty would have been to work during that period of five years for (1) promoting and reinforcing a fair amount of public insurance companies to compete against each other for the provision of top-quality services for customers and (2) making the hospital network and healthcare centers of the State guarantee the health and lives of all users.

Unfortunately, those ruling Venezuela today don't believe in planning, or are organized people, or think of efficiency or their ultimate goal is the well-being of citizens. This is evidenced by every bad public service provided today in the Venezuela of the "beautiful revolution".

At present, the State only owns three insurance companies to meet the needs of more than 4 million public employees and their families. It is expected that the public healthcare system will collapse in no time. Not to mention the public hospital network and outpatient clinics, because it is enough to visit just one of them to have an idea of the size of the existing disaster.

Just as serious is that the Government is currently developing a strategy to make the private healthcare sector collapse using Machiavellian tactics. Some of them include: the denial or delay of foreign currency allocations so that companies can meet obligations with suppliers abroad; the accumulation of a debt of more than Bs.6 billion ($952 million if calculated at the fictional official rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar) for medical services provided to public sector entities; or the establishment of standards for medical services and laboratories with outdated costs. This, together with other strict laws against private activity, has led to the closure of many clinics in the country.

This unhealthy strategy has led many to think that behind this new legislation lies the ultimate goal of the Government of taking over the entire healthcare sector.

In the end, those who pay for the consequences of this wrong path taken by the Government are the citizens themselves.

See VenEconomy: Bad Omen for Venezuela's Healthcare Sector? (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 6, 2015)

On August 7, 2015. VenEconomy: The 'Trojan Horses' of the Bolivarian Empire

The government of Venezuela has already resorted to all sorts of traps, tricks and machinations in order to remain in power.

The hegemony it has imposed on the country's public authorities has allowed it to have the last word in everything from when, where and how Venezuelans will exercise their right to elect their candidates to hold public office. It also decides who votes, as much as gives itself the right to choose the institutions, both national and international, that it will allow to accompany (not to observe, which is a more complete and binding process) an electoral process and decides which parts of the electoral process will be accompanied.

On top of that, for the upcoming parliamentary election to be held on December 6 of this year, it is determined to decide not only what candidates will be allowed to run for the National Assembly, but what political organization will be left out of the game, and even appears to be looking for loopholes in order to infiltrate "Trojan horses" into the democratic unity.

A ruling by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on July 30 would be aimed at achieving those goals, at imposing an interim measure to (1) remove the current Board of Directors of the Copei opposition party; (2) designate an ad hoc Board of Directors, demanding that this must be presided over by Pedro Urrieta Figueredo, who happened to be the whistleblower that originated the interim measure issued by the TSJ and (3) provide that the nomination of candidates for the December 6 election should be consulted with state boards first.

First of all, the ruling is legally flawed as claimed by Román J. Duque Corredor, a former TSJ judge, who says this is of electoral character and, therefore, the Constitutional Chamber cannot be responsible for its issuance. But, perhaps the most revealing fact is that the ruling stated there were alleged irregularities in the nominations for candidates of Copei in seven states (Anzoátegui, Aragua, Delta Amacuro, Yaracuy, Nueva Esparta, Táchira and Zulia). So assuming that there had been merit to accept the ruling, the Court would have been entitled to issue an order to redo the nominations in those seven states alone, not the entire country.

The ruling has so many irregularities that analysts are convinced that the true intention here was to infiltrate the platform of the Democratic Unity (MUD) party with candidates the Government found "acceptable" (so to speak) to nominate. In other words: "Trojan horses". It's evident that the ruling brings along the danger of opening a breach in the MUD, should party and personal interests come before those of millions of Venezuelans expecting that the December election will mark the beginning of the rescue of democracy.

In the meantime, and understanding the malicious intentions that the Government hides behind this ruling, the MUD unanimously agreed on leaving the 17 candidates of Copei out of the nomination process and remove the party from the opposition platform. A decision that at first sight seems unfair and violating the rights of one of the parties considered a pioneer of democracy in Venezuela.

However, it starts being plausible after analyzing all the reasons put forward by the MUD for making this decision, which is no other than avoiding an eventual "intrusion" from the regime in the electoral option of the Democratic Unity.

Jesús "Chúo" Torrealba, the executive secretary of the MUD, pointed out that when the Copei ad hoc Board of Directors expressed in writing its willingness to support all the nominations made by the previous board, in the small print of the contract said that this Board of Directors was reserved to perform all the modifications that it deemed appropriate. This condition was evidently a risk for the MUD to take, which may be subject to leaks from "fifth columns", especially taking into account that the board was imposed by a public authority of the State, or "imposed by an arm of the regime".

On Thursday, the TSJ tried to repeat the same dirty move by intervening the board of directors of Movimiento de Integridad Nacional (MIN), another opposition party affiliated with the MUD.

Torrealba ratified that the MUD will be forming a cordon sanitaire not against Copei or MIN, but the trap laid by the Government itself.

This ruling corroborates the claims of José Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, that "the Government is using the judiciary as a facade, but the reality is that the Venezuelan judges and prosecutors have become compliant soldiers of the socialist regime".

See VenEconomy: The 'Trojan Horses' of the Bolivarian Empire (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 7, 2015)

On August 10, 2015. VenEconomy: The Goose No Longer Lays "Oil Eggs" in Venezuela

Oil could have been a blessing to Venezuela, but it has not. Especially in the past 14 years, a long period of time when crude oil prices were climbing steadily and the late Hugo Chávez was at the helm of the country.

Those huge resources coming from oil revenues were one of the reasons that allowed Chávez to remain in power.

At the same time, the allocation of oil to countries of the region through generous credit facilities made everyone, including the countries of the region that benefited from the measure and the international community, turn their attention from the process of dismantlement of democracy in Venezuela. Oil allocations made without control, in an abusive way, without any audit process and also with the blessing of the public authorities bowed to the wishes of the Bolivarian process.

Apart from the countless barrels of oil given away to Cuba making it up for the political patronage from Fidel Castro to Chávez, one of the most emblematic allocations in this era of Bolivarian revolution was materialized through Petrocaribe. An alliance in the energy industry, particularly in the oil sector, created by an initiative of Chávez in 2005, through which Caribbean countries were able to buy Venezuelan oil payable in 25 years and at an interest rate between 1-2%, and that also facilitated the construction of refineries, tank farms, oil pipelines and hydroelectric plants in countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The aim of this "policy" was to "buy allegiances" and influence across the region and help Venezuela being elected as a rotating member of the United Nations Security Council. And perhaps it was good for something else back then, too, but is good for nothing in today's reality, especially when Venezuelans find themselves suffering the nasty effects of the shortages of foreign currency due to, among other reasons, a sustained decline in oil prices in a country without international reserves and with an oil industry that doesn't have the capacity of producing efficiently.

Now, international consulting firm TPCG Group claims that the mechanism of Petrocaribe "seems worn out", as reported by local daily El Nacional on Monday. It says that despite the fact that the debt burden has been reduced, there is "nothing much to rescue in terms of cash". It reckons that about $2.3 billion in exports were to be paid via credit, an amount that will not exceed $1.5 billion in 2015.

One aspect of this change of scenario is that Venezuela is starting to evidence that its influence across the region is waning the same way its cash crisis becomes worse and the international reserves dry out.

One example of this is that in light of a new dispute with neighboring Guyana over the Essequibo region, CARICOM member countries have turned their backs on Venezuela to give their support to Guyana - in a very diplomatic manner. This action leaves Venezuela at risk of suffering a diplomatic setback, unless Fidel Castro decides to return the favor that Chávez once did of adopting a common position toward the Essequibo for years.

In short, so much oil given away and pushing the country into debt for a temporary membership in the United Nations Security Council... and many fewer miles of territory in the east side of the country.

See VenEconomy: The Goose No Longer Lays "Oil Eggs" in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 10, 2015)

On August 11, 2015. VenEconomy: Maduro Keeps Making Same Mistakes as Chávez Regarding Venezuela's Electric Sector

When Nicolás Maduro and Jesse Chacón, his Minister of Electric Power, announced at the beginning of 2013 their plan to solve the electricity rationing and blackout issues affecting the population in a timeframe of 100 days, VenEconomy had warned in some of its past editorials that the goal was impossible to achieve and that this was doomed to failure, because they were both making the same mistakes as the predecessor of Maduro, Hugo Chávez.

Two years after this announcement, the reality broadly demonstrated that VenEconomy, and other experts on the topic that made similar forecasts, were right.

It was more than impossible to remedy the delays in the works of some 19 power generation projects back then, especially if the agenda of the Government did not establish as an objective to have a professional management in the electric sector, which would have given priority to technical and technological criteria over the political ones in order to solve the issues in a sustainable manner and with transparency. A management that would have followed a reliable planning process; without allowing the diversion of resources away from its objectives. A management to hire companies to comply with agreements; to pay contractors in time; to bring outdated electric rates for more than a decade into line; to modernize obsolete machinery and to charge public companies for millions in delinquent bills. In a nutshell, to appoint professional managers.

Today nothing has changed, and Maduro is making even worse mistakes.

While blackouts and the electricity rationing continue across the national territory; while disinvestment prevails and political criteria is being applied to the management of the sector, Maduro is making a few changes in the governing bodies of the electric sector.

First of all, he replaced Chacón as head of the National Electricity Corporation (CORPOELEC) with Gen. Luis Motta Domínguez, in accordance with Decree No. 1,914 of the Presidency of the Republic. Which means another strategic move, since Motta Domínguez is a man with little or no experience in the electric sector. But, he left Chacón as Minister of Electric Power, which suggests that the socialist management line will remain unspoiled.

Then he announced that he is to make "strategic electric power decisions" like the establishment of a "Greater Electrical State", which will result increasing the number of bureaucratic entities in the country. This so-called "Greater Electrical State" is an entity that will decide on, learn about and oversee "the status of the electricity situation in times of national crisis or emergency, as much as report the Head of State about the cases of emergency or existing crisis within the electric sector". Perhaps Maduro doesn't remember that three years have passed since he said he was making decisions aimed at fixing the problem, or hasn't realized that the "beautiful" revolution has been incapable of solving the situation of the nation's power grid over the past 17 years.

It's time that he and his team recognize that the pseudo-socialism being imposed in Venezuela has also failed in the management of the electric sector.

See VenEconomy: Maduro Keeps Making Same Mistakes as Chávez Regarding Venezuela's Electric Sector (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 11, 2015)

On August 12, 2015. VenEconomy: Another Political Prisoner of Venezuela's Regime Held under House Arrest

It was learned on Tuesday afternoon that the Trial Court No. 15 granted Daniel Ceballos, the former mayor of the San Cristóbal municipality in Táchira state, a measure of house arrest for health reasons until his trial is done.

As will be recalled, Ceballos was arrested and imprisoned in the military prison of Ramo Verde after the street demonstrations in February 2014. He is being unjustly accused, and without any evidence, of alleged crimes of rebellion and criminal association. Various human rights organizations have raised their voices of protest and issued protective measures in favor of Ceballos, as have with other political prisoners such as Antonio Ledezma, Leopoldo López, Enzo Scarano, among others.

A couple of weeks ago, on Saturday July 25, another political prisoner of the Government, Leocenis García, a journalist and head of editorial group 6to Poder, was also sent home. In the case of García, the transfer was made in quite arbitrary conditions late at night, without a court order and without medical attention, despite his delicate health condition after conducting a hunger strike for 85 days.

It's certainly a relief for Ceballos, García and their beloved ones they can return home and be under the care and warmth of their families.

However, the fact that these citizens were supposed to enjoy full freedom all this time, or ultimately alternative measures to deprivation of liberty, cannot be overlooked. Just like more than a dozen other Venezuelans held under house arrest and nearly a hundred still in prison after being unfairly and arbitrarily prosecuted for political reasons, for expressing in some way their disagreement with the process of communist revolution taking hold in Venezuela. The State had nearly 80 of them held in prison facilities along with highly dangerous people convicted of crimes such as homicide, rape, kidnapping and/or armed robbery, which clearly violates international standards on the treatment of political prisoners.

With these house arrest measures, there is a risk of forgetting the entire issue with regard to the violation of human rights of these Venezuelans, who despite the fact of being with their respective families already, they are not free at all, a right that is guaranteed by both the Constitution of the Republic and universal conventions. There are also the cases of police commissioners Henry Vivas, Lázaro Forero and Iván Simonovis, sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment without any evidence and held under house arrest for health reasons. Sadly, their cases are no longer news not even for the few remaining independent media in the country. Something similar is happening with Ledezma, the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas who was placed under house arrest just a few days before six months of his detention, without a court holding a preliminary hearing.

It turns out that this peace of mind ignores the fact that these Venezuelans and their families continue to be victims of a regime that has embarked on the task of imposing a single way of thinking, an ideology of a socialist homeland that the only thing that has achieved so far is building a large prison in which the population is dying of starvation, rampant crime and sadness.

See VenEconomy: Another Political Prisoner of Venezuela's Regime Held under House Arrest (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 12, 2015)

On August 13, 2015. VenEconomy: BCV Now Gets Blessing from Supreme Court to Hide Venezuela's Economic Data

Each day, with every statement of any official of the Bolivarian revolution or action of any governing body or public authority, it is confirmed that Venezuela has been led to an unsustainable level of degeneration with regard to its justice system and democratic institutions.

Tuesday was the "turn at bat" of the Political and Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
With great impudence, the Chamber issued a ruling (No. 935) to reject a "lawsuit for abstention" against Nelson Merentes, the head of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), for "refraining from releasing major economic data of the country" filed by local NGO Transparencia Venezuela. For "substantiating" its unusual dismissal of the claim, the TSJ said that the plaintiffs had not done enough to obtain from the central bank the required data or that evidence to prove that this NGO had requested the BCV to comply with this duty was put forward.

As Anabella Abadi and Bárbara Lira, two Venezuelan economists, ask the TSJ in a public letter: Must the BCV abide by its obligation to release macroeconomic statistics only when it is explicitly requested?

It turns out that, as recalled by these two economists in their letter, if the Venezuelan State was adhered to the Constitution of the Republic and to legal regulations, the right thing to do for it would be to periodically release the macroeconomic data.

It is worth recalling the three mandates demanding accountability from the BCV and the provision of a responsible, transparent and regular information: (1) Article No. 319 of the Constitution reads as follows: "The Central Bank of Venezuela will be governed by the principle of public responsibility, for which purpose it will be accountable for the actions, goals and outcomes of its policies ..."; (2) Article 31 of the Law on the BCV reads as follows: "The management of the Central Bank of Venezuela will be guided by the principle of transparency. In this regard, and without prejudice to its institutional responsibilities, it must keep informed the National Executive and other State bodies, public and private economic agents, domestic and foreign, and the population on the implementation of its policies, decisions and agreements of its board of directors, reports, publications, research and statistics that will provide the best information on the evolution of the Venezuelan economy in a timely and reliable manner"; and (3) the regulations of the National Consumer Price Index (CPI) that establish that the data of the index "shall be released on a monthly basis within the first ten (10) days of each month".

A public statement by Transparencia Venezuela issued after the ruling said that "the Political and Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, headed by Emiro García Rosas, did not welcome the fact of the absence of economic data on the part of the BCV, thus refusing to penalize the bank for its failure to comply with its duty".

It also added that "unlike the Supreme Court of Justice, which doesn't seem to be aware of the absence of vital economic information, has made it into the Top10 of opacity in the month of July". The inflation rate was ranked first in this Top10 with 63.5% of the votes of more than 200 respondents of an online survey that allows doing this kind of measurement.

It should be noted that the BCV has not presented its annual report to the Parliament since 2012 and is also behind with the information on the CPI since 2014; with the Balance of Payments since the third quarter of 2014; with the GDP and the scarcity index since February 2014 and the core inflation since January 2013, despite the fact that the latter provides a clearer idea of the inflationary context since it excludes those seasonal factors or specific distortions, as much as all the variables that are deemed vital to have a diagnosis of the economy.

Transparencia Venezuela says that "having access to information is a right that implies the possibility to search, receive, disseminate and have all the available information of public institutions. Its limitation has an impact in the lives of citizens in thousands of ways, all negative, among others, it prevents from carrying out assessment and citizen control over the work of their rulers".

In short, this is another carte blanche given to the BCV by the TSJ so it can continue failing to comply with a constitutional mandate and the own Law that regulates its actions.

See VenEconomy: BCV Now Gets Blessing from Supreme Court to Hide Venezuela's Economic Data (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 13, 2015)

On August 14, 2015. VenEconomy: The Other Side of the Coin in Venezuela

When famed Argentine tango singer Carlos Gardel sang the song "Volver" (To Return), he claimed with feeling that "to feel... that life is a puff of wind, that twenty years is nothing".

In the Venezuela of the communist revolution, this song contains a truth and a lie.

A truth because today the lives of Venezuelans, as never before, represent a puff of wind that those in power could not care less about. Firstly, because citizens have been left in the hands of criminals who destroy their lives in any possible way, including breaking into their homes - no matter whether people are inside - with total impunity. Secondly, because the irresponsible rulers of this country care little about the well-being of the population, as demonstrated by the systematic destruction of the productive sector (both public and private) across the national territory, extinguishing inventories of food, medicines, hygiene and cleaning products and/or spare parts of any kind.

On one of the sides of this destruction of the national production system, the first negative impact is received by the business sector, which has invested capital and effort for years in order to generate wealth for the country and create productive and sustainable jobs.

Every day there are reports on an industrial plant closing its doors due to the lack of raw materials or supplies, whose access has been restricted due to the lack of necessary foreign currency to pay for them or for the payment of debts legitimately incurred, a situation that has closed credit lines for local companies abroad.

Among the affected industries are: some plants of Empresas Polar, Alimentos Heinz, Colgate Palmolive, the tuna industry, wheat flour plants, Johnson & Johnson, Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, Rialca, different types of retailers and even small businesses of the tourism sector, which are impacted by the reduction of activities of international cruise liners in Venezuelan ports, as well as international airlines that have canceled or reduced their presence in Venezuela due to the gigantic debt they are owed by the State.

On the other side of the destruction of the productive system are other victims: the workers and their families. These people, at best, are sent home with the payment of their basic salaries, while companies bring their operations to a halt for some time. Even though it represents a cost to companies that are not producing anything, this translates into a loss of some labor benefits related to premiums from different concepts of the employer-worker relationship. If the worst comes to the worst, the definitive shutdown of plants will result in the loss of sources of labor and huge unemployment.

As an example in the tuna sector, it is estimated that the closure of more than 12 companies has resulted in 350 people now going on a work stoppage.

Or the automotive sector, where are at risk some 11,000 direct jobs in three automakers and more than 100,000 indirect jobs in related industries. Or as the case of Margarita Island, where the crisis of the free port business sector is putting 80,000 jobs, direct and indirect, at stake due to the lack of foreign currency to import merchandise.

Not only are the workers of the private sector bearing the brunt of the crisis of Venezuela's productive sector. A small sample of its harmful effects on workers of the public sector was given by Jesús Martínez, the Minister of Labor, who argued a few days ago that the Venezuelan State cannot begin talks about collective bargaining in many companies, because these can't even cover the costs of their current contracts. "If we are not able to pay for current contracts, how are we supposed to begin talks on new ones?"

When there's a confession, you need no proof.

See VenEconomy: The Other Side of the Coin in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 14, 2015)

On August 17, 2015. VenEconomy: More Populism, Demagoguery in Venezuela

The governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro have specialized in creating illusions of prosperity, justice and progress. A cruel practice indeed, because Venezuelans sooner rather than later end up being mugged by reality, as they are forced to face problems they thought were overcome and that now are worse than ever.

One of the most brutal of these practices are the programs offering Venezuelans some sort of university degrees from medicine, law to industrial and oil areas that don't comply with minimum academic standards.

Until now the most emblematic case of them all was that of the "integral communitarian doctors", because their exercise of the medical profession poses a risk to the lives of the population due to their poor training and basic skills.

The complaints on this issue have come from medical associations, professors at schools of medicine, doctors and even the own patients. Many of these integral communitarian doctors have already realized about the structural deficiencies of their professional training. They and their families are seized by emotions such as frustration and disappointment, because they were betting on this program of integral communitarian medicine as a way for their professional training and social promotion.

Apart from the medicine and law training, there is a new career conceived by the Bolivarian revolution: courses in the oil refining area.

Gustavo Coronel published in his blog (Las Armas de Coronel - Diplomados en Refinación: populismo y demagogia cruel), on August 7 an analysis, which will also be published with permission of the author in the August issue of VenEconomy Monthly, on what this kind of diploma means.

The observations of Coronel come after a news report on graduates from a "course in refining engineering" from the so-called Bolivarian University of Workers "Jesús Rivero".

Coronel says that this university was created as "a response to the crisis of capitalism" and grants technical, bachelor's and/or engineering degrees at the so-called National Training Programs.

He points out that this university does not come from an educational approach, but political. Its ultimate goal is to ensure that the working class can "play a leading role" in companies the State calls strategic. Its purpose is clear: to carry out part of the necessary structural changes on a planetary scale.

This university is a tool for the working class to take control of the industry, as has been happening with the disastrous results seen at Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) and other state-owned companies.

Coronel explains that "students are so because they simply want to and professors are so because they feel up to the task. Professors at this university are just regular workers who feel themselves qualified to teach others. Students with technical degrees can be easily promoted to engineers with the nod of the Office of the University Sector Planning (OPSU). There are no university professors per se as each person evaluates themselves and determines their own grades".

In the name of a supposed "democratization of education", the Venezuelan regime has created a university with a few regular workers teaching other workers keen on learning, so they can obtain a bachelor's or engineering degree, since the ultimate goal - expressed as state policy - is to ensure that these workers take managerial and technical control of the companies.

All this is contrasted with the programs of the "democratic and professional PDVSA" that granted scholarships to workers and children of workers for careers of four, five and 10-year terms in the best universities of Venezuela and the world. From there that the "democratic and professional PDVSA" was fully staffed by professionals that were as highly qualified as any others around the world.

He asks the following question: what do Venezuelan educators have to say about this method? Can the "refiners" graduated from this "university" put into operation our refineries that are already in ruins?

Coronel concludes that this "university" represents a further aspect of the great lie of the regime. The great lie is that the training of individuals must go down to the levels of each person, not that each individual must go up to the levels demanded by the training.

This is an act of great irresponsibility.

See VenEconomy: More Populism, Demagoguery in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 17, 2015)

On August 18, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelan Political Parties Fine-Tune Details in their Own Way

It's only 80 days away from the parliamentary elections on December 6, and all political actors in Venezuela are fine-tuning the details for a vital election day that will help set the direction of the country.

On the one hand, there are parties that remain committed to democracy all the way, as is the case of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). The MUD, although suffering the full burden of illegal acts and arbitrariness by Venezuela's ruling elite over the past 15 years, is drawing the constitutional path it will take from here until December 6, with the belief it has an advantage of 20% in popular support over the ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

This way, the MUD published on its website its unified strategy ahead of the parliamentary elections on Monday, while announcing that its campaign known as "Venezuela United" will be headed by the party's executive secretary, Jesús "Chuo" Torrealba, who will be joined by leaders of other opposition parties such as Henry Ramos Allup (Acción Democrática), Julio Borges (Primero Justicia), Enrique Márquez (Un Nuevo Tiempo) and Freddy Guevara (Voluntad Popular). It also reported that it created two other special campaigns "to defend the vote": One in each constituency and one in each voting center across the country. The strategy team is comprised by Henrique Capriles, María Corina Machado, Andrés Velásquez, and a personal representative of Antonio Ledezma, the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas, as well as Liborio Guarulla and Henri Falcon, governors of Amazonas and Lara states, respectively. Ramos Allup will be responsible for the relations with the National Electoral Council (CNE), while Luis Pedro España (a professor at the Andrés Bello Catholic University) will lead a research team for the MUD's campaign.

On the other hand, the CNE is still trying to maintain an institutional appearance by toeing the line on the electoral timetable. But, not everything in the garden is rosy.

No matter how hard the Government tries to keep up the democratic appearances, in the end it always proves otherwise, without accepting changes in power or the right to elect in absolute freedom, in a transparent manner, without any tricks or machinations.

For example, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome by the opposition in all elections of this revolutionary era has been the lack of transparency from the Permanent Electoral Register (REP) that gives the right to vote in every voting process. The scope for discretion of a majority of CNE directors from the ruling party is well known.

On this occasion, the REP is showing an unusual number of voters that reach up to 1.2 million people (6.1% of the total number of voters), who were relocated in states, municipalities, parishes, or even polling stations within their own parishes. Because the parliamentary elections are to be held by electoral districts, it should be remembered that these have an impact on the representativeness of the political forces.

Added to this is the fact that about 1,012 new polling stations have been created, of which 673 are located in communes, unfinished buildings of the Misión Vivienda housing program and areas under the control of paramilitary groups known as "colectivos" or members of the PSUV's Units of Battle Hugo Chávez (UBCh), which originated as a group to defend the Bolivarian Revolution. They represent 7.4% of the voters.

Another fact that has set off the alarms is the mutilation of the REP as part of the effort of the CNE to tilt the balance in favor of the PSUV, which has as a consequence that six states representing 52% of the REP will elect 64 lawmakers, while 18 states (48% of the REP) will elect 100 lawmakers.

To make matters worse, Tibisay Lucena, the head of the CNE, assured that the Venezuelan democracy does not need to be monitored, from there that the parliamentary elections "will not have international observation", but "top-level international accompanying representatives". That is to say, friends of the Bolivarian revolution whose opinions are not binding.

In short, it is clearly seen how a decisive institutional imbalance of forces is created as the parliamentary elections near.

There is a lot of hard work ahead of "Venezuela United".

See VenEconomy: Venezuelan Political Parties Fine-Tune Details in their Own Way (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 18, 2015)

On August 19, 2015. VenEconomy: Winning the Parliament in December is a Must for Venezuelan Opposition

Venezuela is going through an economic catastrophe never seen in its entire history. Venezuelans are in the midst of a whirlwind of crises ranging from food, public health and public safety that have heavily affected their quality of life as never before. This a direct result of the blind obstinacy of a few people to establish a communist system in the country, at the expense of destroying its productive system, collapsing the economy, abandoning the healthcare system and health policies to their fate, corrupting the justice system, abolishing the rule of law and consigning democratic institutions to the dustbin!

The country needs an urgent change of direction by constitutional means in the economic, social and political spheres!

Today, as never before in the past 15 years, that change of direction would be in less than four months from now, when the balance of political representation in the Parliament (aka National Assembly) is changed through an electoral process.

Perhaps many Venezuelans of voting age have not yet realized the vast potential of changing vital aspects in the economic, political and social fields if the democratic option wins by a landslide in the parliamentary election to be held on December 6 of this year.

To begin with, the Parliament's main function of legislating would be restored. Thus eradicating the pernicious Bolivarian habit of delegating its legislative duties to the Executive Branch, by anointing it with enabling powers with which has built up a network of arbitrary and punitive socialist laws keeping businesspeople and the general population in check.

Its control functions over the Government and the National Public Administration will be returned to the Legislative Branch once its autonomy and independence of action are restored, within the terms enforced by the Constitution and the law.

The National Budget Act would also be discussed and analyzed again in order to ensure its transparency and that is in line with a plan for credible and sustainable development. As well as to discuss and analyze all draft laws concerning the tax regime and public credit. Control would be taken over the approval of additional credits, which would be rationally granted if strictly necessary with economic and political criteria, and not with electoral ambitions.

Just to give an idea of the slippage in public spending allowed by a parliamentary majority of the ruling coalition: So far in 2015, public spending rose to Bs.1.334,14 billion, or 79.87% higher than originally stated in the 2015 Budget Act, mainly due to 123 additional credits approved by the National Assembly between January and August 17 of 2015. This represents an increase in approved credits of Bs.316.7 billion (112.4%) compared to the same period in 2014.

A balanced Parliament can take control of the economic and social development plan of the Nation, which has to be submitted by the National Executive during the third quarter of the first year of each constitutional period.

In addition to having the authority to veto the Executive Vice President and ministers with three-fifths of the Parliament members, in the event they fail to comply with their functions or is proved they committed acts of corruption, which would imply their dismissal. As well as serving the interests and autonomy of the states.

In addition to these important functions that can be rescued with the help of an independent Parliament, are the explanations given by various analysts being circulated by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) opposition party to make people aware why the National Assembly must be changed.

This can boost investment and replenish shelves in stores everywhere since, as claimed by Rodrigo Agudo, coordinator of technical support in the agri-food area for the MUD, "a new correlation of forces in the National Assembly would be the first message in the search for restoring confidence and that we are rescuing democracy, the division of powers, in a country where the legislature will not be as it is today: a mere appendage to the will and whims of a government".

See VenEconomy: Winning the Parliament in December is a Must for Venezuelan Opposition (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 19, 2015)

On August 20, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela on the Road to Hell

One of the scenarios projected by VenEconomy in its Economic and Political Outlook for the period 2015-2020 is called "Road to Hell". A road that shows a Venezuela struck by anomie, consumed by poverty, dismantled by a political and social breakdown and that tragically ends up transforming the nation into a living hell.

VenEconomy wishes to be wrong about these projections and that the country will rather take the path to return to normality, the other scenario proposed in the study, one that even though is neither easy nor short, it would save Venezuelans from chaos and destruction.

Unfortunately, the reluctance of the Government to take corrective action, a harsh economic crisis deepening with every day that passes, the impudence of the ruling elite in driving a coach and horses through the state of justice and rule of law with every developing event and the anomie with regard to citizen security, are indications that the road to hell is what the future holds for Venezuelans.

A dark and winding road that any citizen is likely to go through when they least expect it.

This is about the rampant violence and growing insecurity taking over the country at present. Until 2014, the more than 200,000 homicides committed in the country since 1998 were alarming indicators showing that the decomposition of the system of administration of justice and the failure of policies on citizen security had come to an unbearable level. The 25 security plans implemented by the State in those 14 years were useless, as much as the 15 ministers of Interior, Justice and Peace. Each year thousands of victims have been added to the death toll of dangerous criminals, with 2014 ending with more than 24,000 homicides, representing more than a thousand deaths than the previous year, and making Venezuela one of the top countries with more violence and insecurity around the world.

Now it turns out that the violent events so far in 2015 are much worse in terms of dehumanization and perversity than those seen in the past. Since the beginning of this year, the body parts of dismembered people that had been previously murdered began to appear in Caracas and other cities of the interior. The last such case was recorded during the first week of August, when the body of a dismembered woman identified as Liana Hergueta was found inside a vehicle in an area of Caracas.

This fact alone should be a call to reflection and an appeal to the consciences of those ruling the country. They should start seriously thinking about why four simultaneous security plans are not working at all, while violence rages on and gives no peace to citizens, who are already spending their days between hunger and insecurity.

However, the Government, rather than acting wisely, has not come up with anything better than politicizing this particular crime, trying to win back popular support, by involving some leaders of the Venezuelan opposition (among them, Oscar Iván Zuluaga, Henrique Capriles, María Corina Machado, Enrique Mendoza, Miguel Henrique Otero, Gaby Arellano and Richard Blanco); and external agents such as former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Republican Congressman Marco Rubio and Phil Laidlaw, the chargé d'affaires of the U.S. government in Venezuela. Its accusations are based on alleged statements by the suspected murderer of Ms. Hergueta, who would be claiming to have received funding and paramilitary training from all these people.

Accusing everyone for fictitious facts or inexplicable crimes has already become a hackneyed argument, used by the Government when it wants to divert the attention of the public opinion and the population so they don't see all the actions of the Bolivarian revolution taking the country down to hell.

Venezuelans will have an extraordinary opportunity to put the country back on the road of respect for the rule of law, justice, freedom and peace with their vote at the next parliamentary election to be held on December 6 of this year.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela on the Road to Hell (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 20, 2015)

On August 21, 2015. VenEconomy: When Amorality Gets Hold of Power in Venezuela

The history of mankind is littered with examples of barbarity from people who believe are above the law when in power.

Hitler, Stalin, Qaddafi, Al Bashir, Kim Jong-Il and the Castro brothers are only six of these "gods of mud" that come to mind. Today it is well known the millions of lives lost because of them, without a trace of remorse or mercy.

In Venezuela, Juan Vicente Gómez, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Hugo Chávez believed they were above the law as well.

Chávez, for example, saw himself as a divine messenger, the savior of the homeland of Simón Bolivar, deciding whose basic civil and political rights he was going to curtail and who was allowed to get away with murder, as he took the reins of the economy, politics and social factors in Venezuela.

A malignant tumor took him to the grave, but before that he passed the culmination of his work onto his "heir", Nicolás Maduro, which is the destruction of a country that never saw its citizens hate each other, or the indescribable sadism of a violent criminality that is barely starting to show its face, not even in the country's worst dictatorships of the past.

With absolute astonishment, the world is beginning to realize the level of cynicism, perversion and amorality from the Venezuelan government to crush those opposing it and cling to power.

The heinous crime of Liana Hergueta, a 53-year-old Venezuelan woman, whose dismembered body was found inside a vehicle in Caracas, has served to expose the moral depravity of those who govern the country today.

And it was Maduro who made it all possible when, through the media network that supports the communicational hegemony of the Bolivarian government, presented a video as evidence in which the self-confessed murderer of Hergueta, José Pérez Venta (who supposedly enrolled in the ruling party PSUV and was used to infiltrate the opposition) served as a "witness" to accuse more than a dozen political leaders of the opposition for "promoting criminal violence", as well as pointing to a few U.S. senators and former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe as responsible for financing the protests staged in the country in 2014.

Is it wise and ethical for a ruler to respond to statements of a self-confessed criminal, who has also been confirmed to be a "cooperating patriot" (those snitches formed under a decree-law enacted under the Special Powers Act against Organized Crime, and that anonymously have sent many Venezuelans to prison under false charges), who extorted and conned unsuspecting people with the purchase/sale of foreign currency?

This kind of amoral behavior is not original from the government of Maduro. It was previously seen with that of Chávez and not one, but several unfortunate bloody events.

One of the most emblematic was the case of police commissioners Iván Simonovis, Henry Vivas, Lázaro Forero and a few Metropolitan Police officers, who were sentenced after a long trial, and without any evidence, for the bloody events that took place between April 11 and April 12 of 2002 in Caracas. It should be remembered that Eladio Aponte Aponte, a former judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, confessed under oath in a U.S. court that he had forged the case files of the commissioners by order of the Presidency so they could be indicted.

There is also the murder case of Danilo Anderson, the star prosecutor of the Bolivarian revolution. The crime remains unsolved nearly 11 years later. A particular case demonstrated the levels of perversity of the Attorney General's Office, which presented a false witness (Giovanni Vázquez de Armas, a Colombian citizen with a criminal record for fraud of identity) who publicly acknowledged that he was paid for statements incriminating individuals linked to the opposition, as is the case of journalist Patricia Poleo and businessman Nelson Mezerhane.

There is an urgent need to put an end to this moral breakdown of justice and the Government, otherwise the country will plunge into even greater misery.

Today, more than ever, morals and enlightenment are Venezuela's top priorities.

See VenEconomy: When Amorality Gets Hold of Power in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 21, 2015)

On August 24, 2015. VenEconomy: The Dark Side of the Colombia-Venezuela Border

Soaring Inflation! Widespread shortages! Rampant crime! Oil prices slump! International reserves on the brink of extinction! These should be the headlines in the national press today.

Or might as well be: popular rejection of Nicolás Maduro rises to 80%!

But, Maduro has shifted his focus from these vital issues affecting the entire population to the Colombia-Venezuela border, by closing it after a very confusing armed confrontation episode, which left three soldiers and a civilian wounded. According to some reports, the shooting was an isolated incident; according to others, the soldiers tried to intercept a truck loaded with basic goods being smuggled into Colombia. Others speak of conflicts between narco-military groups.

Well then, this is an episode that should have been investigated by Venezuelan authorities within Venezuela, because - at least at first - there was no indication of the involvement of Colombians in the armed confrontation. Or, assuming that "bachaqueros" (illegal resellers of goods) of Colombian origin had been responsible for the incident, should have been resolved through diplomatic and investigation channels between the two governments.

But it was not like that. Maduro took advantage of the situation to declare a state of emergency in five municipalities of Táchira state with the suspension of six constitutional guarantees (free transit, the inviolability of the home, the inviolability of personal communications, right to assembly, right to peaceful demonstration and right to exercise economic activities with freedom), as much as the closure of the border with Colombia until further notice, or "until everything comes back to normal in Venezuela", as pointed out by Maduro himself.

It should be remembered that the Colombia-Venezuela border is the most extensive Venezuela has at territorial (1,379 miles) and the population level. It is also the busiest border accessed by nationals of both nations and where important trade takes place. A very extensive border that has become a hot spot for the relaxation of controls by command posts, widespread corruption, smuggling activities, drug trafficking, white slave trade, a crossing point for members of the FARC and the ELN, and illegal deals of all kinds. All these issues, extensively documented with hard evidence and videos broadcast by the national (when there was still a bit of freedom of information left in the country) and international media, have never been addressed by neither the late Hugo Chávez nor Maduro.

It should also be remembered that this is the second time in less than two months that Maduro is looking to generate a conflict with a neighboring country. In the first one, when he had the border reopened with a very bad strategy and worst tactic, the territorial dispute with Guyana over the Essequibo region did not receive the support of those countries that got subsidized oil at cheap prices for so many years.

It seems that the goal now is similar to that of the dispute with Guyana, that is to say, to distract the Venezuelan population from internal problems taking great political toll, and try to capitalize on the nationalist sentiment for their candidates running for the Parliament. Not in vain the Government is reveling in the fact that the products that were scarce just few days ago have started reappearing since the border closure.

It is also argued that this is a test that might be applied throughout the country on the eve of the parliamentary elections, if the number of voters are still not reconciled in favor of the candidates of the ruling party, so elections can be suspended until further notice by the National Electoral Council (CNE), or the Supreme Court.

But also according to unofficial reports this is about a measurement of forces between the Army and National Guard cartels for the control of drug trafficking in the border.

Whatever the reason and goals, the darkest side of this Colombia-Venezuela border issue is the serious violation of human rights this state of emergency is promoting. On this occasion the victims are the Colombian nationals in Venezuela, who are being deported without reason or notice, dragging them out of their homes, disintegrating families and destroying their property. By the way, this is a xenophobic practice being carried out since last year, with a low profile but in a systematic manner taking Colombians, both legal and illegal, back into their country of origin in buses.

Who wins what in this latest border bravado of Maduro? Certainly not the Venezuelans.

See VenEconomy: The Dark Side of the Colombia-Venezuela Border (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 24, 2015)

On August 25, 2015. VenEconomy: Crisis in Venezuela Likely to Worsen Further After Slump in Oil Prices

Venezuela, a country that boasts having the world's largest oil reserves in the world, is now in ruins, literally speaking, despite having enjoyed a winning streak due to a sustained boom in crude oil prices for more than a decade.

A "winning" streak during the worst possible moment in the history of the country, when a ruling elite used the resources for (1) establishing a political-social and economic project demonstrably failed in other times and latitudes; (2) buying allegiances within the region and fund similar projects in other countries of the hemisphere; and (3) feeding the hunger for easy riches of its national and foreign counterparts.

A winning streak it also took advantage of for dismantling the private productive sector through expropriations, confiscations and the criminalization of the private sector, under the protection of socialist laws passed without consultation from the parliamentary arena, betting that the nation's huge oil revenues would allow imports in bulk without taking into account that the good streak would be over any time soon. A long period that marked the deprofessionalization of state-run oil company PDVSA, as the State stopped investing in technology, maintenance, new equipment and industrial safety plans. Those were years in which the raison d'être of PDVSA was set aside to make it the financier of all the failed populist programs created from Cuba thought up for electoral reasons. A fact of particular importance today is the third anniversary of a huge blast in the Amuay refinery (Falcón state) caused by the lack of maintenance that left 42 people dead.

Then came 2014 and, with it, a decline in oil prices at global level. The entry to the gas and oil shale market of the U.S. increased supply, thus pushing prices lower. To this is added the fact that Saudi Arabia decided to stop being the "needle of the scale" and did not cut its output or reduced OPEC quotas.

This represented bad news for the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, which unexpectedly encountered empty public coffers, with an oil company that doesn't produce enough oil to meet the country's demand for commodities, with a dismantled productive sector and without resources or supplies to get things started and a large part of it in the hands of a monopolist, incompetent and corrupt state. To make the long story short, 2014 was a terrible year for both PDVSA and the country.

What's worse is that things are a whole lot worse in 2015. Reports that things are going from bad to worse don't stop coming in. For example, news that Iran will start competing in the market with its own oil once the sanctions for being an outlaw State are lifted. Or news that the economy of its highest bidder, the Communist Republic of China, is decelerating and that at the same time is affecting the economies of dozens of countries exporting to China.

Oil prices fell to their lowest level in more than six years on Monday. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 5.46% and closed at $38.24 per barrel, below $40 per barrel. Taking into account its usual differential compared to the OPEC barrel, it is estimated that the Venezuelan barrel was only $34 per barrel. Monday's price represents a third of the average price of 2014 and very far from the $ 100-per-barrel mark that both Chávez and Maduro had squandered until recently.

There is great uncertainty today with respect to how long the low prices streak is going to last, or how low world oil prices are going to get, in particular those of Venezuela. The size of the economic and social catastrophe will largely depend on this.

This is because Maduro still refuses to apply the required adjustment measures. On the contrary, he is making things worse with his announcement of a "Pilot Project" to comply with Chávez's "Plan for the Homeland", in which workers will take control of the operations of companies.

Everything indicates that he will stick to his failed communist model, which is sending the entire country straight down to Hell.

See VenEconomy: Crisis in Venezuela Likely to Worsen Further After Slump in Oil Prices (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 25, 2015)

On August 26, 2015. VenEconomy: Border Closure Decision by Venezuela's Maduro has Neither Form nor Substance

The decision of the government of Nicolás Maduro in having the Colombia-Venezuela border closed last Friday makes no sense at all.

To begin with, the spark that set fire to the measure supposedly owed to a small skirmish.

Rumor has it that on August 19 unidentified people opened fire against an army vehicle circulating near the border with Colombia in Táchira state, an incident that left three soldiers and one civilian wounded. The circumstances that led to the confrontation remain unknown at present, as much as the military component the soldiers belong to, the identities of the civilians, and the health status of those affected.

But, whatever the answer, what nobody seems to understand is why a confrontation that took place within the borders of Venezuela ended up with the closure of the border with Colombia.

Nor is it understandable the disproportionate reaction by Maduro, who aggressively said on Tuesday that "until we restore a minimum of coexistence, respect for legality, life and the economy, the border shall remain closed, ladies and gentlemen. And it shall remain closed, no matter what they say in Bogotá or Cúcuta. I give a damn what they say about me".

It is clear that the error of approach from the Maduro government in attacking a structural and essential problem such as that of the border areas, with both Colombia and Brazil, in no-man's lands, where illicit activities of all kinds take place under the protection of corrupt military and civilian officials of the countries involved. A problem whose solution lies in bilateral agreements, strong and transparent decisions of the governments, the establishment of clear rules of the game to the economic actors, and economic and social balances in the population living there. It takes diplomatic solutions without hiding anything.

Even less understandable is a decree of an indefinite state of emergency published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette of Friday August 21, subsequently endorsed in extraordinary session of the Parliament held in Táchira state on Tuesday. A state of emergency that curtails six constitutional political, economic and social rights of citizens that live in the area, and that is taking a dangerous turn to promote human rights violations of both Venezuelan nationals and Colombians.

The media in Colombia (where there is freedom of reporting) and social networks have documented the allegations of serious violations of universal human rights against the population affected by the state of emergency, especially Colombians in legal or illegal state.

This new outrage of the Bolivarian government has reached such a level that Alejandro Ordóñez, the Attorney General of Colombia, told the press on Tuesday that "the actions of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro against Colombian citizens are considered a systematic attack on civilians".

Ordóñez said that the complaints received "have the characteristics described in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as they represent a persecution of a group or community with own identity, in this case, the Colombian nationality, since it includes acts of deportation or forcible transfer of population, incarceration or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, sexual abuse, forced disappearance of persons and inhuman acts that intentionally cause suffering and undermine the integrity of the people."

And should these actions continue "they could be treated as crimes against humanity and within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court".

But, it seems that the Venezuelan "revolutionaries" are turning a deaf ear to these alerts, since they are now opening the doors for new state of emergency measures and close other border crossing points in Zulia and Apure states.

The ambition to cling to power blinds and makes it impossible to observe the norms of coexistence of form and substance.

See VenEconomy: Border Closure Decision by Venezuela's Maduro has Neither Form nor Substance (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 26, 2015)

On August 27, 2015. VenEconomy: Meanwhile, Inside Venezuela

With a state of emergency decreed in six municipalities of Táchira state, the closure of the border with Colombia, the collapse [demolition] of houses and the nonsense deportation of Colombians living in the area, Nicolás Maduro and his people are showing the world their true dictatorial nature and contempt for human rights.

A nature that, by the way, thousands of Venezuelans have suffered for more than a decade.

That dictatorial nature of the Maduro/Castro government does not tolerate the political dissidence, and those who dare to express it in public are subject to persecution, forced into exile or convicted for crimes made up by a justice system not at the service of the law, but at the feet of a spurious and failed political process.

One of the most emblematic cases is that of political leader Leopoldo López, who has been doing time for a year and a half in the military prison of Ramo Verde, charged with "public incitement, criminal association, property damage and arson" after inciting his followers through "subliminal" speeches so they could commit these crimes.

On Monday August 31 begins the completion phase of López's judicial process that may come to an end in 15 days with a first instance judgment.

A process that begins with the ruling of the presiding judge of "doing without" a part of the evidentiary material presented by the defense lawyers and the Prosecutor's Office.

According to the complaints from the lawyers of López, the trial has been unfair, illegitimate and vitiated of illegalities.

They start from the same core of the indictment of the Public Ministry, in the opinion of the Public Prosecutor's Office were the speeches delivered by López on 01/23/14, 02/02/14 and 02/12/14, which in the opinion of the Prosecutor incited his followers to stage the street demonstrations last year. But, paradoxically, these speeches have not been accepted to be submitted at the trial as evidence of the defense. As López has claimed on several occasions to the judge, "How can you convict me for my words if you don't even know them?"

Sources say that was the own Maduro who ordered the capture of López on February 13 of 2014 "for his alleged involvement in cases of severe injury, homicide and terrorism that took place the previous Wednesday", without there being a previous investigation of the crimes López was accused of.

Among other irregularities are 1) that the trial judge and the Court of Criminal Cassation of the Supreme Court (TSJ) have persistently refused to incorporate elements of evidence; 2) that part of the evidentiary material of the Prosecutor has "disappeared", and what has "disappeared" was subsequently incorporated in the trial in a fraudulent manner; (3) that there was military interference in the courtroom; 4) that the defense was banned from entering electronic equipment and "the access to the media, international observers, or López's fellow members from the Voluntad Popular party was not allowed, even for an oral and public trial".

These rigged trials, this persecution against those who disagree with the process, this siege against the private sector activity, these expropriations without limits, are part of the same outrages and illegalities seen in the Colombia-Venezuela border today. And there is more to come...

See VenEconomy: Meanwhile, Inside Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 27, 2015)

On August 28, 2015. VenEconomy: Colombia Border Conflict Backfiring on Venezuela's Maduro

Nicolás Maduro and his relations with the neighboring countries of Venezuela continue to go through a rough patch.

He did not fare well on a dispute with Guyana over the Essequibo region as it did not produce the expected results, or from his CARICOM "friends" or the UN, having to take back his Decree No. 1,859 with which he was to create the so-called Operational Area of Comprehensive Defense for Maritime and Island Sectors (Zodimain).

The latest border conflict episode with Colombia seems not to be producing the expected results for the Venezuelan government, either, as deduced from the facts of the inexplicable three-point closure of the Colombia-Venezuela border in Táchira state, and the decree of a state of emergency in six municipalities of that same state, as well as the dehumanized deportation (and forced return) of Colombian citizens.

The opinion emerging at international level is that the government of Maduro is suffering from a strong despotism that disrespects the human rights of both Venezuelan nationals and Colombians and has no diplomatic restraint with its most significant neighboring State.

Besides that, the disproportionate and aggressive treatment given to Colombians living in the area has awakened the spirit of nationalism in Colombia and the move has been rejected almost unanimously by all the political and economic sectors of that nation.

On Wednesday, former Colombian president and former OAS head, César Gaviria, surprised the public opinion with a strong statement by calling on national unity, claiming that a Venezuelan president had never offended both Colombia and its citizens so much in 200 years, making it clear that Colombia was not going to be harassed this way, and that he would exhaust all diplomatic channels of International Law. In addition to rubbing salt in Maduro's wound after saying that he has not been capable of managing his country and that he is blaming Colombia for it. It is especially surprising from Gaviria this clear position given that, as much as an electoral observer during the recall referendum in 2004 and throughout his OAS presidency, his public and notorious benevolence towards the government of Hugo Chávez.

For his part, the also former president of Colombia Andrés Pastrana requested Juan Manuel Santos, the current Colombian president, to seriously assess the role of Venezuela during the peace talks with FARC because he believes that the Government "is morally and ethically unfit to exercise its accompanying function".
Another mishap in this conflict has been the little diplomatic professionalism shown by Venezuelan authorities, including allegations that Maduro has not responded to the calls of Santos.

Frictions are so strong that a meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries on Wednesday did not subside the chaos and an agreement was not reached on the two conditions that, according to Maduro, were imposed by Venezuela to lift the closure of the border: 1) that the government of Colombia forbids attacks on the bolívar currency and (2) that the government of Colombia bans sales on Venezuelan products smuggled into the country. But, according to unofficial versions, the biggest hurdle would be in a third condition: that the government of Colombia forbids extraditions of drug traffickers to the U.S.

The situation was further aggravated when, according to statements by the Ombudsman of Colombia, neither he nor the consul of Colombia in Venezuela were allowed to visit the areas of eviction and demolition of homes of their own fellow countrymen.

And things heated up even further when Santos announced in a press conference that he was recalling his ambassador in Venezuela, Ricardo Lozano, as he called a meeting with representatives of the political parties and his ministers and requested an emergency meeting with members of Unasur and the OAS to find a way out of the border crisis.
The response of Maduro was also to recall his ambassador in Bogotá, Iván Rincón.

From there the breaking of diplomatic relations may be just a step away, while the international arena condemns the acts of the Government for the pictures of children, the elderly, women, men and their pets carrying their belongings on their backs while leaving the Venezuelan territory all terrified, bringing to mind the Jews in the era of Adolf Hitler.

See VenEconomy: Colombia Border Conflict Backfiring on Venezuela's Maduro (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 28, 2015)

On August 31, 2015. VenEconomy: Disinformation, Unconfirmed Reports and Rumors in Venezuela

In today's Venezuela, only a few know for certain what is going on in the country. This is valid in all circumstances and on each and every sector of national life.

No one knows, for example, the real figures of the performance of the economy or the production of state-run oil company PDVSA.

No one knows for certain about the level of literacy of the population, or how many Venezuelans are living in a state of poverty, or how bad the scarcity levels are, or how many houses have been built by the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela housing program, or how many Venezuelans are surviving in shelters, or the number of homicides, kidnappings or robberies.

There are no official figures of the diaspora bleeding dry the country of new and old talents, or the young people dropping out of school. Even less is known the current number of Venezuelans out of a job.

For nearly 17 years now, the Government has taken care of manipulating the nation's official statistics to serve the Bolivarian revolution and display a facade of social and economic welfare that every Venezuelan prove to be untrue with each day that passes.

Venezuela is a country where opacity prevails, meaning that the lack of transparency never keeps corruption in check.

A country where it is impossible to learn the truth from the sources; where journalists are kicked out of the scene as events develop; where the working material of photojournalists is taken from them; and where a tweet may get you a ticket to jail or, in the best of the cases, precautionary measures of house arrest or reporting regimes to a court of justice.

It is a country where the Government owns the news media network (television, radio and print). A hegemonic network that has been built with deception, through the expropriation of the public airwaves; of laws that intimidate the few private media that still survive; of pressures and auto-pressures of private advertisers; of the refusal of State entities to provide advertising slots to media outlets with an editorial line contrary to the interests of the Bolivarian revolution.

A Government that monopolizes the distribution of newsprint and exercises a discretionary control to allocate foreign currency for the purchase of newsprint, ink, or spare parts for the printing press, which forces the reduction of circulation, the size and format of the largest newspapers and magazines of the country or its regions. And that has also blocked the access to international news channels as Colombia's NTN24 and Fox News, and that has a sword of Damocles hanging over CNN en Español.

A Government that makes use of public authorities for criminal prosecution and for imposing pecuniary sanctions on media directors and executives, who are subjected to audits and lawsuits for just about any reason the Bolivarian authorities may come up with. A case in full development is a costly lawsuit by Diosdado Cabello, the head of the Parliament and second strongman of the Bolivarian pseudo-revolution, against 17 shareholders and directors of local dailies El Nacional and Tal Cual as well as the news website La Patilla for alleged defamation. The trial against these people is owed to the reproduction of information from a journalistic research that appeared in the international press quoting the name of Cabello, who is allegedly linked to corruption, drug trafficking and money laundering activities. According to unofficial reports, Cabello would be demanding Bs.1.0 billion in claims for damages against him from each of these three media outlets (that is to say, sufficient to force them into bankruptcy).

A wall of silence and disinformation has been built in Venezuela in nearly 17 years of Bolivarian revolution through illegalities, arbitrariness and authoritarianism. A country where it is not known for certain when and where the last president in office died, or the real birthplace of his successor. A country where citizens live between unconfirmed reports, rumors, and official government-level denials causing fear and anxiety, as has been happening a few days ago in the border of Venezuela with Colombia located in Táchira state. But, perhaps on this occasion with the presence of independent foreign media and an international community paying closer attention to the situation in Venezuela, it will be harder for the government of Maduro to conceal its dictatorial outrages.

See VenEconomy: Disinformation, Unconfirmed Reports and Rumors in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, August 31, 2015)

On September 1, 2015. VenEconomy: While the World Moves Forward, Venezuela Takes a Huge Step Back

Venezuela today is a country adrift, detached from a community of countries whose goal is progress, the application and development of technology in search of a better quality of life for its citizens.

In every private conversation with friends, family and clients; in every forum where citizens converge in search of answers about their future and the future of the country; in every opinion article or radio comments concerns arise about the loss of values and principles in Venezuela. It is - also - perceived that in every area, every segment of the national life there is no longer a direction to follow, that the hope of development and collective progress is a pipe dream today.

Gustavo Roosen, the former Minister of Education in the Venezuela of the 20th century, explained this issue in an excellent article written for the web site www.Envenezuela1.com [Mientras el mundo avanza].
Roosen said that there are moments in which the amazement at the immense possibilities that innovation opens up to society crashes against the feeling of a "lost train" and the confirmation of a state of affairs that looks more like paralysis than progress itself.

He named Silicon Valley as an example of this perception of reality, where "it not only surprises for the innovative and feverish activity of information technology companies, but for focusing their efforts on the popularization of these technologies and their effective implementation in the life of people, their economy, healthcare and education. For this reason, if there is really a revolution in progress, it is the digital one, that of Internet and the new technologies capable of changing the lives of people, social relationships and even the concepts of communication, training, participation, among others".

He claimed that it was "clear that the access to new technologies has become the new measure of development", as "countries like New Zealand have understood, where 20,000 balloons that will rise to the stratosphere are being installed to provide large populations with access to Internet service at faster speeds than the current ones".

He also explained that, as India and Sri Lanka are doing already, "by taking advantage of technologies already available and in strategic alliance with the companies that promote them, these countries are developing three initiatives to put innovation in favor of health. Diabetes, the changes in blood pressure and asthma will have a new monitoring and control model particularly useful for prevention". Or as "education initiatives multiply", taking the Khan Academy, founded by Salman Khan, an American of Asian origin (his mother from India and father from Bangladesh) as an example".

He explained that this is "a web site with more than 4,300 free learning courses in video format with Spanish and Portuguese translations already under way. Founded in 2006, the Khan Academy has more than 6 million users in over 200 countries".

Roosen pointed out that these "experiences illustrate a world that is moving forward, but above all the positive effect of the confluence of innovators, entrepreneurs, civil society and responsible for the design and implementation of public policies. They illustrate a type of innovator with their minds at the service of society, an entrepreneur model willing to support initiatives with social content and leaders capable of understanding the dynamics of the present and to call for cooperation and productive work. When this integration is achieved there is a place for hope and optimism".

But, as Roosen concludes, "this is unfortunately not the case of today's Venezuela where, according to recent surveys, 81.6% of the population perceives the situation of the country as negative, 80% considers the economic model as wrong and a high percentage is expressing their support to private companies and their rejection to the attempt from the State to stifle them".

And he is right when saying that "in countries where breakthroughs occur, their leaders are looking for something very different than right-now attitudes, backwardness and pugnacity" in which Venezuelans find themselves stuck in today.

See VenEconomy: While the World Moves Forward, Venezuela Takes a Huge Step Back (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 1, 2015)

On September 2, 2015. VenEconomy: To Import or Produce Vehicles in Venezuela?

It has not been a dilemma for the governments of the "beautiful" revolution that took office more than 16 years ago in Venezuela to decide whether they prefer domestic production over bulk imports of everything the country demands for its survival.

Sustained oil prices above $100 per barrel for many years, together with a project for a country that goes against private sector activities, tipped the balance in favor of a cutthroat import policy in detriment of an entire national productive sector. The consequences are there for all to see: domestic production is a mess. It is already inexistent even in areas where Venezuela was self-sufficient before or was gaining strength as an exporter.

The auto sector is one of them suffering the consequences of those policies that disrupted the industrial apparatus of the country. A sector with a high labor demand and promoter of related industries generating productivity that today finds itself on the brink of survival and the closure of production lines due to the lack of foreign exchange for the import of parts and auto parts for the production and assembly of vehicles within the country, together with a set of laws restricting operations and competitiveness.

Today, the four largest automakers in Venezuela (Ford, Chrysler, General Motors and Toyota) are at risk of bringing their operations to a halt due to the lack of raw materials. For example, General Motors has reportedly sent some 2,600 workers to their homes on a forced "vacation" due to zero inventories of raw materials for the assembly of motor vehicles. From January and until August 14, the company barely assembled 4,400 units at its Valencia plant in Carabobo state (15.71% of its installed capacity of 4,000 units per month). For its part, Ford Venezuela has no production schedule for November and December of this year, Gilberto Montoya, the secretary-general of the company's trade union, told the press. About 500 F-350 trucks will be assembled in September, while October will see less than 30 Explorer trucks. In 2015, the company has worked at less than 20% of its full capacity. This is just to mention the situation of only two of the four automakers.

The eventual shutdown of operations of these four automakers would mean:
1) A drop of about 80% of the automotive sector production in the country.
2) The loss of some 11,000 direct jobs generated by these four automakers, and more than 100,000 indirect from related industries.
3) Hundreds of auto dealers going out of business.

Not to mention the critical situation of Rialca (previously Rualca, a manufacturer of alloy wheels expropriated by the Government in June 2008) that is barely operating at 5% of its capacity and currently producing 6,000 units per month, which means a drop of 95% with respect to the 126,000 alloy wheels per month it manufactured before passing to the hands of the State. More than half of its machinery are inoperative due to a lack of spare parts.

Therefore, it is cause for indignation the announcement of the Government that it will import from China some 20,000 vehicles to be used as taxis between this month and mid-2016. These are vehicles that could perfectly be produced in the country. What is more: the "local content" of the vehicles produced is 38%. In other words, for every $100 being spent on the import of these taxis, the country could save $38 while generating both production and employment in the vast sector of local producers of parts and components for vehicles.

And from there the rationale of the call of both employers and trade unions from the auto sector to the Government so that it stops the imports of vehicles, and that the foreign currency for said purpose is allocated to assembly lines in order to produce vehicles locally; also that restrictive policies are relaxed so that the sector can be reactivated, jobs are created and the leakage of foreign exchange is stopped.

See VenEconomy: To Import or Produce Vehicles in Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 2, 2015)

On September 3, 2015. VenEconomy: Is the Joy of Venezuela's Maduro Temporary?

Nicolás Maduro and what is left of Venezuela's ruling elite still believe they can get away with it, out of the reach of the national and international justice.

They may have reasons for that, if we took into account that Maduro seems to have beaten Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos during a recent OAS meeting of foreign ministers. That was the first scenario where the clarification of the Colombia-Venezuela border situation was being sought, a situation in which the despotism of the criminal government of Maduro with multiple violations of human rights against Colombians and Venezuelan nationals became evident.

During the meeting called by Santos as a matter of urgency, once again it deprived the political and economic interest of many of its governments - especially those of Unasur and CARICOM - as Colombia's proposal was turned down by a single vote after not having obtained the 18 needed.

The proposal got backing from 17 foreign ministers, including that of Colombia, and two governments that had close ties with the Venezuela of the late Hugo Chávez (Chile and El Salvador). Colombia was voted against by five countries - obviously including Venezuela - and foreign ministers of the governments with a close bond to the Maduro government (Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Haiti) and had 11 abstentions, among them, from two unconditional countries with the Chávez government (Brazil and Argentina) plus Panama, which was the surprise vote that saved Maduro's day. The truth is that Venezuela got away with it, for now, and the crisis will be "discussed" at Unasur, which already announced it will be sending a "commission" to see the events taking place at the border.

It can be said that Santos had a taste of his own medicine, and perhaps he even recalled the many times he supported the Bolivarian revolution with his vote to put off debates on the situation of human rights, political prisoners and the political situation in Venezuela. The most recent was on March 14 of 2014, when with his vote he prevented a presentation of the then-lawmaker María Corina Machado, who was trying to warn about the situation in Venezuela.

What Maduro did not seem to expect was the prompt response of Santos, who that same night at a press conference with the national and international press gave a clear message of rejection to the decision of the foreign ministers and announced that he will take the border issue to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and several other international bodies if necessary. He even announced that the Attorney General's Office of Colombia, with its own autonomy, was collecting the proper evidence and was seriously considering to accuse the Maduro government of crimes against humanity.

If the ruling of the Attorney General of Colombia is successful, things may go bad for Maduro, José Gregorio Vielma Mora (the governor of Táchira state) and everyone else involved in these dramatic and violent days of mass deportation of Colombian citizens.

It should be noted that if a complaint on charges against humanity is made before the IACHR, the defendants would be natural persons (that is to say, Maduro and everybody else directly involved in violations of human rights at the Colombia-Venezuela border). This would be so because according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 25. Individual criminal responsibility), the Court only has jurisdiction to adjudicate crimes committed by natural persons, not States or governments.

It must be added that such a narrow vote is an unprecedented fact in a OAS under the control of Chávez, which is a defeat for the hegemony of the Venezuelan government. This could mean that things may not turn out so well for Maduro and his gang in the long term.

Let's also keep in mind that the Government's "checkbook" to continue buying allegiances is not so full of petrodollars anymore. It shouldn't be overstepping the mark for its own good.

See VenEconomy: Is the Joy of Venezuela's Maduro Temporary? (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 3, 2015)

On September 4, 2015. VenEconomy: The Absurdity of the Facts Taking Place in Venezuela

It's insane when we read the news or hear statements and announcements from the ruling elite that has taken hold of power in Venezuela.

For example, how can there be even a small degree of sanity left in this country when we learned that President Nicolás Maduro, his foreign minister and a bunch of bureaucrats have taken off for Vietnam and China in the middle of a border crisis with Colombia for its arbitrary closure, a declaration of a state of emergency and mass deportations of Colombians citizens and its consequences related to violations of human rights.

Particularly when Maduro, the foreign minister and other officials may be about to be tried in The Hague for crimes against humanity. The reasonable thing to do would have been staying in Venezuela trying to fix the blunder at the border, which will leave negative human, social, political and economic consequences for both Colombians and Venezuelans.

Such nonsense is further aggravated after learning that one of the first "achievements" during the trip to Vietnam was having agreed on "a powerful productive alliance" between the two governments. An alliance that, according to reports of the own Maduro from afar, represents an increase in trade of $100 million-$1 billion, which supposedly, in addition to agreements in the energy, finance, industry and technology areas, will give rise to the Special Plan for Agricultural Development 2015-2018 with three "productive engines" in the west, center and center-east of Venezuela "to produce meat, rice, milk; and to increase aquaculture".

This is clearly nonsense: it has a quarrel with its closest and most important trading partner to then fly thousands of miles in search of alliances with a country that is just "coming out of a quasi-medieval style economy", as pointed out by agri-food expert Rodrigo Agudo to the press. Maduro does not seem to remember that Vietnam abandoned Marxism and understood that production is based on a market, something that won't fit on the head of the Venezuelan communist regime.

It's also nonsense to think that the Vietnamese can teach Venezuelans how to plant rice, produce milk or meat, since "we should be the ones teaching them how to have a technology for the production of these products", said Agudo. Instead, the trip to Vietnam should have made Maduro and his people realize that their pass through a centralized economy is a complete failure.
Agudo pointed out another nonsense about this trip: "The shortages issue is the result of the Government ignoring our local producers. It is unbelievable that it spends billions of dollars on agreements with other countries, when it denies giving financing to our own producers".

But, can anyone expect something different from these rulers that brought war tanks built in China instead of food and medicines in the midst of serious shortages they caused themselves? As reported by the national press, a shipment of amphibian war tanks, military trucks and armored vehicles arrived in Puerto Cabello (Carabobo state) on Tuesday, making it the second shipment that arrives in the country in the framework of a $500 million contract signed in 2012 with China-based company North Industries Corporation.

Military equipment that won't serve the purposes of the children with cancer that recently protested right out front of the J.M de los Ríos Children's Hospital in Caracas with their parents, due to the lack of 11 of 19 drugs required for chemotherapy treatment, or of the more than 13,000 chronically ill people begging the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS) and the Ministry of Health to address the problem with the supply of essential drugs that will allow them to improve their health condition and even save their lives.

A shortages issue that puts Venezuela, according to NGO Crisis Group, on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.
[See Venezuela: Unnatural Disaster - International Crisis Group (ICG), 30 Jul. 2015]

See VenEconomy: The Absurdity of the Facts Taking Place in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 4, 2015)

On September 7, 2015. VenEconomy: The Titanic Struggle of David versus Goliath in Venezuela

For almost 17 years in Venezuela, there has been a titanic struggle between a mighty Goliath that has mercilessly attacked a David represented by various sectors of the country.

A Goliath with a high cost in human lives that has left broken families, tore the economy apart, dramatically reduced the quality of life of citizens and destroyed the most basic values for the sake of a "Plan for the Homeland", which has only served to catapult an elite entrenched in power into ill-gotten wealth.

For almost 17 years the country has been sieged by laws of the so-called "Socialism of the XXI century", indiscriminately implemented and endorsed by public authorities at the service of a project of a country that nobody understands where it leads to, and implemented by supervisory bodies that act as executioners standing in front of the guillotine waiting for a superior order to cut off the heads of those opposing the socialist regime.

A siege that has destroyed the national productive sector in several ways. Either through expropriations, economic strangulation after waves of audits and administrative penalties applied under the coercion of law enforcement agencies such as the National Guard or police intelligence such as SEBIN, or through criminal prosecution against business owners, managers and administrators.

Examples of this are: 1) The once-productive Spanish-based agricultural supply company Agroisleña (today Agropatria), which has become a pipe dream and whose operations have been constrained by inefficiency, incapacity, partisanship and corruption. 2) A foodmaker such as Empresas Polar that has not only been subjected to continuous vilification from the highest spheres of power, but is being taken and expropriated assets and properties, in addition to being harassed by several inspections (more than 165 visits carried out by different public bodies and more than 1,500 information requirements so far in 2015) every time more intense, frequent, disproportionate and unjustified. 3) Businesspeople that have been detained and accused of having committed crimes without any evidence. These are the cases of, for example, Fray Roa, the national director of the Venezuelan Federation of Liquor Producers and Related Products or Fevelif), who was sent to jail for having publicly criticized a Government's decision that the VAT rate of 50% on spirits and the regular VAT of 12% have to be paid at manufacturer or wholesaler level, as well as the unjustified detention of two top executives of local supermarket chain Día a Día.

A siege that has restricted the freedom to report and the right of citizens to be informed on matters of general interest in a truthful, objective and accurate manner through the confiscation or acquisition on the part of the Government of audiovisual or printed media, or through restrictions on access to newsprint, ink and spare parts for equipment, or as is the case with dailies El Nacional and TalCual or the news website La Patilla, subjected to a lawsuit from the head of the Parliament against 17 of their shareholders and directors not only aimed at putting all of them in prison, but force them into bankruptcy by claiming a compensation of Bs.1.0 billion for damages against each one of these media outlets.

A siege that has curtailed the constitutional right to protest and express an opinion; that has taken the lives of dozens of students; that has subjected many others to reporting regimes; that has forced some others into exile, deprived of their freedom or sent to spurious trials. An emblematic case is that of opposition leader Leopoldo López, who awaits the verdict of a judge as his rights are being violated.

On December 6 the citizens of Venezuela, as a stronger David that won't let democracy, freedom and ethical principles die, have a golden opportunity for twisting the arm of a Goliath that has gained strength as a result of committing violations against the Constitution, the use of violence and the force of arms of the State.

See VenEconomy: The Titanic Struggle of David versus Goliath in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 7, 2015)

On September 8, 2015. VenEconomy: Human Rights Court Speaks Out for Venezuela's TV Station RCTV

On Monday, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), a TV station that for 54 years had been a source of entertainment and information for millions of Venezuelans, gave new reasons for hope that democracy and freedom in the country are not completely lost after all.

On that date, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights published a judgment dated June 22, 2015 [sentencia fechada el 22 de junio de 2015], in which rules in favor of RCTV after determining that the Venezuelan State violated the rights to freedom of expression, due process, judicial guarantees and effective judicial protection, under the terms of the American Convention on Human Rights, for not having renewed its broadcasting license and seizure of property in May 2007.

This has important significance since it clearly dots the i's and crosses the t's on the government of Venezuela and its vocation of violating the constitutional rights of the country's citizens. Its conclusions are very far-reaching and complete because it covers the whole spectrum of violations committed by the late President Hugo Chávez against RCTV:

First of all, it determines that the measure violated the right to freedom of information and expression by pointing out that "the State itself imposes restrictions of an indirect character which tend to impede the communication and circulation of ideas and opinions".

As a result, the Court ordered the Venezuelan State to restore RCTV's "license to broadcast on the frequency of the radio spectrum corresponding to the channel 2 of the public television network". In addition it determined that "within a reasonable period of time, the State must order an open, independent and transparent process for the granting of the frequency of the radio spectrum corresponding to the channel 2 of the public television network, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Venezuelan law". Just as important is that in anticipation of further situations of this kind, it established that the State must take the "necessary steps in order to ensure that all future radio and television frequencies allocation and renewal processes being carried out will be conducted in an open, independent and transparent way. All these processes must be conducted without any discriminatory criteria looking to limit the granting of licenses, and must be aimed at encouraging information pluralism and the respect for judicial guarantees".

Second of all, in a tacit acknowledgment of the right to private property, it ordered the Venezuelan State to return RCTV its television equipment seized in May of 2007, subject to precautionary measures, and currently in the hands of TVes, the state-run television network that spuriously replaced RCTV on Venezuela's public airwaves.

Third of all, the Court ruled that the Venezuelan State must compensate 14 workers of RCTV for $50,000 each and seven of its shareholders for $10,000 each for tangible and intangible losses.

It is likely that the government of Nicolás Maduro decides not to comply with the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the same way Chávez did with the rulings issued between 2006 and 2011 by this court, the highest legal authority in the region, among which include: the case of seven justices of the First Court for Contentious Administrative Matters; the case of Gen. Francisco Usón Ramirez; the case of the Barrios family, as well as the interim measures ordered by the same court in 17 other cases.

A sign that things may be going in that direction is the fact that the media controlled by (or scared of) the Government did not make mention of the judgment in their Tuesday issues.

But even though it doesn't comply with it, the true nature of this regime will be clearly exposed, at a time when human rights defenders around the world have their eyes glued to its violations at the border with Colombia.

Final Note: despite the fact that Chávez denounced the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights in 2012, and Venezuela opted out of it a year later in September of 2013, the Venezuelan State remains subject to the Inter-American System of Human Rights for all the violations it has committed. Therefore, all the trials that started before its withdrawal from the Convention are still ongoing and the rulings issued are binding.

See VenEconomy: Human Rights Court Speaks Out for Venezuela's TV Station RCTV (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 8, 2015)

On September 9, 2015. VenEconomy: The Stones from the Latest World Tour of Venezuela's Maduro

What starts wrong, ends bad.

So it's no surprise that the last tour of Nicolás Maduro, his first lady and a fair amount of officials, friends and family members across the Far East, the Middle East and the Caribbean will not leave anything productive, positive or beneficial for Venezuela and its beleaguered population.

That trip of Maduro should not have materialized at a time when his government is faced with a difficult border crisis with neighboring Colombia. A crisis that is having continuing political, economic, social and human consequences on both sides of the border, including serious allegations of violations of human rights. Maduro and his foreign minister would have done the right thing at political, diplomatic and human level if they both had stayed home to resolve the conflict. Staying home might have delivered better results for the Venezuelan people than those of the outrageous trip.

To begin with, his first stop was Vietnam where 60 trade cooperation agreements in several areas, especially agro-industry, were signed with the country's Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung. These agreements seem more of a fraud than a contribution to relaunch the binational cooperation. As experts claim, Vietnam has nothing to teach Venezuela regarding the agri-food area, but quite the opposite. Worse still is that the little known about the agreements "suggests that what we are going to import is Vietnamese cheap labor to displace domestic producers".

On his second stop in the Communist Republic of China, apart from being amazed at the huge military power displayed during a parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the end of World War II, all he did was (1) append new agreements to the more than 300 already signed between China and Venezuela in order to continue the exploitation of mineral resources of the country by the Chinese. (2) Receive an extra $5 billion for the Chinese-Venezuelan fund, without anybody knowing until today what the conditions or limitations of the loan agreement are.

In Beijing Maduro took the opportunity to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but no one has further details on this meeting. In spite of the fact that the propaganda machine of Maduro had sold the idea of opening the door to agreements that would cut oil production so prices could rise again, Dmitri Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, told journalists that Russia is not willing to perform production cutbacks due to the loss of production capacity that such an action would represent. This way, the falsity of Maduro was exposed.

The third stop was in Qatar, where the production cut proposal of Maduro to bring oil prices up was not welcomed, either.

Then he attended a meeting of Petrocaribe during his last stop in Jamaica that was particularly negative for the interests of Venezuela, even if 15 of 19 members of the organization approved a 10-year development program proposed by Maduro. This is because Maduro wasted the opportunity to modify the "generous" financing terms of crude oil sales to the members of Petrocaribe.

Upon his return to Venezuela, Maduro found a country in worse shape than when he took off for Asia.

The border crisis with Colombia is extending across Zulia state for a total of 13 border municipalities (including (Padilla, Guajira and Mara) already closed and being enforced a state of emergency decree.

Maduro and other government officials have been accused of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court by the Attorney General of Colombia. While the territorial conflict over the Essequibo region at the Guyanese side of the border is still going on, the government of Guyana has decided to take that territorial dispute to the International Criminal Court with the support of the CARICOM countries and now Brazil.

See VenEconomy: The Stones from the Latest World Tour of Venezuela's Maduro (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 9, 2015)

On September 10, 2015. VenEconomy: The Joy of High Oil Prices didn't Last Long

Venezuela, like no other country dependent on oil revenues, has been deeply concerned over the behavior of oil prices for more than a year now. This is due to the fact that it is very well known that crude oil and its derivatives represent the main source of foreign currency income and tax revenue of Venezuela, making a price slump weigh heavily on the nation's economy, especially if it has been under the rule of unscrupulous people squandering its resources.

As things stand at present in the world oil market, oil export revenues for Venezuela will not be recovered in the next two to three years.

Here is a summary of what has happened so far and where things are headed in this regard:

A little over a year ago, world oil prices continued to rise and, consequently, so did those of the Venezuelan oil barrel, which hovered around the $100 threshold. However, as of July 2014, world prices began to plummet, and so did those of the Venezuelan oil barrel, experiencing a 60% drop from July 2014 through January 2015 when the Venezuelan export basket was trading at less than $40 per barrel.

This drop in oil prices was owed to a significant increase in production at a time when demand became stagnant because of less buoyant global economies. At the same time, the oversupply of oil is owed to two factors: 1) A rapid growth in world production, boosted by new technologies for the production of gas and oil shale; and (2) a decision of Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries in not to cutting output as traditionally did so they could maintain their market shares.

At the beginning of 2015, reports of a low drilling activity made believe that supply was not going to increase anymore and, therefore, crude oil prices would balance. These expectations stopped the decline in prices at a global level, causing a significant rise in prices; the Venezuelan barrel went from $40 per barrel in January to $60 per barrel in early June.

But that joy didn't last long after hopes of a production decline faded. Neither production held steady nor supply increased. So in July of 2015, prices started to gradually fall until dipping below $39 per barrel in August. Although at the end of that month, the market took a dramatic turn as world prices increased between 25% and 30% in just one week. This behavior was due to a rumor that was denied over time: that OPEC, Saudi Arabia and Russia were going to cut back production in order to stabilize the market. A rumor that led investors to "short sell" oil (that is to say, without them having it in their hands so they could buy it back cheaper following a decline in prices, and thus obtain a profit). But as soon as they realized the rumor was false, they panicked and bought more oil to avoid further losses, which led prices to record that spectacular and timely spike by the end of August.

At this point, everything indicates that prices will drop again. Both Saudi Arabia and Russia stated that they have no plans to cut oil output; oil shale remains a winner in the market; and global economy is giving no signs of growth, therefore an increase in consumption is not foreseen. That is to say, oversupply is maintained.

So, no matter if Nicolás Maduro and his people yearn for it, the downtrend in oil prices will remain for at least two years.

See VenEconomy: The Joy of High Oil Prices didn't Last Long (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 10, 2015)

On September 11, 2015. VenEconomy: Justice of Horror Enforced All the Way in Venezuela

Today millions of Venezuelans and the international community are deeply shocked by the unjust sentence that judge Susana ~~Barrientos~~ [Barreiros Rodríguez] and the government of Nicolás Maduro imposed on opposition leader Leopoldo López on Thursday: 13 years, nine months, seven days and 12 hours, without having been presented a single element of evidence against him on the facts that the Public Prosecutor's Office charged him with (conspiracy, public incitement, damages and arson during the violent events that took place on February 12 of 2014).

~~Barrientos~~ [Barreiros Rodríguez] also sentenced Christian Haldock (to 10 years, although he will still benefit from an alternative custodial penalty due to health reasons), as well as Damián Martín and Ángel González (the latter got 4 years and six months with a custodial alternative in his favor).

This ruling of ~~Barrientos~~ [Barreiros Rodríguez] was quite predictable because it perfectly matches the values of the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, imposed for more than 16 years through the so-called "Socialism of the 21st Century" thought up in the communist-led government of Cuba.

She acted under the same guidelines written by a system of justice modeled after the taste and interests of the government in office, one that sends people to prison without presenting any evidence and violates the constitutional rights of defendants in cases such as that of the police commissioners and Metropolitan Police officers (all of them sentenced to harsh prison sentences for the bloody events of April 2002, in order to exculpate the Government for the massacre of peaceful protesters), or that of Otoniel and Rolando Guevara (sentenced to a prison term of 30 years for the death of the prosecutor of the Bolivarian revolution Danilo Anderson, also with no evidence), or that of judge María de Lourdes Afiuni for discharging a prisoner of the Chávez government conditionally (Eligio Cedeño, a local entrepreneur). This is just to mention three of the most emblematic cases.

The court cases of López, Haldock, Martín and González have procedural omissions and violations of due process that resemble other political trials in Venezuela's socialist era: "custom-made" offenses and evidence, absence of convincing evidence that would prove someone committed a crime, witnesses only in favor of the Prosecutor's Office, the non-acceptance of evidence and witnesses from the defense, closed processes lacking transparency, violations of the right to defense, among others.

Perhaps the difference in this opportunity is the immediate response of international agencies and personalities, those who spoke out on Thursday night when ~~Barrientos~~ [Barreiros Rodríguez] made her ruling.

One of the first persons to do so was José Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch, who after rejecting the sentence, claimed that this is a farce evidencing the serious deterioration of the rule of law in Venezuela and said that "in a country without judicial independence, a temporary judge without security of tenure has sentenced four innocent people after a judicial process in which the Public Ministry did not provide any evidence that links them with a crime".
[See Venezuela: Opposition Leader Unjustly Convicted (Human Rights Watch, September 10, 2015)]

The European Union, which has kept a closer watch on the process, also pointed out that this has "lacked the appropriate guarantees in terms of transparency and due process of law", and demanded "that the available instances for resorting to must revise the severe verdicts in a fair and transparent way."

Meanwhile after learning the sentence, Amnesty International issued a statement citing among other deficiencies: 1) the "absolute lack of judicial independence" in Venezuela; 2) the lack of evidence against the defendants; 3) an absence of judicial impartiality in Venezuela; 4) evidence of a clear political motivation in the trial and sentence, pointing out that with the ruling of the judge Venezuela is "choosing to ignore basic human rights principles and giving its nod to further abuse".

As said by local journalist Leopoldo Castillo in his Twitter account on Thursday night, "Maduro left politics aside and took the path of terror. This is a different game with other rules and consequences".

López is right with the following message he delivered to the people of Venezuela: "Keep calm, maintain dignity, and don't lose heart, not even for a minute."

See VenEconomy: Justice of Horror Enforced All the Way in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 11, 2015)

See also Top 5 Venezuelans US Congress Names for Sanctions in Wake of Absurd Sentence on Opposition Leader (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 12, 2015)

On September 14, 2015. VenEconomy: The Decline in the Quality of Education in Venezuela

From an early stage of his government, the late Hugo Chávez raised as a challenge the creation of a new man for the country. A new man that was essential for his so-called "socialism of the 21st century" to take root in Venezuela.

To meet this particular challenge, he developed educational "missions" at all levels, in particular preschool, elementary and high school. One of the most emblematic was Misión Robinson, created in July of 2003 and aimed at eradicating illiteracy which, according to unverified Government figures, had reached 1.5 million Venezuelans during that year, or 300,000 higher than the 1.2 million from the data produced by the 2001 National Census.

The early machinations of government statistics, plus a well-oiled propaganda machine, made these "accomplishments" of Misión Robinson look credible. So credible that Unesco declared the country free of illiteracy in October of 2005, stating that Venezuela was giving "its most important contribution for the common goal of an education for everybody".

But, since nothing can be hidden forever, the truth was uncovered during the 2011 National Census after the own National Statistics Institute (INE) had to report that 4.9% of the population was illiterate (that is to say, 1.4 million Venezuelans of a population of 28,946,101 inhabitants were not able to read and write). A quite poor result, indeed: from 2003 to 2011, or during an eight-year period, the Bolivarian revolution had only been capable of teaching less than 100,000 Venezuelans from the 1.5 million previously estimated, but at that time some extra 200,000 illiterates had joined the Misión Robinson program.

The reality is that Misión Robinson is one of the many unfulfilled promises accumulated by the Bolivarian revolution barely showing the tip of the iceberg of its great failure in matters of education.

In its desire of imposing an ideology and indoctrinating children and adolescents, the Government has put aside, for example:

1) The educational content. It had removed from the curriculum foundation subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, as well as subjects related to moral and civic education. In addition, it has distorted national history to justify the democratic de-institutionalization and imposition of the so-called "Plan for the Homeland".

2) The quality of education. This is being increasingly battered by growing scarcity and the lack of teacher preparation. Education in Venezuela is one of the worst paid professions as it does not provide attractive benefits or rewards to those who choose it as a life project. Today, a school teacher hardly earns Bs.9,301.37, or Bs.2,000 above the official minimum wage, and less than one-third of the family food basket located at Bs.28,363.22 in July of this year, according to data of the Workers' Documentation and Social Analysis Center (Cendas-FVM).

3) The infrastructure of educational centers. Overall, public schools show serious deterioration in their facilities, with many of them suffering from unsanitary conditions. According to press reports on Monday, 40% of 22,543 schools, which this year will receive approximately 7.5 million students (one of every four Venezuelans), have major flaws in their infrastructure. The promise to build some 14,000 educational centers remained up in the air. It is really shameful that the Ministry of Education had announced this week via its Twitter account it will open 183 schools and complete 200 by December of this year. The detail is that, according to some sources, most of the "new" schools are remodeled facilities, which means the number of schools remains the same.

4) Compliance with the school calendar. We must keep in mind that Venezuela's school calendar of 180 days has not been fully complied with for more than a decade. The Government gives priority to political aspects over school discipline. It subtracts days from the school calendar when it comes to the exaltation of values or flattering the idols of the Bolivarian revolution, as happens on each anniversary of the death of Chávez or during electoral processes. For example, this school year begins two days after the one set already by the Ministry of Education without having explained the reason.

As a result, the new socialist man is nowhere near international education and training standards. An unfortunate setback with respect to educational levels of excellence achieved during the second half of the 20th century, thus condemning Venezuela to backwardness in terms of industrial, technological and social development.

See VenEconomy: The Decline in the Quality of Education in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 14, 2015)

On September 15, 2015. VenEconomy: The Survival of Venezuela in the Jungle of Hyperinflation

This is the headline of an article from economic analyst Boris Ackerman to be published by VenEconomy in its monthly edition of September.

Faced with the evidence that Venezuela could be nearing a hyperinflationary process, Ackerman carried out a comparative analysis between Zimbabwe and Venezuela, based on a study conducted by professors Samuel Gumbe and Nyasha Kaseke at the University of Zimbabwe on the survival of manufacturing firms during periods of hyperinflation, between 2005 and 2008, through surveys of a series of companies to determine the actual conditions they went through during hyperinflation, and with the resulting data evaluate their options for survival.

The comparative analysis carried out by Ackerman intends to shed light on what businesses can do in Venezuela in order to overcome the current economic situation in the country, using past experiences and lessons learned by companies in Zimbabwe.

It should be remembered that Zimbabwe is a country that saw the most important hyperinflationary process of the past decade, and during this period its rulers took more than 25 years to destroy its economy as shortages of skilled manpower and foreign currency and the deterioration of public services began to be noticeable. The African country suffered back in those days an increase in consumer prices of over 50% each month; a rate defined by American economist Philip D. Cagan in 1956 to consider the country in a state of hyperinflation.

Among factors that, according to Gumbe and Kesake, led Zimbabwe to reach those very high price increases are: uncontrolled government spending (which caused severe fiscal deficits at the same time) and the destruction of the productive capacity of the agricultural sector (due to the invasion of several farms that were handed over in a non-transparent manner to people with close ties to the Government).

For Ackerman is easy to understand "that the factors that led Zimbabwe to hyperinflation and those of Venezuela over the past three decades resemble a lot to each other". He points out that this should be taken into consideration if you want to anticipate the possible consequences and actions to be taken in the current Venezuelan reality.

Another important similarity noted by Ackerman is that in both countries companies lived the same reality: It was impossible for them to obtain financing for working capital due to the lack of a financial system; they both face a dysfunctional pricing policy; the reduction of the aggregate demand for products and services; a highly demoralized workforce and ever-increasing costs destroying the working capital. He says that "perhaps the only major exception may be that in Venezuela there is still a financial system that in some cases could finance the working capital of companies, which may provide some relief to small local businesses".

Among the highlights of the study by Gumbe and Kaseke that helped companies in Zimbabwe to survive - and that might serve as a guide to those in Venezuela - are:

1) That is important to decentralize decision-making processes.

2) That in times of political upheaval forging alliances with similar businesses is a key since it allows lobbying, something that has been vital for the chances of survival. This is due to the great need of political influence either for obtaining adequate prices or limiting the power of trade unions.

3) That the most effective financial strategies include: reduce or eliminate credit sales; search for alternatives to be handled in money of better quality than that circulating in local currency and maintain liquidity in foreign currency or buy goods in the financial markets with these surpluses.

4) A reduction in payroll periods.

5) Pay suppliers and employees in foreign currency.

In conclusion he says that "the important thing is to take into consideration that the response should not be carrying out a single practice, but the combination of several and the use of these based on the particular nature of each business or company".

See VenEconomy: The Survival of Venezuela in the Jungle of Hyperinflation (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 15, 2015)

On September 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Maduro Extends Border Closure with Colombia

This September 19 will mark the first month since Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro closed the first six border municipalities between Táchira state and Colombia. A closure that was followed two days later by a state of emergency decree imposed in that area, and the brutal and arbitrary deportation of Colombian nationals, a violation of human rights that has been condemned worldwide.

By Wednesday September 16, the border closure already extends to 17 more municipalities for a total of 23 across three enclosed border states (Táchira, Zulia and Apure), under a state of emergency and strong military presence at all levels, allegedly to avoid "provocations from the other side", as Maduro has insisted. The only border state spared from this outrage so far is Amazonas.

The reality is that both responses and actions of the Maduro government to tackle this unprecedented border crisis make no sense at all, and everything seems to indicate that the problem will get quite a whole lot worse. To an aggressive and bombastic discourse of Maduro toward the Colombian government, against Juan Manuel Santos (known until recently as his "new best friend") and his eternal nemesis, the former president Álvaro Uribe, are added other irrelevant diplomatic and military actions.

On the diplomatic side:

1) A meeting for nearly five hours held in Ecuador between the foreign ministers of Colombia and Venezuela ended without clinching any agreement. This, despite the fact that the Ecuadorian foreign minister wanted to leave the meeting with the information on the place and date for the meeting between Santos and Maduro.

2) A delegation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that visited the Colombian side of the border (and found the situation of deported citizens to be very serious) was not allowed to do the same on the Venezuelan side. This is because the government of Venezuela denies the veracity of the testimonies on human rights violations from a fair amount of Colombian people, and does not recognize that its persecution against this population group has forced in one way or another the abrupt departure of more than 20,000 Colombian nationals. A fact that is deemed a crime against humanity as established in the Treaty of Rome.

On the military side, the crisis deepened with alleged illegal incursions of Venezuelan military aircraft into Colombian airspace, which according to complaints by the own Ministry of Defense and Foreign Ministry of Colombia have added three violations already (on August 29, when a military helicopter carrying the current Vice President of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, entered Puerto Santander 30 miles north of Cúcuta; on September 12, and on September 14). After the third incursion, the Colombian army mobilized tanks and troops across the border in the Paraguachón sector of La Guajira (a department of Colombia).

In the meantime, Maduro spent $283,000 in a paid advertisement on a page of the New York Times published on September 9 that spoke "his truth", after Santos stated that "the Bolivarian revolution is self-destructing because of its own results, and not because of the people or the president of Colombia".

Furthermore, he keeps insisting on resorting to statistical exaggeration to justify his senseless actions at the border, among others, the manipulation of reality that the border closure and state of emergency are owed to the effort of his government in putting an end to the smuggling of gasoline, which according to his own calculations is about 29,959,000 liters being smuggled (or maybe not anymore?) into Colombia every day. A figure that makes no sense at all, since these liters are equivalent to 188,400 barrels per day, an amount significantly higher than the daily consumption of Colombia.

For now, Maduro is extending the border crisis to a new level, threatening with applying a "tourniquet" in all the areas he deems necessary to "fight paramilitarism, smuggling activities, and drug trafficking". That is a total nonsense since those three scourges require joint action by the two states, so that they can be tackled in an effective way.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Maduro Extends Border Closure with Colombia (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 16, 2015)

On September 17, 2015. VenEconomy: Editorial Mistakes that Leave a Mark

On July 27 of this year, the prestigious Washington-based magazine Foreign Policy made an editorial mistake that left a negative mark, after publishing a long article signed by Roberto Lovato, without stopping to check the veracity or objectivity of the statements made by the author.

The article in question entitled "The Making of Leopoldo López" was devoted to destroy the democratic reputation of the Venezuelan opposition leader. Among other fabrications and distortions of the facts, Lovato linked López to the bloody events of April 2002, when the late Hugo Chávez left the Presidency of the Republic for a few hours after being asked for his resignation, "which he accepted", as said by Gen. Lucas Romero Rincón, the then-Minister of Defense, on national TV and radio.

Some of the strong criticism expressed by national and international analysts on the article is that in the history of writings about Venezuela of Lovato, he only made a single interview with Luis Britto García, a local left-leaning writer, historian and essayist supporting the ideas of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century". Lovato presented Britto in that interview as one of the greatest intellectuals of Latin America and echoes the epithet of "neo-fascist", with which Britto makes reference to the Venezuelan opposition.

Moreover, it was noted that the article of Lovato distorts the facts and events so that López appears as a dishonest person and, perhaps also, as a "neo-fascist" in addition to varied evidence suggesting that a third party intended Lovato to make a ferocious criticism against López. A criticism with clear political intentions at a time when López was expecting that the judge that took his case to trial (on charges brought by the Prosecutor's Office of "criminal association, public incitement, damage and arson during the violent events of February 12 of 2014") delivered a judgment that was already being drafted in the Miraflores presidential palace.

It should be noted that another fact overlooked by Foreign Policy, and that could have warned about the non-objectivity of the article, is that Lovato had worked for Telesur, a regional TV station created by Chávez to promote his Bolivarian revolution and publicize the achievements of pro-communist puppet governments.

Evidence that the article contained inaccuracies, manipulations of reality and lies is that the magazine has made some seven factual corrections to the article so far, albeit it has not offered either its apologies or, most importantly, published a retraction/clarification about the lack of objectivity of the article.

It should be borne in mind that nothing reinforces credibility better than recognizing its own mistakes and allowing themselves to repair the damages that a manipulated article may have caused to a citizen. What's more, there is no reason for the magazine not to invite any of the dozens of people that bothered to communicate with its editor-in-chief to publish an objective profile so that readers of Foreign Policy get to know the real Leopoldo López.

See VenEconomy: Editorial Mistakes that Leave a Mark (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 17, 2015)

See Even in Jail, I Will Fight for a Free Venezuela (Leopoldo López, The New York Times, September 25, 2015)

On September 18, 2015. VenEconomy: The Truth about the Essequibo Region

One of the great mysteries of the political scene in Venezuela is the half-heartedness with which the democratic opposition has responded to attacks from the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro against the integrity of the national territory in the Essequibo region.

As it is a well-known fact - and there is plenty of evidence - Chávez, endorsed by his then-Foreign Minister, Nicolás Maduro, tacitly waived the rights of Venezuela in the Essequibo area by maintaining his complicit silence since he came to power in 1999 when Guyana started a territorial dispute with Venezuela.

A complicit silence maintained on purpose by Chávez with two clear goals in sight: 1) Make a concession to his mentor Fidel Castro, so that he could pay back the aid granted by Guyana to communist Cuba when it required refueling its aircraft during the so-called Operation Carlota, the military mission that kept Cuba in Angola from 1975 until 1991. 2) Look for the necessary votes to achieve his political ambitions across the region and guarantee the silence from CARICOM member countries in the UN and OAS before the democratic de-institutionalization in Venezuela.

A complicit silence that was maintained for 16 years, without the Venezuelan government having issued a single diplomatic note of protest, despite the fact that Guyana has initiated more than 16 explorations in the area, some of them ecologically harmful, which even the own Chávez welcomed on three occasions. When Guyana granted oil concessions in disputed areas, including those overlapping with Venezuelan waters (the Orinoco Delta), Venezuela did not say a word about the issue. And also kept its mouth shut when ExxonMobil began drilling at the Stabroek Block.

This silence is interpreted by experts in the field as Venezuela waiving its existing rights in the area in accordance with International Law (doctrine of estoppel), according to which not protesting means acceptance (in other words, silence lends assent).

However, when ExxonMobil announced an oil find in May of this year, the subject of the territorial claim in the Essequibo region reached a tipping point. And Maduro did react, but the wrong way: He accused ExxonMobil of violating Venezuelan waters (as if Guyana had not granted it the concession - and without realizing that the drilling was being performed in Guyanese waters, outside the claimed area).

Then, in a bid to stir up the nationalism that he hoped would give him an electoral advantage, Maduro turned against Guyana and established three Operational Areas of Integral Maritime and Island Defense (Zodimain), among them the Atlantic zone that would have left Guyana without access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Subsequently, after understanding that his strategy was not welcomed by the national public opinion, and that he was being ignored at the international level, Maduro backtracked and dropped Zodimain, stopped touring countries and began to lower his tone with respect to Guyana, but instead made a big fuss at the border with Colombia.

But... the diplomatic storm that he created in Guyana did not abate and, on the other hand, awakened a sleeping dragon.

Guyana requested the intervention of the U.N. and continues to move diplomatically, smoothly and persistently to make everybody feel that it is the legal owner of the disputed area. David Granger, President of Guyana, has traveled to the U.S., Caricom and Unasur to present his case. Also this week, Guyana formally requested Google to re-label in English some of the streets in the contested areas in its maps, in addition to announcing the start of gold extraction activities in the Essequibo.

As things stand at present, it seems that there is no possibility at all that Venezuela can assert its claim.

Then the million-dollar question here is why the opposition has not said anything about Chávez and Maduro waiving the rights of Venezuela in the Essequibo?

The perfect moment for having done so was when Maduro tried to revive the dispute, but did not seize it.

Now, when Guyana has announced it has started gold extraction in the disputed Essequibo territory, comes another opportunity for it to clearly explain to Venezuelans that Chávez and Maduro have been the ones responsible for this new and unjustified seizure of territory being made against Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: The Truth about the Essequibo Region (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 18, 2015)

On September 21, 2015. VenEconomy: Democracy Lovers in Venezuela Cannot Afford to Rest on their Laurels!

Everything indicates that as of today, the Democratic Unity opposition party coalition has everything in its favor to achieve a majority in a parliamentary election to be held on December 6 of this year.

It's not just that Venezuela is in its worst economic and social crisis ever remembered in the last eight decades with consequences of inflation, widespread shortages and rampant crime. Nor is this assertion based on the discontent being felt by citizens when they are forced to queue in order to purchase goods and products essential for their survival, or when in waiting rooms of health centers or in morgues nationwide.

The latest opinion polls conducted by Alfredo Keller, DatAnálisis and Félix Seijas support that widespread discontent being felt in every corner of the country with their statistics.

Those of Keller and DatAnálisis agree in a decline in approval ratings for President Nicolás Maduro. The first one says that the loss of support from the population to the Bolivarian government thanks to Maduro went from 72% in 2005 to 18% during the third quarter of 2015, a period assessed by Keller. While that of DatAnálisis, by doing a timely assessment of the Maduro administration, notes that disapproval about the Government rose from 34.5% in February 2013 to 70.4% between July and August 2015, the period during which the poll was conducted.

Both companies also agree that when it comes to assessing responsibilities for the critical situation of the country, Maduro leads the way. According to the DatAnálisis poll, 59.3% of respondents feel that Maduro is responsible for the problems of the country, while that of Keller shows that 71% do not believe that problems are caused by third parties, and 76% claims that Maduro is not capable of solving them.

As for voter intention in the parliamentary elections, not only Keller and DatAnálisis agree there is a tendency in favor of the candidates of the democratic opposition, but also does the polling company of Felix Seijas, which always pointed out in the past that scales were tilted in favor of the Government's party since, as Seijas suggests, the polls did not reveal what the opposition wanted.

It turns out that at this time, according to Keller, the voter intention favors the opposition by 42% as compared with 31% of support to the ruling party during the third quarter of 2015. DatÁnalisis shows that 57.7% may vote in favor of candidates of the democratic opposition versus 26.2% of the ruling party, figures very similar to those released by Seijas (57.9% in favor of the democratic opposition versus 19.3% in favor of the candidates of the Government).

This is a cause for concern to some critics and analysts, because these results may generate a sense of triumph within the opposition, which may eventually end in a new disappointment for the majority of the population that understands that the way out of this is through achieving electoral goals. This concern is based on several facts.

To begin with, the previous experience should be borne in mind: (a) in 2003, the opposition led over chavismo 60% to 40% in 2004, but Chávez won the Recall Referendum 59% to 40%. (b) In November of 2013, opinion polls showed that Maduro had dropped 15 points since being elected President on April 14 of that same year, and it was foreseen that the ruling party would suffer a defeat in the municipal elections of December 2013. But in November, the Government came up with the so-called "Dakazo" giveaway and the election ended up in a technical tie that favored the candidates of the ruling party.

It should also be remembered that the Government (c) controls all the institutional power and military forces and (d) has proved time and again that it doesn't mind to resort to all kinds of machinations, arbitrariness, abuses of power and illegal activities so it can tilt the balance in its favor. In addition, we must not forget that the Government has much to lose in this upcoming election.

On the other side of this story it is being noted with concern that the Democratic Unity has not shown its teeth to fight this strong and unscrupulous adversary. But, it is also true that is not yet known its strategy to pass the fiery trials ahead, among others: (a) the previous audits. It should be noted that in the past it proved weak to validate electoral processes and demonstrate their transparency by not demanding the publication of audits. (b) Its response on a fraudulent electoral registry from its creation, with more than 1 million voters without fingerprint records.

A fair wind is blowing the way of democracy and freedom. But beware, the game isn't over until it's over! All democratic citizens have a duty and that is go vote massively! And the duty of democratic leaders is to demand and ensure that the game is transparent. So none of them can afford to rest on their laurels!

See VenEconomy: Democracy Lovers in Venezuela Cannot Afford to Rest on their Laurels! (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 21, 2015)

On September 23, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelans Have No Money or Education

Inflation continues to rise at a fast pace, although the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) still refuses to release the official figures of the economy so it can conceal an undeniable reality. A measurement that gives an idea on the spike of consumer prices in the country is that of the Center of Social Analysis and Documentation of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM) through its own basic basket of goods and food basket data, which reflects the harsh economic crisis felt by Venezuelans day by day.

The Cendas-FVM basic basket of goods was Bs.65,013.54 ($10,320 if calculated at the official fictional rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar) in July, or 19.9% higher than June and Bs.43,441.02 (201.4%) higher than a year ago, which represents the largest cumulative variation in its history, with Bs.34,836.72 (115.4%) during the first seven months of 2015. This means that in July an average Venezuelan family required 8.8 minimum salaries to buy the basic basket.

Prices of five in seven items that make up this basket showed an increase: personal hygiene items (12.8%); home rental (1.1%); food basket (30.2%); education (8.7%); clothing and footwear (3.8%).

That huge increase in consumer prices is hitting household finances - especially middle - and lower-income families - so hard that it has become already a determining factor in the access to education for a good part of the population.

Egildo Luján Nava, president of the Miranda branch of business association Fedecámaras and director of the National Federation of Farmers, recently wrote an article entitled "Education Exposed and Without Books, Format of the Future" to be published by VenEconomy in its September monthly edition, which explains the reality of salary levels of Venezuelans, pointing out that "monthly minimum salaries in Venezuela were set at Bs.8.000. This is equivalent to $11 at Bs.700 per dollar, the only exchange rate citizens outside the conduct of state affairs have access to, which operates as a reference in Venezuela's dollarized pricing mechanism". In addition he says salaries fluctuate according to the workers' skills, hovering between Bs.8.000 and Bs.50.000, which in his own words is deemed "a good salary".

But, "how 'good' a monthly salary within any family can be, when the school attire for a single child comprised of one shirt, pants, shoes, socks and underwear costs at least Bs.25.000? What to do when that single child needs at least two extra attires for the same school year, because the original may suffer damages due to continuous use and the same school activities? This is at least Bs.75.000 per child, not including the inevitable purchase of other school supplies. The family's account shows that an average household with two Venezuelan children must spend Bs.300,000 this school year".

Then he explains that "when this amount gets additional costs related to transport services and daily food during the school year, as much as individual attention for each child, it would be necessary to add an extra Bs.110.000 for a grand total of Bs.220.000 for the average two children".

As he continues to look into that reality, Luján Nava argues that the sum of these items results in a family expenditure of Bs.520.000 during the nine-month school year period, and an average monthly outlay of Bs.57,777. An amount that exceeds the total of what is deemed "a good salary".

He concludes with these categorical questions: Taking into account the abovementioned salary scale, how many households will be able to meet this average annual and monthly expenditure? How many children or adolescents may be forced to become school dropouts in order to save costs, or so that they find a job to contribute to the household income? What is the real educational outcome that Venezuela aims for when the foreseeable scenario for this school year alone offers these many difficulties?

See VenEconomy: Venezuelans Have No Money or Education (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 23, 2015)

On September 24, 2015. VenEconomy: Government of Venezuela Looks to Regain Lost Support

It's now impossible to hide the harsh economic crisis that has gripped Venezuela. It can be seen and felt; citizens are suffering its devastating effects each day of their lives in every corner of the homeland.

All analysts have forecast that the worst is yet to come. Credit ratings agency Moody's reported this week it considers the current inflationary context in Venezuela as a "hyperinflation event"; that it doesn't expect that the Government takes steps to counter distortions in relative prices; and that accumulated inflation for August was 155% to exceed forecasts for all 2015.

So serious is the economic deterioration of Venezuela, and so bad is the administration of Nicolás Maduro that he has everything to lose as he faces increasing rejection toward his government and himself.

The proximity of the parliamentary elections and their eventual adverse outcome, which would lead the Government to lose a majority in the Parliament and, therefore, one of the powers that has given it carte blanche to violate the Constitution, pass as many enabling laws as deemed necessary and not demanding accountability, are exacerbating the virulence and absurdity of those who just want to perpetuate themselves in power.

Since it couldn't rekindle the voters' devotion to Hugo Chávez, one of the strategies the Government chose is to stir up false nationalism and appeal to populist jingoism, thus irresponsibly putting the entire country on a war footing.

To that end, it has decreed in the first place a state of emergency in nearly all municipalities bordering Colombia as it illegally suspended six constitutional guarantees indefinitely, including the right to free transit, peaceful assembly and organize public demonstrations, which would restrict the rights of opposition candidates of these municipalities to organize demonstrations and speeches for their respective electoral campaigns and also coerce citizens on election day. At the same time, it keeps the conflict with Colombia alive by not clinching agreements and by diverting attention from the human rights violations of extradited Colombian nationals from the affected areas.

In addition, Maduro made public his ambition of an arms race by arranging the purchase of about 12 Sukhoi aircraft from Russia, as a response to an unexplained fatal accident of one of those aircraft in the border area, when supposedly investigating the incursion of an unidentified aircraft in Venezuelan territory. This purchase would represent an expenditure of about $514.8 million, something unacceptable at a time when Venezuelans are suffering the worst shortages issue of everything ever seen in the entire history of the country. Apart from the fact that he also announced he will clinch an important deal with China regarding the purchase of a set of military equipment for the defense of the country.

To make matters worse, after not saying a word regarding the rights of Venezuela on the Essequibo region since 1999, he is now provoking a unusual tension with Guyana through an uncommon movement of troops and military maneuvers in the east of the country that have led to a wake-up call from the government of David Granger. The government of Granger, through its Foreign Ministry, reported that Venezuela "is sending armed vessels to the Coeroeni River, which belongs to Guyana's waters as everybody knows. In addition to the movement of troops and equipment, there is a missile launcher on the other side of the border".

While in internal matters, he is maintaining a military and police deployment with the excuse of the implementation of the so-called Operation for the Liberation of the People (OLP), the umpteenth security plan of the Bolivarian revolution that is far from being useful to keep criminal gangs at bay, and very close to exert pressure and exercise control over the people living in slums, who today are turning their backs on Maduro.

See VenEconomy: Government of Venezuela Looks to Regain Lost Support (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 24, 2015)

On September 25, 2015. VenEconomy: A Train of Opportunities that the Bolivarian Revolution Missed

Without a doubt, the handling of oil affairs in Venezuela will go down in history as one of the most notorious failures of the revolution of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century".

It's not only that state-owned oil company PDVSA has become inefficient, since a new management could have made it efficient again. Much more important is that the development of the Orinoco Belt is no longer profitable, as neither is gas production overseas. Major projects that are history today. The reserves of the Orinoco Belt represent the 21st century stones of former Saudi oil minister Sheik Yamani, who once warned that the Stone Age did not come to an end because of a lack of stones.

There are no excuses for having let slip away a golden era in terms of high oil revenues, without taking advantage of those resources to promote the development and progress of Venezuela, to promote research and technology, while ensuring good healthcare, education and housing systems for all Venezuelans. Much less when those resources were squandered in a desire to impose in the country and extend across the region a political project that has proven obsolete and unsuccessful at global level, and to enrich a few national and regional elites supporting the said project.

Now, when a steep decline in oil prices has been recorded, the country finds itself in its worst economic and social conditions to deal with a shortage of foreign exchange earnings. It should be remembered that crude oil and its derivatives represent for Venezuela in 2015 96% of foreign exchange earnings, 19.34% of the ordinary budgetary revenues according to the 2015 Budget, and 11.5% of GDP.

With a Venezuelan oil basket averaging less than $40 per barrel, and that is not foreseen prices will return to their levels before 2012 in the short or medium-term, the obvious question for Venezuelans is what to expect from oil in 2016.

Diego González responds to this question in a brief and cogent analysis to be published by VenEconomy in its monthly edition next week.

González does a math exercise with two levels of production: 2,370,000 barrels per day (figure provided by OPEC sources in July 2015), and 2,659,000 barrels per day (figure provided by Venezuelan official sources to OPEC in July 2015). He also forecast four price levels for the oil basket: $20, $30, $40 and $50 per barrel, regardless of the figures to be selected by the Government for the 2016 Budget.

To González, results cannot be more depressing. He argues that "in the case of estimated production figures from OPEC secondary sources, total revenues of the Nation from royalties, taxes, dividends, and social programs would stand between $6.94 and $17.35 billion and in the case of official production sent to OPEC, total revenues of the Nation would stand between $7.79 and $19.47 billion."

Even more serious is that in his view these projections are optimistic. "This because the entire production is supposed to generate revenue for the year in question, but as is well known that shipments to Petrocaribe and others for political reasons, as well as shipments to China, to pay off a debt whose money has already been used, will not make the cash register ring", said González.

But the picture is even bleaker for Venezuela. In the last few years, a large amount of easily produced and marketable light oil has been found in the U.S. and other countries thanks to fracking. An oil that contrasts and put at a disadvantage the large reserves of the Orinoco Belt, which have two problems: 1) that these are made up of extra-heavy oil of difficult processing into good quality crude oil; 2) that the process requires millions of dollars in investments, much greater than that required by shale oil, and it is not expected that foreign investors would want to risk capital in the Belt today. That was a train of opportunities that the Bolivarian revolution missed because of its flawed monopolistic policies. As much as it missed the opportunity to develop the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho complex to develop production and liquefaction of natural gas for not carrying on with the planned investments. Fracking has also brought natural gas prices down. Now Venezuela will depend on Trinidad and Tobago for liquefaction.

Politics, corruption, incompetence and lack of investment and foresight: a revolutionary quartet that made Venezuela miss the train of progress.

See VenEconomy: A Train of Opportunities that the Bolivarian Revolution Missed (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 25, 2015)

On September 28, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Broken Wings

At the end of last week, it was learned that Venezuela's state-owned airline Conviasa had come out of the national and international ticketing systems of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and that from now on the company itself will select the travel agencies to serve as intermediaries between Conviasa and its passengers, and that tickets will be issued directly by Conviasa. A measure that came into effect with the withdrawal of the Carrier Identification Plate No. 308 that belonged to the Venezuelan airline until Friday.

It should be remembered that IATA is an association that brings together some 270 airlines worldwide that make between 80% and 85% of the flights recorded each day around the world. Among the advantages of being a member of IATA is the standardization of processes; the control of safety standards of the international commercial aviation, including travel agencies; it also serves as some sort of clearing house for airlines, for example, if a Venezuelan airline sells a ticket for a flight departing from Venezuela, and a passenger makes a transfer to another airline in another country to a third destination, the Venezuelan airline receives the payment for the whole journey, while IATA pays the other airline with its own funds as it awaits the reimbursement of the Venezuelan airline.

Some analysts say that the decision to exit IATA may be owed to the critical financial situation of Conviasa, as well as the serious operation conditions of its fleet and the critical situation of the national commercial aircraft industry. But, the reality is that the voluntary departure of Conviasa from IATA makes no sense due to the fact that the advantages of being a member carry much more weight.

Analysts have raised the hypothesis that Conviasa has a huge debt with IATA. Therefore, IATA would have detached from Conviasa until the airline pays off its debt.

Nothing surprising due to the long record of default on payments of foreign currency from the government of Venezuela to various sectors, including that of international airlines that have not changed the bolivars obtained from legal ticket sales to repatriate the money in dollars as established in international conventions, with which the government of Venezuela has accumulated a debt with this sector of more than $3.8 billion. Because of this, international airlines have reduced their flights to Venezuela to the barest minimum - and using smaller and older aircraft. This situation has impacted air traffic in Venezuela, which according to IATA fell by 8.5% in 2014 compared with 2013, while the rest of the countries of the region saw a growth in air traffic between 2% and 12% during the same period.

Now the situation is likely to worsen as Venezuelans will have a hard time to travel abroad, because the Government doesn't allow the payment of fuel in bolivars anymore, a formula that allowed airlines to use part of the frozen bolivars.

It seems that Venezuelans are increasingly becoming prisoners on their own home turf.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Broken Wings (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 28, 2015)

On September 29, 2015. VenEconomy: Those Hand Grenades were thrown from the Venezuelan Government's Front Lines

The red pages being written at present have their origin in the own eye of the castrochavista storm forming in Venezuela since 1999.

While the late Hugo Chávez never bothered to hide his true autocratic nature with his violent and aggressive speech against the political dissidence and private sector of the economy, with populist promises to lure voters, he flagrantly ignored personal insecurity and crime in his speeches and statements, two important issues that were already beginning to gain momentum back then.

At the same time, the Government was setting up armed civilian groups that would be used as a containment wall against the opposition in specific zones of the country that the National Executive would decide, such as demonstrations and electoral events. Unfortunately many still remember the horrifying attacks of the so-called "Bolivarian circles" on the headquarters of "rebel" media outlets such as RCTV, Globovisión, El Nacional and El Universal, back in 2002, 2003 and 2004; or the attacks by this same armed civilian group at Plaza Altamira in the east of Caracas, which claimed the lives of nearly a dozen Venezuelans expressing their discontent there. More recently, many also remember the actions of the "defenders of the revolution", or vigilante groups that accompanied the nation's military forces to repress the student protests that took place in 2014 throughout several states of the country and left more than a hundred casualties, hundreds of wounded, thousands of detainees and several complaints on violations of human rights.

It was only in 2007 when Chávez broke the silence about the personal insecurity issue, after opinion polls showed that this reality could take an electoral toll on him: more than 90% of the population (supporters or not of chavismo) deemed insecurity as one of the biggest problems affecting them. This way, he started doing "something" about tackling the issue. A "something" that in the end became "nothing" as he didn't tackle the insecurity problem from its roots or in a structured way. A "something" that was in line with malicious objectives of a dictatorial government with criminal tendencies.

What Chávez did was to create a politicized National Police, one "truly Bolivarian, revolutionary, subversive and insurgent", in which people with criminal records made it in, regardless of their professionalism or ethics, while he dismantled the regional and municipal police forces.

The 24 security plans in more than 16 years of Bolivarian revolution have not been able to curb crime or prevent the homicides of innocent Venezuelans, a bloodshed that has taken the lives of more than 230,000 citizens so far in the 21st century.

Now with total astonishment, an unprecedented fact was learned: In only 48 hours, five police stations were attacked with hand grenades manufactured by Venezuelan state-owned Military Industry Company (CAVIM) by civilian groups across various states of the country (Capital District, Miranda, Carabobo and Guárico). The last attack was recorded this weekend against a precinct of the Baruta municipality police force located in the residential and commercial area of Las Mercedes in the east side of Caracas.

Some analysts say that this onslaught of the criminal groups is owed to the fact that the Government breached its pact of coexistence with police forces after applying the latest public security plan known as Operation Liberation of the People (OLP), which, in the opinion of VenEconomy, aims to exert pressure and coercion on the residents of slums, who today have withdrawn their support for President Nicolás Maduro.

Regardless if OLP is causing imbalances in the relations between policemen and criminal gangs, the million-dollar question that Maduro and his ministers of Defense and Interior have to answer is how hand grenades and assault weapons manufactured by CAVIM, which holds the monopoly on weapons in the country, ended up in the hands of dangerous criminals.

Or perhaps they are already aware of this, and these are repression tests being conducted for the parliamentary elections to be held on December 6 of this year?

See VenEconomy: Those Hand Grenades were thrown from the Venezuelan Government's Front Lines (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 29, 2015)

On September 30, 2015. VenEconomy: The Achilles' Heel of Mass Imports during Election Season in Venezuela

Venezuela faces an undeniable reality at only 68 days from December 6, a key date that may help decide the democratic fate of the nation: the worst shortages crisis of all kind of goods in its entire history.

A shortages crisis that has its origin in a decline of domestic production, which according to the Center of Documentation of Social Analysis of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM) dropped 34% in August of this year. A decline in domestic production that is the result at the same time of a state monopoly and a tight siege imposed on the productive private sector.

Added to this is the fact that the era of low oil prices has undermined the country's foreign exchange earnings, as these no longer flow with the same intensity to shoulder the import burden with which the Government was concealing the failure of its so-called "Plan for the Homeland".

These shortages, coupled with an unstoppable inflationary spiral and other social problems, have delivered a decisive blow to the acceptance rate of the Government, as well as it has placed its candidates for the Parliament in a clear position of electoral disadvantage.

If the parliamentary elections were held today, the Democratic Unity (or MUD) opposition party would reach a majority of two-thirds in the Parliament, in spite of the considerable attempts of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to tilt the balance in favor of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

But events are in full development and Nicolás Maduro, the PSUV (and Cuba), in addition to the manipulations and ploys of the CNE, have developed an aggressive policy that seeks to create the feeling in the electorate that the long queues to get the much-needed basic products and fingerprint readers in retail food establishments are over; that shortages are a thing of the past because Maduro would have "won" the "economic war" against his government, defeating the illegal resellers of goods in general (known locally as bachaqueros), paramilitaries, greedy entrepreneurs and the American "Empire".

A strategy that is based on massive imports of basic consumer goods and raw materials for local manufacturers, with the aim of replenishing the shelves of establishments by mid-November. Imports made in bulk that are already arriving in the country. This week, local port authority Bolivariana de Puertos reported the arrival in Puerto Cabello (Carabobo state) of seven trucks full of medicines, 875 metric tons of paper, 3,000 cattle and 500 containers with products of the basic basket of goods that would go to the state distribution network. In addition, the first 150 containers of medical-surgical supplies, of a total of 500 million units that arrived in the country for the rest of the year, arrived in the Port of La Guaira (Vargas state).

However, in the view of VenEconomy, the Government will not be able to carry out successfully that strategy.

First of all, because most of the food imports and other basic products have to be paid in advance and the Government simply has no money.

Second of all, because it is unlikely that the poorly managed Venezuelan ports can handle the volumes that would complete this strategy.

Third of all, it is also doubtful that the Government can mobilize the products from the ports to customers in a timely manner to ensure a significant impact on the public opinion.

In other words, the National Executive has no administrative or managerial capacity to implement this strategy effectively.

Lastly, it is unlikely that the strategy will succeed, even in the best of cases, simply because establishments have to be fully stocked for several weeks, or even months, so that consumers can be really confident that shortages are a thing of the past. In the short term, if a sufficient amount of goods is made available, consumers will begin to stockpile inventories in their homes.

That's the Achilles' heel of this strategy, since to restrain preventive purchases the State will have to tighten existing controls and escalate repression to keep consumers at bay. Two measures that will turn against the diminished popularity of a Government already known for attacking and violating human rights.

See VenEconomy: The Achilles' Heel of Mass Imports during Election Season in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, September 30, 2015)

On October 1, 2015. VenEconomy: Will the Shadows of Ignorance Finally Defeat Venezuelan Universities?

A reality that has been evidenced over the past 16 years of Bolivarian governments in Venezuela is that the political model being established requires keeping Venezuelans in a permanent state of poverty (as claimed by Jorge Giordani, the economic planner and strongman in times of the late Hugo Chávez, and Héctor Rodríguez, a former Minister of Education) and induce them to indoctrination, ignorance and the lack of independence in their discernment.

It is well known that the first task of making Venezuelans increasingly poorer is being carried out rapidly and successfully. As for the second task, despite the fact it has made important "progress" in the first and second levels of the educational system, the State is faced with a tough nut to crack in the third level: universities. Especially autonomous universities.

Today eight autonomous universities (Central University of Venezuela, Simón Bolivar, University of the Andes, University of Zulia, the National Experimental University of Guayana, Francisco de Miranda, the National Open University and Centrooccidental Lisandro Alvarado) have not started classes, which should already have on August 31, due to an ongoing teacher conflict and technical closure due to a lack of funds.

A statement issued by the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the Central University of Venezuela on Tuesday, after a faculty council meeting to discuss the current administrative and academic emergency, describes the main sticking points affecting that faculty in particular, but that are repeated, with greater or lesser severity, in the rest of universities nationwide.

The main problem is an inadequate budget. The statement says that "funds do not arrive in time, while the budget allocated in recent years has not included replacement fees and prohibits consecutive hiring. The restrictions imposed by the own Ministry of Education coupled with an out-of-control inflation in relation to allowances and transport expenses hinder, in fact, the operation of the Supervised University Studies. The so-called 'pre-quota' approved for 2016 barely covers 32% of the requirements".

Severe budgetary restrictions have been one of the main weapons used against universities. These have a hard impact on the wages of professors, employees and workers, in such a way that are far from covering the basic food basket that reached Bs.50.625,52 ($8,036 if calculated at the fictional official rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar) in August, according to the Center of Social Analysis and Documentation of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM). This, even after the last salary increase granted through the Collective Convention 2, according to which the highest monthly salary is Bs.44.000; an associate professor does not even make Bs.25.000 a month.

Another serious common problem resulting from the lack of funds occurs at teaching level, generated by the increasingly frequent resignations of professors. The Faculty Council says that in Humanities and Education these resignations "have increased at an alarming rate, as well as the switching to activities of less intensive workloads. Calls for applicants are nearly inexistent due to very low wages and the high requirements posed by their duties. The delay of administrative procedures, which usually extends over a year, encourages the resignations of newly incorporated professors, because they cannot sign up for the Professor's Prevision Institute (IPP), the last incentive to stay in the Central University".

The third common problem lies in that the Planning Office of the University Sector (OPSU) has assigned universities a high number of students that are not able to meet the minimum attendance requirements in an arbitrary way and without consultation.

To these are added personal insecurity, crumbling infrastructure due to the lack of maintenance and spare parts; lack of updated equipment, products and clean-up equipment; the inability to provide students with economic aid due to the lack of funds.

So how far will the Government go to make it impossible for universities to continue defeating the shadows of ignorance?

See VenEconomy: Will the Shadows of Ignorance Finally Defeat Venezuelan Universities? (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 1, 2015)

On October 2, 2015. VenEconomy: While Venezuela Crumbles

Today more than ever the exclusion and hardships suffered by millions of Venezuelans bring to mind that old song "Christmas Songs" sung by Billo's Caracas Boys (a legendary Venezuelan music band) that says in its chorus line: "Some are seen joyful, some others in tears. There are some who have everything, everything they have wished for... there are others who are very poor and have nothing at all..."

The thing that changes with the situation of social inequality in Venezuela back in those days is that now those "who have everything, everything they have wished for" is just a small ruling elite thriving thanks to the public money being misused with total impunity; while the number of people who "have nothing", or those finding it hard to get access to basic food, medicines and a myriad of products because of the economic crisis, is increasing, including middle class professionals and anyone living on a fixed salary, today grotesquely devalued by an unstoppable inflationary spiral.

This is clearly seen in the highly expensive clothes, handbags, shoes and watches of internationally recognized brands boasted by both men and women of the government of Nicolás Maduro that the social press talks so much about. Or in the parties and dinners where a lot of money has been spent on fine wines and whiskeys out of the reach of anyone depending on a monthly salary, including the highest ones. Or in the reports on trips taken by the children of officials of the Bolivarian revolution, who are accompanied by personal assistants, friends and family staying in the most luxurious hotels around the world. Or in the international tours the own Maduro has become so adept at, and in which is accompanied by several dozens of people, among them, government officials, bodyguards, advisers, family members and friends, to serve as an audience in his increasingly solitary presentations.

During the last one, to New York, the press reported that his entourage was so big that it took four aircraft to take them all there and that the accommodation of the presidential couple, and some ministers as well, was in the very luxurious Hyatt Hotel, whose rooms cost up to $10,000 per day, while the rest of the entourage stayed at Hotel Stanhope, in which some $575,000 would have been spent, excluding daily travel allowances of $500, $300,000 in cash for tips, chewing gum and coffee for the members of the Military House, and the cost of aircraft fuel that CITGO (the U.S. refining unit of PDVSA) would have donated.

According to Congressman Carlos Berrizbeítia, since March of 2013, upon his arrival to the Presidency of the Republic, to date Maduro has spent about $14 billion in travel.
Worse still is that he also continues to incur other unjustified expenses, as an order to buy 13 Sukhoi aircraft for about $514.8 million and to carry on with a purchase process of military equipment for the defense of the country with China, without doing anything to rectify the situation that is plunging the country into an abyss.
Among other immovable positions, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) has given no hint that it will seek to control monetary liquidity. By September 18, this exceeded Bs.3.0 trillion for the first time ever, almost twice as much as a year ago largely due to the issuance of inorganic money in order to support the Government's fiscal deficit.

With this, it won't be possible to keep a lid on inflation which, as reported by unofficial sources from the BCV to local daily El Nacional, was located at 16.9% in September, one of the highest monthly variations recorded in the history of Venezuela. It is estimated that cumulative inflation between September 2014 and September 2015 is 179.5%, also one of the highest recorded in the country. VenEconomy forecasts that for the last quarter of 2015 intermonthly variations can be greater or equal to 20.0%.

That is to say, just like Nero did when playing the fiddle while Rome was burning, Maduro is enjoying life like a billionaire while he sinks a country that is going through its worst economic and social crisis in its entire history into debt hell.

See VenEconomy: While Venezuela Crumbles (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 2, 2015)

On October 5, 2015. VenEconomy: The Continued Crisis in Venezuela's Electricity Sector

More than a week ago, Venezuela's state-owned utility Corporación Eléctrica Nacional (Corpoelec) announced it was carrying out "temporary plans of electric load management" in at least eight states of the country. To put it plainly, Aragua, Carabobo, Lara, Portuguesa, Guárico, Táchira, Nueva Esparta and Zulia - perhaps the states with the hottest temperatures subject to electricity rationing during peak hours (noon and night).

The argument is that the heat wave affecting the country in the past few weeks has triggered demand for electricity, which coupled with the unavailability of a few power stations in those states, make it necessary to manage the electric load.

This is the second rationing plan carried out by the Government so far in 2015. The first was in April when the Vice President, Jorge Arreaza, and the then-Minister for Electric Power, Jesse Chacón, announced a "severe rationing plan" that included a reduction in working hours of public offices throughout the country, among other measures.

These plans, palliatives for handling electrical spikes emergencies, evidence the resounding failure of the Bolivarian government with regard to the electricity sector, as much as they bring to public light all the lies that have been said about the recovery plans and investment in the National Electricity System (SEN), supposedly "shielded" for the last five years.

The reality is that nearly all investment projects announced in 2010, when the electric crisis broke out, only served to swell the bank accounts of both the officials responsible for implementing them and their respective commission agents.

Today it can be seen how the "big projects" of power generation that would incorporate thousands of megawatts to the SEN never moved forward after works had just begun or were left unfinished in the testing phases. This way, the thousands of megawatts that would alleviate the electricity crisis for the Venezuelan people are gone.

In a similar situation are electricity transmission and distribution projects that have been announced since 2010 for the Hydroelectric Complex of Guayana, from which is supplied between 60%-70% of the electricity demanded by the entire nation.

Needless to say about the dire situation of the Planta Centro thermoelectric plant in Carabobo state resulting from a lack of investment, and that became "inoperative" a month ago due to an alleged chemical pollution, affecting the entire central-western part of the country with non-programmed power cuts.

Thus, the "shielding" of the SEN proudly announced by the Government was largely limited to the acquisition of overpriced second-hand thermoelectric plants. Most of these plants are out of service today, leaving more than 30% of the national demand nearly unassisted.

Now, with the arrival of October and the end of the rainy season, Venezuelans may live another year in the middle of a critical electricity situation.

Two signs of what's to come in this sector are: 1) The Guri Dam in Bolívar State, which registered its lowest level in its entire history on October 1. 2) A power failure registered in Falcón state at the end of last week that left the Paraguaná refining complex (Amuay and Cardón), one of the world's largest oil refiners, out of service.

Ignorance, corruption, indolence and a misleading picture of a country are the origins of this continued and more profound than ever electricity crisis that is making millions of Venezuelan citizens live in inhuman conditions.

See VenEconomy: The Continued Crisis in Venezuela's Electricity Sector (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 5, 2015)

On October 6, 2015. VenEconomy: A New Strategy of the Government of Venezuela to Win Back the Parliament

On Tuesday morning, six retail stores of the Venezuelan unit of Dutch-based warehouse club Makro located in Greater Caracas (La Urbina, La Yaguara, Altos Mirandinos, Guarenas, Charallave and Vargas) displayed signs for its non-member customers announcing that, for now, these stores would be focusing on the needs of some 1,324 grocery stores throughout Caracas, a reason for which the issuance of "special passes" had been suspended. The announcement urged these customers to "buy the products of their interest in other establishments near them".

What is behind this announcement is a Government that is desperate to win the race for the election to be held on December 6, because it may lose its parliamentary hegemony as warned by all public opinion polls.

With the knowledge that one of the weakest points, where votes for the candidates of the ruling party are slipping away, and one of the main reasons of protest of the population, is the rampant shortages of foodstuff and products that make up the basic basket, the Government has decided to give it a shot at the replenishment of shelves with the much-needed supplies, at least until December of this year.

This way, it came up with the so-called "Plan of Secure Supplies" that does not consist of promoting investment to reactivate the national production of items in which Venezuela has vast experience and is competitive, but rather perform mass imports of various food items and medicines at an initial stage.

Shipments began arriving at ports belonging to Bolivariana de Puertos about two weeks ago with seven trucks carrying medicines, 875 metric tons of paper, 3,000 cattle and 500 containers with products of the basic basket. More recently, Wilmar Castro Soteldo, the Governor of Portuguesa state, reported on Sunday the arrival of 331,187 tons of various items, while the national press was covering the arrival in Puerto Cabello (Carabobo state) of 1,070 cattle from Brazil and 30,000 tons of yellow corn, as well as 2,400 tires and machinery destined for the main social programs of the country (aka missions) to be sold "at fair prices".

In a second stage, the Government was planning to distribute these thousands of items through state-owned retailers such as Mercal, Abastos Bicentenario and the missions of a program developed for the people living in slums known as Barrio Adentro. This would start serving the table for an electoral campaign that would be advertised through the hegemonic state media network, saying that the State had won the "economic war" unleashed by the oligarchy and the "American Empire".

So far, the same old dirty tricks of chavismo.

But from then on, a drastic change that seems constructive. The Government would have realized that it didn't have the ability to distribute these foodstuffs, and that's why it turned to Makro - a company specializing in wholesale sales to grocery stores and small merchants - so that it took care of the distribution to small retailers in the capital area and its surroundings.

The upside: both the Government and the private sector would be working together for the sake of Venezuelans, something not seen in years; six months ago, it is likely that Makro would have been expropriated by the Government and then turned into an inefficient and ineffective body.

The downside: it was agreed that Makro will stop serving non-member customers, at least for now. These will have to cover their needs in private supermarkets at higher prices.

At the same time, the Government would be scoring a few points in its favor, because this formula will guarantee the distribution of food to establishments of the Bolivarian revolution. It would also guarantee that end consumers in popular areas have supplies until December; it would make the long queues of people less visible; and reduce the risk of protests from disgusted consumers.

But most importantly, it could represent the beginning of a collaboration between the Government and the private sector for the sake of the country.

We certainly hope so, and that this bridge being built today will not collapse should Nicolás Maduro win back the Parliament again.

See VenEconomy: A New Strategy of the Government of Venezuela to Win Back the Parliament (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 6, 2015)

On October 7, 2015. VenEconomy: The 'Strategic Plan' for Venezuela's PDVSA Falls Too Short

Last week, Eulogio Del Pino, president of PDVSA and Venezuela's oil minister, presented the guidelines for the Strategic Plan of Socialist PDVSA 2016-2025.

We should recognize that this is a plausible effort of Del Pino who, after more than a decade of total inertia and abandonment in strategic planning of the state-owned oil company, has encouraged internal debates in PDVSA for the purpose of listening to and collecting proposals from "96,000 workers from all operational areas of the industry", many of whom are being incorporated into the Socialist Strategic Plan that at the same time is in line with the Plan for the Homeland 2013-2019, inherited from the late Hugo Chávez.

According to Del Pino, the aim of the Strategic Plan is to position PDVSA as a leading company in the production, processing, refining and marketing of heavy crude oil.

Some 97,472 proposals from PDVSA workers, which were consolidated in 466 proposals compiled into five guiding principles, were taken into account for this Strategic Plan: 1) Boost the socialist territorial and national economic development. 2) Strengthen the market diversification and the regional energy integration. 3) Operate and maintain PDVSA with the highest standards of efficiency of top-tier companies. 4) Preserve the environment in PDVSA's operations. 5) Promote once more the socialist values and principles through daily work.

However, in the view of VenEconomy, this "strategic plan" falls too short, not only for having been released late, but for being insufficient and incomplete to achieve the full recovery of PDVSA.

The state oil company is today a pale shadow of what it was almost two decades ago. The human capital of PDVSA was destroyed; the investment and development plans outlined prior to 1999 were abandoned; inefficiency was imposed as the company became a niche for corruption; apart from the fact that it was forced to be at the service of a political project and transformed into a company of social distribution of the oil income, dedicated to import goods and food products, home construction and the agro-industrial business, activities quite distant from its core objective.

In consequence, despite a fivefold increase in its payroll, PDVSA today produces 1.0 million barrels per day less than it used to before Chávez took power, while its exports barely reach 1.5 million barrels per day, of which 500,000 barrels per day are destined to Cuba and PetroCaribe countries with significant discounts, or the payment of debt by selling oil futures to China, the trading partner approached by the Bolivarian revolution.

In his article published in the August edition of VenEconomy entitled "La situación de PDVSA, a cuenta de pulpero" (The situation of PDVSA as a small grocery store), Sergio Sáez, a Venezuelan social auditor and engineer, states among other conclusions that:

1) The burden of obligations imposed by the State to PDVSA requires 2.060 million barrels per day, an amount that exceeds the current availability of hydrocarbons for export (1.5 million barrels per day). This makes it physically impossible for PDVSA to honor these obligations, so it must get out of its energy policy commitments under the risk of continuing to sink PDVSA even further.

2) In light of this situation, PDVSA has been forced to defer payments to suppliers and contractors, which eventually may bring production operations to a halt. In addition to not paying out dividends to foreign partners, it discourages investment in joint ventures.

3) Unable to sell foreign currency to the central bank in order to increase international reserves, PDVSA needs the central bank to continue subsidizing it with the issuance of bolivars without the corresponding equivalent in foreign currency, so that this contribute ordinary revenues to the National Treasury and cover operating costs in local currency.

4) The state-owned oil company cannot increase oil production right away and, most seriously, has not been able for years to cover the quota allocated by OPEC of 3.0 million barrels per day.

What PDVSA urgently needs is a major turnabout.

See VenEconomy: The 'Strategic Plan' for Venezuela's PDVSA Falls Too Short (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 7, 2015)

On October 8, 2015. VenEconomy: A Supreme Court More Tailored to the Needs of Venezuela's Ruling Elite

Trying to avoid a disadvantageous outcome at the upcoming parliamentary election to be held in December of this year, lawmakers from Venezuela's ruling party are resorting to dirty tricks once more.

On Monday, the Judicial Nominations Committee of the National Assembly published a "curious" call for nominations of candidates for the position of judge to fill five chairs of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which closes on Friday. So it is expected that before the Christmas recess of the Parliament, the TSJ will have five new judges faithful to the Bolivarian revolution for the next 12 years.

This call drew the attention of analysts because it does not specify the names of the judges to be replaced, or the chambers of the TSJ to which they correspond. Two vital elements when submitting and evaluating the credentials of applicants.

In addition to this notoriously irregular call, the chairman of the committee, Elvis Amoroso, announced that the number of vacancies may increase because there would be officials thinking about retirement already.

Some analysts explain why this call violates the constitutional rule, among them, José Ignacio Hernández, who in the Prodavinci digital magazine web site [¿Y para qué sirve la Asamblea Nacional?, 4 de octubre, 2015] cites among other arguments:

That until December 15 of 2015, the date when the legislative period ends, the current Parliament can exercise its constitutional powers, including the appointment of Supreme Court judges ("as long as there is a position to fill"), but what is not allowed do this is to appoint judges "without the case of a complete absence", saying that such information in the call is "obscure". He adds that the outgoing Parliament "cannot abuse the exercise of those powers to commit a constitutional fraud, affecting the functioning of the new National Assembly to be elected on December 6. This means that the current Assembly cannot render decisions that, ultimately, intend to take power away from the new Assembly".

He also cites some of the statements by Elvis Amoroso, a lawmaker of the ruling party, that called his attention: 1) That "judges in vacancies due to retirement and other reasons" would be appointed. 2) That the "deadline" is January 15 of 2016, which in his view means that vacancies due to retirement would have taken place by that date.

He says in this regard that "the selection procedure cannot start before retirement takes place and, therefore, before the complete absence occurs", He points out that "the call for the process of selecting judges is unconstitutional because there are no real vacancies to fill".

Hernández rejects as a valid argument that "the National Assembly wants to take measures in advance" to "ensure the normal functioning of the TSJ", because "when a judge retires, a replacement automatically takes over, with which the functioning of the TSJ is guaranteed".

The story of a constitutional fraud from a Parliament that does not resign itself to stop being at the service of a hegemonic project is repeated once again today.

Five years ago, only a few days from the inauguration of a new Parliament in which the government of the late Hugo Chávez had not obtained a qualified majority to continue making its hegemonic decisions, the majority comprised of lawmakers from the ruling party passed an Enabling Law that granted broad powers to Chávez so he could legislate for 18 months. This Enabling Law, which was justified by an alleged emergency as a result of floods throughout the national territory, had as an objective to leave the new plural National Assembly with its hands tied.

Today, as happened five years ago in December 2010, the aim is to make an early move that would allow the ruling party to usurp the functions of a National Assembly that is perceived will be plural and representative of the political positions of millions of Venezuelans.

See VenEconomy: A Supreme Court More Tailored to the Needs of Venezuela's Ruling Elite (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 8, 2015)

On October 9, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's CNE Tibisay Lucena is One of Caesar's Wives

History states that when Julius Caesar rejected his second wife Pompeia, after suspicion of infidelity fell upon her and even when he thought that such allegation had not been corroborated, he did so under the belief that not only she had to be honest, but also had to look honest.

This passage of the Roman Emperor is relevant at present after the local press reported the warnings issued by Tibisay Lucena, the head director of the National Electoral Council (CNE), on an alleged smear campaign against the electoral authority at both national and international level.

Lucena drew attention to this smear campaign, which in her view "seeks to confuse and manipulate the public opinion in general on the parliamentary elections to be held on December 6 of this year". She said that they had "identified the implementation of a communication strategy against the body, one that we have assessed and found appropriate to complain about, because what it seeks is to undermine the peaceful development of the elections, based on the use of false and manipulated reports, spreading misinformation and unleashing a dirty war".

She highlighted three things that this smear campaign would be trying to prove: 1) That the CNE is neither impartial nor autonomous and that is incapable of performing electoral activities. 2) That the CNE discourages the opposition from going to vote and promotes abstention. 3) That the CNE would rig the elections.

What Lucena failed to mention is that all these assertions are based on the behavior of the own electoral body over the past 16 years. A behavior not precisely characterized by its transparency and objectivity.

A lack of transparency that has been present since August 4 2003, when the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), already at the service of the Bolivarian revolution, pointed to the legislative omission during a presentation of Judge Jesús Eduardo Cabrera Romero and then hand-picked five CNE directors and their alternates. A move that immediately showed the intentions of the Government when the TSJ also decided that it would appoint Francisco Carrasquero as head director of the CNE, as well as the people who would make up the agencies of the electoral power, and who would become the secretary general and legal consultant. All these appointments are, according to the National Constitution and the Organic Law on Electoral Processes, responsibility of designated members of the CNE.

Since then, there has been no balance in the political representativeness of the electoral body. For example, four directors of the current board are openly pro-government, while only one of them has shown a certain degree of political impartiality.

Lucena did not explain either why the CNE has not responded to questions raised by electoral analysts on the guidelines to set up the Electoral Register, particularly with regard to the voters' addresses, fingerprints and the transfers of voters to different polling centers without consultation.

The CNE is the one casting doubts upon itself for not having allowed independent international electoral observation from bodies such as the OAS or the European Parliament, among others, on several previous occasions. In addition to replace this observation that involves all the stages of the electoral process and that can prove it a reliable electoral body, for an "accompaniment" of pro-government agencies and organizations without voice or vote. That is to say, silent partners that would give an appearance of objectivity and credibility to the election results.

If the CNE has nothing to hide and is up to nothing, why does not allow the presence of independent international observers so they can serve as a guarantee of fair competitive electoral conditions in Venezuela?

As José Manuel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) for Latin America, puts it, "Democracy is not only based on elections; it must also be competitive, open and transparent".

It is not enough that the CNE says it is honest; it has to look honest as well!

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's CNE Tibisay Lucena is One of Caesar's Wives (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 9, 2015)

On October 13, 2015. VenEconomy: The True Economic War against Venezuela

Nicolás Maduro has unsuccessfully tried to conceal the colossal failure of the political and economic model behind a figurative economic war supposedly unleashed by the "American Empire", Venezuela's oligarchy and other "traitors to the homeland".

Fighting that economic war has served as an excuse for both persecuting and prosecuting political leaders of the opposition and criminalizing and harassing the private sector of the economy. It has also served the State as a cover for not fulfilling its constitutional duties to release official economic data, since as pointed out a few days ago by José Ávila, a lawmaker for the ruling party PSUV and member of the Parliament's Finance Commission, the official figures for inflation are not released for these being altered by economic actors contributing to the weakening of the national economy.

But, since nothing escapes the scrutiny of international bodies analyzing the development of world economies today, it will be of no use for the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) if it refuses to release information on inflation rates, the GDP or the Balance of Payments for the last nine months.

The truth always prevails.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its annual World Economic Outlook, stating that Venezuela has been the country with the worst economic behavior worldwide.

The IMF report points out that "Venezuela will suffer, according to forecasts, a deep recession" of 10% in 2015 and 6% in 2016 because "a drop in oil prices has exacerbated domestic macroeconomic imbalances and pressures on the Balance of Payments".

According to the IMF, the economy of Brazil will contract by 3% this year and 1% in 2016, with Brazil being the only country in Latin America (apart from Venezuela) whose economy registered a contraction this year. The countries in the region that posted a strong growth this year are Chile and Peru with 2.3% and 2.4%, respectively.

The IMF also predicted that inflation in Venezuela will be 159% this year, and 204% in 2016.

On the other hand, according to estimates by the IMF through GDP projections in dollars, of the region's top 10 economies, Venezuela will be the seventh in size with a GDP of $131.86 billion in 2015, or $48.04 billion lower than the GDP of Peru holding the sixth position. With this, the estimated GDP of Venezuela would represent half of Colombia's in 2015 and a third (sic) of what Venezuela recorded in 2012. This decline is the result of a strong devaluation of the bolívar currency.

The picture is further clouded when projections by most economic analysts of Venezuela matched those of IMF experts, who have been promoting the implementation of adjustment measures to cope with the crisis, before the lack of concern of the Venezuelan government. It should be remembered that the late Hugo Chávez broke off relations with the IMF in 2007, and since then Venezuela does not allow the annual review carried out by the Fund.

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, told daily Diario Las Américas that Venezuela is not facing a single economic problem, but several different ones, including the following she quoted herself: a drop in oil prices that has affected exports, slowed down imports and drastically reduced its productive capacity; an increase in fiscal deficits in light of lower oil tax revenues; and a projection of inflation that would rise to levels that "may indicate risk of hyperinflation".

All this corroborates that the true economic war against the Venezuelan people was unleashed by Chávez in 1999, when he decided to copy the economic, political and social model of the Castro brothers in order to clone their "sea of happiness".

See VenEconomy: The True Economic War against Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 13, 2015)

On October 15, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's MUD Must Be Very Careful About 'Giving Blank Checks' to the CNE

As days go by for an election to be held on December 6 and the level of popular discontent with regard to the government of Nicolás Maduro continues to rise, anxiety of those in power today grows by leaps and bounds because they are aware they may lose control of the Parliament.

It was not by chance that Maduro slipped out of his mouth on national TV that the approval ratings of his government had dropped to about 20%, then to recognize that the upcoming elections "may be the most difficult we will have to face".

From there that the Government is forcing 13 judges of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) into early retirement, so it can appoint new ones supporting Venezuela's political process for 12 long years.

That's also the reason of the increase in decibels of the threats from Maduro against the executive secretary of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition party, Jesus "Chúo" Torrealba, to whom he offered "a modern prison cell in Guárico" if he continues talking about an "electoral revolt".

As well as of the ambiguity of the messages of Maduro, which may lead to violence on Election Day if interpreted as a permission to act above the law. At least that is what could be inferred when on his TV show "En contacto con Maduro" (in contact with Maduro) he exclaimed: "I say: we have to do whatever it takes to win the December 6 elections; do whatever it takes to win, that peace prevails no matter what; we have to guarantee our electoral victory!"

It is no coincidence either that the National Electoral Council (CNE) had approved a proposal by the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to sign an agreement of acceptance of the results of the December 6 elections. This without mentioning the "old" arbitrary actions committed through the disqualification of MUD candidates that were leading the polls in their respective regions, or the torpedoing of the candidacies of dissident leaders from the PSUV by the CNE, or keeping municipalities bordering Colombia militarized and under siege, or the reluctance to accept independent electoral observation from international bodies.

Because of all these symptoms and signs from the Government, the warnings by political analysts and the press that the MUD cannot rest on its laurels relying on the positive data from opinion polls become relevant.

One of them, Gustavo Azócar Alcalá, reminded the MUD in a recent article published in his blog entitled "¿Están blindadas las elecciones parlamentarias del 6D?" ["Are the parliamentary elections on December 6 shielded?"], that the upcoming parliamentary elections are not a national election, but one that carries out 87 different elections and "each constituency represents a different challenge".

Azócar says that "the elections on December 6 are not shielded". "The road is long. There is still a lot to be done. Nicolás Maduro has a rejection rate of 83%. That's true. But Maduro is not a candidate. We must set triumphalism aside and work even harder".

In his article, Azócar said that "forewarned is forearmed" as it urged the MUD to "go to municipalities, villages and rural dwellings it has never visited before"; to make sure that 100% of the witnesses are at polling stations; and to "watch out for the traps that the Government surely has laid along the way".

It is also appropriate to warn the MUD about the danger that represents "giving blank checks" to the CNE, as for example, endorsing previous audits being carried out with authorized MUD technicians raising no objections whatsoever, including audits of the current electoral registry, fingerprints, software, the voting machines, the quality of the ink, the data transmission systems, among others. Beware, because these "blank checks" may give the Government a new victory!

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's MUD Must Be Very Careful About 'Giving Blank Checks' to the CNE (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 15, 2015)

On October 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Another Salary Increase Today, More Hunger Tomorrow in Venezuela

Nicolás Maduro announced on Thursday an increase of 30% in Venezuela's national minimum salary and an adjustment in the food vouchers paid to workers on a monthly basis of 1.5%.

This way, the minimum salary goes from Bs.7,421.66 ($1,178.04 if calculated at the country's official fictional rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar) to Bs.9,648.18 ($1,531.45); while food vouchers will go from Bs.2,475 ($393) to Bs.6,759 ($1,072.85), for a total minimum monthly income of Bs.16,399 ($2,603).

These increases will take effect from November 1.

Maduro made the announcement from the run-down facilities of state-run steelmaker Siderúrgica del Orinoco "Alfredo Maneiro (SIDOR), an entire symbolism of what this fourth minimum salary increase so far in 2015 represents for the country.

The ruler boasts his government of having performed more wage improvements than any other in the history of the country, with the purported purpose of "protecting the people from the consequences of hoarding, speculation and smuggling". However, these "historical" improvements can't beat inflation, which has risen 175% so far this year.

It should be noted that salary increases since 2013 have been diluted with inflationary levels above 50.0%. But, the Government is ignoring the delayed reaction of salaries against the levels of future consumer prices. In 2014, the minimum salary increase was 55% to Bs.4,889.11 ($776), however accumulated inflation for that year was 68.50%, 13.5 percentage points higher than the salary increase itself. In 2015, the salary increase will be 75.0%, 100 percentage points below the accumulated inflation for this year, according to estimates by VenEconomy.

	Salary Increase		Salary (Bs.)	Accumulated Inflation (%)	Alimentary Ticket
	Salary Increase		Salary (Bs.)	Accumulated Inflation (%)	Mínimum	Máximum
2013	1st of May	20%	2,457.02	56.20%	Bs.26.75	Bs.53.50
	1st of September	10%	2,702.72
	1st of November	10%	2,972.99
Sub-total		40%	909.09
2014	6th of January	10%	3,270.29	68.50%	Bs.63.50	Bs.95.25
	1st of May	30%	4,251.40
	1st of December	15%	4,889.11
Sub-total		55%	1,916.09
2015	1st of February	15%	5,622.48	175% (*)	Bs.75.00	Bs.112.50
	1st of May	20%	6,746.98
	1st of July	10%	7,421.68
	1st of November	30%	9,648.18
Sub-total		75%	4,759.07

Note: Accumulated inflation corresponds to the National Consumer Price Index (*): Inflation estimated by VenEconomy

The point of analysis of this salary increase is not that this is an electoral and populist kind of a measure. This is something that the Government has used before as a political tool. With a declining popularity rating, this becomes again a bait to lure naive voters.

Nor is a point of analysis if a salary increase is either fair or necessary at the moment. That is also understood. Naturally, it is shocking to see how the purchasing power of salaries has deteriorated nowadays. The population is overwhelmed, because salaries have not been enough to cover their basic needs for a long time. Even this increase will not be enough to cover the basic basket of goods (consisting of the monthly expenses for food, personal hygiene and home care products, education, clothing and footwear, and housing). The basic basket was located at Bs.78,611.65 ($12,478) in August, according to the Center for Documentation and Social Analysis of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM). That is to say, it would take 8.14 minimum salaries (those coming into effect on November 1), and 4.8 salaries with food vouchers included, to cover it.

What is more, it won't cover the food basket either. According to Cendas-FVM, this basket had an increase of 275.5% in the last 12 months that ended in August, when it reached Bs.50,625.52 ($8,036). That is to say, it would take 5.25 minimum wages to meet the food needs of a Venezuelan household of five members.

Nor is it about the negative impact this fourth minimum salary increase will have in companies. An increase that comes near year end when companies have already made estimates for their budgetary outlays, which will seriously affect their financial results. It is understood that this is a government that goes against the private sector, which it intimidates through punitive laws, price and foreign exchange controls, expropriations, among others.

The important point to consider here is that this kind of measures, implemented without any planning, without consultation with the sectors that make up the production chain, is one of the scourges that has led Venezuela into this economic chaos. This salary increase performed without consultation will bring a series of negative consequences that benefits no one and won't help the country out of the crisis the Government has plunged it into for more than 16 years.

See VenEconomy: Another Salary Increase Today, More Hunger Tomorrow in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 16, 2015)

On October 19, 2015. VenEconomy: Will Empresas Polar CEO Lorenzo Mendoza End up Behind Bars?

Over the weekend, Nicolas Maduro "requested" the prosecution of Lorenzo Mendoza, the CEO of Venezuela's largest foodmaker and brewer Empresas Polar, for "negotiating" with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This after Diosdado Cabello, head of the Parliament, brought to light during his weekly TV show broadcast by state-run TV station VTV an illegal call recording of a conversation between Mendoza and Ricardo Hausmann, the former Planning Minister of Venezuela. A recording that would have been maliciously "edited" by the Government itself.

Maduro argued that "what he did and still does is a crime: speak on behalf of the Motherland; it is a serious offense referred to in the legal system and he must be prosecuted, he has to be prosecuted. I hope that justice bodies react because why is he talking with the IMF?"

It should be remembered that Hausmann is no IMF official; he is a professor at Harvard University. So it becomes obvious that Maduro is wrongly accusing Hausmann of negotiating with the IMF.

The truth is that Mendoza has always been considered as a threat and an enemy by the two governments of the Bolivarian revolution. And there are no worse enemies of dictatorial regimes than those people struggling with courage and bravery for the principles and values of honesty and freedom, without yielding before blackmail and threats.

Reality hits them in the face. Mendoza and Empresas Polar are seen as enemies of the regime, because they have succeeded where the State has failed.

The bravery, courage, persistence and perseverance of Mendoza and his entire management and technical team and other staff have maintained all the companies that make up Empresas Polar in full production and competitive, in spite of the harassment through punitive laws that restrict investment, excessive tax burdens, consecutive audits from regulating bodies of the private activity, and the siege imposed by trade unions loyal to the Government. Scourges that have led to: 1) the striking reduction of business activity in Venezuela; 2) the ruin of the entire agricultural industry of the country; 3) the destruction of livestock, swine, poultry and fishery productions; 4) fields now turned into dry lands unable to produce rice, sugar, wheat, maize, sorghum, potato, coffee and other items of the daily diet. That is to say the mass destruction of the productive system, which has led Venezuela to rely on imports in over 90% to meet the country's demand for basic products.

The danger that Mendoza represents to the Government is to insist on the values of toil and personal endeavor of the people to progress in life. As stated by the own Mendoza in a public letter to Maduro, he reiterates his commitment to "contribute to the overall development of Venezuela and its citizens, through continuous investment, the creation of decent jobs and the strengthening of national production".

This is a deadly crime committed by a civilian, who is not a politician, against a political regime that has not been able to maintain production at state-owned companies, and even has achieved unthinkable things such as leading PDVSA from being one of the most successful oil companies in the world back in 1998, to become nearly an empty shell today, with its production and export capacity reduced to the minimum. A reduction that translates into a steep drop in export earnings of the Venezuelan State, and that is triggering a spiral of shortages and inflation heavily affecting the Venezuelan population.

There are precedents for sending Venezuelan entrepreneurs to prison. Today there is a brand new special category of "political" prisoners made up by entrepreneurs whose only "crime" has been running companies that have been confiscated by the Government. For example, the managing director of supermarket chain DíaDía, Manuel Morales, and the company's lawyer, Tadeo Arrieche, who have been in prison for over six months without having been charged, as well as the head of the Venezuelan Federation of Liquor Producers and Related Products, Fray Roa, who was detained for more than a month for having publicly complained about the impact of government policies on the sector he presides.

Maduro is going after Mendoza and is already well known that the greatest deficiency of Venezuela's justice system is its independence.

See VenEconomy: Will Empresas Polar CEO Lorenzo Mendoza End up Behind Bars? (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 19, 2015)

On October 20, 2015. VenEconomy: Why Is It so Difficult to Understand the Reality of Venezuela's Insurance Industry?

On September 15, the Chamber of Insurers of Venezuela (CAV) proposed a reduction in the period of validity of insurance policies for vehicles from three to six months, instead of a full year as traditionally issued.

The proposal, endorsed by 48 affiliated companies, is based on the same ills affecting all the productive sectors in Venezuela: (1) an inflationary spiral projected at 160% for this year and over 200% for 2016, which is reflected in the continued increases in prices of spare parts; (2) massive shortages as a result of the non-domestic production due to the systematic destruction of the private sector over the past 16 years, as much as foreign exchange controls severely restricting imports of spare parts; and (3) an increase in labor costs due to the constraints imposed by the present Labor Law and high inflation. Three scourges that have led nearly all the country's productive activities to a critical situation.

This all includes, according to CAV, a high accident rate.

Four causal factors that make it almost impossible to estimate the replacement costs of inventories and repairs for periods greater than one week, and makes it even more impossible to estimate costs for a period of 12 months.

Why is it so difficult to understand this reality?

Well then, the Superintendency of Insurance Activity, in line with the official government stance that it faces an economic war masterminded by the business community, the political opposition and foreign bodies, does not accept that it is the failure of the "socialism of the 21st century" what drives business sectors to make proposals such as that made by CAV, as a way to survive and weather the economic crisis.

Thus, Yosmer Arellán, the Superintendent of Insurance Activity, told insurers via his Twitter account (@YosmerSUDEASEG) last week that it is prohibited to issue policies for vehicles with periods of validity of less than one year until this gets the nod from the regulating body (in other words, never).

In the view of VenEconomy, the CAV proposal makes sense and believes that an insurance policy valid for 90 days would benefit policyholders. When annual policies are issued, insurance companies tend to overestimate costs so they can cover price increases of spare parts and labor costs as a result of, for example, sudden minimum salary increases made without consultation at any time of the year. This is obviously detrimental to policyholders.

Just to make our point: if a company believes that within a year the cost of a claim will be, say, Bs.100, three things can happen:

1) That the cost of the claim ends up being Bs.150 and, therefore, the policyholder will have to pay Bs.50 more to have his/her vehicle fixed.

2) That the cost of the claim ends up being Bs.50 in detriment of the policyholder, because the premium would have been significantly higher than the repair cost.

3) That the cost of the claim ends up being exactly Bs.100 and this way the policyholder escapes unhurt financially speaking. But... what are the chances of that happening in an environment of high inflation, where spare parts are not found anywhere?

That is to say, an annual policy is a lose-lose situation for a policyholder, except in the case that the premium luckily matches the damage costs of a possible claim.

On the contrary, such distortions would be substantially lower with 90-day projections. In that case, the premium-claim ratio is significantly better for the benefit of the policyholder and the insurance company.

Sadly for the Superintendency, as well as the Government, it is easier to swim against the current than recognizing that all of their policies are good for nothing.

See VenEconomy: Why Is It so Difficult to Understand the Reality of Venezuela's Insurance Industry? (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 20, 2015)

On October 21, 2015. VenEconomy: Is Maduro Delivering the Final Blow to Venezuela's Private Productive Sector?

Everything seems to indicate that Nicolás Maduro is fully determined to deliver the final blow to Venezuela's private productive sector that has weathered terrible storms created by the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" for 16 years.

While the Attorney General's Office gets ready to send Lorenzo Mendoza, the CEO of foodmaker and brewer Empresas Polar, behind bars for having analyzed the possible scenarios to help Venezuela out of the abyss it has been plunged into; and an extension for 60 days of an unconstitutional state of emergency in six municipalities of Táchira state is decreed via Official Gazette, Maduro prepares a fatal blow that will send the country straight down to hell.

On Tuesday, 47 days short of a parliamentary election to be held on December 6, Maduro, during a broadcast of his TV show "Contacto con Maduro" (contact with Maduro) on the hegemonic State media network, gave a preview of new economic measures that he says are aimed at "strengthening the family economy and creating production and export incentives", with a view (his view, of course) to making 2016 "the year of the resumption of economic growth with social justice and socialist distribution".

It turns out that among these "strengthening" measures is a reform on the "Law of Fair Prices", which will extend the price controls that so much harm have done to the population and the entire economy, ratcheting up sanctions that, as said by Maduro himself, will now be part of the nation's "net revenues".

Without giving further details of what such reform, the fourth performed on this catastrophic Law since its enactment in 2011, will bring, Maduro said it will have two ranges: 1) One of them is dubbed "Maximum Sales Price to the General Public", which will supposedly cover all items that are offered in the country and set a maximum profit margin of 30% in the segments provided for in the applicable rules, on the basis of a new methodology and using a strict calculation system that will "set up the actual costs of production, the real costs of imports and the minimum basic profits in all distribution and commercialization processes". 2) The second is dubbed "Fair Price", which will be overseen by the National Superintendence for the Defense of Socio-Economic Rights (Sundde) to give special protection to food and healthcare services.

He pointed out that this new reform was motivated by the current law being "pulverized, penetrated, infiltrated, misused and we cannot accept that, so we are going to tighten the law of fair prices and all the regulations applicable to the purchase of goods and services", this with the aim of protecting the people of Venezuela.

By repeating the practice of creating "special commandos", which he has become so addicted to, Maduro announced that a "Special Commando" led by Jorge Arreaza, Vice-President of the Republic, and counting on the support of Carlos Osorio, Minister of Food, José David Cabello, Minister of Industry and Commerce, César Ferrer, the president of Sundee, Néstor Reverol Torres, Commander-General of the National Guard (GNB), and César González, Commander-General of the National Militia, will be devoted to the defense of fair prices.

This commando will have 30 days to "comb the entire national economy and establish new mechanisms in defense of fair prices, against speculation, to protect the people".

The reality is that this reform may make the terminal disease consuming Venezuela a whole lot worse, whose most noticeable symptoms are the shortage of basic goods and services; a deep recession with an inflation rate reaching 160%; a balance-of-payments crisis; a domestic currency deeply devalued; productive sectors nearly paralyzed due to a lack of dollars to purchase imported components; hospitals unable to treat patients; colossal debts; and rampant crime.

See VenEconomy: Is Maduro Delivering the Final Blow to Venezuela's Private Productive Sector? (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 21, 2015)

On October 22, 2015. VenEconomy: The 'We Must Win the Elections No Matter What' Pills of the Venezuelan Government

When Nicolás Maduro announced last Wednesday a new increase in the national minimum salary, with electoral purposes and without consulting anyone, he also told the crowd that the parliamentary elections to be held on December 6 must be won "no matter what", obviously referring to his candidates for the National Parliament.

And those who don't understand what that "no matter what" stands for, here are a few hints from the own Maduro, other signs coming from the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the always submissive electoral body National Electoral Council (CNE), and some warnings from beyond the nation's borders:

For starters, there are threats from Maduro launched against the executive secretary of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition party, Jesús "Chúo" Torrealba, who was warned that "a modern prison cell in Guárico state awaits him" if he continues talking about an "electoral revolt". As well as an announcement that looks to criminalize any type of public protest or demonstration, pointing out that 1,000 prison cells will be ready for those people seen "doing funny business on December 6". Not to mention the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of Lorenzo Mendoza, the CEO of Venezuela's largest foodmaker and brewer Empresas Polar, to whom the State would be opening an absurd investigation against him anytime soon, and according to analysts this very same action would be part of an electoral strategy to expropriate Polar before the parliamentary elections, in an attempt to achieve the same effect the so-called "Dakazo" had on the population during a regional election in 2013.

On the other hand, the CNE seeks to trap political organizations and the MUD in a strait jacket in order to force them to adhere to a five-point document accepting the outcome of the elections on December 6. The document posted on its web site (www.cne.gob.ve) is almost similar to the one proposed by the PSUV, signed on September 15, along with the majority of its satellite parties from Gran Polo Patriótico, an electoral alliance of Venezuelan political parties created in 2011 to support the re-election of Hugo Chávez in the 2012 presidential election.

Nonetheless, the MUD and members of its campaign known as Venezuela Unida have rightly refused to sign it, unless some conditions are included such as complying with the law, putting a stop to the abusive use of State resources for the PSUV campaign and accepting qualified international observation during the electoral process, all of them referred to in a preliminary draft agreement submitted by Venezuela Unida before the CNE.

On top of that, the marked political bias of the CNE in favor of the PSUV candidates was very clear during a mock polling exercise carried out on Sunday, when the electoral body turned a blind eye to the illegal use of State assets and resources to mobilize voters of the PSUV.

Another "pill" of how far the "no matter what" can get is the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil refusing to become part of the Unasur charade of "accompanying" the elections on December 6. According to a statement issued by this Court, the reasons are based on the lack of response by the CNE on an agreement to ensure that the Unasur mission will make an "objective, impartial and comprehensive observation" to Venezuela's electoral system; as well as the veto of Venezuela on Nelson Jobim, Brazil's former Minister of Defense, "a public personality with extensive knowledge of the electoral race and of recognized exemption" to lead the Unasur mission despite having received the endorsement of other members of the regional body. This is a demonstration of bias of this body created in the image and likeness of a regional political project defending the interests of governments of the member States and not those of the peoples of the hemisphere. With this, a flawed process of illegalities and arbitrariness from the government of Maduro was brought into the light.

Another possible pill is a court ruling in favor of restoring some 27 candidacies (main and alternate) of the COPEI party replaced by the MUD after an unusual dismissal of the Board of Directors of the party by the Supreme Court, which appointed an ad hoc board leaning towards the PSUV. It is thought that these candidates may serve as Trojan horses for undermining the parliamentary majority which, according to opinion polls, has been secured by the MUD.

Will the opposition be able to hang a bell around this cat's neck?

See VenEconomy: The 'We Must Win the Elections No Matter What' Pills of the Venezuelan Government (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 22, 2015)

On October 23, 2015. VenEconomy: Where is the Law of Fair Prices in Venezuela?

Acting in too much haste has never been good, and much less when this affects an entire nation and the lives of 30 million people.

It turns out that Nicolás Maduro is trampling upon the rights of Venezuelans as he intends to implement a reform of the Law of Fair Prices that he briefly outlined on TV and radio on Tuesday, and that it has not yet been published in the country's Official Gazette, which makes it impossible for businesses to comply with it before the date on which it will supposedly enter into force.

According to Maduro and Jorge Arreaza, the Vice President of the Republic and now head of a "special commando" that will monitor the implementation of the law, this reform: (1) maintains the concept of "fair price" to be applied directly by the National Superintendence for the Defense of Socio-Economic Rights (Sundde). Likewise: (2) Manufacturers and importers will be responsible for setting the "Maximum Sales Price to the Public (PMVP) to all the products before leaving the factory or the gates of importers. The PMVP would cover the costs and profit margins allowed for the entire distribution chain, from the factory or the gates of importers to the final consumer. (3) The profit margin allowed for each link is 30% or less, while the margin for the entire chain cannot exceed 60%. (4) The margin for importers will be 20% instead of 30%. (5) More severe sanctions were announced and these will include fines on net revenues, confiscation of movable and immovable property and imprisonment for offenders. Lastly, (6) new penalties for those committing foreign exchange crimes.

Maduro announced in a campaign activity of the Bolivarian revolution that took place in Anzoátegui state on Thursday, that this Friday, Saturday and Sunday begins "the implementation of law reforms that I have decided to carry out in order to establish the Maximum Sales Price to the General Public for all products and services available in the country, and establish a special modality dubbed Fair Price to protect the food basket of the people, healthcare services and to protect a set of services. Regularize the pricing systems in the country".

The working session will be carried out by "commandos" of Sundee, state governors, members of the National Guard (GNB), and communal representatives of the "People's Power". And in addition to the PMVP marking on all products, they will perform audits and initiate criminal proceedings against businesses that fail to comply with the requirements of the Law of Fair Prices.

To VenEconomy, this will translate into a trap for hunting retailers and distributors, who are unaware of the scope of a law that has not yet been written or published in the Official Gazette.

Marking prices in a country with huge shortages of everything and establishments with no merchandise to sell makes a mockery of the entire population.

It would be laughable, if all this was not affecting the food supplies and health of millions of Venezuelans, that a government accused from different sources of paying huge amounts of money in imports now wants to keep stifling a national private sector that hasn't even had anything to do with this mess.

The real reason behind these price controls to be implemented by Maduro is that the Government must now run against the clock to try to narrow the gap in the electoral race where, according to all opinion polls, it has everything to lose. (Naturally, that if the ruling coalition respects the rules of the game and the electoral process is carried out in a transparent manner and in the presence of independent international "observers").

See VenEconomy: Where is the Law of Fair Prices in Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 23, 2015)

On October 26, 2015. VenEconomy: The Rottenness of Venezuela's Justice System Emerges

One of the many ills of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" in Venezuela is that, without a doubt, has the justice system at the service of that communist political project.

Faithful to the motto "Socialist Homeland or Death!", the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) publicly revealed several years ago that they were not at the service of the Constitution, or the laws, or the State, or the people of Venezuela. A very similar allegiance to the Socialist Homeland has proved to have the Prosecutor General's Office in all its proceedings.

This was unquestionably true long before 2012, when former TSJ judge Eladio Aponte Aponte revealed before a U.S. court the state of corruption, degradation, and castration of the judicial system in Venezuela, where nobody can breathe unless the Presidency of the Republic says so. Aponte Aponte is an exceptional witness, not only for having been one of the TSJ judges with more power in the country, but also because of his role as a Judge of the Criminal Chamber that took the most emblematic cases of political persecution in the era of Hugo Chávez such as the "paramilitaries" who allegedly wanted to decapitate Chávez, the police commissioners Iván Simonovis, Lázaro Forero and Henry Vivas, the six Metropolitan Police officers, retired Gen. Francisco Usón, Capt. Otto Gebauer, lawmaker José Mazuco, the Guevara Brothers, among many others.

Among the most condemnatory statements by Aponte Aponte are the meetings held every Friday in the Office of the Vice President of the Republic, with all the top officials of public authorities, in order to give instructions for the week ahead regarding the "legal" course of action to be taken for prosecution files and political judgments.

This reminder comes to the forefront because nothing has changed and everything has become worse in the justice system ever since, as evidenced in the statements by prosecutor Franklin Nieves, one of the public prosecutors in the case of opposition leader Leopoldo López and the students prosecuted and sentenced for the events of February 2014.

It turns out that Nieves, for reasons that have not yet been clarified (and perhaps never will), and seeking protection from the U.S. government, began to make statements over the weekend that the trial of López was based on false evidence, and that he acted under pressure from his superiors. A reality that had been denounced on several occasions by the attorneys of López, NGO human rights defenders and international bodies such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which have granted protection measures in favor of López and his family.

These disclosures by Nieves, which include alleged written evidence in the file of López, are just the beginning. Should these materialize, a groundswell of rottenness of the justice delivered by the Bolivarian revolution will emerge, and this will write the black pages of this era of involution in Venezuela.

For the moment, what is imperative according to Venezuelan jurists and lawyers is to restore justice.

Firstly, by voiding the trial and annulling the judgment by Judge Susana Barrientos against López and the students involved. An unconstitutional and rigged trial carried out by Venezuela's ruling elite without any evidence, blaming López for having used the "art of spoken word".

Secondly, by opening an in-depth investigation that implies the removal from their posts of all officials of the Public Ministry and the court involved in this cause.

The Democratic Unity (MUD) party, the political leadership of the opposition and the democratic civilian sectors have issued statements demanding the annulment of the judgment and the release of both López and the students.

These statements will make a lot of noise unlike those of Aponte Aponte.

See VenEconomy: The Rottenness of Venezuela's Justice System Emerges (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 26, 2015)

On October 27, 2015. VenEconomy: The Adulterated Truth about Venezuela's Foreign Exchange Policy

The government of Nicolás Maduro insists on blaming a third party for the disaster caused by its foreign exchange policy. Now the Central Bank of Venezuela is suing DolarToday.com before a U.S. court. As is known, DolarToday is a financial blog run by Venezuelan residents in the U.S. that publishes a free-market exchange rate based on daily transactions of bolivars and Colombian pesos taking place in Cúcuta, Colombia.

The lawsuit is based on the assumption that the information published by DolarToday on the value of the dollar sold on the parallel market has exacerbated inflation in Venezuela and further devalued the bolívar currency.

Gustavo Coronel, a local geologist and political scientist, analyzed this nonsense in his blog Las Armas de Coronel on Monday [October 26th], [Patton Boggs, bufete del régimen forajido, mete el patón], in which he revealed a series of interesting facts regarding this case.

To begin with, Coronel explained that the law firm that was used to file the complaint is Patton Boggs (renamed Squire Patton Boggs), which has "one of the worst reputations in Washington with regard to the legal representation of outlaw regimes". And says that clients include "Gen. Romeo Lucas García, a Guatemala dictator that killed an average of 200 people a day" and the sinister Baby Doc from Haiti, among others.

Coronel explains that the document supporting the complaint against DolarToday caused him "hilarity and indignation" at the same time (the document can be viewed on The Devil's Excrement - Venezuelan Central Bank Files Complaint Against Dolar Today In The US), among other things, because it argues:

1) That DolarToday has "created the false impression that both the central bank and the Republic are incapable of handling the Venezuelan economy".

2) That since 1998 "the Government of Venezuela has been focusing its efforts on improving the conditions of the poor and punishing the corrupt", but what is obvious with this regime is that "neither the poor are less poor today nor the corrupt have been punished".

3) That the actions of DolarToday "have served to exacerbate inflation in Venezuela and weaken the local currency, which has led the central bank to record losses in the printing of new banknotes". As Coronel says, an evident fact is being overlooked here: that the declining value of the bolívar is owed to "the mistrust and reputation of the regime in international financial markets or the existing corruption in the regime, or the existence of an absurd foreign exchange control at multiple rates and the lack of dollars forcing the greenback to rise in the black market".

4) That the inflation rate in Venezuela is "relatively high". This is a sarcastic inaccuracy since, as Coronel recalls, inflation in Venezuela is the highest in the world, "because of the disastrous economic policies of the regime and its inability to maintain a balance between supply and demand, with its absurd price controls and continued aggression against producers".

5) That it admits that, with more than 1.8 million followers, DolarToday "is seen by a lot of people", but it does not say that this is due to the fact that there is no reliable official information, and as Coronel says "if there is no transparency in the management of foreign exchange, Venezuelans are going to find the information they need wherever it may be. The dollar is worth what people are willing to pay for it".

Coronel recalls that the real reason for the falling value of the bolívar must be sought in the dramatic changes the Venezuelan economy has gone through: "The shortages, the price controls, the threats of the regime, the humiliation against consumers, corruption growing by leaps and bounds, all this leads to a feeling of anguish in citizens that translates into despair. That's the right place to seek the ultimate reason for the astronomical rise of the price of the dollar. This is a phenomenon that has been seen in all countries that have undergone this process".

In the view of VenEconomy, the lawsuit of the central bank will result in failure, because the underlying issue here is the freedom of expression: it is not conceivable that a U.S. court will prohibit the publication of free-market exchange rates. If it is proved that the calculations made by DolarToday are manipulated, the court would impose fines and order the payment of compensation for damages, but never would prohibit the publication of the exchange rates.

See VenEconomy: The Adulterated Truth about Venezuela's Foreign Exchange Policy (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 27, 2015)

On October 28, 2015. VenEconomy: The Human Side of the Black History of Venezuela

Conclusiones, a talk show broadcast daily by CNN en Español (the Spanish-speaking arm of CNN), left thousands of viewers across the hemisphere tuning in on Tuesday night in disgust.

They heard from the own voice of Franklin Nieves, a former public prosecutor of Venezuela, how the administration of justice is handled in these times of Bolivarian revolution.

Nieves, the assistant prosecutor in the case of opposition leader Leopoldo López and the students Marco Coello, Christian Holdack, Demian Martín and Ángel González, corroborated the rottenness of a justice system absorbed and corrupted by the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" trumpeted by the late Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.

A rottenness that should not have surprised either Fernando del Rincón, the host of Conclusiones, who has followed the development of the dictatorship consuming all Venezuelans, or representatives of the international community that have issued precautionary measures in favor of López, Antonio Ledezma, Iván Simonovis, María Afiuni, among other political prisoners of the Bolivarian regime. Only the ones blinded by Chávez's "Plan for the Homeland" are still unaware that justice in Venezuela literally dances to the beat of those at the helm of the Miraflores presidential palace, that until they mess with something of interest to the Bolivarian revolution.

There is plenty of material from CNN en Español that can be found in social networks today for those looking to go deeper into the statements of Nieves. The inconceivable statements of the Attorney General, Luisa Ortega, and the Ombudsman, Tareck William Saab, who once more proved submissive towards the Bolivarian political project, will not stop being analyzed either. They are not the ones who are supposed to speak out about what happened to López and the students, but the judges of the Appeals Court of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), who should have voided the trial by now and ordered the release of López and the students, now under house arrest, and allow the return of Coello, who was forced into exile.

Because the heart of this macabre story is its human side. That is the vital part. This is about the rottenness of the justice system dramatically impacting the lives of these young Venezuelans, whose freedom was taken away and were brutally beaten, tortured, ill-treated and humiliated. Young Venezuelans who lost days and months of their lives; who saw their dreams being interrupted; who were torn from their families. They and their families will never be able to make up for the lost time because of the ambitions of an elite seeking to perpetuate itself in power.

López, Coello, Holdack, Martín and González, as well as Simonovis, Henry Vivas, Lázaro Forero, Afiuni, Ledezma, the Guevara brothers, among other hundreds of Venezuelans subject to the unfair justice of people such as Nieves, Ortega, Eladio Aponte Aponte, Susana Barreiros, among other prosecutors and judges of horror, make up the human side of this black history of Venezuela. They will at least get the chance to tell others from their own voices, unlike Franklin Brito, Antonio López Castillo and Juan Carlos López, just to name three of the fatal victims from this political involution in Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: The Human Side of the Black History of Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 28, 2015)

On October 29, 2015. VenEconomy: What 'Moral Victory' of Venezuela?

On Wednesday, Nicolás Maduro and his foreign minister, Delsy Rodríguez, celebrated the election of Venezuela as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, for a second three-year period, as a "moral victory". Venezuela entered the Council in 2012, despite the criticism and opposition from more than a dozen human rights NGOs. By that time, these organizations argued that the country did not meet "the requirements for being a part of an organization that ensures the protection of universal rights", a reason that has become even more valid in 2015, three years later, not only because the violation of human rights has worsened in Venezuela, but that this situation has become more evident than ever for the international community.

Does Maduro have reasons to define this re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council as a "moral victory"?

Perhaps he thinks that this re-election comes at a perfect time and now he is considering the benefits this could bring for a parliamentary election to be held on December 6. Perhaps some Venezuelans still believe that the Government is not a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing because of this.

How to understand that a body such as the UN is allowing Venezuela to enter the Council, when its government is being accused of handling the justice system at its whim, without independence of any kind and placed at the service of morbid interests?

How to understand that the UN decided to go ahead with this re-election despite some recent nauseating statements that ended up uncovering the rottenness of the justice system in Venezuela, which had been already uncovered by former Supreme Court judges Eladio Aponte Aponte and Luis Velásquez Alvaray several years ago? These are statements that, as pointed out by Felipe González, Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), for Venezuela, will have "very serious consequences".

The reality is that both the entry of Venezuela into the Council in 2012 and Wednesday's election are aberrations that should never happen, and these are no proof whatsoever that Venezuela is today a country where human rights are respected.

Countless bits of evidence containing violations of all kinds of civil, political and economic rights committed during the last 16 years of communist revolution have been submitted before each national and international body defending human rights.

There is strong evidence of political persecution against dissidents going against the policies of the Government, of apartheid policies against oil workers, for example. Even cases of torture, void judgments, unjustified custodial sanctions and persecution against students and demonstrators since February 2014 have been extensively documented before the UN Committee on Torture.

On top of that, Venezuela is no longer in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights since 2013, a year after Hugo Chávez filed a complaint against it, apart from the fact that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was banned from visiting Venezuela more than 10 years ago.

This institutional aberration is not only owed to the weakness of moral and ethical leaders of many countries that sold themselves to a political project conceived in Cuba, thanks to Venezuela's petrodollars. It is also owed to the fact that these bodies, conceived to protect human rights across the continent, are becoming empty shells defending governments and not the rights of citizens. That's why Cuba is a member of the Commission and Ecuador was elected along with Venezuela as a member of the Commission on Wednesday. Not to mention the African and Asian dictatorships that are also members of the Commission.

An important detail here is that elections of Ecuador and Venezuela were proposed by the governments of the region, and supported by the other UN member countries. Meaning that governments with access to reliable information about what was going on in Venezuela simply overlooked the ongoing violations and voted for Venezuela.

As the late Chávez would have put it himself: this is a s... victory, not a moral one!

See VenEconomy: What 'Moral Victory' of Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 29, 2015)

On October 30, 2015. VenEconomy: Is the Government of Venezuela Readying a New 'Dakazo'?

Some say that sequels are never any good. Things get complicated when the first part was pretty bad already; then the second installment will be a whole lot worse.

This is especially true at these times when the Venezuelan government persists on making a copy of its so-called operation "Dakazo" from November 2013, with which it neutralized and reversed a negative electoral trend expected for a municipal election held on December 8 of that same year.

As will be recalled, back in November of that year, the National Executive decided to intervene distributors of household appliances as well as other related businesses and retail chains. They were forced to sell all their in-stock merchandise at prices below cost. The first to fall into the clutches of this operation was Daka, one of the largest distributors of home appliances in the country (hence the name of Dakazo). Dakazo bore fruit, a fake fruit actually, in the weeks that followed: it temporarily forced prices down and many were able to buy products beyond their financial reach, which had a positive impact on the municipal election result for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

All Venezuelans are suffering the aftermath of Dakaso since then: shortages and high prices that go by the hand; the closure of many small businesses that were not able to recover from the economic impact as a result; the inability of many other medium-sized businesses that have had a hard time replenishing their inventories; and the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Now, when all opinion polls are showing that the Government will not be able to revert a rate of popular discontent that already exceeds 80% because of its mismanagement of the country, it has decided to reform the Law of Fair Prices in order to require that manufacturers and importers set the respective Maximum Selling Price to the Public (PMVP) at factories or warehouses of importers, including the costs and profit margins for all wholesalers and retailers from the entire chain to the final consumer. The profit margin for manufacturers is 30% and for importers 20%, while the margin for the entire chain cannot exceed 60%.

Moreover, if the dollar sold on the parallel market becomes part of the cost structure it will be considered a foreign exchange crime; a measure that will further impact companies that resorted to dollars of the parallel market to replenish their inventories due to the impossibility of obtaining foreign currency at official rates.

In addition, still without understanding the market laws, the Law of Fair Prices does not allow margins to include a large number of direct and indirect costs. The reform of this law also increased sanctions that now include imprisonment, fines and confiscation of goods and proceeds involved.

A "National Commando of Fair Prices", created with the reform of the law, was activated on October 23 with Nicolás Maduro putting Jorge Arreaza, the Vice President of the Republic, at the helm. Arreaza will supposedly be focusing efforts on the "protection of the income of the people" by fighting speculation.

Since then, retail stores and distributors are receiving the unpleasant visit of these "commandos", forcing them to sell their products between 10% and 30% below their list prices - or, at a loss while marked prices were already complying with the previous regulation. These retail chains that the State deems of "basic necessity articles" include Zara, MNG and Aldo. Some of these establishments already display the following sign: "In line with the provisions of the National Commando of Fair Prices going hand in hand with the National Executive, we will proceed to lower the prices of our products by 30% to guarantee the access of our goods and services to the people".

And the operation is only in its first week.

This new "Dakazo" will not bring any benefits to either consumers or the economy, on the contrary, it will be another economic noose around the neck of the Venezuelan people.

See VenEconomy: Is the Government of Venezuela Readying a New 'Dakazo'? (Latin American Herald Tribune, October 30, 2015)

On November 2, 2015. VenEconomy: The State of Despair Caused by the Governments of Venezuela

A few days ago, an article written by Ángel Oropeza, a famed Venezuelan psychologist and expert in political sciences, entitled "The Government will not give up power" was circulating on social networks. ["El gobierno no se va a dejar", El Nacional, 14 de julio 2015].

This article caught the attention of VenEconomy because it contains the reason of the apparent passivity and lack of reaction of millions of Venezuelans in the face of the chaotic crisis the two governments of the past 16 years have plunged their existence. This is the state of despair they have caused and infected the population with.

Oropeza starts from one premise: that at a clear disadvantage of the ruling party in a parliamentary election to be held on December 6, the Government will be pinning its hopes on reversing the negative trend by "demobilizing the opposition majority" through, among other tactics, what modern psychology calls "negative anticipation". This is a "particular thought pattern that leads those suffering it to constantly assume that something will go wrong, to never doubt that prediction, and act accordingly".

Oropeza points out that "the essence of this psychological pattern is the anticipation of things going wrong without having the proper data supporting those conclusions".

He adds that although "anticipation before certain risks and dangers helps protect us and allows us to prepare ourselves as well as we can to face them", Dr. Elías Abdalá recalls in his book "The Traps of the Mind", that "when misfortunes anticipated by the mind are abstract, exaggerated or illogical, they frighten us, make us sick and place limitations on us".

Oropeza says in his article that "in the political sphere, when negative anticipation is generalized to many people, it not only discourages popular organization, but also helps consolidate an attitudinal-psychological floor of collective acceptance and resignation on which authoritarian governments build their model of domination".

"If a lot of people are convinced that there is nothing to do about their political environment, that what will happen is bad but also inevitable, that surrendering is the only solution because there is no way to change or even face the oppressors, then the model of domination begins to take root and be perceived as irreversible".

In his view, "this government has been so bad and has been around for so long that it is logical that, after all this time, many people believe they are condemned to continue bearing its brunt. And not only that: the worst thing is that they end up thinking that it is inevitable and that, no matter what happens, nothing can be done to change it". But Oropeza also recalled a phrase coined in by Spanish philosopher and essayist Fernando Savater: "Once a people make the decision to change, there is no force that can stop them. And concludes that "the streets, the opinion polls and the reactions of astonishment from bureaucrats of the ruling party are the best evidence that the political reality has changed and that the country faces a new dawn. We only need to start getting over the despair intelligently created by the Government more than fifteen years ago and begin to realize that the country we want is just around the corner, and that is only up to us to get it back".

This explains the Government's cynical campaign promoting a perception of inevitability. From there comes all that amount of hot air such as doing "whatever it takes to win the election", or "not giving up the Bolivarian revolution" and the threats of Nicolás Maduro of ruling "with the people, always with the people and in military civic union."

Fortunately for Venezuela, pollsters and others feeling the pulse of the public opinion point out that an overwhelming majority of Venezuelans are willing to vote on December 6, which will silence the shouts of agony from a regime that is inevitably sinking into decay.

See VenEconomy: The State of Despair Caused by the Governments of Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 2, 2015)

On November 3, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Maduro Sticks to the 'Plan for the Homeland'

Today Venezuelans corroborate with reliable data from the Centro de Documentación y Análisis Social de la Federación Venezolana de Maestros (Cendas-FVM) (Center for Documentation and Social Analysis of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers) the economic blow being delivered to their pockets every day by the so-called "socialism of the 21st century".

It should be remembered that for 20 years, Cendas-FVM has reported the cost of the Basic Basket of Goods for a family of five.

Cendas-FVM reported that its basic basket cost Bs.97,291.86 (or $15,443 if calculated at the fictional official rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar) in September of this year, Bs.18,680.21 (23.8%) higher than August, and representing an increase of Bs.71,905.90 (283.3%) for the past 12 months. This is the second highest inter-monthly variation so far this year and a cumulative variation of Bs.67,115.04 (222.4%), up Bs.57,351.13 (587.4%) from the same period a year ago.

To cover the costs of the basic basket, 13.1 minimum monthly salaries (Bs.7,421.68) were required in September, 10.1 minimum wages of Bs.9,648.18 in force since November 1 or 6.0 "integral" salaries (those including "socialist" food vouchers) of Bs.16,098.18.

Cendas-FVM also reported that the four items with the biggest increases in September were: 1) Education (53.5%). 2) Food basket (22.3%). 3) Personal hygiene and household cleaning products (14.0%). 4) Rental housing (12.0%).

This is the catastrophic inflationary spiral that the Government is trying to hide with the complicity of the central bank by not releasing the official economic data of the nation for more than 10 months. Any reasonable government, aimed at providing quality of life for the population and forward-thinking based on progress and development, would stop and analyze the development of prices; what is impacting them so negatively; what policies are wrong; learn from countries doing a good job; and listen to the voices of economic experts of all sorts.

But, we already know that there has not been a Government shining for its wisdom and logic for the past 16 years, as well as rulers betting on the development and progress of the country.

We already know that for the past 16 years what has prevailed over the entire life of the nation, and all the decisions of social, political and economic nature, is the communist model enclosed in the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" conceived by the late Hugo Chávez, whose guidelines are now being followed closely by Nicolás Maduro.

It is useless to expect that Maduro will give up an economic policy based on price and foreign exchange controls; or desist from criminalizing, cornering and going after the private sector of the economy, as is doing now particularly with the commercial sector and Empresas Polar, Venezuela's largest foodmaker and brewer.

Forget about the Government paying heed to recommendations that most economists agree with, including: (a) unifying the exchange rates at a competitive level (Bs.200 per dollar or more, but with transitional measures to reduce the impact on the poor and middle classes); (b) an increase in gas prices at least to cover the costs of production and distribution ($30 per barrel, or Bs.37.75 per liter at an exchange rate of Bs.200 per dollar); (c) eliminate exchange and price controls; (d) give back the central bank its autonomy; (e) ensure the inviolability of private property and private investments, and, perhaps most importantly, restore the autonomy of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Prosecutor's Office, the Comptroller's Office and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Much less when this kind of measures requires a government with leadership to convince Venezuelans that this is the right way to go about tackling economic difficulties: Maduro no longer has aces up his sleeve and his acceptance rate barely reaches 10%.

There, plus his total submission to the regional project of the Castro brothers, lies the reason why Maduro insists on taking Venezuela down the Road to Hell.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Maduro Sticks to the "Plan for the Homeland" (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 3, 2015)

On November 4, 2015. VenEconomy: A Final Blow to University Autonomy in Venezuela?

In an attempt to get their hands on autonomous universities once and for all, lawmakers of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), acting as "spokespersons of the sovereign people", approved on Tuesday an agreement in rejection to a stoppage of activities at autonomous universities.

It should be remembered that the country's 10 autonomous universities have not been able to begin their teaching activities this year, due to begin in September, because of the lack of resources to pay salaries, do maintenance and provide student services. Since 2007, their budgets are being redirected obviating the brutal inflationary spiral making Venezuela the country with the highest inflation rate in the world.

These universities are calling for budgetary improvements, socio-economic demands for professors and employees, as well as more resources for maintenance and the provision of equipment and materials.

The 11 recitals justifying the three framework agreements of the PSUV lawmakers are a repetition of the propagandist messages from the Government on an ongoing economic war against it, on the attacks on the Government led by the opposition and the well-worn issue about social division, along with countless manipulations of the reality and the usual lies of the Government.

The result of Tuesday's parliamentary session is that the PSUV lawmakers decided to suggest to the Government:

1. That it creates a Commission of Jurists to go to the Supreme Court of Justice in order to sue the representatives of these universities for the damage they have caused to the Venezuelan State.

2. That it takes the necessary steps before the Ministry of Labor for the illegal stoppage carried out by the universities.

3. That it performs an audit of the universities on strike and, among other things, that it "analyzes the use of resources that the State has granted for the operation, maintenance and payment of wages and salaries to the people who have not worked".

This agreement is being carried out without having listened to the approaches of the university community, without listening to the rectors, students, professors and trade unions. This agreement comes at a time when the Parliament is approving resources for more than Bs.5 billion in travel expenses of President Nicolás Maduro, his large delegations and others serving in a position of trust to the leader; and at a time when the Government is about to spend more than $500 million on 12 Sukhoi 30 aircraft from Russia, when $50 million would be enough to meet the needs of universities.

It is obvious that there is no political will to solve the budget crisis of universities. No matter how much they try to give a bit of legitimacy and legality to these agreements, the reality is that the goal is to abolish the autonomy of universities that has stopped these institutions from becoming vessels of indoctrination of a political project that wants to plunge younger people in particular, and the general population as well, into the shadows.

Or can anyone still doubt that the members of that Commission of Jurists will be required to support the Government as a requisite; as is usual in any member of a commission set up over the past 16 years? Or can anyone still doubt that the ultimate goal of this "request" will be the intervention of universities and thus the violation of university autonomy, as well as rigged trials for their authorities accused of causing prejudice to the Venezuelan State?

See VenEconomy: A Final Blow to University Autonomy in Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 4, 2015)

On November 5, 2015. VenEconomy: Pure Budgetary Lies from the Government of Venezuela

The National Budget for 2016 submitted by the National Executive before the National Assembly (aka the Parliament) on October 20 will be even more useless than any of its most recent predecessors.

As presented to the National Assembly, Venezuela's 2016 Budget will be Bs.1.5 billion, or Bs.806.87 billion (108.9%) higher than that approved for 2015. But, less than what is really being spent this year: the sum of the original budget plus the additional appropriations to date by the National Assembly is Bs.1.49 billion. Added to this is an estimated amount between Bs.400 billion and Bs.500 billion to cover the increases in the recently decreed minimum salaries, the Christmas bonuses and last-minute expenditures for the sake of the electoral campaign, totaling nearly Bs.2 billion.

But not only the Government is projecting that total expenditures will be lower next year, but says it assumes that inflation in 2016 will stand at 60%, when unofficial figures from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) that recently leaked into the press showed that monthly inflation in October was 12.1% for an annualized inflation rate of 198.4% (the highest in the economic history of Venezuela). But even if the projected inflation in the Budget was true, the projected expenditure should have estimated an increase in the same proportion, or between Bs.2.9 trillion and Bs.3.0 trillion.

On the other hand, there is the recurrent fact of underestimating the expected revenues, something that has been some sort of tradition of Venezuelan governments.

The logic behind this in the last decades of the 20th century was based on the need to be prudent: It is easier to adjust for higher-than-expected revenues than lower-than-projected revenues.

However, in the governments of the 21st century, this practice has become a gimmick: according to the Constitution, 20% of the Government's revenues must be distributed to states and municipalities. When underestimating revenues by a wide margin, the Central Government cuts its share to the states and municipalities and is free to decide how to spend the "windfall revenues".

According to the draft budget, non-oil revenues will stand at Bs.1.2 billion (84.8% of the total) and oil revenues at Bs.216.58 billion, with oil prices estimated at $40 per barrel. And this is the least "interesting" part, because total oil revenues were projected at Bs.124.1 billion for 2015 with oil prices at $60 per barrel.

One explanation for this budgetary phenomenon could be that the Government has plans to devalue the bolívar currency between Bs.40-50 per dollar, possibly in January, but the message of the Budget did not even mention the possibility of a devaluation: the projected exchange rate is Bs.6.30 per dollar.

But this is something uncertain as everything related to economic figures in this era of Bolivarian revolution: neither the Ministry of Finance nor state-run oil company PDVSA have released figures on the performance of the oil sector this year.

See VenEconomy: Pure Budgetary Lies from the Government of Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 5, 2015)

On November 9, 2015. VenEconomy: Will Plan A or B Work Out for the Government in Upcoming Election in Venezuela?

The course of the future of Venezuela will start defining in only 28 days during a parliamentary election to be held on December 6 of this year.

By midnight on that date, when Tibisay Lucena, rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE), announces new members of the Parliament (aka National Assembly or AN) for the next five years, it will be clear if the Government resorted to its Plan A or B as explained by Carlos Alberto Montaner, a Cuban journalist and writer, in his article "The two plans of Nicolás Maduro" published in the news site Gentiuno a couple of days ago.
[Los dos planes de Nicolás Maduro, 7 de noviembre de 2015].

Montaner makes a portrait of the nation's critical socio-political and economic reality, and describes how Venezuelans have become fed up with the aftermath of high prices and widespread shortages caused by the crisis.

He explains that the government of Maduro will follow an axiom of the Castro brothers: "The revolution will never surrender". He points out that "the revolution is a verbal construction that, in reality, means power. And power is what the revolution will never surrender."

A fine example that Maduro is certainly following this axiom are statements of winning the election "no matter what", or "assuming" that the opposition wins the Parliament he will govern through a civic-military union.

From there, Montaner raises the likelihood that the Government has a plan A and B for December 6.

He explains that Plan A will consist of "winning the election or accept defeat by a minimum amount of votes. How does it pull it off? By imprisoning or prohibiting opposition leaders that may talk many of their compatriots into casting their ballot on December 6 from participating in the election. That is the case, among others, of Leopoldo López and María Corina Machado. By manipulating voting machines. By generating false ID cards. By modifying constituencies to favor its own candidates. By abusing the media. By obstructing the voting process of the opposition in a thousand different ways." And warns that the purpose of this Plan is "to discourage democrats not to vote. They reckon that with all these tricks the election can be won or lost by a narrow margin. And, if they lose, they will buy a handful of dishonest lawmakers from the opposition at any price and thus continue hanging on to power."

Rumor has it that Plan A, with the ploys described by Montaner (and many others), is already in full development.

The Plan B foreseen by Montaner, if the avalanche of votes is of such magnitude that the Government will not be able to hide a resounding defeat, is similar to what "happened to Wojciech Jaruzelski in Poland in the summer of 1989". He "took all the advantages of power to crush the independent self-governing trade union Solidarity in a by-election limited to the Senate, but Lech Walesa and his democratic tribe obtained 95% of the vote and nearly all of the seats. The communist regime collapsed before the evidence of the widespread rejection."

Montaner claims that "Plan A is worse than Plan B. Plan A continues an agonizing charade that inevitably leads to a slow and painful death. Plan B has the advantage that it shamelessly exposes the totalitarian nature of this dictatorship and puts an end to the false story of a revolution of the oppressed. The story will be simply over for them."

Here are three aspects that will weigh regardless of the Plan the Government resorts to: 1) That unlike Poland the electoral process in Venezuela is not manual, and the counting of the ballots in the ballot boxes are not binding to certify or not the results. With the current electoral system in Venezuela, the valid and binding votes are cast by machines, which are handled and controlled by the authorities of a CNE biased in favor of the Government. 2) That the opposition wasted a golden opportunity by not leaving records of its observations during previous audits of electoral processes that could serve as evidence before the suspicion that the decision of the majority of Venezuelans has been violated. 3) That the Government does not allow independent international observation.

Bridging the gaps between Poland and Venezuela, is the answer of Montaner to the question "What Venezuelans should do?" "Just what the Poles did. Go out and vote massively. Bury this filth under a mountain of votes, and fight for every single vote at every single polling station, tirelessly and without fear."

See VenEconomy: Will Plan A or B Work Out for the Government in Upcoming Election in Venezuela? (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 9, 2015)

On November 10, 2015. VenEconomy: Winning the Upcoming Parliamentary Election is No Joke for the Government of Venezuela

As a parliamentary election to be held on December 6 nears, opinion polls continue to show the increasing popular rejection towards the government of Nicolás Maduro.

At the same time, the machinery of the State continues to oil itself with all kinds of machinations, dirty tricks and arbitrariness, breaking every law and democratic standards. Once more the totalitarian and fascist nature of the Bolivarian regime is imposed, whose representatives aim to remain in power "whatever it takes". That is to say, through blackmail, bribery, threats, attacks and persecuting those opposing them.

The preparatory stages for an adequate electoral field to impose the candidacies of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) have been completed (with success), among others:

1) The arbitrary and illegal disqualifications of candidates from the opposition, and some dissidents from the PSUV, for the Parliament with proven leadership in their respective regions.

2) An indefinite state of emergency and suspension of constitutional guarantees in most municipalities on the Colombia border, in violation of the Constitution with the approval of the Supreme Court (TSJ). A measure that curtails among other rights the mobilization and electoral campaigns of candidates for lawmakers in these municipalities, and that may also curtail the right to vote of hundreds of citizens.

3) The intervention by the TSJ of opposition parties COPEI and Movimiento de Integridad Nacional (MIN-UNIT), a move that, taking advantage of internal rifts, seeks to infiltrate "Trojan horses" as candidates of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition electoral coalition.

4) Then the National Electoral Council (CNE) tries to create confusion by putting MIN-UNIT right next to the MUD on voting cards, both of which emphasize the word "unity".

5) All 14 previous audits to the electoral process were "successfully" passed: The representatives of the opposition did not acknowledge in writing a single observation or criticism made by them of any of the resources, materials, technology and data to be used during the parliamentary election, which certainly will serve again as an endorsement in case of complaints after the fact.

6) Not allowing independent international observation, but the accompaniment of a mission of 50-60 people from intergovernmental regional organization UNASUR.

7) The organization of 71 armed groups that will serve as "guardians" of the voting centers. These groups have already made demonstrations of their force with attacks on police headquarters in some municipalities, using weapons of war (such as grenades) on which CAVIM (the national corporation owned by the Ministry of Defense in charge of developing the national military industry) has a monopoly on production, import and distribution. As well as the attacks on candidates to lawmakers from the opposition during public mobilizations, such as the case of Henrique Capriles, the governor of Miranda state, who was shot at by pro-government groups last Sunday to prevent him from carrying out a tour in Valles del Tuy (a sub-region of Miranda state); and María Corina Machado, who was also attacked in Coro (Falcón state) by violent groups that identified themselves as supporters of the PSUV.

And if that wasn't enough impudence and impunity, now the Government will go further still. Now the order is to search - and find - votes anywhere and anyhow. That's how the Government has disrupted the normal process of partisan mobilization during electoral times with the so-called "1 for 10", where each party activist tries to convince 10 for the PSUV electoral option, a coercion and extortion mechanism being applied in every ministry or public entity.

A fine example of this is a terrible video leaked into the social networks a couple of weeks ago, in which Maj. Luis Eduardo Machado Quintero, rector of the National Experimental Polytechnic Bolivarian National Armed Forces University (UNEFA), is seen ordering the professors of this higher education institution to go get 1,300,000 votes for the candidates of the ruling party. Quintero, like any apprentice of Adolf Hitler, was heard saying: "I have 375 professors... and I have ordered them, not asked them a favor, to do the 1 for 10 for me. Each professor will oversee five of their students, and these five students will be doing their 1 for 10 as well." Quintero lets them know that they will be directly supervising all professors, including the dean, because UNEFA is "a socialist university", "is the commander Hugo Chávez's little girl"... and that is no joke.

But, as Leonardo Padrón, a famed local screenwriter and TV producer, put it in a column published by daily El Nacional entitled "Who Said Fear?" [¿Quién dijo miedo? 8 de noviembre 2015]: "By tradition, only the one threatening feels like a loser."

See VenEconomy: Winning the Upcoming Parliamentary Election is No Joke for the Government of Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 10, 2015)

On November 11, 2015. VenEconomy: OAS' Almagro Speaks Out about Venezuela's Electoral Landscape

For years, the Organization of American States (OAS), and particularly José Miguel Insulza, maintained a complicit silence and took ambiguous positions about the violations of human and political rights committed in Venezuela.

But that silence is over. The new Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, wrote a public letter to one of the directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, in which he clearly described Venezuela's deeply questioned electoral system.

In his letter, dated November 10 [.pdf], Almargo answers the letter sent by Lucena rejecting the offer from the OAS to perform an electoral observation on December 6.

Almagro begins his letter by noting that such rejection was based "on a political position and not on the arguments that make justice and the guarantees necessary for the development of an electoral process", telling Lucena that he supposes she is absolutely clear that the work of electoral justice requires to be at the forefront of the guarantees demanded by the parties, whether from the Government or the opposition.

He counters the argument of Lucena that "the electoral system in Venezuela is extraordinarily efficient", reminding her that "electoral guarantees not only refer to efficiency".

Almagro warns that the General Secretariat of the OAS cannot be "indifferent to the requests from the opposition and other countries on an electoral observation", because "we would be seriously neglecting our duty, which is to support the proper functioning of an electoral process for all the political parties involved".

He points out that "in this scenario we all have something to do, either by action or omission, but that fact definitively constitutes the essence of your work".

In addition, he reminds Lucena what her role in an electoral process in democracy is: "You are in charge of electoral justice; you are its guarantor. Everybody has to trust you, all the parties, all the citizens and the international community as a whole, because Venezuela has obligations to democracy that go beyond your own jurisdiction". In a clear and concise manner, he tells Lucena: "Your job is to ensure fair and transparent elections held with maximum guarantees. This means ensuring those guarantees months before the election. That's what is necessary and doing what is necessary is a matter of electoral justice".

Then he analyzes seven specific aspects that "clearly violate rights within the framework of the electoral campaign and the electoral process itself", and against which neither he nor Lucena can look the other way. These are:

1) Absence of expenditure ceilings or controls for electoral campaigns.

2) Unequal access to the media for candidates of the Government and the opposition.

3) New regulations on the location and characteristics of ballot papers that may lead to confusion when citizens cast their vote.

4) Implementation of security measures curtailing the freedom of expression.

5) Judicialization and threats to peaceful demonstrators.

6) Disqualifications and changes in the conditions of gender distribution and state representation that may affect the election outcome.

7) The intervention of political parties by the judiciary.

Almagro also focuses on three important points:

1) The state of emergency decrees and their impact on the electoral process, which he points out that even though they are not directly affecting the effective right to suffrage are "curtailing rights that might be indirectly affecting the electoral campaign" by restricting, among others, "the rights to the inviolability of the home and all private properties, to free transit across the national territory, to public or private gatherings without prior permission and to peaceful demonstration".

2) The freedom of the press and expression, because it is a matter of concern "all the threats, harassment and violence still being reported against journalists and the media in Venezuela", he said, citing specific examples.

Almagro finishes his letter to Lucena emphasizing that "December 6 belongs to everyone. Freedom, democracy and the respect for human rights are values that belong to everyone. Nobody should have the slightest doubt about the functioning of democracy. Our duty, yours Mrs. Lucena and mine, is to provide guarantees for everyone and not turning a blind eye or a deaf ear to the reality that is in front of us".

See VenEconomy: OAS' Almagro Speaks Out about Venezuela's Electoral Landscape (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 11, 2015)

On November 12, 2015. VenEconomy: The Law of the Funnel in Venezuela

The actions of the government of Nicolás Maduro these past few days have confirmed once more how wrong the periscope of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" is after insisting on going against the laws of the market.

First, when Maduro traveled to Riyadh to attend the fourth Summit of South American-Arab Countries (ASPA) and insisted on lobbying and proposing the creation of a mechanism for setting "fair prices" on crude oil.

This crusade is, on the one hand, mission impossible since he was not able to talk Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies into deviating from their strategic line: to maintain their market quotas in the face of increasing competition from Russia and other producers outside of OPEC, particularly Southeast Asia.

And on the other, it makes evident the two faces of the Government when defining what a "fair price" is: when it comes to oil export revenues it sets the bar at a high level, but when it comes to assessing the prices of products and services offered by the private sector in the Venezuelan market, it puts them at levels that don't even cover the production or marketing costs.

Proof of this is that the new reform of the Law of Costs and Fair Prices establishes that the profit margin of every product and service shall not exceed 30%. If the same level was applied to the barrel of Venezuelan oil, we would have to assume that the average $39.90 per barrel recorded last week is more than fair. This is because the production cost of a barrel of Venezuelan crude oil is estimated at $20 and, therefore, the "fair price" of the barrel should be located between $26 and $30. According to the Law of Fair Prices, that average price should be considered as speculative.

This leads to the conclusion that the "revolutionary" vision of Maduro does not understand, or doesn't want to understand, that the laws of supply and demand are the ones ruling the market.

The sad thing is that this blindness once more puts new locks on national production, continues to siege the private sector of the economy, increases the centralization in a monopolistic state and condemns the Venezuelan population to more hunger and poverty.

It is unthinkable that the reforms introduced in the Law of Costs and Fair Prices will mitigate the economic and social crisis caused by the socialism of the 21st century.

There is no way that the private sector will survive with the new prohibitions contained in the decree law, published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette of November 8, or with the increase in controls or with the harsh sanctions ranging from prison sentences from 3 to 10 years, fines up to 10,000 tax units, the closure of warehouses and establishments, as well as the confiscation of goods and movable and immovable property.

Consecomercio, a local business association, had warned it after its president, Cipriana Ramos, announced she was challenging the Law of Costs and Fair Prices for considering it an offense against the sustainability of traders: if the Government insists on taking this path, thousands of retailers will be closing their doors to the public during the first quarter of 2016 because of the lack of merchandise and because of the impossibility of their owners to replenish inventories, since the Government does not want to allocate dollars at the official exchange rate (Bs.6.30 per dollar) or allow imports at a free exchange rate because it won't recognize them the costs.

Meanwhile, oil prices will remain low. A worst-case scenario is really hard to imagine!

See VenEconomy: The Law of the Funnel in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 12, 2015)

On November 13, 2015. VenEconomy: Are the Golden Days of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution over Yet?

Recent events would seem to indicate that the golden days of the Bolivarian revolution of the 21st century are over. Also that the credibility and support to the government of Nicolás Maduro has fallen not only in Venezuela, but at international level as well. Maduro has not been able to handle Venezuela's communist revolution with success as once did Hugo Chávez.

The Maduro government received several blows this week at different international forums. This when it was barely recovering from a death blow given by the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, in a public letter sent to one of the directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena [.pdf, November 10], where with solid arguments proved that there are valid reasons "to believe that voting conditions for the people at transparency and electoral justice level in a parliamentary election to be held on December 6 are not guaranteed at present".

Another death blow was received at the fourth Summit of South American-Arab Countries held in Riyadh. The Government learned there that Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies reiterated their refusal to create a mechanism for setting a "fair price" for crude oil. These countries, running contrary to the blindness of the Venezuelan government, persist in acting more intelligently to deal with the changing times in the oil market, and aim their strategies at keeping their markets and not strengthening oil prices.

The following blow came in Geneva on Thursday during a special meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), organized at the request of the Venezuelan government and that this body accepted "as a courtesy". It turns out that before Maduro could make his intervention with the usual mumbo-jumbo on the constant harassment from the "American empire", and "the misuse and manipulation of human rights occidentally conceived for trying to isolate Venezuela and protect those who want to destroy it", the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, jumped the gun and landed another painful blow.

Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein said in a teleconference from New York, which was broadcast before the HRC, that "The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Human Rights Committee, as well as my own office, have expressed serious concerns about the independence of the judiciary in Venezuela, the impartiality of judges and prosecutors and the pressures faced when it comes to politically sensitive cases". As an example he mentioned the cases of María Luisa Afiuni (a former judge of the Supreme Court of Justice) and that of opposition leader Leopoldo López, as well as the harassment of the Venezuelan government against journalists, human rights defenders and attorneys. Additionally he urged Maduro to "comply with the recommendations made by these international human rights mechanisms and ensure that these people are not subject to any kind of pressure in the performance of your important work", and also requested him to ratify the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, which had been denounced by the late Hugo Chávez on January 25 of 2010.

On top of that, Ra'ad Al-Hussein reminded Maduro that being a member of the HRC "brings with it the responsibility to promote and protect human rights in the own country, as well as on the world stage". This reminder is relevant because the only thing Maduro has done is take the vote, given by the satellite-governments of the Bolivarian revolution for his re-election as a member of the HRC, as a "moral support" to a regime that demonstrably violates human rights.

Among other blows that will hurt for a long time are: 1) A report presented this week at the 325th meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Labor Organization (ILO), documenting the failure of the Venezuelan Government to all the recommendations made by various monitoring bodies of this tripartite organization and the constant violation of international conventions ratified by Venezuela. 2) The investigations being carried out by the U.S. to senior officials of the Venezuelan government over drug trafficking, in which people close to the presidential family have been arrested already in a sting operation.

Will Maduro be able to handle the situation? Will it get out of hand?

See VenEconomy: Are the Golden Days of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution over Yet? (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 13, 2015)

On November 16, 2015. VenEconomy: Will Venezuela Stand on the Right Side of History This Time?

The terrible attacks of terrorist group ISIS in Paris has left a balance of 132 dead, 352 wounded and 99 in critical condition, mostly young people under the age of 30.

For this reason, Fernando Mires, a Chilean historian and international analyst, published an article entitled "The War has Begun" in his blog on Saturday. ("La guerra ha comenzado", http://polisfmires.blogspot.com/2015/11/fernando-mires-la-guerra-ha-comenzado.html)

The categorical character of this analysis must call the attention of all the peoples of the world and, especially in Venezuela, where a disturbing question arises: is Venezuela standing on the right side of history this time?

Mires started his reflection by saying that "silence has been broken. The word that was never pronounced before has been said now. There is no turning back. François Hollande has violated the taboo, but has also said what everyone already knew: the fight against ISIS is not against an abstract international terrorism.

France has declared war on ISIS, a supranational Islamist organization that, in turn, had already declared war on France and Europe as a whole.

The horrendous attacks, once more committed in Paris, were not acts of fanatics without control. Hollande put it very well: these are part of a systematic war plan, organized from the outside and with multiple ramifications across Europe. He said: war.

War: a word that spooks voters, that offends the self-righteous, that frightens newspapers publishers, that children must not hear. But it is also the word that best corresponds to the meaning of those events taking place.

The Paris attacks on November 13 will be the Pearl Harbor of the French people. It'll soon be for the entire Europe and even though Angela Merkel still doesn't dare to pronounce such terrible word, she will not be able to silence it anymore.

Perhaps the European governments that accepted to be part of the grand international coalition against ISIS thought that this organization was only a symbolic political front. Since they always believed that the U.S. would conduct some air strikes on strategic positions and then they would be limited to send medicines and food supplies. Nobody wanted to know that the ISIS troops already owned Iraq and nearly all Syria. Much less they wanted to know that we (the West) are at war and that we are losing this war".

Then Mires says that "the war words from Hollande involve all Europeans. The governments should review their positions in light of the declaration of war made unequivocally by the French president. What's more, the war we are already living will be embraced by all the West and their political allies in the Islamic world". And adds that "the war we are witnessing is, let there be no mistake, a world war. There is no reason to call it something else. As a matter of fact, there are already more countries involved than during the First World War. We are living, indeed, the first chapters of World War III. Pope Francis, who is not exactly a warmonger, already called it that way".

He points out that "the word war changes the entire grammatical meaning. In the meantime, international alliances will have to take on a new character. Military alliances - and this is worth mentioning - are not the same as political alliances".

He warns that "neo-fascisms seeking the fragmentation of Europe and its nations must also be seen as what they are: objective agents from extra-continental enemies. Europe will be obliged to be more united than ever before, either with itself or within its nations. In the framework of a world war there is no place for ethnic secessionism".

And concludes that "let us not fool ourselves; this must be said with all its letters: The one that has already begun will be an irregular, prolonged and, above all, like all wars, cruel, very cruel war".

VenEconomy would like to add to this reflection the following: let us not fool ourselves, either, this war also involves the American hemisphere and Venezuela. A Venezuela that has recklessly approached outlaw states, leaders and organizations related to international terrorism, such as Hezbollah and Hamas; that has issued passports to members of these terrorist organizations as reported by international bodies.

In this scenario, will Nicolás Maduro take part in this war as an ally of terrorists? Or will he make Venezuela take up the defense of its traditional values, human rights, freedom of worship and democratic and Jewish-Christian values?

See VenEconomy: Will Venezuela Stand on the Right Side of History This Time? (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 16, 2015)

On November 17, 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela is going from Bad to Worse. And that's the Sad Reality

The recent journey of Nicolás Maduro seeking agreements to raise oil prices, not only was ignored by Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Arab League, but it would seem that had the opposite effect. The week ending November 13, the average price of a barrel of Venezuelan oil for export was $37.23, according to the Ministry of Energy and Oil; that is to say, down $2.67 per barrel from the week ending November 6 and down $31.747 per barrel from the week ending November 14 of last year. And if this decline was not enough, Maduro said on Monday that prices dropped to $34.00 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) continued its practice of printing inorganic money in bulk, and with that action fueling an inflation rate that is estimated to be located at 200% by December of this year, a situation that keeps the finances of Venezuelans totally out of control, because they don't know at what price they will be buying any of the products they need for their survival the next day. According to the BCV, the printing of Bs.100 (the highest denomination banknote in the country) was 2.6 billion units in October, up 12.32% from September and 154.02% from a year ago. While the printing of Bs.50 (Venezuela's second-highest denomination banknote) was 1.5 billion units in October, up 88.31% for the year and 119.36% from October 2014.

This printing of money, performed without an increase in the domestic supply of goods and services, or an increase in the levels of international reserves, has been the policy of the National Executive to finance the fiscal deficit as a result of a little rational National Budget and the fiscal excess of additional credits, causing a weakening of the purchasing power of the currency. On the other hand, the Government keeps setting aside a reasonable exchange rate policy through a single exchange rate to be in line with the actual behavior of the economy, as it would be one around Bs.200 per dollar (currently the Simadi foreign exchange method). However, expectations are still under three exchange rate types and a near-zero supply of foreign currency.

In addition to this terrible economic policy, there is a reform of the so-called Law of Costs and Fair Prices, which will be far worse than the original law. These reforms have increased the penalties of imprisonment and fines and, at the same time, the confiscation of products and movable and immovable property involved in the activity.

Consecomercio has warned that small businesses will disappear for "not being able to meet payment obligations with suppliers and financial institutions, as a result of the confiscation measures and/or sales at controlled prices". This local business association said in a press statement that "the administration of the Law of Costs and Fair Prices has become a sort of discretionary action against traders and retailers of services nationwide", which violates the rule of law and "forces them to sell in accordance with the will of the inspectors because, supposedly, so determines the law". In addition, in open disregard of reality, the Law punishes with 10 years in prison to those calculating the prices of their goods and services at the exchange rate of the parallel market. With which does no good to anyone, since it restricts the access of foreign currency at preferential rates from Cencoex to importers, it limits the auctions of Simadi, and does not recognize their purchases at free-market dollar. Article No. 62 of the new reform to the Law of Costs and Fair Prices, published in the Official Gazette of November 8, states: "he who directly or indirectly applies or reports a different exchange rate from that set by the National Executive, for the estimate of prices of goods and services, shall be punished with a prison term of eight (8) to ten (10) years".

A sample of the nonsense this reform will bring is that after a setting of maximum sale prices to eggs and pork carried out over the weekend, these products just vanished from public and private establishments.

And is a truism that no one can sell a product or provide a service without covering production costs.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela is going from Bad to Worse. And that's the Sad Reality (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 17, 2015)

On November 18, 2015. VenEconomy: The (Dis)Encounter between Two Worlds

The road to the December 6 parliamentary election has uncovered the dissonance between the civilized world of those who share the ideals of democracy and freedom, and the world of barbarity of those who have as a goal to perpetuate themselves in power whatever it takes and having to go against whoever opposes them. Regardless of whether "whatever it takes" implies degenerating into total chaos, and "having to go against whoever opposes them" represents a vast majority of millions of citizens.

On the side where wisdom prevails, of those wishing to hold free, transparent and democratic elections, have called for the presence of an independent international and objective observation during the voting process in Venezuela: the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference, the OAS Secretary General (Luis Almagro), 27 former presidents from different countries and 157 congressmen of the hemisphere, among many others.

The work to ensure that this election will be transparent and held in an atmosphere of freedom is being carried out by people and organizations with a sense of honesty. One of them is Transparencia Venezuela, a local NGO, which has made available a mobile app for the population called (Dilo aquí) (say It here) to complain in case of a violation against the Organic Law of Electoral Processes and its Regulations. A mechanism that has received dozens of complaints already, and that Transparencia Venezuela has submitted to the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Comptroller General's Office, with no response from these two bodies so far.

Others are the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the Center for Political Studies (CEP) of the Andrés Bello Catholic University, which conducted a study on the conditions of the electoral process in 2015, in partnership with the team of Election Integrity Project Venezuela (an independent academic study) as part of its Propuestas Venezuela (proposals for Venezuela) 2015 initiative.

This study identifies both the strengths and weaknesses of the Venezuelan electoral system, which served as the basis to make a series of recommendations to help improve the quality of the upcoming parliamentary election on December 6 of this year. Among the strengths, it points out that the electoral system was automated in the casting and counting of votes. And among the weaknesses, it lays stress on the marked inequality seen in the electoral race: the use of resources of the State to favor its own political parties and/or projects. It also indicates various behaviors demonstrating the use and abuse of public resources and, in particular, candidates along with public servants in electoral campaign activities taking advantage of state media broadcasts. The study also puts forward "with proactive spirit" a series of recommendations to ensure the integrity and credibility of the elections on December 6.

In contrast, the side of the world of totalitarian obscurantism and nonsense makes citizens believe that a country with democratic institutions will put them under investigation and be criminally punished should they ever oppose the system.

One of these cases were the recent statements made by the governor of Táchira state, José Gregorio Vielma Mora, who told listeners of his radio show "Vielma Mora Construye" (building with Vielma Mora) that it will be mandatory to comply with the so-called "1 for 10 list" so people can get social benefits, "because we also need that people make their contribution to the Bolivarian revolution", pointing out that he wants his wife, Karla Jiménez de Vielma, to become a member of the Parliament.

Or the case of the own President Nicolás Maduro, who announced the following on Tuesday through the hegemonic state media should the opposition win the December 6 election: "If we let them... because if they just dare... we will turn off the TV as they watch a horror movie and we know how to do it... a word to the wise... start praying, you oligarchs of the right, because the Revolution shall triumph on December 6. Start praying now so there is peace and stability, and that way you will take that weight off your shoulders! Because if not we are hitting the streets, and everybody fears us when we do so, you hear? It would be better if we stay happy and calm: with pensions for the elders, houses for the people, public education and the Bolivarian revolution moving forward..."

In the middle of this whole mess are citizens, whose only way of making themselves heard is through the vote. Putting it in poker terms, now it's the turn of Venezuelans to "call their bluff" with a massive vote on December 6.

See VenEconomy: The (Dis)Encounter between Two Worlds (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 18, 2015)

On November 19, 2015. VenEconomy: A Deadly Cocktail Annihilating the Health of Venezuelans

Just like the economy, the health of Venezuelans is deteriorating.

A misguided public health policy (or the lack of public policies) over the past 16 years, along with other scourges made by the Bolivarian revolution (price and foreign exchange controls, controlling laws, persecution of the private sector, inefficiency, negligence and corruption, just to name a few of them), produced a deadly cocktail that today annihilates the health of Venezuelans.

On the one hand, having given priority to Misión Barrio Adentro (or outpatient centers distributed exclusively in slums) in its various versions (I, II, III and IV), over the national hospital and outpatient network ended up being a death blow to the national healthcare infrastructure.

Today, the various Barrio Adentro outpatient centers are being eaten away by issues such as abandonment and corruption, with some laudable exceptions: a fair amount of Cuban doctors, the main pillar on which Barrio Adentro was built on, have defected or returned to Cuba. The infrastructure built specifically for Barrio Adentro is showing obvious signs of deterioration and many are being destined to very different uses to which they were meant for. The denunciations of corruption are tarnishing the reputation of the Cardiology-Oncology Hospital of Montalbán in Caracas, one of the six flagship hospitals in specialized areas that was planned to go along with Misión Barrio Adentro IV. Just a few days ago, Rafael Veloz, a Caracas candidate of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition party for the Parliament, filed a complaint with the Public Ministry in order to investigate the causes for which this hospital, which should have come into service since 2013 with some 240 beds, 10 surgery rooms and four intensive care wards, is still incomplete and with a ready-mix company carrying out works (allegedly for the Government's Misión Vivienda Venezuela housing program) without permission.

Notwithstanding, Nicolás Maduro, as if it were the beginning of his presidential term, announced as one of his electoral promises for a parliamentary election to be held on December 6 the creation of a new "ambitious recovery plan for Barrio Adentro I in order to carry out the expansion of primary healthcare services in the country". He's got some nerve!

While the entire public hospital and outpatient network is falling apart because of problems such as the lack of maintenance, insecurity, the brain drain of more than 12,000 health professionals in the absence of incentives, as well as shortages of medical supplies and drugs of all kinds.

Even more serious is that some of these problems are also seen in the private healthcare sector, particularly affected by the lack of foreign currency to pay external suppliers for materials, equipment, supplies and drugs. Hospital centers of renowned prestige have had to restrict their heart surgical procedures for the lack of some essential supplies to guarantee the life of patients. Cerebro-vascular surgery procedures are also seriously threatened by shortages of anticonvulsants, specific antibiotics and other supplies. The ophthalmological field has also been affected by the shortages of intraocular lenses indispensable for cataracts, steroid eye drops or conventional corrective lenses because there is no material to manufacture them.

For its part, the shortage of medicines is an issue that goes against the lives of millions of Venezuelans. Neither medicines not manufactured in the country nor the necessary supplies and reagents for those of national production can be imported. The pharmaceutical industry claims that its debt with external suppliers has reached $3.5 billion and that, so far in 2015, foreign exchange authority Cencoex has only allocated less than 25% of the dollars required by the sector for the importation of drugs and other related products.

This while the press revealed a scandal denounced by local journalist Lisseth Boon on the case of a convoluted corruption network involving 19 companies managed by a family from Zulia state, to which the State had allocated a total of $455 million at preferential rate (Bs.6.30 per dollar) to import medical supplies, a little over half of the $856 million in overseas acquisitions of the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security in four years.

Is this the way for a country to move forward?

See VenEconomy: A Deadly Cocktail Annihilating the Health of Venezuelans (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 19, 2015)

On November 20, 2015. VenEconomy: An Act of Treason against Venezuelan Workers

When Nicolás Maduro won the Presidency of Venezuela he described himself as the "President of the Working Class", because of his employment background as a bus driver.

Back then, perhaps thousands of Venezuelan workers thought he would improve their labor conditions. That was certainly some major disappointment!

The labor sector is yet another suffering the dire consequences of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" as the "Plan for the Homeland" of the late Hugo Chávez takes root.

The massive closure of privately-run companies due to the State's castro-communist policies has been relentlessly shedding productive jobs. The nationalization, confiscation, expropriation of productive companies did not take long to paralyze operations of most of them or become useless, but none maintains productive work or supports quality wages.

Due to the negative effects of the newly reformed Organic Law of Costs and Fair Prices (LOCPJ), trade is one of the sectors that is currently in the eye of the Bolivarian hurricane. Several small and medium-sized retail establishments may not open in 2016 for the lack of inventory and for not being able to sell at a loss as required by the LOCPJ, therefore lots of jobs will be lost.

A decree of indefinite labor immobility, far from being a guarantee of stability for workers, is part of a sword of Damocles for companies that have been forced to keep on their payrolls people that do not represent added value to their production chain and the rest of employees and, on the other hand, the message it sends to workers of "bread for today and hunger for tomorrow", since it will ultimately reduce job openings in the private sector.

Besides, labor immobility is used as another weapon for the control of those who think differently, since the reality is that the few layoff notices are given to the ones who disagree with what is being done within State-owned companies, or those given to them by friends of the Government.

During the recent 325th meeting of the ILO Governing Body, complaints filed by workers from different sectors against the Venezuelan government due to its failure to comply with the recommendations made by the Committee of Experts in relation to the implementation of the tripartite dialogue became the order of the day. Complaints from fishery workers, who have seen how the National Executive has nearly paralyzed the production of canned tuna in Marigüitar (Sucre state); as well as from workers of the food, pharmaceutical, cement and electrical sectors, among others.

Another "achievement" are the much-vaunted salary increases seeking electoral dividends for the ruling party in the upcoming December 6 parliamentary election. Not only is about that the inflation rate is so high that it eats up any salary increase, no matter how substantial these may be, even before they enter into force. It is also about that these increases only favor workers in the formal economy; that is to say, public employees and those working in companies of 10 or more employees. Around 60% of the labor force living in the informal economy, or companies with less than 10 employees, do not directly benefit from these increases.

As if this were not enough to discourage workers, the proximity of the parliamentary election delivers another blow to those working in the public administration with the mounting threats to fire them if they don't vote for the candidates of the ruling party. A fine example of this is a video posted by weekly newspaper TalCual on its web site this week [20 de noviembre 2015]: the head of the Zulia state division of Venezuela's tax authority SENIAT, José Miguel Montañez Silva, is seen persuading workers to vote for the ruling PSUV on December 6 and bring a photographic evidence of their vote, otherwise they would be fired.

Not only is this a violation of Article 63 of the Constitution and the Organic Law of Electoral Processes, the Organic Labor Law and the Penal Code, but constitutes an act of treason against Venezuelan workers.

See VenEconomy: An Act of Treason against Venezuelan Workers (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 20, 2015)

On November 23, 2015. VenEconomy: The Basic Promises Never Kept by Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution

When the late Hugo Chávez won his first election in December 1998, he did so by making four basic promises: build a "more authentic" democracy, reduce poverty, fight corruption and forge "bonds of brotherhood" with the world.

That was much ado about nothing.

This week, three of Venezuela's top universities revealed in a study on poverty [estudio sobre la pobreza en el país] that 73% of the homes in the country have reached critical poverty levels, compared with an already high 48.4% registered a year ago. What is more, according to the study, 76% of Venezuelans are at - or below - the line that separates the poor from the non-poor, vs. 52.6% estimated in 2014.

Two autonomous universities (Central University of Venezuela and Simón Bolivar) and a private one (Catholic University Andrés Bello or UCAB) jointly conducted the Survey of Living Conditions of the Venezuelan Population [Encuesta sobre Condiciones de Vida - Venezuela 2014 (.pdf)], between July and August of 2015, which reached 1,500 households (6,000 people) throughout the country. According to Luis Pedro España, a sociologist and former director of the Institute of Economic and Social Research of the UCAB, these poverty indicators are the highest since Venezuelan poverty was started measuring in 1975. España also warned that these may continue to increase at a fast pace, if current social policies are not modified.

The results of this social study are falling far short of the latest official data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), indicating that 27.3% of Venezuelan households was in income poverty conditions, a result that the Government boasted as an achievement of the Bolivarian revolution when compared with 45.0% of households in poverty status by existing income in 1998.

Samples for this study were taken from households with insufficient incomes (including salaries, bonuses, scholarships and pensions) to cover the basic food basket, which was calculated at Bs.14,556 ($2,310.47 if calculated at the State's fictional official rate of Bs.6.30 per dollar). But, it should be noted that according to data of the Center of Social Analysis and Documentation of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers [Centro de Documentación y Análisis Social de la Federación Venezolana de Maestros (Cendas-FVM)], the food basket was Bs.69,868.08 in October, or Bs.55,312.08 (380%) higher than the one forecast in the study of the universities. This can raise concerns that the number of households in poverty state by income is much higher than that reflected in this study. Notably if one takes into consideration that with the new minimum monthly salary of Bs.16,398.18 (including Bs.6,750 in food vouchers), a family of four members barely covered 23.5% of its food requirements.

There is no doubt that this is one of the main reasons for the Government to insist on getting its hands on Venezuelan universities. How can a regime, whose main goal is to keep the population in darkness, allow that three universities dare to uncover the lies about the state of poverty it plunged the country into with its policies?

The results of the Survey of Living Conditions of the Venezuelan Population 2014 confirmed what was already perceived: The two governments of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" completely failed to comply with one of Chávez's four basic promises in December 1998. This is to reduce poverty in Venezuela.

With regard to the promises of building a more authentic democracy and fighting corruption, there is ample evidence that neither Chávez nor his successor Nicolás Maduro have never had the intention to fulfill them.

As to forging "bonds of brotherhood" with the world, they both have done so with groups acting above the law and outlaw political regimes. An example of this is the visit of Maduro to Tehran on Sunday, when he met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, to strengthen the alliance between their nations to fight the "arrogance" and the "imperialism" of the U.S., in such a crucial time for the world when countries with democratic rationale have joined the fight against Islamic radicalism.

See VenEconomy: The Basic Promises Never Kept by Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 23, 2015)

On November 24, 2015. VenEconomy: Good Winds Blowing in South America?

On Sunday, the region's democrats were celebrating the victory of Mauricio Macri, a successful businessman at the forefront of the center-right party Cambiemos (Let's Change), in Argentina's presidential elections.

For many, this triumph of Macri may result in good changes not only for Argentina, but for the peoples across the region under the domain of populist and authoritarian governments, particularly Venezuela.

Macri came out victorious during the second round against Daniel Scioli, the candidate for the ruling Frente para la Victoria (Front for Victory) party, with 51.4% (12,903,301) of the votes. Scioli obtained 12,198,441 of the votes (48.6%). With that difference of 704,860 votes, the people of Argentina put an end to a policy imposed 12 years ago by Kirchnerism, initiated by the late Néstor Kirchner when he came to power in 2003.

The governments of Néstor and his successor (and wife), Cristina Fernández, were characterized for following a political model conceived in the Cuba of Fidel Castro, which also the late Hugo Chávez took care of promoting throughout Central and South America thanks to a flurry of petrodollars that flowed into the coffers of Venezuela for more than a decade.

Today this seems to be coming to an end in Argentina, not only because Venezuelan petrodollars have stopped flowing, but because Macri has distanced himself from the government of Nicolás Maduro from the start.

Macri felt sympathy for the Venezuelan opposition when he blamed Maduro for the bloody events of February 2014 in Venezuela, saying: "Where you see a conspiracy, I see how they are taking Génesis Carmona on a motorcycle after being shot to death at age 22. "Where you see enemies, I see Venezuelans". Thus, Macri distanced himself from the vile attacks against students by the military forces and groups of civilians armed by the Maduro government, differing significantly from Cristina Fernández and other presidents of the region that play along with Maduro.

Macri brings great hope for change for Argentines. A change that is expected to turn things around for the economy, for the lack of transparency in the management of the State's accounts, for corruption, nepotism and cronyism, for the complacency with narco-terrorism during these past 12 years in Argentina. This while driving the country toward the "modern developmentalism of the 21st century", maintaining the social progress that Kirchnerism could have left. It won't be easy for Macri to handle internal changes. There is a Senate with a Kirchnerist majority and a Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Argentine National Congress) where he must forge alliances to reach agreements.

Macri also brings hopes for the Venezuelan people. Hope for a change of balance in the foreign policy of governments of the region that have turned a blind eye to the violations against democracy and freedoms in Venezuela. On that same triumphal Sunday night, Macri confirmed his promise of seeking sanctions from Mercosur against the Government of Venezuela for its attacks on democracy. He also said he will invoke the Democratic Charter against it. We have to wait and see how much support he can get from the rest of the governments that make up Mercosur (Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).

With Macri at the helm of the Presidency of Argentina, the complicity and murky deals between Venezuela and Argentina during the Kirchner era can be undone.

But not only is the triumph of Macri the tip of the iceberg of the impending changes. Also are a categorical letter from Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the OAS [.pdf, November 10] to the head of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena; the judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice of Chile ordering its own government to make a request to the OAS to send a delegate to corroborate the health status of Leopoldo López and Daniel Ceballos; and the request from 27 former presidents of the region to allow independent international observation during the upcoming parliamentary election.

There is room for optimism in Venezuela, because good winds are blowing in the region, and it is hoped these will lead to positive results for the democratic opposition in the parliamentary election to be held on December 6.

Just as Argentines did already, Venezuelans who believe in change and democracy will vote on December 6.

See VenEconomy: Good Winds Blowing in South America? (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 24, 2015)

On November 25 2015. VenEconomy: The State Violence, Aggression to Win a Parliamentary Election in Venezuela

Last Sunday, Nicolás Maduro frenzied up his followers through the massive media network of the State, claiming that the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) will win a parliamentary election to be held on December 6 "no matter what". Then many analysts warned that this may open a Pandora's box of incalculable consequences.

It was less than a month after violent and armed groups "working in solidarity" with the Government had already started to give samples of the interpretation given to the presidential order of "no matter what".

In the last two weeks, candidates for lawmakers of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition, as well as members of the electoral teams of that democratic organization, have been denouncing aggressions from groups identified with the ruling party, and authorities turning a blind eye to these acts of violence.

One of them was a violent ambush by armed groups loyal to the Government locally known as "colectivos" against Lilian Tintori, the wife of democratic leader Leopoldo López, and a group of activists from the MUD during a tour in Cojedes state last Saturday.

These armed "colectivos" not only prevented the tour of Tintori from taking place through violence, but also brutally attacked a young woman who was traveling with her group, who denounced was threatened as follows: "We're going to pull your eyes out! Take that murderous woman [Tintori] with you". This with state authorities turning a deaf ear. Tintori also complained about being persecuted and monitored by officials of SEBIN (Venezuela's political police) during the tours conducted across the Andean states and those of the Llanos region. In addition, she was retained by authorities when boarding a plane in the city of Porlamar (Nueva Esparta state) just a few days ago, while a plane that would have taken her to Guárico state was prevented from taking off.

Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda state, also had a hard time when armed groups fired gunshots at his delegation visiting Higuerote, a coastal city in Miranda state.

Ricardo Pizarro, a candidate for lawmaker of the MUD in one of the electoral constituencies of Miranda state, tasted a little violence from these loyalist groups as well. This time groups hailing from Petare put an end to a tour that Pizarro was conducting throughout this slum of Miranda state, with the use of long and short-barreled weapons. Pizarro reported the facts with photos and videos and said that William Ojeda, the main candidate of the Gran Polo Patriótico (GPP) party, would be behind the incident.

On Tuesday, violence broke out again. This time in Maracay, capital of Aragua state, hooded men wearing shirts with the face of Maduro from violent groups of the PSUV wildly attacked a team of the MUD that was lawfully placing electoral propaganda of that political organization across the 10 de diciembre avenue. The encounter with this world of intolerance left a balance of six young people injured, some of them with trauma to the skull and legs for having been hit with pistol grips. The MUD reported that its activists were threatened with death, while the "colectivos" fired their gunshots into the air and took over the site.

Another face of this aggression from the State is the one being systematically carried out against public employees through threats from their superiors of losing their jobs if they don't leave evidence of having voted for the candidates of the PSUV on December 6. There are already videos and audios on the web evidencing this flagrant violation of the Electoral Law.

All this before a conspiratorial silence of the authorities of the National Electoral Council (CNE). An electoral body that has barely made a statement, and without conviction to truly enforce the electoral rules, on the open violation committed by MIN-Unidad (a party that supports the PSUV) in usurping the image of MUD-Unidad and spending millions on a campaign to mislead voters.

Will the mission of Unasur countries accompanying the electoral process on December 6 look at these aggressive violations against the democratic exercise to participate in free elections?

And such a doubt arises because the mission is headed by one of the biggest fans of the late Hugo Chávez, Leonel Fernández, former president of the Dominican Republic.

See VenEconomy: The State Violence, Aggression to Win a Parliamentary Election in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 25, 2015)

On November 26 2015. VenEconomy: Resorting to Violence Because of the Lack of Sufficient Votes to Win Back the Parliament

Yesterday, armed groups supporting the Venezuelan government murdered Luis Manuel Díaz, a young political leader of the opposition party Acción Democrática (Democratic Action) in Altagracia de Orituco, Guárico state, when a campaign event was coming to an end. This was the end of a day of planned violence by the State against leaders of the democratic opposition, whose main protagonists are once again violent paramilitary groups against Lilian Tintori, the wife of Leopoldo López, and Henrique Capriles, the governor of Miranda state and former presidential candidate. This is the eighth attack against opposition events in 12 days of electoral campaign, six of them with firearms.

The question arises as to whether this is an escalation of violence from the Government in light of the obviousness of the failure reflected in all opinion polls made public this week. Opinion polls that, like the ones conducted by local pollster Alfredo Keller y Asociados, show that among voters who claim are going out and cast their vote, the preferences are 59% to 25% in favor of the opposition. Polls also indicate that not only the popularity of Nicolás Maduro has dropped to 25%, but the memory of Hugo Chávez, the icon of the Socialist Homeland, has lost 18 points to 49% in 2015.

It is also appropriate to ask ourselves whether this wave of violence that took the life of another citizen in the hands of the Venezuelan government is a sample of the "heavy firepower" Maduro was talking about a few days ago. According to Maduro, that "heavy firepower" is one of the "qualities" of the supporters of the Bolivarian revolution as they hit the streets.

Is this the new phase the Maduro government will be entering after corroborating that all of its pre-electoral strategies have failed?

Is Maduro and his people moving from verbal violence and aggressiveness to physical violence and crime against their opponents, as they did against students who staged peaceful demonstrations in 2014?

Is this the electoral strategy to follow for not having been able to "sell" to the population a non-existent economic war from the private sector of the economy, the American "empire" and the oligarchs as the reason for the empty shelves at food establishments nationwide; or not having been able to stir up a feeling of nationalism after the threats of conflict with Colombia and Guyana, so it could take advantage of jingoism at electoral level?

Is violence and death what the Government has prepared for the Venezuelan opposition, faced with the overwhelming failure of its ambitious effort to import a sufficient volume of basic foods and drugs to create an illusion that it is putting an end to the shortages issue and winning the economic war, thus defeating the illegal resellers of goods (aka bachaqueros), paramilitaries, and the greedy entrepreneurs from the "Empire"? A failure caused by an internal struggle between members of the own State and the ruling party seeking to extend their power quotas, as well as the massive corruption of government officials and external accomplices getting richer out of more than $880 billion that have entered the public coffers over the past 16 years.

Is it not enough for Maduro and company to have arbitrarily disqualified leaders from the opposition of proven regional popularity? Or having manipulated electoral constituencies for the votes in constituencies with smaller populations, where pro-government voters are a majority and votes are worth double or even triple than in constituencies with larger populations?

Or all the dirty tricks that include an attempt to confuse voters of the Democratic Unity (MUD-UNIDAD) opposition coalition with the voter's card of MIN-UNIDAD (a party that is aligned with the Government's interests) that is nearly identical and is placed right next to it? Or the intimidation of voters who work in public administration, the beneficiaries of social programs, and students and professors from public universities and institutions satisfies its yearning for power?

Polls have shown that the Government will not be able to maintain its majority in the Parliament this year, not even by giving away consumer electronics and other durable products taken from small and medium-sized retailers as it did late in 2013, or by distributing the foodstuff it has failed to produce or import, or through handouts and salary increases that translate into "bread for today and hunger for tomorrow". A break point for its totalitarianism.

Is this the reason why the State is preparing to shed more innocent blood in Venezuela?

Leonel Fernández, please open your eyes!

See VenEconomy: Resorting to Violence Because of the Lack of Sufficient Votes to Win Back the Parliament (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 26, 2015)

On November 27 2015. VenEconomy: Facts of Violence in Venezuela Prove Beatrice Rangel Right

The countdown to the election campaign began on Friday November 27. A campaign that will end on December 6, in one of the most crucial parliamentary elections ever held in Venezuela.

Almost all opinion polls are forecasting the triumph of the candidates of the democratic opposition, nothing surprising since the country is facing an economic collapse and rampant insecurity, as a result of 17 years of policies of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. However, many political analysts believe that it is unlikely that the Government will relinquish control over the nation.

The former Chief of Staff for Venezuela President Carlos Andres Pérez during his democratic government, Beatrice Rangel, analyzed the reasons for the November edition of VenEconomy Monthly in her article "Venezuela: without losing losing its way, what will bring the December 6 election?"

Of particular interest is a section in which she explains that elections are today a means for preserving power, and not as in the past "when elections were seen as a means for creating interest, for transferring power in a peaceful manner or for building institutions."

Rangel points out that "elections under the Bolivarian schema have as objective to isolate the regime from international reactions and nurture the concept of invincibility in the country, and therefore its right to rule the country."

From there is that "maintaining legitimacy abroad is a very important strategic objective, since the recent evolution of international law in the field of human rights has erased borders, time and geography to make impunity a very difficult goal to achieve. The Inter-American Democratic Charter is one of these international tools to protect the self-determination."

In addition, she lays stress on the crucial role of oil to ensure the safe passage of crude through ports and international shipping lines, because a claim against Venezuela for violating the self-determination "may jeopardize the free flow of oil in international markets. Therefore, elections are essential to present to the world, and the U.S. in particular, a facade of respect for self-determination."

Another point highlighted by Rangel is the growing concern of the governing clique about its future. "The evolution of international law in the fight against corruption, terrorism and organized crime, magnificently enshrined in the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC), makes it virtually impossible for any corrupt to escape without punishment. Both legal instruments bring to the international arena the principles of the RICO law passed in the U.S. to fight against mafia organizations. The flow that sustains life in Venezuela may be affected if its trading platforms are declared RICO-type organizations, since no bank in the world could do business with those organizations. This assumption reinforces the determination of the leaders of the current government to "win the elections", since the country seems to be the only safe haven in the world where they can enjoy their profits."

Rangel also said that from an internal perspective "winning the elections brings legitimacy, and in the current conditions, it could also mean invincibility. These two conditions are part of the defense strategy of the regime. A legitimate government cannot be overthrown. And if it is overthrown, its followers will have to fight for its restoration." And everybody "knows the degree of violence that the followers of the regime are willing to unleash. Well-armed, organized in gangs and behaving as they please on the borderline between crime and legality, the "colectivos" (or Bolivarian civil militias) are the equivalent to the Tonton Macoutes in Haiti or the Brownshirts in Germany. Elections are the call to arms for these armies."

"This strategic thinking has led to an election process that, with the passage of time and as the initial seduction of the revolutionary ideal extinguishes while the economic situation of the country gets worse, has been manipulated to alter the results. The upcoming parliamentary elections will not be the exception to this rule."

And summarizes that "the upcoming parliamentary elections in Venezuela are not part of a system with the aim of transferring power in a peaceful manner, but to retain power in the hands of the present regime through the use of violence."

The unfortunate events of the past few days against democratic leaders of the country would corroborate the approach of Beatrice Rangel.

See VenEconomy: Facts of Violence in Venezuela Prove Beatrice Rangel Right (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 27, 2015)

On November 30 2015. VenEconomy: What Is to Be Defined in the Upcoming Venezuela Parliamentary Election

Beatrice Rangel, based on her thesis that the goal of the ruling elite in Venezuela is to stay in power through voting processes, raises two possible scenarios that may develop in the coming days:

One of them is an internal coup as a parliamentary election to be held on December 6 nears. In her article "Venezuela: What will bring the December 6 election?" published by VenEconomy in its monthly edition released on Monday, Rangel details a series of electoral tactics that would lead to this scenario, which unfortunately have been evidenced already. Among many others, Rangel points out: no access to the media for opposition parties; threats to public employees; the deployment of "colectivos" (or armed civil groups) to terrorize the followers of the opposition; a confusing voter's card with two or three political forces mimicking the symbols, colors, and concepts of the opposition; bidirectional voting machines capable of receiving messages that may allow remote software modifications.

She claims that there would also be an apparent weakness on the part of the Government, contrasted with mass mobilizations of the opposition.

In this scenario, "Rangel foresees a military officer taking power in order to "protect democratic institutions". "The 'new leader' of the country will unleash a wave of repression and persecution similar to the last days of the Military Junta in Argentina. Mass murders, disappearances are committed. The country enters a phase of declared violence while the 'colectivos' are being controlled and a drastic economic rationing the likes of Cuba's 'Special Period' is implemented.

The materialization of this scenario requires violent incidents. This may occur before, during or after the elections. Violence can be stirred up by the Government and will be triggered by a simple requirement of the opposition of a vote counting procedure. The 'colectivos' would get the go-ahead to act and, once chaos is unleashed, the military commander would seize power. From there a period of institutionalized violence would begin", says Rangel. Is this the plan that Nicolás Maduro had in mind when he said on October 30 that in a "hypothetical denied" scenario that the opposition will win the parliamentary elections on December 6, he "would not hand over the revolution" and would govern with the "people" and in a "civic military union?"

The second scenario is the Government deciding that the Parliament (aka National Assembly) is not required anymore, because it is a useless body.

Although the same repressive electoral tactics are still present in this scenario, the electoral process unfolds in a peaceful manner. Rangel explains that in this scenario "the opposition wins, as it is to be expected, but the Government proceeds to send out signals to the voting machines selected to "disguise the victory of the opposition". Tibisay Lucena announces a bulletin of the process and then she disappears until 4:00 AM of December 7, when she declares a disguised victory of the opposition. This would mean that instead of the 90-95 opposition candidates that might be elected, Mrs. Lucena will announce that were 84, which is the number needed for a simple majority in the Assembly".

Then the current National Assembly spends what is left of December passing laws that dismantle the legislative powers in order to undermine the institutional plans in Venezuela. And in January, when new members are sworn in, "budgetary resources will not be earmarked; and their offices will be taken by representatives of the Government and their staff". A similar strategy was applied to Antonio Ledezma when he won the municipal elections to become the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas.

"The newly elected Assembly becomes a group of witnesses of Venezuela's institutional decay".

These scenarios pose a historic challenge for the international community, particularly for the leadership of the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, as says Rangel, but above all it is a vital challenge for the Venezuelan people in not letting the Government get away with it. VOTE, and VOTE THE RIGHT WAY, IS TODAY AN UNAVOIDABLE DUTY.

See VenEconomy: What Is to Be Defined in the Upcoming Venezuela Parliamentary Election (Latin American Herald Tribune, November 30, 2015)

On December 1 2015. VenEconomy: The Irreversible Voting Trend in Venezuela

From November 30, polling companies are not allowed to publicly disclose the voting trends of Venezuelans for the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held on December 6.

However, the trends reported until last Sunday indicated that there is no turning back. That is to say, all opinion polls say with certainty that the rising popular discontent because of the collapse of the country in the hands of the Bolivarian revolution will irreversibly translate into a "punishment vote" for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). On this occasion, everything points to the fact that the National Electoral Council (CNE), the executive arm that has tipped the scales in favor of the candidates of the PSUV in all electoral contests over the past decade, will find it very difficult - if not impossible - to bend the will of the people when applying its machinations. Everything suggests that this December 6 there will be an avalanche of citizens expressing their discontent by voting for the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition, seeking a change in the current rules of the game.

The leaders of the MUD will not make things easier for the Government, either. First of all because they have learned some important lessons the hard way, and already know where the pitfalls and traps of the Bolivarian revolution are. Also because the machinery of the MUD looks more oiled up than other times and stronger after so many death blows delivered by the State. Besides there are dozens of candidates throughout the national territory competing for seats in the Parliament (aka National Assembly), despite the aggression and violence by vigilante groups sponsored by the Government, and that the last week murdered Luis Manuel Díaz, a leader of the Acción Democrática (AD) opposition party.

Added to these two vital and irreplaceable internal factors to achieve a change of balance in the National Assembly is an international community looking at the Government of Venezuela from a different viewpoint. A community that is more aware of the fact that Nicolás Maduro has crossed the line and dismembered the democratic institutions in the country. That his political regime does as it pleases in the international arena without respect to its legal framework; that it has systematically violated the human rights of its opponents and the freedom of the country's citizens.

By preventing an independent and not manipulable international observation during the electoral process, and replacing it with the accompaniment of 40 biased delegates of Unasur deployed in 11 states across the country under Leonel Fernández, former president of the Dominican Republic and confessed follower of the project of Hugo Chávez, both the Government and the CNE think they can get away with it. That is to say, they will be the Government's silent partners sitting on the fence as the election process develops, without getting their shoes wet and compromising their attachment to the State's proposal.

They are eyes and voices of recognized international credibility as defenders of democracy that will carry specific weight should Maduro try to flout the law.

Maduro and Tibisay Lucena, head director of the CNE, have come under international scrutiny. They know that no matter how many threats and insults may come from the Venezuelan ruler.

International organizations, among them, the OAS, the UN, the European Union, as well as more than a hundred of political leaders and governments, including the current and trade political partners of the two last governments of Venezuela, are looking forward to the election results. Only a small handful may want to join Maduro into a bloody and dictatorial odyssey.

The democratic cards have been laid out already: the irreversible trend to be announced by Lucena will not make her happy at all.

See VenEconomy: The Irreversible Voting Trend in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 1, 2015)

On December 2 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela's Defense Minister: 'Neither a Coup nor an Internal Coup' during Sunday Election

The decisive hour to find out whether the Parliament (aka National Assembly) will be forcibly blocked, or will recover its democratic balance through votes, in order to fairly represent the diversity of thought of the Venezuelan population once more, is approaching.

Opinion polls released until last Friday, November 27th, were clear enough: the trend is irreversible as victory will go to the opposition. It would only be possible to "reverse" that trend if the government of Nicolás Maduro decides to play dirty in order to maintain the parliamentary hegemony. A hegemony that has allowed him to legislate at will, violate the Constitution and laws as he pleases and uncontrollably waste budget items, among other cases of arbitrariness. Knowing that he may lose that parliamentary complicity and complacency, Maduro has been at the forefront of these elections turning them almost into a plebiscite to determine the survival of the Bolivarian revolution.

From there his violent and threatening speech against everyone. From there, as the Emperor of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, he was stripped of his clothes before the eyes of Venezuela and the world. And also from there, in case he decides to play dirty, the issue would not be as easy as in the past; the political cost for the revolution would be too high and extensive. And on this occasion, everything points to the fact that he would be on his own.

Who would Maduro count on in that adventure with a hard-to-predict outcome? Let's see:

With the OAS with Luis Almagro at the head? It is doubtful after a public letter sent by Almagro to Tibisay Lucena, head director of the National Electoral Council (CNE) [.pdf, November 10, 2015], where with solid arguments proved that there are valid reasons describing in detail every single one of the weak points of her handling of the electoral system in Venezuela. This also raises a doubt because of the fact that he does not have the automatic solidarity of Colombia and Argentina anymore, with a Juan Manuel Santos who has stopped being his "new best friend" and a Mauricio Macri who has decided to call Mercosur for sanctions against his administration. Both Paraguay and Uruguay already said that they will be looking forward to the results of the December 6 election when Macri requested for their support to punish Maduro.

While the weakened governments of Chile and Brazil would have to be very careful should they decide to support Maduro in a civic-military adventure. It seems that neither Peru's Ollanta Humala would be willing to play along with Maduro, if one takes into account his statements after the despicable murder of Luis Díaz, a young leader of the Acción Democrática (AD) opposition party. And will he dare to ask for support to Guyana, with which he played to seek a territorial conflict?

It doesn't seem that winds are blowing in his favor in the UN, either. And the European Union already knows well the nature of the Venezuelan government. This does not include the dozens of former presidents, world leaders and parliamentarians who have expressed their positions on the violations against democracy and freedoms in Venezuela.

Among the latest pronouncements are those of the current Prime Ministers of Spain and Great Britain, Mariano Rajoy and David Cameron; the former heads of State of Spain and Chile, Felipe González and Ricardo Lagos, as well as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, who in an open letter to the Government a few days ago reiterated that "democracy does not work when the electoral environment is dominated by violence, threats and intimidation of the opposition". There is also a manifesto signed by some fifty Spanish and Latin American intellectuals, including the Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and philosopher Fernando Savater, calling for freedom in Venezuela, repudiating the politicization of public authority and requesting that the Maduro government respects the election results on December 6.

This without taking into account that it wouldn't be convenient for Cuba to open a belligerent front with a government that begins to be a nuisance, and that besides having empty coffers, is in the international spotlight for its dangerous ties with narco-terrorism, in a time when countries have stated that terrorism is the common enemy to fight.

Lastly, it is expected that the military forces will support democracy and ensure security at voting facilities, as it has traditionally done, and as was reiterated by Major General Vladimir Padrino López, the Minister of Defense, during the activation of "Plan República"; when he guaranteed there will be no violence, "neither a coup nor an internal coup" during the Sunday election.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Defense Minister: 'Neither a Coup nor an Internal Coup' during Sunday Election (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 2, 2015)

On December 3 2015. VenEconomy: The Power of Venezuela's National Assembly

On Monday December 7, the political composition of the new National Assembly (aka the Parliament) to legislate from January 2016-January 2021 will be elucidated.

If the threats of Nicolás Maduro do not go beyond being just a bluff and the entire election process culminates into the democratic guidelines of respect to the will of voters, this National Assembly will be largely in the hands of the democratic opposition. That was the irreversible trend shown by all polling companies until last Friday, the last day in which the results of the measurements were released.

This scenario suggests a change in governance for the country, where one of the five public authorities is unlinked from the yoke of the National Executive, by returning the institutional balance to the Parliament where the political plurality and thought of the population will be represented. That is to say, in compliance with the duties of a democratic institution the way it should be.

The election to be held on Sunday is in no way a plebiscite election, after which Maduro can be ordered to abandon or hand over the Presidency. Nor does it mean that "Venezuela would enter one of the darkest and most moving stages of its political life and we should all be defending the Bolivarian revolution ... we would not hand over the revolution ... and the revolution would move to a new stage" as Maduro argues. No, it's not like that!

It is about the National Assembly exercising with independence and autonomy the functions and precepts assigned to it by the Constitution:

1) Legislate on matters of national competence and on the functioning of the different branches of the National Power. That without ceding power to the National Executive through enabling laws. This interference of the legislature is what allowed Hugo Chávez to decree 215 laws through four enabling legislations during a total of four and a half years. While Maduro has passed two enabling legislations (from November 2013-November 2014) in his almost three years in power and the other from March 2015 - still in force until the end of this year -, with which he has passed nearly a hundred laws. With these nearly 300 decree-laws the entire productive apparatus has been destroyed, the country has been led to ruin and the basic civil and political rights have been curtailed.

2) Control and serve as a counterweight to the Executive Branch and the National Public Administration. This, without automatic approvals of extrabudgetary public spending with no accountability and that are not in the interest of the Nation, but in the interest of a political project.

3) Reform or promote constitutional changes, only in case of having the approval of a qualified majority of all members of the Parliament.

4) Self-regulate, without engaging in the practice of bullying the political adversary as has happened in the past legislative periods.

What is unknown today, is the amount of the majority that the democratic opposition will have in the Parliament.

By achieving between 84 and 101 seats (less than 60%), the opposition would obtain an absolute or simple majority. Although it would have very little room for maneuver with this: it may regulate all the decisions of the National Assembly (Article 89 of the Internal Rules of Debate) with the exception of those that the Constitution orders with another type of majority. It could, for example, exercise control over the approval of additional credits during 2016 - until now indiscriminately granted - and over the National Budget from 2017, so that this is in line with the national interest.

If the opposition obtains between 102 and 112 members, it would enjoy a qualified majority with three-fifths of the seats; it may exercise control over ministers and the Vice-President; and give a vote of no confidence to the Vice-President and ministers when needed according to the laws. But it must be very careful with the latter, because if a vote of no confidence is given to the Vice-President three times, the President may automatically dismiss the Assembly and call for new parliamentary elections if this happens before the last year of his constitutional term. That majority can put an end to enabling legislation without rhyme or reason.

The ideal scenario, but perhaps the least likely, would be to obtain a qualified majority with two-thirds of the seats (112 or more members), so that the Assembly works to restore a true independence and autonomy in the Supreme Court, the National Electoral Council, and the Moral Power (Comptroller, Ombudsman and Public Prosecutor). Apart from passing and amending organic laws and reforms or amendments to the Constitution, or even convening a constituent assembly.

The power of the vote to put an end to a totalitarian hegemony imposed in the Parliament today will tell where Venezuela is headed.

See VenEconomy: The Power of Venezuela's National Assembly (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 3, 2015)

On December 4 2015. VenEconomy: A Look at the Events before the Parliamentary Election in Venezuela

Venezuelans entered the final stretch towards the parliamentary election to be held on Sunday.

During this process, 167 lawmakers will be elected for a seat in the Parliament (aka National Assembly): 1) 113 nominal posts elected by a simple majority of votes. 2) 51 lawmakers are elected by party-line vote, and whose victory is assigned through the D'Hondt method of proportional representation. 3) And three members and representatives of indigenous groups (these candidates are elected by roll-call vote).

The final operation is in progress: The ban of the National Electoral Council (CNE) on the release of opinion polls. The ban on firearms, liquor and circulation of heavy-load vehicles. The suspension of classes in educational institutes to become voting centers. The distribution of the entirety or voting machines. And the activation of "Plan República" with more than 160,000 members of the National Armed Forces (FANB) throughout the country, to monitor and safeguard 14,515 polling centers across the country.

Nothing out of the ordinary or different from any previous week to an election of national interest so far.

Except a curious fact, redundant if the guarantees of the Constitution were respected in Venezuela: The Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition reminded the Armed Forces of their "obligation to display an institutional behavior which contributes to Venezuelans voting in peace". We'll see about that!

Apart from this "normality", does anyone still have doubts that this electoral campaign that ended on December 3 is one of the most virulent, indecent and corrupt ever made in all the history of Venezuela, including the Marcos Pérez Jiménez plebiscite?

On this occasion, every stage of the electoral process has been distorted and brutalized by the ruling elite. There has been too much of everything.

Manipulation of the electoral constituencies: first of all, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) determined (in a convenient manner) that municipalities usually deemed pro-opposition reduced their populations since 2010, while those loyal to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) have grown. With that sleight of hand of the INE, the CNE reallocated 11 members throughout the country, thus favoring the PSUV option.

The Government strategically renewed the Supreme Court of Justice with individuals that will guarantee even greater loyalty to the "Bolivarian revolution".

It disqualified opposition candidates with the highest acceptance rate in their respective regions, such as María Corina Machado, who were left out of the electoral game.

It rejected independent international observation and replaced it for an "accompaniment group" whose opinions are not binding. Only 40 delegates of Unasur, who will tour 11 states of the country, will be attending this electoral process. The international guests of the MUD will have no formal credentials issued by the CNE, and will have to settle for sitting on the fence. All of them have been warned by Nicolás Maduro: "Anyone who wants to come is welcome to do so... If someone abuses the internal life of Venezuela and the Electoral Power dictates that someone must be expelled from the country, I shall do so. Whoever they are, no matter how big shot. I don't care". This does not include his insults against Luis Almagro (OAS), Mariano Rajoy and Felipe González (Prime Minister and former Prime Minister of Spain, respectively).

The voter's card was designed to confuse those who would be voting for the MUD: the card of MIN-UNIDAD (a party supporting Maduro) is right next to that of MUD-UNIDAD. Both display similar colors and designs, apart from radio spots touting itself as the "true opposition". The CNE turned a blind eye to this, only showing a weak reaction on November 20, without major consequences for the offenders.

A grotesque propaganda imbalance was exhibited. The vast State media was put at the service of the PSUV candidates, and these have been funded with public funds.

The censorship from the State and the restriction of freedom of the press and speech applied to the Venezuelan media now reveals in the "selectivity" to issue credentials to press correspondents and international media, depending on how much these have criticized a government before.

Also, the Government has been giving away everything from home appliances, food, medicines, taxis, homes, pensions, laptops to a big long etcetera.

Violence and threats have been the leitmotif of this campaign. Added to the verbal threats by Maduro, Diosdado Cabello and other representatives of this "socialist homeland", red and corrupt, is the physical threat that has prompted this speech of hatred and exclusion. Thus the mandate of winning the December 6 election "no matter what" and the warning that the people supporting the Government in the streets are to be taken seriously already took a life: that of Luis Manuel Díaz, the Secretary General of the Acción Democrática (AD) opposition party branch in Altagracia de Orituco (Guárico state), who entered the list of the more than 200,000 homicides in Venezuela over the past 16 years.

But by selecting the MUD card down on the lower left corner identified with a a hand, the restoration of the democratic rights of a free society will start on Monday December 7.

See VenEconomy: A Look at the Events before the Parliamentary Election in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 4, 2015)

On December 7 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuelan Opposition Makes History in Parliamentary Election

December 6 2015 established a milestone in the history of Venezuela. Democracy won over hegemonic barbarism during a parliamentary election held on that date.

Past midnight at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE), it was announced the "irreversible trend" of the triumph of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition with the 96.03% of the votes. Tibisay Lucena, the head director of the CNE, said with a weak and shaky voice that out of the 167 parliamentary seats, the MUD candidates had achieved by then 99 (72 through roll-call votes and 27 through party-line votes), while the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) got 46 (24 through roll-call votes and 22 through party-line votes). A total 22 seats had not yet been awarded by that time of the night, three of them representing the indigenous people, two through roll-call votes and 17 through party-line votes.

From there it can definitely be said that the new Parliament (aka National Assembly) to be sworn in January 2016, will be made up by a qualified majority of members of the MUD. By the time we finished writing this editorial, the CNE did not make clear whether the final mandate of the population was a qualified majority of three-fifths (from 101 to 111 members) or a qualified majority of two-thirds (112 or more members). Off the record, and according to the own projections of the MUD, the final number would exceed 112 seats.

No matter what type of majority, Venezuelans have much to celebrate this December. And not only for what this mandate of the population represents to guide Venezuela towards a recovery of the economy and a fully-fledged democracy.

To begin with, after 16 long years, a majority of the population is convinced once more that the future is in their hands, that fear is not an alternative to the ambitions of a ruling elite as it overcame the atavism of failure instilled by years of threats and persecution. The population understood once more on December 6 that their voices count and their votes play a key role to decide the future of Venezuela, regardless of the brute force shown by the Government or the traps it places along the way.

An overwhelming voter turnout of 74.25%, of an electoral register of 19,496,296 Venezuelans, is really something to celebrate. This is the highest turnout rate on record in any of the four parliamentary elections held during the 21st century: 56.05% in 2000, 25.26% in 2005 (when the opposition as a unit decided not to participate), and 66.45% in 2010.

That overwhelming participation was supported by a population that had reacted months before, burdened by the nation's economic collapse, its sequels of shortages and inflation, social deterioration and rampant insecurity.

The obvious organization showing a united and cohesive opposition toward the same goal also helped. A well-oiled machinery to defend the vote in each of the assigned tasks, neutralized the machinations of the ruling party. And a few candidates that, for not having access to the mass media, set aside show politics and walked to towns and communities to present their electoral offer there. The door-to-door contact with leaders of the opposition bore fruit as it helped attract in voters even in the emblematic hometown of the late Hugo Chávez and slums in the Venezuelan capital such as 23 de Enero, La Vega or La Dolorita.

Both the organization and machinery of the MUD allowed to keep track of the results in real time during the critical hours of the closing of polling stations and vote count. And also were useful to warn the CNE that it would not accept a change in what had been expressed in the ballot boxes.

The international community had a very important role. Former leaders, parliamentarians and leaders of the world were very sensitive to the many abuses and violations of democracy by the Government. Without doubt they were a retaining wall to the temptations of the Government in committing worse outrages.

Other positive actors were social networks; NGOs from Venezuela with a previous work in ensuring the information prohibited by the State media; the international media and its commitment to the truth through widely recognized anchormen worldwide (CNN en Español and NT24, among others); and local radio stations such as Radio Caracas Radio (RCR).

Also decisive was a "Plan República" that fulfilled its role in compliance with the Constitution: guard, maintain and ensure the order of the electoral process, and the National Armed Forces for ensuring respect for the decision of the population.

All this counterbalanced the abuses of the ruling power, its violent armed civil groups that tried to overshadow the democratic process, the blackout from the State media and those privately-run that shamefully succumbed to totalitarianism, such as Globovisión, Venevisión and Televen.

As said by Jesús (Chuo) Torrealba, the secretary general of the MUD, in his speech last night, "Venezuela wanted a change and that change has begun. Thank you, Venezuela! Glory to the brave people!"

See VenEconomy: Venezuelan Opposition Makes History in Parliamentary Election (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 7, 2015)

On December 8 2015. VenEconomy: A Big Difference between France, Venezuela

Non-presidential elections were held in both France and Venezuela last Sunday. And that's the only coincidence lived up by the citizens of these two countries, one with a socialist government (France) and the other governed by an elite that sold itself as the precursor of the socialism of the 21st century (Venezuela).

France, which has barely recovered from one of the most serious terrorist attacks in its history and that finds itself amid a state of emergency because of an impending threat of Islamic State to carry out others, held an important election to decide whether the Socialist Party, in governing, would lose or not the majority of its regional councillors.

With a turnout rate of 50.5% of an electoral register of more than 44 million people, France elected 1,757 regional councillors and 153 territorial councillors among 21,456 candidates distributed in 171 lists during a first round. The Socialist Party, the National Front and the Republican Party (PR) participated in these elections. The voting system there is manual and with ballots deposited in voting boxes.

The day passed without incident. There was no extension of voting hours and polling stations closed at 20 hours.

Nor was there any delay during the election process or to announce two hours after the closing of polling stations that the Socialist Party had lost the majority to the far-right National Front (the most voted option) and the PR during the first round. There were no reports of abuses or machinations by members of the Government. The French will go for a second round this Sunday to elucidate who will definitely get control over their councillors.

In Venezuela, through aggressions and verbal threats of the ruling elite, citizens cast their votes to elect their representatives for the National Assembly (aka the Parliament), and decide whether or not to put an end to the hegemony of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

With a turnout rate of 74.25% of an electoral register of 19,496,365 voters, citizens elected 167 members throughout the country, between candidates of the ruling party (PSUV and other minority parties) and the opposition (MUD and other independent parties).

Unlike France, Venezuela boasts the best electoral system in the world, an automated system whose implementation has cost millions of dollars to the nation. A system that is supposed to contribute to a smooth electoral process by reducing voting times, as well as the shielding of results so that these reflect the will of voters with transparency, and by minimizing the times of the vote counting process so results can be released more quickly.

Just like in France, the civility of voters was commendable. On the contrary, it was the behavior shown by some of the leaders of the PSUV and a few violent civil groups sponsored by the PSUV. Espacio Público, a local NGO, reported more than 330 complaints of irregularities. The electoral legislation was violated in Venezuela with the announcement of the extension of the closing hours of polling stations made by Sandra Oblitas, one of the rectors of the National Electoral Council (CNE), alone.

Issues with voting machines in different polling stations were also reported during the day, a fact that led to nearly 700,000 invalid votes, some of them from party-line candidates and some others from roll-call candidates.

In Venezuela, with the best electoral system in the world, the CNE announced partial results after midnight, after pressures from the opposition coalition and citizens. Results that hardly acknowledged that the opposition had toppled the ruling party in the Parliament with an absolute majority of 99 members.

The CNE, along with its fabulous multi-million dollar electoral system, issued the second bulletin barely on Tuesday. A result accepting that the opposition had won 110 seats for a qualified majority of three-fifths. But, strangely 48 hours after the closing of the polling stations, the CNE was still performing audits in at least two constituencies that would give the opposition a qualified majority of two-thirds with 112 members of the MUD.

The difference between France and Venezuela is that the socialists from this place refuse to accept that voters are the ones who choose their rulers, not a system that can be rigged to favor the interests of a ruling elite.

See VenEconomy: A Big Difference between France, Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 8, 2015)

On December 9 2015. VenEconomy: What Part of the Mandate of the Venezuelan People they Don't Understand?

They already made it official: The Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition received an overwhelming mandate from the people it will represent in the Parliament (aka National Assembly) from January 2016 until January 2021.

The MUD obtained a qualified majority of two-thirds with 112 members, for a total of 167, after 56.5% of the voters gave their support to their candidates by roll-call vote, by party-line vote and by indigenous populations.

The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which comes from having a qualified majority of three-fifths (or slightly more than 100 members, including some from the opposition whose loyalties were purchased), now has 55 seats after getting 41% of the votes.

Unfortunately, this clear mandate of the population of seeking a change in the economic and social model that has been imposed in the country seems not to have been understood by the minority ruling elite.

It is no longer a question of all the electoral abuses committed by the PSUV, or the obscene delay from the National Electoral Council (CNE) to announce the results of last Sunday's election. It is that Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and the rest of the ruling elite of the "Socialist Homeland", have not left behind their aggressive and threatening political discourse after the results were announced past midnight of December 6th.

Even with the obvious parliamentary weakness they will have to face over the next five years, or until the circumstances call for it, the rulers show utter disregard for a collapsed economy, in which inventories practically do not exist; inflation has gone sky-high.

Instead of trying to understand the message from a population that is sick and tired of a model of a country that has led to starvation, misery, shortages and insecurity, and showing a little humility to admit the failure of the two governments of the Bolivarian revolution, the Government announced its intention to reinforce and radicalize the socialist process.

It is clear that the ruling coalition is entrenching and threatens to radicalize. An example is that after accepting defeat, Maduro blamed an ongoing "economic war" for it.

Maduro called governors, mayors, ministers and members of the PSUV for a meeting in the Miraflores presidential palace, in which they allegedly discussed political and economic actions to be taken.

Maduro also claimed that he would not "sign" an amnesty law - one of the promises of the MUD if it made it to the Parliament - "because human rights were violated and because I say so". He announced, among other measures that he has in mind, that he will make use of his "Enabling Law", set to expire at the end of this year, to push ahead with the communal project that will weaken the Parliament. Moreover, he will extend labor stability benefits for three years. With this, he said he aims to protect the extended family and relatives of the Presidency with administrative positions in the Parliament. While he warned voters who betrayed the socialist process that there will be no more houses, taxis, among other government handouts.

Added to this is the promise from Diosdado Cabello (the current president of the Parliament) during that same event of renewing the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) by installing 12 new chief judges and five alternates before December 31. This would allow placing judges that are more compliant to the process in the TSJ, than those who are there now, and which must do more than chant slogans to prove their loyalty.

In addition to all this is the misinformation and manipulation of the facts echoed by the State media and the threats that public employees began to receive.

Here is a message for them: be proud of your accomplishment, of having voted with honesty and independence and never give up, because the vote is secret (and will remain so).

See VenEconomy: What Part of the Mandate of the Venezuelan People they Don't Understand? (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 9, 2015)

On December 10 2015. VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's Democratic Unity Take the 'Red Bulls' by the Horns?

The civic demonstration of December 6 2015 established another milestone in the history of Venezuela. Venezuelan voters defeated fear, did not care about threats, extortion through populist handouts, and went out to vote en masse. They were proud heirs of that part of Venezuela's national anthem that goes "Glory to the brave people who shook off the yoke!"

The results are already well known: With a majority of two-thirds, the people of Venezuela gave the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition an unquestionable mandate for a change of direction in the economy, for putting a break on the pillaging of public resources, for the restoration of institutional balances and for the reconciliation between citizens.

It's easier said than done, because this will a daunting task to carry out in order to meet these goals. More so when the rest of the public authorities not only will be rowing the boat against that current, but will be relentless to hamper the initiatives to rebuild Venezuela in all parts of its economic and social fabric.

That said, it must be pointed out that in spite of all the impediments and illegalities lying ahead, there is no room for failure, nor an option to not do what it must and comply with the mandate given by 7,707,422 Venezuelans. Dashing that hope for change will lead the country into an abyss of unimaginable impact that would be sealed with blood and tears.

A qualified majority of two-thirds that will give the 112 members of the opposition alliance, to be sworn-in in January 2016, a wide range of opportunities as established in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Rules of Procedure and Discussions of the National Assembly (AN), and other laws.

Their powers are not limited to pass laws consistent with the common good, the development and progress of the nation, which is enough already, taking into account that over the past 16 years the "Great Lawgiver" is the president of the Republic himself with the permission of the own AN to usurp its competences.

Two-thirds of parliamentary members can decree amnesties, investigate and interrogate ministers, control or veto the National Budget, decide whether or not to allow the President to travel abroad, pass a vote of no confidence against the Vice President of the Republic and revoke an act of the AN (partly or in its entirety). They can also pass organic laws, invalidate votes cast by lawmakers in acts of economic interest; temporarily separate lawmakers from their functions; put treaties, international conventions or agreements likely to jeopardize the national sovereignty or transferring competencies to supranational bodies to referendum; put bills to referendum; appoint or remove other members of public authorities following the constitutional norm; approve a constitutional reform project and take the initiative of a constitutional amendment.

In this new Assembly, the role of the 112 members must focus on developing a cohesive strategy to reap the benefits of their election victory, in terms of the goals they set, their economic, social, political and legislative proposals and, above all, their ability to communicate with voters in order to explain those goals and proposals.

The challenge for the MUD is to offer solutions and, at the same time, avoid the blame for the disaster to come due to the determination of Nicolás Maduro to radicalize the retrogressive "Bolivarian revolution".

The members of the MUD have to truly work together to meet this vital commitment. They have to surround themselves with the best possible people to prioritize and define medium and long-term policies. They must have the strength, courage and determination to take the "red bulls" by the horns so that Venezuela returns to the democratic route.

That will be the greatest challenge to meet.

See VenEconomy: Will Venezuela's Democratic Unity Take the 'Red Bulls' by the Horns? (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 10, 2015)

On December 11 2015. VenEconomy: A Mandate, Two Divergent Strategies

The people of Venezuela want peace, inclusion, government transparency, progress and development. That should be the reading of the results of a parliamentary election held last Sunday.

Neither winners nor losers. Venezuela as a whole should come out as a winner with the restoration of institutional balance in the National Assembly (aka the Parliament).

The National Assembly is one of the five national government branches that, in an independent and autonomous way, should serve as a guarantor to control or manage the State and collaborate with the task of governing the country. None takes precedence over the other; none must constrain the other; all of them must respect and comply with the decisions made within the framework of the Constitution and laws. To think otherwise is to attack the democratic institutions, and pave the way for the abyss.

Unfortunately, in times of the "socialism of the 21st century", there is the firm conviction that the National Executive is acting as a consolidator of all public authorities, placed at the service of an unconstitutional "socialist homeland": is the one who legislates, makes judgments, elects and exercises the moral control of the State. The President is the State and the people speak through his voice.

Now, when one of the public authorities is slipping out of its hands, those totalitarians who believed were immune to control, who will be demanded accountability, who will be required to listen to others thinking differently from them and moderate extreme positions that subjugate and destroy everything that goes against their interests, are losing it.

From there the uncontrolled and inadmissible reaction from Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello and other representatives of Venezuela's ruling elite.

A reaction that includes saying that they won't comply with the decisions to be made by the new parliamentary majority made up by two-thirds of the democratic opposition, or the electoral promises made by these 112 members of the National Assembly, such as an amnesty law that would benefit all political prisoners; or to appoint 13 judges of the Supreme Court, extemporaneously and without a regulatory majority, with the aim of making things harder for the incoming parliamentarians; or to appoint the Ombudsman under the same parameters of illegality.

A reaction that also includes a grotesque discourse of violence with which it continues to insist on disqualifying and disregarding the decision of more than seven million Venezuelans. It is inadmissible that whoever holds the Presidency of the Republic makes a public call to go out into the streets to ignore the new National Assembly; streets where he says the Bolivarian revolution is "to be taken very seriously". So did Maduro on Wednesday when he called his supporters to rise in a "strategic day of revolutionary counteroffensive transition" similar to that seen on February 4 1992, the first Hugo Chávez-led armed military coup attempt that took place in Venezuela. Let's hope he is just bluffing and not attempting to violate the Legislature.

On the other hand, the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition must be aware that the Legislature, where it will have control and decision-making power, should be limited to the mandate of the Constitution. The mandate was to make the National Assembly once more a forum for discussion and convergence to get the country out of the hole it was plunged into. The powers granted are extensive and should be used with strategy.

On Thursday, the members of the MUD, where the political organizations to which the new 112 legislators belong, released a statement [Oferta legislativa para el cambio] with a proposal of the laws to be discussed starting January 5 of next year "for the purpose of avoiding the serious crisis faced by the oil country, and thus provide better quality of life for Venezuelans", most of them of economic nature, in search of the transparency of the public administration and the Amnesty Law, on the one hand and, on the other, an initiative of questioning of ministers and other public officials. The goal is not looking for revenge, but clarifying the actual situation of the management by the State and being accountable to the country, a constitutional obligation that was abandoned by the Bolivarian revolution. In addition to revising some of the laws unconstitutionally passed by the Presidency, which have destroyed the productive apparatus of the nation and sentenced the population to misery, and to enact some others that will foster development and national progress.

A democratic voyage of titans who must face severe headwinds.

See VenEconomy: A Mandate, Two Divergent Strategies (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 11, 2015)

On December 14 2015. VenEconomy: Venezuela is Falling Apart as the Bolivarian Revolution Continues with the Same Idle Chit-Chat

The majority of economic analysts maintains a state of alert on the chaotic economic and social situation of Venezuela.

They say that top priorities in 2016 remain: face inflation, boost the productive system, encourage investment and combat the rampant shortages of goods. Many of them argue that the situation next year does not look good, and it will be so bad that 2015 will seem a prosperous year to Venezuelans. And they do not fall short.

Crude oil prices continue to drop. OPEC ministers refused to change production quotas as a way to stabilize prices. An output cut would mean for the Saudis today losing their market to other oil producers. Global oil stocks are at an all-time high, with virtually all terrestrial facilities, as well as tankers anchored offshore, at maximum capacity. World oil prices have reached 7-year lows now, with the OPEC barrel at $33.76 per barrel on December 11 and Venezuelan oil exports at less than $30 per barrel.

Oil export revenues of Venezuela are estimated at a total $30 billion this year, versus imports estimated at about $25 billion, only a fraction of the $47-$59 billion between 2011 and 2013. If prices remain at current levels, one would expect that oil exports would hover around $20 billion in 2016 (vs. $93 billion in 2012).

While that happens with Venezuela's main foreign exchange earner, the public coffers show the erosion of more than 16 years of wastage and corruption. The gross international reserves of the central bank closed at $14.6 billion on December 10, down $6.8 billion (31.5%) from December 10 2014.

The truth is that the Government has nowhere to go. Turning to foreign debt is no longer useful. Banks are not taking any chances granting loans to Venezuela with these low oil prices. Even Venezuela is at risk to get a new lowering of its credit rating. The risk rating agency Standard & Poor's expects Venezuela to become one of the countries more likely to suffer credit rating downgrades on its sovereign bonds.

Venezuela HAS NO DOLLARS to buy either raw materials or finished products. Years of attacks, pillage, criminalization and sanctions have nothing but destroyed the nation's productive apparatus.

So internally, as the situation stands, there is no way to deal with the lack of production or shortages of goods where there was self-sufficiency before. Without access to dollars and in heavy debt because of criminal foreign exchange controls, companies are not able to import the necessary supplies to remain operational, as many of them have been forced to close or granted collective vacations waiting out the crisis. The Food Industry Chamber (Cavidea) has warned about the shortages to be felt during the first quarter of 2016. It said that foreign exchange allocations fell short by 70% this year, while affiliated industries have reduced their production by 60% in the last year. It is feared that famine is knocking on the doors of every home in Venezuela.

Although the central bank has not released the official figures of the economy since the third quarter of 2014, in an attempt to conceal its disastrous performance, unofficial reports have stated that the economy contracted 7.5% during the first quarter of this year, 7.2% during the second quarter and a staggering 9% during the third quarter. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), contraction for the full year will be 10.0%, with which the economy would have been in recession, or even worse, for two full years.

Soaring inflation is located at 219.4% during the first 11 months of 2015, not in vain the four salary increases decreed this year became nothing as food pantries in Venezuelan homes are empty.

Economists made it very clear about the measures to be taken, including: the restoration of the Rule of Law, the restoration of guarantees to private property, the unification of the dollar exchange rate, the lifting of price controls, and the privatization of state enterprises, all accompanied with social programs to prevent people from suffering during a transition to an open economy.

But Venezuelan economists do not have the resources to finance a transition. From there, the imperative need to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to oversee an adjustment program.

The IMF, which has been taking care of economies in crisis for 70 years and has learned from its own mistakes, would provide several billion dollars to facilitate the transition. More importantly is that an IMF adjustment program would be seen as a guarantee that the Government is on the road to recovery, which would facilitate access to banks (to finance imports), investments and to support programs and financing offered by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Meanwhile, a Bolivarian revolution that feels threatened by a new parliamentary majority of the democratic opposition willing to legislate and holding the National Executive accountable, is convening an "Economic Congress of Socialist Thinking" on Wednesday, as part of its "counteroffensive" after its defeat in a legislative election held on December 6.

If Nicolás Maduro were a ruler focused on the welfare of the people, instead of continuing with his political blackmail and the path toward hell, he should announce that he is knocking on the doors of the IMF in search of a transition toward a productive economy, toward a country without hunger, toward a country where everyone can work and contribute to a productive economy...

See VenEconomy: Venezuela is Falling Apart as the Bolivarian Revolution Continues with the Same Idle Chit-Chat (Latin American Herald Tribune, December 14, 2015)

On December 15 2015. VenEconomy: 2016: Let the population remain wind!

A year ago, when Veneconomy said goodbye to readers at the beginning of their Christmas and New Year holiday, it endorsed an excellent reflection written by Leonardo Padrón in his last article of 2014, "A corridor surrounded by clouds", despite the black picture that was seen for 2015.

Padron said that "The only shortage that we cannot afford is that of hope. Although most of the time it is a dark corridor, surrounded by clouds. The clouds tend to scroll. With the wind. This is what geography tells us. He invited the public to stop being public and become wind. That is the call of our history".

This invitation was well accepted by the nearly eight million voters who on December 6 became favorable wind for an overwhelming majority of 2/3 of members of Parliament from the Democratic Alliance to work from the National Assembly.

Certainly, this is just a first change produced by the citizens who elected to be wind and not storm on parliamentary elections. The National Assembly, is only one of the five Public Powers of the Nation that gets rid of the yoke of totalitarianism of the 21st century. The other four powers are still being managed by the threads of Havana and their local puppets that affirm and reaffirm that they will radicalize the revolution. Empty threats of those who lost people, streets, barracks and regional cronies?

In case of doubt, we must not claim victory, or rest on the laurels, the wolf is alive, wounded and cornered. As with any animal under these conditions, the danger can jump at any time.

Therefore, for 2016 all is not said or sung in the political arena. There is much work ahead on the side of the democratic alliance, the political leaders and citizens as a whole. There are political prisoners who must check out for freedom and exiles to return to their homes.

In terms of the economic and social field it is already very well known that 2016 will be harder, much more, than 2015.

The price of oil will remain low, perhaps in the same current levels averaging $28 or $30 per barrel. Reserves do not have how to retrieve their optimum or sufficient levels, to ensure imports of more than 80% of the basic goods that do not occur in the country. The productive machinery is worse today than at the end of 2014, indebted, without currency, no inventories, no raw materials and cornered by the fighting of an invented economic war to exculpate the Plan of the Homeland of the collapse of Venezuela. Scarcity indexes are higher and include more products and goods, and affect more vital services. Inflation stands as the highest in the world. And there is no willingness on the part of the National Executive to give a turn to the machine of destruction that is the socialism of the 21st century.

However, contrary to the picture that was seen a year ago for 2015, for 2016 it is perceived a certain air of hope, although it will not be a rose garden.

Emerging from 16 years of backwardness is not easy nor will be free for anyone. Real change to rescue the country, restore the Rule of Law and Justice and steer it to better ports will have its cost to all Venezuelans.

The task that is before the new 112 parliament members is hard, thorny, filled with obstacles and tripping. But they will not be alone, they will receive the contribution of hundreds of specialists in the Constitution, legal, criminal, economic and social matters that have been working since a long time ago in independent institutions and NGOs, to find the most expeditious constitutional ways, generate confidence and attract solid investments.

Citizens have a responsibility to persist in being wind because, as Leonardo Padrón said at the end of 2014, "The only shortage that we cannot afford is that of hope. That is the call of our history".

Let this Christmas be of peace and family union. And the dawn of the New Year bring harmony to Venezuela and is the beginning of the economic recovery and social welfare.

See VenEconomía: 2016: ¡Qué la población siga siendo viento! (Latin American Herald Tribune, Diciembre 15, 2015)

On January 11 2016. Venezuelan Opposition is Doing Well, But Must Not Lose Focus

Since January 5 of this year, with the installation of a new National Assembly (aka the Parliament) whose majority has a democratic vocation, the restoration of democratic institutions in Venezuela started to become a tangible reality.

As is well known, it was no easy task for those who seek a change in a failed political, economic and social model to successfully get there on that date. From that trench, strong national and international pressures had to be exerted in order to overcome the multiple obstacles laid down by the members of the totalitarian regime ruling the nation. Several setbacks had to be dealt with including the delay by the National Electoral Council (CNE) in setting the final date of the elections (December 6 2015); making sure that the political players in the race would respect the rules of the electoral game; avoiding arbitrariness and aggressions from the State; balancing interests and reaching consensus within the range of parties making up the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition; delivering and achieving a credible common message and goal, even overcoming the fears injected into voters.

So it came the victorious December 6 when a tired population as a result of the collapse of the economy, social decomposition and rampant insecurity, along with the work of a united opposition sector aiming for change, gave a two-thirds qualified power to 112 lawmakers in Venezuela's national legislative body.

A parliamentary majority that, against all odds and after 16 years, took oath in the presence of international guests of democratic trajectory, as are former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, congressmen of the region, a sector of the Venezuelan civil society and journalists from national and international media, who had no access to the National Assembly's floor for long years.

A parliamentary bloc that reached consensus on the rules for appointing the Directive of the National Assembly, which is led by Henry Ramos Allup, a civilian and politician who sparks controversy, but that is up to level for his several years of parliamentary activity, sharp discourse and impudence to face the hegemonic power of the ruling duo of Nicolás Maduro and Diosdado Cabello.

This new National Assembly has evidenced since the very same day of its installation that nothing will be easy, even for those who have had the control of the country, with the seizure of all public authorities. From its first day of functions, this Assembly has given an indication that it will not bow down before anyone and, as announced by Ramos Allup himself in his opening address, will fulfill its promise of rescuing the autonomy of the Parliament and restoring the roles of legislating, monitoring, controlling and hold the rest of public authorities accountable as established by the Constitution. Its members are going to legislate, not delegate. They will no longer pass any useless enabling laws. They will not become a counter-power, but a true power, without subordination or being the "backyard of the Executive Power" as when the Parliament was dominated by chavismo.

From January 5, the Legislative Palace is once more a floor with freedom of opinion and respect for dissenting or diverging views, as claimed by Ramos Allup. A freedom that was confiscated over a decade ago by the Government.

From there it will be enacted the much-anticipated Amnesty Law for political prisoners and exiles, introduced on Monday for its discussion and approval, but others deemed vital for getting the country out of the pit it was plunged into. In addition to reviewing hasty and improvised laws and decrees that have violated the independence of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).

From the gallery, citizens are watching for the first time in years a group of parliamentarians acting in concert, getting the advice from jurists, constitutional lawyers, economists, study groups and NGOs knowledgeable in subjects of national importance to be discussed on the National Assembly's floor.

They are just getting started. This is barely the beginning of a long and winding road for these 112 parliamentarians, but even though the root of the evils the country is facing is alive, their first actions indicate they are on the right path, except for some issues that have caused controversy such as the so-called "war of the portraits".

The opposition must not lose focus: the aim is to rescue the country from an obsolete and outdated communism by constitutional, democratic, peaceful and electoral means.

As stated by the own Ramos Allup, "These commitments are not negotiable".

VenEconomy wishes its readers and listeners that 2016 is a year of peace and productivity that starts the recovery of Venezuela's economy and its democratic system.

See VenEconomy: Venezuelan Opposition is Doing Well, But Must Not Lose Focus (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 11, 2016)

On January 12 2016. The Bad Intentions of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution

A ruling of the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) declaring all the acts of the newly installed Parliament (aka National Assembly or AN) on January 5 void came with no surprises on Monday.

The ruling stipulates that, if the majority of the democratic bloc persists in maintaining the seats of three of its lawmakers from Amazonas state challenged by the bloc of Venezuela's ruling party, the decisions of the National Assembly will be declared "ABSOLUTELY NULL". In addition to ordering the immediate suspension of these lawmakers.

The argument put forward by the Electoral Chamber is that the National Assembly, by having sworn in Julio Haron Ygarza, Nirma Guarulla and Romel Guzamana on January 6 with the majority of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition, would have flouted a previous ruling issued on December 30 2015 by the Electoral Chamber ordering the "suspension of effects of the acts of totalization, adjudication and proclamation" of the election in Amazonas State held on December 6 of last year.

With this new ruling, the Electoral Chamber is taking a further step in the determination of the National Government to ignore the will of the people that gave an end to more than a decade of parliamentary hegemony of chavismo and that, by granting the presidents of the Republic enabling powers to pass laws, has served to strengthen the legal framework of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" to give more power to the National Executive to act freely and exploit the resources of the Venezuelan State at its discretion.

The reality is that this is a new move by the Government through which it pulls the strings of the Judiciary, while acting in unison with the minority bloc of the ruling party.

A move with bad intentions that did not take long to materialize given the threats of President Nicolás Maduro, before and after the December 6 parliamentary election, that the Bolivarian revolution would not take a single step backwards.

From challenging the outcome of the election in Amazonas state (where the MUD obtained three of the four seats, including an indigenous lawmaker) to the rapid acceptance of this measure by the Electoral Chamber, whose judge was commencing functions after being elected together with 12 other judges of the TSJ, is a last-minute machination of the outgoing Parliament. A ruling impossible to comply with because it came when the acts to be declared null were a fait accompli, the votes had been summarized by the electoral board of the National Electoral Council (CNE), with this having awarded the win to and proclaimed four parliamentarians belonging to Amazonas state. And as jurists argue, there is no constitutional and legal way for a proclaimed lawmaker to be removed from office.

These moves of the ruling elite may worsen the current political turmoil as a scenario of confrontation between the public authorities is in full development, something that does not bode well for the atmosphere of tranquility needed to resolve the grave economic and social situation.

And from there comes the million dollar question: what should the parliamentary majority of the MUD do?

To VenEconomy the answer is to fulfill the mandate of almost eight million Venezuelans who gave it a two-thirds majority; veer away from the pointless barbarity that has violated the democratic rights in Venezuela with full impunity.

See VenEconomy: The Bad Intentions of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 12, 2016)

On January 13 2016. Venezuela's Economy is going down the Drain!

The development of events in Venezuela has evidenced that over the past 16 years the country's ruling elite has cared little, or nothing, about the development, progress or welfare of the population.

Its top priority and main goal is the political project it has persisted in establishing in the country. The new Vice President of the Republic, Aristóbulo Istúriz, a radical leftist, made it very clearly on Tuesday: "We are not a government, we are a revolution. It is not enough to have a good car, sidewalks, sewage systems, asphalt and a house if we do not get into the conscience of every man and woman..."

This thought is in line with what other "revolutionaries" have said time after time all these years and synthesized in that old slogan of the Hugo Chávez era: "With Chávez all the way, no matter whether we're starving or have no job". What the nation's rulers are ignoring is that things may look quite different from the slogan when the population is starving, when they are not able to find any medicines for their sick children or find a job because the "Bolivarian revolution" has destroyed the entire productive apparatus and made the economy of the country collapse.

What this elite does not understand is that they are manufacturing a time bomb with a political deadlock through machinations, abuses and violations of the Constitution, and thus prevent the fulfillment of the mandate of the population in changing the communist model referred to in the so-called "Plan for the Homeland" outlined by Chávez a few years back. Or when, at the same time, they continue to apply and deepen the economic policies that have put the country on the brink of starvation and misery, by turning a deaf ear to the "voice of the people".

This deafness shows the appointment of the "new" Cabinet of Nicolás Maduro, the new laws enacted thanks to an enabling law that expired on December 31 of last year, and the "new" and unknown project of economic emergency that the ruling party bloc announced it would submit to the Parliament.

In this respect, out of the last 16 enabling laws enacted by Maduro, five are of economic nature and all of them have bad intentions. Some of them are meant for maintaining Venezuela in obscurantism with regard to the development of the economy, evading control of the parliamentary majority of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition in the National Assembly, and continuing to have control over the economic resources as is the case of a reform carried out in the Central Bank Law that stipulates:

1) That the president of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) and its board of directors shall be appointed by the President of the Republic, eliminating the powers of the National Assembly to appoint two of the directors of the body and ratify the rest of the members of the board of directors and president.

2) That the BCV may "transitorily" suspend the release of economic figures when "required by the National Executive", while certain information may be classified as "confidential or secret" when in detriment of the economic measures to be taken. Venezuelans may have access to any other information or figures except those classified as "confidential or secret".

3) The BCV may grant credit directly to the National Government "exceptionally" when "there has been an internal or external threat to national security or against the public interest", which shall only be approved by the President of the Republic.
With this, Maduro may turn to the so-called "economic war" to continue generating additional credits without the approval of the National Assembly.

On the other hand, he will be able to continue besieging the private productive sector through reforms to the Exchange Rate Regime and its Exchange Control Violation Law and that of Income Tax, as well as the new laws of Labor Immobility, Tax on Large Financial Transactions, Insurance Activity and Seeds.

Or that the new Economic Cabinet is ideologically "correct" for the deepening of the Bolivarian revolution, but financially incapable of taking the necessary measures to get the country out of the economic and social doldrums.

Here are the two new heads of the Economic Cabinet: Luis Salas, a sociologist who is a strong believer in the "economic war" with zero experience in the public sector, is the Vice President of the newly created Sectoral Ministry of the Economy and Minister for the Productive Economy. And Miguel Pérez Abad, who is a strong believer in price controls and public intervention in the economy, is the Minister of Industry and Trade.

Despite a small exception, as is the appointment of Rodolfo Medina as Minister of Banking and Finance, the first real economist in eight years holding this office, the reality is that the economy of Venezuela is going down the drain.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Economy is going down the Drain! (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 13, 2016)

On January 14 2016. Venezuela's Healthcare Sector to Remain a Major Focus for the Parliament!

The majority of the Parliament's Democratic Unity (MUD) bloc pulled its first "Veronica" (a bullfighting move in which the matador holds a cape out and pivots slowly as the bull charges past it) this week after masterfully handling the declarations of nullity of the acts of the new National Assembly and contempt against its Board of Directors, fraudulently created by the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) and plotted together with the minority ruling party bloc as is the case of challenging the legality of three MUD lawmakers of Amazonas state.

The democratic parliamentarians did not fall into the legal trap that attempted to leave the National Assembly with no powers and as a decorative vase. This way, they carried on with the task entrusted by almost 8 million Venezuelans who elected them on December 6 of last year.

They accepted the request from the lawmakers of Amazonas state of voluntarily withdraw from office, after having been sworn in during the second day of parliamentary activity this year and without that making a dent in the MUD's qualified majority. On Wednesday, the Parliament approved an agreement on the ongoing border closure with Colombia and a measure of state of emergency issued in 24 municipalities of the country by the National Executive in 2015; they also appointed chairmen and vice-chairmen for 15 permanent work commissions of the National Assembly for the legislative period 2016-2017. Furthermore, President Nicolás Maduro was prevented from evading his constitutional duty of testifying before the Parliament regarding his Report and Accounts 2015 to be carried out on Friday afternoon.

For now, and until the Government decides to attack democracy again, the Parliament will be free to continue its legislative and monitoring work of the activities carried out by public servants who are obliged by law to be accountable to both the National Assembly and public opinion.

Among the 16 officials announced during the electoral campaign, the Minister of Health is to be called to testify in January as a matter of urgency.

The state of national calamity the healthcare sector of the country is in is no secret to anyone, showing the following shortcomings: deterioration of public hospitals, a serious shortage of medicines and the resurgence of epidemics.

The data released by the Venezuelan Society of Public Health on this latter scourge is alarming: 2015 closed with 15,370 cases of chikungunya virus and 51,711 of dengue fever through December 26; with a record figure of 131,074 cases of malaria through December 19, representing 100,000 cases more than a decade ago; with the presence of endemic cases of Chagas disease; and with an unspecified increase in cases of the Zika virus.

To this is added an AIDS epidemic that is killing the indigenous Warao ethnicity in Delta Amacuro state, according to a research work by local journalist Minerva Vitti [Un pueblo abandonado a su suerte on January 12, 2015], and published in the web portal Armando Investiga. According to Vitti, at least 26 communities of this indigenous ethnicity are infected with HIV/AIDS. To make matters worse, the Warao people are developing AIDS symptoms in less than five years (usually takes between eight and ten years to develop them, without treatment).

The National Assembly must hold the Minister of Health accountable regarding this situation; it must hold him accountable for the reason that he has not invested in effective campaigns for environmental sanitation, fumigation and abatement products in the country, in addition to the resumption of official information through epidemiological bulletins that ceased to be published during the 44th week that ended on November 1 2014.

It must ask him why he allowed a massive shortage of medicines that reaches up to 80% in some nerve drugs, one of the most critical situations affecting the health of Venezuelans. It must inquire about the multi-million dollar agreements signed with countries of the region to import medical supplies and equipment, announced since 2014 and that never made it into the country, while the public and private healthcare sectors are about to come to a halt.

As a matter of fact, there are too many questions to be asked and not only the Bolivarian elite of the healthcare sector must be held accountable, but all national actors as well. From there the hurdles to overcome by a legislature that has the mandate to change the corrupt way of doing things in Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Healthcare Sector to Remain a Major Focus for the Parliament! (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 14, 2016)

On January 15 2016. Venezuelans to Become Full Owners of their Destiny

Once upon a time there was a country called Venezuela, which under the influence of a man and his desire for perpetuity in power, was being turned into a country of slaves.

A country described as "socialist, revolutionary and Bolivarian", where the State sought to become the owner of everything in it; of the land, means of production, information, property, food control, of thought and freedom of its citizens. A government that as everybody knows already is no such thing, but a "revolution" (as recently said by the country's Vice President Aristóbulo Istúriz), and wanted to make Venezuelans slaves, dependent on handouts of all kinds from a powerful elite that has thrived misusing the resources of each area or sector.

Housing, a fundamental asset for the healthy development of a family, did not escape from this control. This despite the fact that in the first five years (1999-2005) of the government term of President Hugo Chávez, the Elder Brother of that country of slavery showed the worst record in home construction since the presidential term of Rómulo Betancourt (1959-1964), whose annual average was 16,961 home units. According to official figures from the Vice Ministry of Planning, during that first term of Chávez, the Government had barely built an annual average of 23,388 housing units. And although the record improved substantially from 2005 until 2011, 329,000 units were barely built during that period, 12,000 less than those built by the public sector during the second presidential term of Rafael Caldera (1994-1999).

It should also be recalled that those meager housing results took place in times when the country received huge revenues as a result of high oil prices, and when Chávez had implemented various housing plans, among others: Plan Avispa (Plan Wasp) within the so-called "Plan Bolívar 2000" (1999), "Misión Hábitat" (2004) and "Misión Villanueva" (2007), as well as the Urban Land Committees (2002) and the Program of Replacement of Existing Housing (or SUVI in 2010).

And that is not counting the "Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela" (GMVV) launched by Chávez in April 2011, as part of the pre-election program for the elections to be held in October and December 2012, with the aim of covering the housing deficit of more than 2 million units accumulated for that year in a seven-year period.

This GMVV got off to a rough start, the worst planning and with perverse political objectives. The Government started off with arbitrary expropriations of private housing complexes and urban lands; handpicked projects by the State were allocated to foreign companies (Chinese, Russian, Iranian) without the knowledge of the idiosyncrasy of the people of Venezuela; urban, antiseismic and/or engineering studies were not carried out; there was no planning of public services that would have addressed the needs of the new inhabitants; the architectural development of communities where these housing units were built was violated; chaos in safety matters was created as evidenced in the raids carried out in the framework of the so-called Operation for the Liberation of the People (OLP) security plan, since many of these units are used by criminal networks in their illegal activities, thus heavily affecting both the inhabitants of the GMVV complexes and their neighbors.

Another handicap of the housing policy of the "revolution" (if we can call it that way) is that it has not granted the ownership of the homes: these are "allottees" of the estates, without them being allowed to have two of the main universal powers of property rights as are the pleasure (the use and disposal of what an asset can generate) and enjoyment (the power to dispose, sell, donate or give the property in inheritance). This because the "socialism of the 21st century" completely goes against private property, as it were a crime.

What's more, studies carried out in several countries have clearly shown that the "owner" cares for and improves his/her property, while "allotees" don't bother to do the minimum maintenance of a property and its elements that tend to deteriorate over time.

To correct this handicap, the new democratic parliamentary majority introduced a bill in the National Assembly to grant housing ownership for the beneficiaries of Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela and all the housing units built by the public sector.

Its goal, as explained by the bill's promoter, congressman Julio Borges, is "to give power and fullness to millions of Venezuelans so that they become full owners of their destiny and future".

Venezuela now stops being a country of slaves, susceptible to political blackmail and human servitude.

See VenEconomy: Venezuelans to Become Full Owners of their Destiny (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 15, 2016)

On January 18 2016. Friday of Surprises for Venezuela

Last Friday January 15 brought a lot of surprises for Venezuelans (accompanied by more lies and repetition of the usual anachronisms of the Government).

The first surprise was that, magically, after 24 months of an inexplicable silence, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) released the economic figures for the 12 months ended on September 30 2015; accumulated inflation was 141.5% during the first nine months of 2015. It should be noted that even though this figure confirms that Venezuela is still ranked as the economy with the highest inflation rate in the world, it may not yet be adjusted to reality. This figure was released when economists and analysts of the country had agreed that the level would hover near 250%, while a source of the BCV said that the real figure for 2015 was 271.5%.

Is this discrepancy owed to the rush to give some credibility to the Report and Accounts that President Nicolás Maduro was forced to submit before the National Assembly that same Friday? Or is it the habit of constantly telling lies in order not to acknowledge the failure of the Bolivarian revolution?

This leads to last Friday's second surprise: The accountability of a president of the Bolivarian revolution before a National Assembly with a qualified majority of the opposition, before independent media, both national and international. The parliamentary minority of the ruling party bloc, along with the Supreme Court of Justice, did everything in their power a few days earlier to spare Maduro from having to go there and make his presentation. But in the end everything was useless and the result was worth the effort.

As was to be expected, Maduro once more diluted his annual Report and Accounts in pure tall tales, repeating the old same lies and blaming third parties and foreign entities for Venezuela's economic and social catastrophe. He set aside issues of vital importance to citizens such as: the rampant insecurity, the overwhelming problems in the healthcare area, the widespread shortages of basic goods, the dire situation of state-run oil company PDVSA, the National Electric System (SEN) or the contaminated and damaged drinking water supply system, even less he made mention of the undeniable corruption and links with narco-terrorism that have the name of Venezuela under investigation with countless cases at international level. Naturally, he did not even bother to make the slightest reference to the violation of human rights by his government, or the current situation of the political prisoners.

However, the topic he did touch on - and very quickly by the way - was that of the "catastrophic figures" that Nelson Merentes (the president of the BCV) gave him. And even though he did not dwell on those "small details" making the lives of Venezuelans miserable (inflation and shortages), he used them as a preamble to issue a decree on Economic Emergency, published the day before in the Official Gazette. A political instrument that in reality imposes a state of emergency by giving extraordinary powers to Maduro so that he can continue plunging Venezuela into misery, communist rot, corruption and impunity for the violators of the civil, economic and political rights of citizens. We simply need to examine what happened with the decrees of electric emergency (issued by the late Hugo Chávez) and the states of emergency in border states established by Maduro. All this to escape the vigilance of the Democratic Unity opposition coalition in the Parliament, and to discharge the Bolivarian revolution from liability.

It is worth mentioning (and refuting the nonsense of the Government) that the state of economic and political chaos of today's Venezuela is not due to lower oil prices, or the actions of the "American Empire", or the "creole oligarchy", or the private sector of the economy or the opposition itself. The so-called "socialism of the 21st century" is to blame for all the mess.

The third surprise came with the excellent presentation by Henry Ramos Allup, the president of the National Assembly, live on national TV, demystifying the deity of Chávez and making things absolutely clear for Maduro, the rest of public authorities and the National Armed Forces. But that's a subject for another VenEconomy editorial.

See VenEconomy: Friday of Surprises for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 18, 2016)

On January 19 2016. Venezuela's National Assembly Must Look into Maduro's Economic Emergency Decree

Without discussion, the parliamentary majority of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition, led by Henry Ramos Allup, has been the protagonist during the first week of the National Assembly in its 2016-2021 legislative period.

Since January 5, day of the installation of the new Parliament, the democratic parliamentarians had set the tone for their objectives: with a qualified majority obtained by the votes of 7.7 million Venezuelans, they came to restore the autonomy and role assigned by the Constitution to that national public authority. Nothing will stop them from fulfilling that mission.

Until now, they have been overcoming one by one the obstacles placed in their path by the national government to prevent the fulfillment of the mandate of change given by popular vote.

Last Friday, millions of Venezuelans, inside and outside the country, were watching in amazement through the media and Internet as Ramos Allup, after listening to the annual Report and Accounts of President Nicolás Maduro for three and a half hours, turned the House into a podium to shout out loud all the truths concealed by censorship and despotism for more than a decade.

He shouted them out one by one, debunking the well-worn, obsolete and outdated speech delivered by Maduro. He held nothing back. Not only he refuted the lies, but voiced many truths from various subjects.

To begin with, Ramos Allup claimed that the Executive and Legislative are the only two public powers legitimized by popular vote. The rest of them are appointed.

He taught Maduro lessons in economy, inflation and shortages; he noted that the price of the U.S. dollar is fixed by the market, not a web site. On top of that, he tore down the mystification of Hugo Chávez. He denied it was true that if the "eternal commander" lived today, the country would not be going through the current debacle. On the contrary, Ramos Allup stressed that if Chávez lived the situation would have been even worse, due to his messianic character and other negative features of the late President.

He talked about the right of private property and how this affected the population in general by not respecting it. And told Maduro in his face that the houses built by the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela program were not part of a residential complex of his own; these are for the people and built by the Government with public money.

He urged him to review the dire condition and horrendous figures of public companies, lands and expropriated properties managed by the State. And he hit the nail on the head by pointing out that the collapse of the economy was reflected in the need to import 70% of the food, capital goods, medicines and other items demanded by the country.

He spoke of the corruption destroying public life. He also spoke of the destruction of the companies of the Guayana region, including steelmaker SIDOR, which he was quoted as saying "it seems like the cyborg of the Terminator movie passed through here".

He reiterated that Maduro does have political prisoners and detailed the reasons why the victims of the violent events that took place in February 2014 across the country were produced by the security forces of the State, not the demonstrators.

Ramos Allup made it very clear that the collapse of the country is due to the failure of Venezuela's current economic model, topped with the allegiance of the armed forces to the Bolivarian revolution: the National Armed Forces has no surname, must be apolitical and non-deliberative. A civilian cannot deliberate with an armed man. "The military belongs to all Venezuelans". And emphasized that his side doesn't play overturning the Government: "There is no such thing as a good coup d'état".

That said, Ramos Allup and the 108 democratic lawmakers must now look into the new Economic Emergency Decree published in the Official Gazette last Thursday, one day before Maduro's Report and Accounts. This is another obstacle they must overcome with intelligence and good timing, in order to scrutinize his administration as much as possible.

This decree would apply a state of emergency to put extreme limitations upon a wide range of rights and economic guarantees of Venezuelans. Moreover, it would hamper the legislative function and continue giving Maduro the power to squander the public money.

In a nutshell, it is an insult to the intelligence that would keep the country in the economic, political and social decline established in Chávez's "Plan for the Homeland".

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's National Assembly Must Look into Maduro's Economic Emergency Decree (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 19, 2016)

On January 20 2016. Yes to the Amnesty Law in Venezuela

The late President Hugo Chávez came to power saying that one of the top priorities of his political project was the human being. But the reality is that over the past 16 years Venezuela's ruling elite could not have cared less about the human being, its welfare state and quality of life. Even more so when that human being disagrees with or opposes the policies of the Government or its line of action.

The recent history of Venezuela is full of documented cases in which Venezuelans, only for thinking differently, have been vilified, injured, humiliated, persecuted, harassed and nearly reduced to nothing.

Not only is it a well-known fact, but one that has been acknowledged by several human rights bodies, that the system of administration of justice in Venezuela is used as a weapon of political vendetta.

This has even been acknowledged by the own executors of many of these cases, as is the case of Eladio Aponte Aponte, a former judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, who acknowledged that the autonomy of the Supreme Court has been a fallacy all along. He revealed the aberrant process for administering justice back then, "Every weekend, mainly every Friday morning, there is a meeting at the Executive Vice Presidency of the country, attended by the Vice President, who pulls the strings of the judiciary in Venezuela along with the president of the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General of the Republic, the president of the National Assembly, the Public Prosecutor of the Republic, the Accountant General of the Republic, and every once in a while with one of the heads of the police forces. That's where the guidelines for the application of justice in Venezuela are established".

Aponte Aponte acknowledged that the cases of the police commissioners Henry Vivas, Lázaro Forero and Iván Simonovis along with other Metropolitan Police officers, as well as that of former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, were only a few upon whom precise orders were issued during those meetings.

Just as or even more serious and unacceptable is the persecution and abuses committed against the families of those political prisoners. One of the most recent cases is the humiliation and abuse committed against both the wife and mother of opposition leader Leopoldo López, the favorite prisoner of Nicolás Maduro, who is being used by the State to evade its responsibility for the killings of demonstrators during the violent events that took place in February 2014 - and months following that date - across the nation. Chávez attempted a similar move to free himself from guilt for the deaths of demonstrators in April 2002 in the hands of his security forces.

An outrage that has been rejected by the national community, as well as by the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, who condemned this action for being an "attack on human dignity that reveals a lack of political ethics".

Thousands of Venezuelans have been sent to prison or into exile, are persecuted or have left the country for political reasons. Each one of them has his own history and rights affected in different ways, with different spurious arguments, and through administrative acts, fines, penalties, disqualifications and dismissals from work, among others.

Hence the urgent need of an Amnesty Law to be introduced by the parliamentary majority of the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition in a few days from now, and no matter how hard Maduro and his team of judges may kick and scream, they will not be able to prevent its fulfillment from being compulsory.

See VenEconomy: Yes to the Amnesty Law in Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 20, 2016)

On January 21 2016. Venezuela's Ruling Elite Insists on Reinventing the Wheel

For over 16 years, the ruling elite of Venezuela has done nothing else but destroy the national productive apparatus, lead the national oil industry to the brink of collapse and plunge the economy of the country into deep disarray. All this for the sake of listening to the siren voices of a failed communist regime, in all historic moment and in every affected nation.

In spite of this, that same elite in power continues to insist on blaming third parties of the debacle and persists in reinventing the wheel, resorting to the same useless formulas now grouped in "9 productive engines" announced by President Nicolás Maduro.

Those formulas fall well within the Economic Emergency Decree, thought up for maintaining the status quo of Maduro and his troops, and for speeding up the destruction of the productive apparatus and the economy; as well as the Council of Productive Economy installed this week, a total nonsense made up by Maduro, apparently to search for "mechanisms to reactivate the national productive apparatus", as if this were the beginning of his first presidential term.

A nonsense that, as claimed by political analyst Nicomedes Febres Luces, is comprised of people that "neither are business leaders nor dominate industries, or either are panel beaters or dance the waltz for taste, duty or necessity". Or of people with an unholy past, such as the case of Luis Van Dam, who was linked to the case of the upgrading of AMX-30 battle tanks back in the 1990s, which resulted in damage to the nation for some $138 million.

The reality is that the situation of economic chaos of Venezuela has been diagnosed ad nauseam by economic bodies of proven experience, including the Council of the National Economy (CEN), established in March 1946 by Decree 211 of the Revolutionary Government Junta of the United States of Venezuela and made up by Venezuelan economists of broad professional and civic career.

This CEN presented, on January 13 of this year and by own initiative, "its outlook regarding the current economic environment and economic policy options to restart the process of sustainable economic growth in a context of inflationary stability and welfare improvement for Venezuelans", in which raised that among the "options of short-term economic policies should be included political decisions such as:

1. Stimulus to domestic supply, explaining that to that end "it is essential the improvement in the allocation of foreign currency for the financing of imports. This implies a level of international liquid reserves in line with the needs of the economic environment". They further pointed out that "in a weak international oil environment, the need for international financial liquidity requires a new strategy of external indebtedness on the part of the Executive Branch, as well as a change in the process of administration of reserves by the central bank (especially with regard to the gold position of Venezuela)."

2. Reduction of monetary financing on domestic public expenditure, for which "is needed a decrease in the stimulus of demand that generates domestic public spending financed through the central bank".

The CEN argues that "these short-term decisions will reduce the macroeconomic imbalance, the dynamics of inflation and the shortages of goods and services".

Additionally, the CEN suggests other longer-term measures, among which include three fundamental elements:

1. Oil Policy. The creation of spaces for national and foreign oil investment.

2. Fiscal Policy. The design of a fundable fiscal strategy within a framework of inflationary stability (without the use of the central bank).

3. Incentive scheme for private participation in the process of economic growth.

If Maduro and his troops really wanted to take the bull by the horns, he would leave the diatribe of political confrontation and dictatorial shortcuts aside, taking advantage of the new parliamentary balance in order to work in unison to extricate the country from the debacle.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Ruling Elite Insists on Reinventing the Wheel (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 21, 2016)

On January 22 2016. Time is Running Out for Venezuela

This is not the time for Nicolás Maduro and his government team to keep playing "eenie, meenie, miny, moe". Yes, that old kiddie counting-out game.

And this is not the time, because the country is experiencing an unprecedented collapse:
1) An economy in recession for seven straight quarters, from the first quarter of 2014, as reported by the own central bank last week.
2) Some gross international reserves standing at $15.57 billion through January 20, down $799 million (4.9%) from the closing of 2015 and $14.32 billion (47.9%) from the closing of 2012. Reserves that are not enough to cover two weeks of imports.
3) A Monetary Liquidity (M2) that for January 15 was at Bs.4.02 billion, up Bs.2.0 billion (101.1%) from the last 12 months vs. Bs.1.2 trillion in 2012. This corroborates the erratic monetary policy of the central bank to finance the fiscal deficit and other government expenditure with inorganic money.
4) With an inflation rate that, according to the IMF, hovered around 270% in 2015 and is projected to shoot higher than 500% in 2016.
5) Shortages of capital goods, food and medicines above 80%. And
6) Falling oil prices at an average of just $21.63 per barrel in the week ended January 22, thus quickly approaching to its production cost which, according to Elogio Del Pino, president of state-owned oil company PDVSA, is $18 per barrel.

These numbers indicate that Venezuela is sitting right over a powder keg threatening to explode at any time and lead Venezuelans to an unprecedented famine and state of emergency.

However, Maduro, in his latest public appearances, with his recent cabinet reshuffle, the creation of a National Council of Productive Economy (a complete nonsense without logic or clear objectives), and his Economic Emergency Decree, is still resorting to the old "eeny meeny miny moe" to pass the blame for his failure on others.

Maduro resorted to this Economic Emergency Decree as a master move to evade his non-transferable responsibility to govern and to create a means of transfer of political cost so that the Legislature gets the blame for having been a co-decision maker on the failed economic plan of the Executive.

If the Parliament had approved it, the Government would have made it "co-responsible" for the disaster coming. And, by rejecting it, the Government would have insisted that the Parliament tied its hands, the reason for which the Parliament was to blame all this time.

A very clever move, if the masquerade was not so easy to expose: Why does Maduro need some extra enabling powers if he could have avoided all this emergency situation by having used the four enabling legislations granted during his three years of government by the parliamentary bloc of the ruling party PSUV with reasoning, intelligence and vision of the country? One of them, the third of his presidential term (November 19 2013-November 19 2014), gave him full freedom for 12 months to address the so-called "economic war" without the Parliament being involved.

But all this backfired on the Government after the ministers of the economic area did not show before the Parliament to testify on the economic activity on Thursday, because the procedure was public and to be broadcast by the national media.

With its defiance, the Government revealed that the situation of the country is so serious that the "political cost" to report on the situation was greater than not to attend the questioning procedure by the members of the Parliament. It was exposed and now there is no way it can "blame" the opposition for the present crisis.

What remains to be seen is the next move of Maduro to come out unscathed. Time is running out, and the country clamors for solutions.

See VenEconomy: Time is Running Out for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 22, 2016)

On January 25 2016. Venezuela's Economic, Social Indicators Speak for Themselves

It may sound like a broken record when we say that Venezuela is going through the worst economic and social crisis in its entire history. But this is no reason not to repeat it or keep insisting on the need for an urgent change. The country is starting to show cracks everywhere and is reaching boiling point.

Several economic indicators more than tell about that situation.

Among issues affecting the nation's economic sphere: Venezuela has the highest inflation rate in the world. Venezuela's inflation hovered near 300% in 2015, and may reach 720% in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund. Shortages of food items, medicines and capital goods exceed 80%. The income of citizens slips through their fingers as their purchasing power has been reduced to nothing. Besides becoming desperate and helpless for not finding the essential foodstuff and/or medicines for them or any member of their family.

As if that is not enough to plunge Venezuelans into despair, the country also received the dramatic honor of being one of the most violent in the world, even matching those living internal wars. The number of people who lost their lives due to violence in 2015 reached 27,875, up 2,895 from a year earlier. Nearly 300,000 in the last 16 years, while the number keeps going up given that in the first 25 days of 2016 murders had reached 400 people. Numbers that are exacerbated by the ever-increasing violence of the bloody events, where there is clear evidence of contempt for human life, the devaluing of the human person and prevailing impunity.

These economic and social indicators speak for themselves of the failure of a model of a country that has not been able to give citizens a sustainable livelihood, nor a minimum quality of life nor guarantee their personal security and assets. Meanwhile, the elite in power refuses to give an inch in worsening the chaos and radicalize the crisis with inconsistent and inadmissible statements. One of them comes from Aristóbulo Istúriz, the newly appointed Vice President of the Republic, who still seems to have in mind applying more controls over the food distribution chain and seize Empresas Polar, Venezuela's largest foodmaker, forgetting that that kind of controls are precisely to blame for the destruction of the nation's productive apparatus. That the expropriation of companies that were operational and led to bankruptcy in the hands of the monopolizing State as the employer, is what has caused the present famine in Venezuela.

A famine that also begins to add new victims of violent acts to the figures regarding insecurity. Cases of people getting mugged for a bag of food are being reported already, as well as those of people clashing with each other to be the first ones to enter a grocery store and crowds knocking down everybody in their way after standing in line for long hours in search of food.

These events should serve as a wake-up call for the Government to seek a deep rectification of the model of a country established in the late Hugo Chávez's so-called "Plan for the Homeland" or a change in the leadership of the country. Something apparently unthinkable for a ruling elite that won't give up power easily.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Economic, Social Indicators Speak for Themselves (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 25, 2016)

On January 26 2016. One of the Reasons Why Venezuela is on the Brink of Hunger

Last week, the own Strategic Operational Command of the Western Integral Strategic Defense Region from the armed forces issued a bulletin with information from January 18, reporting that shortages of 17 products that comprise the basic basket have reached between 59% and 91% in the western region of Venezuela.

It doesn't appear that the Government has ever stopped for a minute to think that today's ills have their origin in a policy of expropriations and state control over the means of production that has discouraged investment and destroyed the productive sector.

Perhaps it would be useful for the policymakers of the Maduro government to read the study case "From Agroisleña to Agropatria. A route of green paths" ["De Agroisleña a Agropatria. Una ruta de caminos verdes.", .pdf], compiled by Carmen Sofía Alfonzo for the public policies units of local NGOs Cedice Libertad and Visión Asociación Civil.

Alfonzo recalls that Agroisleña (today Agropatria before this agricultural supply company was nationalized in 2010) "was a real source of financing to primary producers, providing them with insecticides, herbicides and other supplies needed for their crops and granting them between 60 and 120 days of credit to pay for those supplies", and even refinanced in case they were not able to meet the payment of credits or were exonerated from the payment of interests. She also recalls that Agroisleña offered them technology: irrigation systems, planting machines, spreaders, equipment and fumigation, among other indispensable tools in the field; equipment that producers paid with their crops, without cost for the service. Agroisleña also gave "personalized treatment to all of its customers, sent technicians to assess the state of the lands, as well as to advise and determine with accuracy the supplies required".

She said that by October 2010, Agroisleña had supported some 18,000 producers with fertilizers, herbicides, seeds, machinery, technical advice; and also carried out a financing plan for 3,000 farmers who were harvesting some 800,000 tons of maize.

But, Agroisleña was expropriated by the State and became Agropatria on October 3 2010.
Since then, the top positions of the company were occupied by military officers and/or supporters of the Government outside the agricultural sector.

Alfonzo pointed out that since then "a new socio-political barrier is imposed to qualify for credit, and that is the prior approval by a communal council, which constitutes a source of corruption and smuggling".

She claims that "the 108 Agropatria stores across the country are out of supplies". "Potato farmers are coping with the lack of provision of seeds, which led to a rise in prices of 700% in only three months". Imports are growing. Agropatria only addresses the needs of companies related to the Government. The payroll has suffered disproportionate increases. There are now more than 30 workers with no training in facilities that used to have only nine. The training and learning programs for workers have ceased as well as the objective and timely supply of services to producers regardless of their political stance.

Agropatria is not even the shadow of what Agroisleña once was. Just as happened with other companies that have passed into the hands of the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, today is in ruins, unproductive, indebted and corrupt.

Here is one of the reasons why Venezuela is on the brink of hunger.

See VenEconomy: One of the Reasons Why Venezuela is on the Brink of Hunger (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 26, 2016)

On January 27 2016. Venezuela's Streets of Blood, Fire

Over the past 16 years, the governments of Venezuela have made citizens lose their sense of awe by allowing the aberrant, the inexcusable, the absurd, and the monstrous to become part of their everyday lives.

Millions of citizens find themselves risking their lives in Venezuelan streets every day without knowing when they will have to deal with dangerous criminals as a result of the complacency of the State and the reigning impunity.

This January has been particularly marked by gory events, and by the viciousness of offenders. More than 400 crimes that have taken innocent lives, no matter their profession, age, race, or if they were keen supporters of the Bolivarian revolution.

Intensely moving was the Suárez-Castillo case, a young married couple murdered and incinerated in front of their two small daughters of three and six years of age. Another family torn apart by violence just like that of actress Mónica Spear and her husband Thomas Henry Berry; two other orphaned girls just like Maya, the daughter of Spear, thanks to criminals who don't appreciate the lives of others and have stepped out into the streets to continue the bloodshed.

The death toll kept on the rise this January with the case of young journalist Ricardo Durán, a former anchor of state-run TV channel VTV and press officer of the Office of the Mayor of Caracas, murdered as he arrived home. This fact has not yet been clarified. Or the case of Rafael Rengifo, a former judge of the Electoral Chamber, who was found dead on January 24 after having gone missing since January 10 when he would have been allegedly kidnapped in some place of Caracas.

These are barely four citizens of the 400 killed in January of this year, and of the more than 27,000 in 2015.

In the midst of this bloody chaos taking human lives and destroying entire families, Venezuelans had to witness the grotesque spectacle of prisoners firing shots into the air with high-caliber long and short arms from the roof of the San Antonio prison in Margarita Island, formerly known as the pearl of the Caribbean, Nueva Esparta state.

It is absurd and inexplicable to see these prisoners firing shots with their faces uncovered, without fear of any form of sanction by the prison authorities or of the National Guard going into the prison to apprehend them and search and seize their weapons. Worse still was the motive of such peculiar spectacle: the death of a former gang leader of that prison, Teófilo Cazorla Rodríguez, alias "The Rabbit", murdered in what appears a settling of scores or turf dispute when he was leaving a disco last week.

These facts speak for themselves of the serious and profound decomposition of the social fabric suffered by Venezuela. In addition to an institutional decomposition that translates into seeing that the murderers of former judge Rengifo are allegedly three policemen belonging to the police force of the Cristóbal Rojas municipality of Los Valles del Tuy, a subregion of Miranda state. These are barely three more of the dozens of police and security officers who are being prosecuted for bloody crimes, theft, kidnapping, and extortion, among others.

Hence, too, the Venezuelan population and their rulers see with total indifference that the country is now ranked as the most violent in the world, as indicated in the Annual Report of the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.

A feat achieved under the influence of six factors, as noted by the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence [OVV]: a greater presence of organized crime; further deterioration of the State security forces; increase of private responses to security and justice which, in the absence of criminal punishment, is taken into people's own hands; a repressive militarization of security; an impoverishment of society, together with widespread impunity and institutional destruction.
[OVV Informe 2014 - Venezuela termina el año 2014 como el segundo país con más homicidios en el mundo]

See VenEconomy: Venezuela's Streets of Blood, Fire (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 27, 2016)

On January 28 2016. Venezuelans Hit Hard by another Crisis

Yes, nobody can escape the crisis of the healthcare system in Venezuela, with its burden of shortages of drugs, reagents and supplies; the decline of medical and paramedical staff, the deterioration of the public health infrastructure, the lack of investment in the healthcare area and the absence of vaccination policies and prevention of viral and infectious diseases.

As stated by opposition lawmaker José Manuel Olivares (also a radiation oncologist and nuclear physician) during his intervention at the National Assembly on Thursday, "political differences can never be apart from the problems of Venezuelans. A point that unites us is health and life".
This subject was absent from debate back in the times when lawmakers of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) exercised hegemony in the Parliament. The silence was in line with a government policy that placed its particular interest in the control of every activity carried out by the healthcare sector and centralized the private healthcare system until strangling it, while destroying the public system due to inefficiency, indifference, corruption and the implementation of a parallel healthcare system (Barrio Adentro) to the detriment of the system that already existed in the past.

A silence explained in the statements of the new Minister of Health, Luisana Melo, who insists to blame the shortage of medicines on Venezuelans for allegedly being the largest consumers of drugs per capita in the world, besides having a "non-rational use of drugs". Or the nonsense of criticizing multinationals for recommending Venezuelans to brush their teeth three times a day. When, as stated by the own Melo, once a day is enough. Does this mean that Venezuelans must now brush their teeth with leaves and baking soda like they did back in the old days?

Olivares claims, with statistics in hand, that today in Venezuela the shortage of medicines considered essential for the population by the World Health Organization has reached 65%. In addition to 92% of medicines with low inventories (these may last one month, maybe a month and a half). Which explains why meds can't be found in pharmacies and why many people die because of lack of medication. He noted that the shortages are affecting Venezuelans with cardiovascular diseases and those who suffer from cancer, the two diseases that cause the highest number of deaths in Venezuela and that cannot wait for the negligence of the Government.

He also showed figures that disassemble the discourse of high investment in healthcare by the Government: he notes that it is not true that investment in healthcare has been increased, since this barely represents 4.3% of the nation's GDP, below those of Bolivia (6.0%), Ecuador (7.0%) and Argentina (8.0%).

He took a snapshot of the Government's flagship program (Barrio Adentro) in its various forms: 1) it is a den of corruption; 2) 68% of Barrio Adentro I's outpatient modules are out of service; 3) 30% of Barrio Adentro II's medical equipment is damaged and 4) Barrio Adentro III and IV never built 13 hospitals by 2010 as promised. Of these only was built a cardiology hospital for children in Montalbán, west Caracas. As a result, Venezuela is the only country in the region doing without a National Cancer Center or a National Cardiology Center.

The National Assembly passed an agreement proposed by Olivares declaring a humanitarian crisis in the healthcare area and urging the National Executive to 1) Ensure access to the essential drugs published in the Official Gazette of November 5 2015. 2) That the Ministry of Health issues its Epidemiological Bulletin. 3) Allow the shipment of medicines from abroad to Venezuela and inside the country without non-commercial purposes as a humanitarian measure.

Additionally, he invited the Minister of Health, the President of the Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS), the director of the Military Healthcare Service and the head of the Barrio Adentro Foundation to hold public work meetings in the National Assembly in order to "build a common agenda that will prevent more deaths of Venezuelans due to the lack of supplies and medicines".

See VenEconomy: Venezuelans Hit Hard by another Crisis (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 28, 2016)

On January 29 2016. Corruption is Serious Business for All Venezuelans

The silence of the Government on the issue of corruption has been a constant in the last 16 years in Venezuela. When either the late Hugo Chávez or Nicolás Maduro had to bring it up publicly by force of circumstances, they did underestimating its importance and claiming that these are punctual events, or using the tactic of "it wasn't me, it was some infiltrators from the opposition" who want to discredit the socialist revolution.

But, disguised under that silence, corruption has spread wildly through the whole fabric of public administration during the presidential terms of both Chávez and Maduro. An uncontrollable situation taking refuge in impunity, in the complicity of all public authorities controlled by the State, as well as in the interests and ambitions of a political project that required sharing its public affairs in order to expand throughout the continent and ultimately cling to power.

The consent of the Republic's ruling elites for corrupt practices has led Venezuela to get the worst rankings regarding transparency in public management. One of them is the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), compiled by NGO Transparency International since 1995.

The CPI rates countries or territories "based on the perceptions of the degree of existing corruption in their public sector". This Index "uses 12 different data sources from 11 institutions that collect the different perceptions of corruption of the last two years". It uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is equivalent to the highest level of perception of corruption, while 100 implies the lowest level.

In 2015, Venezuela was ranked 158th of 168 countries studied by the CPI, to obtain a score of 17 out of 100, two points less than those obtained by the country in 2014. This way, Venezuela was placed at the same level of Haiti as the top two corrupt countries in the region.

Perhaps our readers and listeners consider that this scourge is not their business, especially at a time when the priorities of citizens are other: find food; get the medicines required by them or by a family member; try to make ends meet at the end of each month; adapt their daily schedules to unscheduled electricity outages; to be admitted to a hospital for any surgical intervention or biopsy of a tumor; access decent housing; or even evade dangerous criminals in the streets to make it home in one piece.

However, that is not the case. Corruption affects every citizen as it destroys the good progress of the country: Its presence rides with each of the daily needs of the population, diverts resources that are required to operate the State and destroys all institutions and public services.

To take just two examples:
1) behind the food shortage crisis, there is the corruption in the purchases to friendly countries of the Bolivarian revolution without issuing a prior call for tenders, which have led to cases such as that of the 1,179 containers with rotten food found in 2009, where $2.2 billion went up in smoke, and no one has been brought to justice to this day; or that of the sugar mill Ezequiel Zamora Agro-Industrial Complex with cloned checks, inflated payrolls and diverted resources for the remodeling of the Maisanta Command headquarters located in the city of Sabaneta de Barinas, Barinas state, which resulted in damage to property of some Bs.3.3 billion.
2) In the healthcare sector, there are samples of corruption seen in the abandoned and damaged outpatient modules of Barrio Adentro I; the 12 hospitals to which budgetary resources were earmarked for their construction and that there are no signs of them now; and the network of companies run by relatives of the Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS) authorities, who received more than $400 million at preferential rates for buying equipment and materials for dialysis that nobody knows their whereabouts. And things are much worse in foreign exchange matters. We only need mention the $25 billion lost in fraudulent allocations of foreign exchange thugh the so-called Transaction System for Foreign Currency Denominated Securities (SITME), a situation denounced by the former Minister of Planning Jorge Giordani. This is only one of many corruption cases involving Government officials and their relatives in foreign exchange frauds.

So corruption is indeed serious business for all Venezuelans.

See VenEconomy: Corruption is Serious Business for All Venezuelans (Latin American Herald Tribune, January 29, 2016)

On February 1 2016. Government of Venezuela's Maduro Unlikely to Bury the Hatchet

The government of Nicolás Maduro remains firm in its path towards confrontation with the new National Assembly to torpedo the return of the autonomy of powers in Venezuela.

So it proved last Friday during the opening ceremony of the Judicial Year 2016 at the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).

To begin with, this ceremony had an unforgivable deficiency: The only national public authority not present there was the National Assembly. This is also the second public authority that represents Venezuelans by their direct vote. Although there are reports saying that the board of directors of the National Assembly did not attend for protocol reasons, parliamentary sources have claimed that the board of directors of the National Assembly was simply not invited to the ceremony. This absence has only one interpretation: that the National Executive is not likely to bury its hatchet of confrontation raised against the will of almost eight million Venezuelans who elected a pluralist parliament to restore the autonomy of the public authorities seized during this communist involution.

But this is not only about the lack of "democratic diplomacy" of ignoring the National Assembly during this ceremonial event.

It is about the Government being out of place during its interventions as its truculent machinations persist.

Maduro continues to insist on an "economic war" and the interference of the "American Empire" in the sovereignty of Venezuela, excuses with which he is trying to evade his direct responsibility in the economic and social disaster the country has become. And now there is an extra: he will give preponderance to a "Communal Parliament" not contemplated by the National Constitution, where communal authorities are not legal at all.

Secondly, the highly politicized speeches of the president of the TSJ, Gladys Gutiérrez; the vice president of the Criminal Appellate Division of the TSJ, Mónica Misticchio, corroborating the partiality of this public authority that should be the guarantor of the administration of justice for all citizens.

This is the main hurdle to urgently overcome by the new National Assembly. Its mission is to expose the irregularities in the appointment of 13 TSJ judges and 21 alternates appointed by the previous National Assembly on December 23 of last year, a few days before the expiry of their term of office, by a simple majority.

Thirty-four flawed appointments, among other reasons because: the composition of the Committee on Nominations set forth by the National Constitution was not respected; the early retirement of some of the judges was forced; there was a breach of the periods for the nominations of candidates, of the review of credentials, of preselection and contestation; any of the four plenary sessions were held as set out in the Internal Regulations and Regulations for Debates, giving 3 working days notice.

Even more serious is the fact that among the judges elected there are people who do not have the competencies to comply with the responsibilities of their positions, or the moral and ethical requirements demanded by the National Constitution and the Law of the Supreme Court.

Now is the turn of the National Assembly to make a move. It is urgent to get the judges with no legitimacy of origin out of the game.

It is an unavoidable responsibility if it wants to restore democracy in Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: Government of Venezuela's Maduro Unlikely to Bury the Hatchet (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 1, 2016)

On February 3 2016. Tuesday of Realities, Expectations for Venezuela

Amidst economic stagnation in Venezuela, some important news broke on Tuesday.

That news came from Lorenzo Mendoza, the president of Empresas Polar, the country's largest foodmaker and brewer. That's right. Mendoza spoke to a population that "is suffering; they can't find the essential products due to a lack of production; this situation cannot be ignored anymore".

Yet, Mendoza laid out seven proposals for the National Executive to steer the country out of the current crisis and thus start the recovery of the domestic industry. This recovery is top priority to overcome the widespread shortage of goods and products, and get country out of paralysis.

Here is a summary of Mendoza's proposals:

1) Not ignoring suppliers and fulfilling the sale agreements with the private sector. This will allow the opening of credit lines for national companies to gain access to the supplies and raw materials needed to activate the productive apparatus. Here is a truism from Mendoza: no country can function without the participation of the private sector.

2) Access to international financing: due to the decline in oil prices, ways to help resolve the situation in the country should be sought.

3) Recover national production: foreign currency must be allocated to private companies that are productive in order to recover the value chain and meet domestic demand.

4) Adjust the regulated prices of the "Law of Fair Prices": It is necessary to comply with the Law to generate a profit margin. "You cannot produce at a loss as is currently happening". There is an urgent need to impose a fair return.

5) Put state-owned companies into production. These are not working to their maximum installed capacity or have low productivity levels despite counting on raw materials. The current model is of no use to either Venezuelans or Venezuela itself. Give expropriated companies back to their former owners so that they can produce cost-effectively with their proven knowledge and skills.

6) Address groups and ensure food security: it is proposed to recover the appropriate costs of regulated products in a fair manner to cover profit margins and not those of loss. In addition, achieve adequate profitability.

7) The recovery of Venezuelan farms: strengthen agricultural production in the country and reassure domestic producers, with resources and confidence, so that they can develop talent.

Venezuelans also received separate political news on Tuesday, which should go along with the proposals of Mendoza: parliamentarians of the Democratic Unity (MUD) began the discussion on a constitutional way to encourage the ouster of Nicolás Maduro from the Presidency of the Republic, after all the political forces that make up this opposition coalition agreed that it is imperative to put an end to the disaster Venezuela has been plunged into.

An initiative that is easily readable by the world, but which has cost a lot of blood, sweat and tears of millions of Venezuelans who have struggled to cope with illegalities, violations of human rights, persecution, prosecution, exile and even the loss of their loved ones, in order to reach this point.

To these urgent economic and political proposals laid out by both Mendoza and the lawmakers of the MUD to rescue the country from the serious crisis it is facing today, must be added the arduous task of teaching the values and principles to the citizens taken by the communist tornado when it swept through Venezuela.

See VenEconomy: Tuesday of Realities, Expectations for Venezuela (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 3, 2016)

On February 4 2016. And the Change in Venezuela was For the Worse, Much Worse

On February 4, 24 years ago, a group of rebel soldiers attempted a coup d'état against Carlos Andrés Pérez (CAP), the President of the Republic of Venezuela back then. A bloody coup that claimed innocent lives.

Among the reasons given by the own protagonists of the coup against CAP are the great social discontent that existed at that time because of the economic crisis and political situation; the exclusion generated by the neoliberal policies of CAP (policies that he hardly had time to explain to the population); the corruption that spread from his first presidential term (1974-1979) as well as those of the administrations of Luis Herrera Campins (1979-1984) and Jaime Lusinchi (1984-1989); and others related to the discontent in the Armed Forces over the deterioration of democratic values.

The perpetrators of this bloodshed and attack against a constitutionally elected government, although they were found guilty of military rebellion by courts of the country, were only sentenced to two years in a comfortable prison where they received visits of politicians and public men, and subsequently were released thanks to a pardon granted by the then president of the Republic, Rafael Caldera (1994-1999). A few years later, Hugo Chávez, one of those responsible for that failed coup, won the Presidency through popular vote and with the promise of leading the country to progress and development, to eradicate poverty and social exclusion and fight corruption.

After 24 years of that event, after more than a decade of the Chávez government implementing policies designed on the island of the Castro brothers, amid the bonanza of never-seen-before oil prices, and other nearly four years of presidential term of his political heir, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela is suffering from the same ills, although quite intensified and taken to the extreme, with which they justified the coup on February 4 of 1992.

Today Venezuela is on the brink of an economic and social catastrophe, and in a state of political anomie, in which Maduro and his elite army of "combatants" cannot (or don't want to) achieve a 180-degree turnaround in the policies causing such a disaster.
In a nutshell, Maduro has shown not to have the capacity and competence to steer away from the road to hell traced by Chávez.

Today the country is suffering from the collapse of the national productive activity, the decline in oil prices, international reserves at their lowest levels, soaring inflation and widespread shortages. In addition, Venezuela must pay this 2016 an estimated $9.9 billion between capital and interest on the debts of the Republic and PDVSA (and that doesn't include debts to contractors, private companies and partners in joint ventures). This is an explosive cocktail that may go off any minute, and that makes Venezuela walk on a high wire.

The solution of this catastrophe passes through a negotiation with the International Monetary Fund, which would have its demands of exchange rate, monetary and fiscal policies contrary to those covered by Chávez's "Plan for the Homeland", also fully ratified by Maduro this week.

That said, the chaos reigning in the country indicates that it becomes more urgent every day to get those responsible for the collapse of the country out of the game.

The difference is that today, the ouster of Maduro is being sought by means of the Constitution and the laws, in a democratic manner and without bloodshed. Will those who have done whatever it takes to obtain power let this happen?

See VenEconomy: And the Change in Venezuela was For the Worse, Much Worse (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 4, 2016)

On February 5 2016. How Much Tension Can Venezuela Handle?

Senselessness and cruelty seem to have taken over the elite in power. Every public appearance of its top members, in particular each time Nicolás Maduro opens his big mouth in public, serves only to inform that the Bolivarian revolution will be radicalized and announce measures to reinforce that position.

That only adds a new ingredient to the explosive cocktail that maintains Venezuela in a deadlock. A deadlock as a result of 17 years of destruction of the productive apparatus and the private sector of the economy, of squandering the resources of the public treasury and rampant corruption, which made Venezuela become today the only oil-rich country that does not have the capacity to address the decline in oil prices at global level. To which can be added the fact that today the country, with empty coffers and irresponsibly indebted, is faced with the obligation to pay this year an estimated $9.9 billion between capital and interest on the debts of the Republic and state-run oil company PDVSA (and that doesn't include debts to contractors, private companies and partners in joint ventures).

This cocktail, which is about to explode any minute, leads to the following question: how will the Government manage to recover a minimum of economic stability so as to take the population to an acceptable subsistence level, reactivate the productive apparatus and, at the same time, continue to deliver on its external commitments?

In contrast to 2015, this year the Government has nearly no room for maneuver to deliver on its external commitments, while setting aside the private sector of the national economy for political reasons. A sector that has been pushed to the limit, a situation that has increased the hardships and misery of Venezuelans, without them having the capacity to make any higher sacrifices. Even more so when the most affected items are the most sensitive for their survival, because inventories of food, medicines and capital goods are on the brink of extinction.

So today is very difficult - not to say impossible - that it can maintain this position of a good payer throughout 2016. Perhaps it will hardly pay out $1.5 billion over the maturity of the Sovereign Bond 2016, which expires on February 26, but not the bulk of the remaining payments set to expire in October and November.

The only plausible solution may be negotiating with creditors in a bid to lengthen the maturity of debts payable between 2016-18, which would give some space to oxygenate the economy and apply strong corrective measures to monetary, exchange rate, and control policies, without making the mistake of waiting for oil prices to rebound, since this is unlikely in the next two years.

Yet, this solution would not be achieved unless Venezuela was negotiating a plan for an economic recovery with the participation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - in moments that a possible rapprochement with the IMF has been already ruled out in the plans of the Government. This follows from the statements by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Jesús Faría, who said a few days ago that negotiations with the IMF are not feasible "even in the most extreme situation", because the country would be accessing neoliberal policies.

The country is on tenterhooks today, waiting for Maduro to announce new economic measures during the Carnival holiday: More taxes for the battered private sector? A new devaluation? An increase in gas prices (too late and too little)? More controls?

What is certain is that he will not announce the elimination of cheap oil shipments to Cuba and PetroCaribe countries; or that the capital in private overseas accounts of members of chavismo will be repatriated; or that confiscated properties will be given back to their former owners...

That is to say, the communist recipe of the State will be cooked the same way. How much tension can Venezuela handle?

See VenEconomy: How Much Tension Can Venezuela Handle? (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 5, 2016)

On February 10 2016. Shopping Malls in Venezuela Pay the Consequences of Socialism

Once more, the electricity crisis in Venezuela has worsened because of an inept and corrupt government.

The failed policies of the so-called "socialism of the 21st century" have led the National Electric System (SEN) to ruin.

As a result, Venezuelans are today facing a power crisis like never before, which is added to many other broad-spectrum crises, including those of the economy, food, healthcare, insecurity, the supply of drinking water, just to mention the tip of a huge iceberg.

This systemic collapse has its origin in the predominance of all decision-making policies over the past 17 years, together with the inefficiency in public management, the lack of planning, maintenance and investment, the wasteful and corrupt management of public finances and the attack and destruction of the private productive sector.

There is no turning back now. The population will continue paying the consequences derived from a ruling elite that does not recognize errors and insists on radicalizing the policies of failure.

That elite that continues to blame El Niño climatic phenomenon for the electricity crisis, without accepting that the same is due to the fact that the country has no electricity generating capacity, neither hydroelectric or thermoelectric; or that the capacity of transmission and distribution of electrical power is seriously compromised. Or that the huge resources earmarked during the electric emergency in 2010 have only served to swell the pockets of the people who have close ties with the Bolivarian "revolution", and hence were selectively given billions of dollars in contracts.

An elite that keeps using scapegoats to avoid taking the blame for the pillage of the nation, users and consumers.

Thus, the government of Nicolás Maduro is focusing its measures to alleviate the crisis on the rationing of the electricity supply to shopping malls across the country. Those shopping malls that consume between 3% and 6% of the country's electricity demand.

From this Wednesday, shopping malls should reduce their activities to very specific schedules to comply with the order of the electricity rationing plan of state-run utility Corporación Eléctrica Nacional (Corpoelec) issued less than a week ago.

According to this order, malls with concentrated loads above 100 kVA must generate their own energy from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm and from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm for a period of three months.

The main issue here is that this order is top priority and there is no time for these shopping malls to adapt to this requirement, difficult or impossible to comply with, because it would take a lot of dollars and time (months) to provide a shopping mall with a power plant of the required size.

Because of this impossibility of applying the measure imposed by the Government, the majority of malls are reducing their working hours to only four hours on weekdays.

Yet, the other dark side of this story is the impact that this will have:

It will affect other economic, public services, cultural and leisure activities. It should be noted that not only shops make a profit from malls but also do banks, health centers, pharmacies, public services, public records offices, professional services, supermarkets, restaurants, theaters and cinemas, among others.

It will affect salaries and jobs of an endless number of workers.

It will affect citizens, because these malls are perceived by them as places where they can still find a little security as they use their infrastructure to find shelter from the rampant crime prevailing in the country.

In short, the consequences of the failure of the socialism of the 21st century are still being paid by the population with more poverty, less security and worse quality of life.

See VenEconomy: Shopping Malls in Venezuela Pay the Consequences of Socialism (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 10, 2016)

On February 11 2016. Venezuela Hit Hard by another Serious Crisis

As if Venezuelans did not have to worry enough about dealing with hardships such as inflation, shortages, personal insecurity and a power crisis, they also have to face a severe drinking water supply crisis.

A crisis that is serious in two respects: contamination and shortages.

The contaminated water arriving at households has been a constant complaint of the population in recent years; in particular in the states of Carabobo and Aragua, and more recently in various zones of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas. But contamination is extending across the entire country.

Manuel Pérez Rodríguez (a local sanitary engineer expert in the field and a member of the NGO Fundación Movimiento por la Calidad del Agua) told BBC World that contamination is a "structural element that has triggered the water crisis" in Venezuela. "In terms of contamination, water is not meeting the parameters required by the Ministry of Environment anywhere in the country", a study conducted by the NGO he presides revealed.

The lack of maintenance, disinvestment and the lack of sanitary controls are three aspects sustaining this critical situation. Water pipes have aged and there has been no planning for their replacement. This has resulted in corrosion damage within the steel pipe network, which reaches the water taps in homes. To this is added that "biodegradable detergents are not practically being used in the country, or the chemical content of products such as alkaline batteries or technological waste is regulated. Since this kind of waste is not being recycled, it easily gets to dumpsites and inevitably has an impact on the quality of water in reservoirs".

Pérez Rodríguez also explained that "most disposal facilities in Venezuela are open-air dumps - instead of landfills -, generating toxic waste that ends up in the subsoil and water surfaces". He concluded that Venezuela is seeing "a health problem (rodents, garbage, wastewater) becoming an environmental problem (damage to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems)".

What is more serious is that in the country there are no modern purification plants with the capacity of treating water with the high level of organic matter encountered in the reservoirs of the country.

On the other hand, shortages of drinking water have now stepped up because of a period of drought that threatens to reach a historical record, and also is exposing the ravages caused by 17 years of disinvestment. As recalled on January 19, when the shortages issue was being discussed in the National Assembly, only two reservoirs out of 83 built during the democratic era of the 20th century (1958-1998) had been put into operation since the late Hugo Chávez won the presidency of the Republic.

Not only the reservoirs supplying water to the population are contaminated, in poor condition and abandoned, but also at critical levels of water now, among them: Lagartijo and Camatagua (serving Caracas); Canoabo (serving Puerto Cabello in Carabobo state); Tule and Manuelote from Hidrolago, the state-run utility based in Lake Maracaibo (Zulia state); and even the Guri dam, whose level is below that of the tower pump that feeds an aqueduct in the city of Upata, Bolívar state.
What is more serious is that the rivers of Venezuela supplying these reservoirs have also become big sewers today.

This is just a preamble to a humanitarian crisis of incalculable costs and implications for the entire Venezuelan population.

See VenEconomy: Venezuela Hit Hard by another Serious Crisis (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 11, 2016)

VenEconomy has been a leading provider of consultancy on financial, political and economic data in Venezuela since 1982.

Results:

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Venezuelan "Officialist" Contemporary Politics (1999 - 2015):

www.aporrea.org aporrea.org - Venezuela "Agencia popular alternativa de noticias"
autonomiaislamicawayuu.blogspot.com Autonomia Islámica Wayuu "Hezbollah Venezuela", Teodoro Darnott
www.geocities.com/antiescual/index2.html Cibernéticos Bolivarianos El Portal Bolivariano [disabled]
www.angelfire.com/nb/17m/ Círculo Bolivariano 17 de Marzo Página de apoyo al proceso de cambios liderado por Hugo Chávez Frías
www.geocities.com/circulobolivarianocr/ Círculo Bolivariano Abre Brecha Parroquia 23 de Enero [disabled]
www.cabron.com/cbc/ Círculo Bolivariano de Cincinati (Cincinnati Bolivarian Circle - The Red Machine)
www.geocities.com/contragobernanza/ Contragobernanza "Contra el Gobierno de las Empresas" [disabled]
www.el23.net el 23 barrios, callejones y sueños
www.elmilitante.org El Militante Corriente Marxista Internacional
- www.luchadeclases.org.ve Lucha de Clases (Venezuela)
www.frentefranciscodemiranda.org.ve Frente Francisco de Miranda [disabled]
www.globalexchange.org Global Exchange "Building People-to-People Ties"
www.handsoffvenezuela.org Hands Off Venezuela! "In Solidarity with the Venezuelan Revolution"
www.iglesiacatolicareformada.com Iglesia Catolica Reformada de Venezuela
www.lasverdadesdemiguel.net Las Verdades de Miguel (Miguel Salazar)
www.observatoriodemedios.org.ve Observatorio Global de Medios de Venezuela
www.ojoelectoral.org/index.php Ojo Electoral (Asociación Civil)
www.alternativabolivariana.org Portal ALBA-TCP "Alternativa Bolivariana para la América"
www.chavezcode.com Postcards from the Revolution (Eva Golinger)
www.radiodefensavenezuela.com Radio Defensa Venezuela (Jesús R. Soto)
www.venezuelanalysis.com Venezuelanalysis.com "On line News, Views and Analysis from Venezuela"
www.rethinkvenezuela.com Venezuela Information Office (VIO) "to educate the public about contemporary Venezuela" [disabled]
vheadlinevenezuelanews.blogspot.com - VHeadline Venezuela News en Español, Roy S. Carson
www.vheadline.com - VHeadline: News & Views about Venezuela, Roy S. Carson

Also see the official sites of the Venezuelan Government in the main section of this page.

The Opposite Side of the Coin (2002 - 2015):
[I suggest to visit these Websites and leave comments]

11abril.com
Acción por la Libertad (Boletín Sobre Presos Políticos en Venezuela)
Acuerdo Nacional Para La Transición
Adolfo R. Taylhardat
Alcaldía de Baruta
Alcaldía de Chacao
Asociación Civil Ciudadanía Activa
Asociación Civil Control Ciudadano (para la Seguridad, la Defensa y la Fuerza Armada Nacional)
Centro de Divulgación del Conocimiento Económico para la Libertad (CEDICE) (Asociación Civil - 25 años)
Código Venezuela (Milagros Socorro, Directora)
Comando Nacional de la Resistencia (CNR)
Congreso Ciudadano para la Reconstrucción Nacional - Futuro para Todos
Democracy and Development (Reports on Venezuela, Pedro Pablo Aguilar)
Democracy on Trial (Venezuela Political Rights Violation Goes to Court)
DolarToday: Cotización diaria, Indicadores Economía Venezolana (Noticias de Venezuela y Dólar paralelo)
Eduardo Casanova (Escritor Venezolano)
El Cooperante
El Gusano de Luz
enOpinión (Omar Estacio)
EntornoInteligente.com (Información Estratégica)
EsData (Por el derecho a elegir en Venezuela)
- The Systematic Annihilation of The Right to Vote in Venezuela (July 16, '07, .pdf, 222 KB)
- What Is The Venezuelan National Electoral Council Concealing? And, Why? (Sep, '07, .pdf, 71 KB)
Foro de Oposición Venezolana (Yahoo! Grupos)
Frente Patriótico (compromiso existencial de luchar por el rescate de la Democracia)
Fuerza Solidaria (Asociación Civil, Presidente: Alejandro Peña Esclusa)
- Futuro de venezolanos depende de liberación de Álvarez Paz (Marzo 23 '10)
- ¿Quién es y qué ha hecho Alejandro Peña Esclusa? (Agosto 1 '10)
- Alejandro Peña Esclusa desde la cárcel: "Mi lucha apenas comienza" (Agosto 2 '10)
- Peña Esclusa, la antítesis de Chávez (Agosto 5 '10)
- Asdrubal Aguiar: "Caso Peña Esclusa clama al Cielo" (Agosto 8 '10)
- Luis Marín: "El caso Peña Esclusa como modelo" (Enero 24 '11)
- Peña Esclusa, preso político de Chávez (Febrero 20 '11)
- Alejandro Peña Esclusa: una lucha sin tregua (Abril 26 '11)
- "La reconciliación del país comienza con la liberación de los presos políticos" (Julio 30 '11)
- "Prohiben a Peña Esclusa hablar a medios de comunicación" (Agosto 2 '11)
- "Califican como censura previa restricciones a Peña Esclusa" (Agosto 3 '11)
Ibéyise Pacheco
Juzgar a Chávez
La Verdad nos hará Libres!! - Sólo la Verdad!! (Néstor Luis Álvarez M.)
Leopoldo López (Voluntad Popular)
Liderazgo y Visión (Asociación Civil. Un Sueño para Venezuela. Gerver Torres, Director General)
Literanova (Literatura - Política - Arte. Eduardo Casanova)
Marcos Petri (Lo De Hoy Venezuela)
Maduradas.com (Noticias de Venezuela sobre política y economía sin censura)
Moisés Naím
Movimiento 2D (Democracia y Libertad)
Movimiento Demócrata Liberal (Derecha política autonomista)
notiven.com (Noticias de Venezuela)
Organización de Venezolanos en el Exilio (ORVEX)
- Ruédalo TV
palahaya.com (Denuncia contra Hugo Chávez Frías por los Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad Cometidos en Venezuela)
Pensar en Venezuela (Asociación Civil)
Por la Conciencia
- Campaña presidencial bajo la sombra del fraude (El Tabú)
- Frente a Las primarias: Verdades Incómodas o la Falacia de la Economía del Voto
Pro Venezuela Organization (ProVeO) (Aleksander Boyd, Founder and Director)
Rafael Rivero Muñoz (Acción Cívica)
Resistencia Civil de Venezolanos en el Exterior (RECIVEX)
Roberto Weil (Caricature Drawings)
RunRun.es (Nelson Bocaranda)
Sammy Eppel (Artículos de Prensa)
Soberanía (Ambiente, Energía, Política)
Sumarium (Noticias y Actualidad)
Tiempo de Palabra (Carlos Blanco)
Unidad Venezuela (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática - MUD)
Un Mundo Sin Mordaza (Tu Voz Es Tu Poder. Rodrigo Diamanti, founder, was detained by the regime in May 7 '14)
urru.org (Texts, photographic, audio and video documentation on the Venezuelan political crisis)
- Calendario de Varios Eventos y Links sobre Venezuela
- Un Fraude Largamente Preparado (Referéndum Revocatorio - August 15 2004)
Venezolanos en Línea
Venezuela.com (Venezuela Information)
Venezuela Awareness Foundation (Promoting democracy and human rights)
VenezuelaNet.org (Por la recuperación de la democracia en Venezuela)
Venezuela Soberana (Contra la dominación cubana)
Vente Venezuela (Movimiento Político de Ciudadanos Libres)
- Ataques a María Corina Machado
- Acuerdo Nacional para la Transición (Antonio Ledezma, Leopoldo López, María Corina Machado. 11 de Febrero 2015)

Also see the "Blogs":

Adolfo R. Taylhardat
Alberto Mansueti
Alek Boyd
- Infodio (To Uncover, Expose, Reveal)
Anthony Daquin
Antonio Sánchez García (en Noticiero Digital)
Asociación de Periodistas Venezolanos en el Extranjero (APEVEX)
BienDateao (Noticias sin rumor alguno)
Brújula Diplomática (Embajador Milos Alcalay)
Café Con Azócar (Gustavo Azócar Alcalá)
Caracas Chronicles (Juan Cristobal Nagel and Francisco Toro)
- The Untold Story of Venezuela's 2002 April Crisis
Caracas Gringo
Cátedra Pío Tamayo (Universidad Central de Venezuela) [Closed by the regime]
César Miguel Rondón
cifrasonline
Comando Angostura
Con Alberto Franceschi
Coronel Antonio Semprun V.
Crónicas Venezuela (Las opiniones y las noticias que son actualidad)
Democracia del siglo XXI (Teódulo López Meléndez)
Desde la distancia (Pedro F. Carmona Estanga)
Dialogando con Osorio (Juan C. Osorio)
Diplodemocracia (Bilingual information on Venezuela and its international relations)
Dr. Álvaro Albornoz
Dr. Politico (Luis Enrique Alcalá)
EcoPolítica (Lic. Raul Zapata A.)
El blog de Golcar (Golcar Rojas)
El blog de José Antonio Colina
El Blog de William Dávila
El Blog del Coronel Bellorín (Análisis jurídicos sobre el acontecer nacional)
El Domo de la Oca (Escritos de Carolina Jaimes Branger)
El Liberal Venezolano (Larry Nieves)
El Republicano Liberal (Movimiento Republicano)
Farsa Electoral (Venezuela sin Salida Electoral) [el fraude electoral en Venezuela]
Foro Libertad (Medio de comunicación libertario)
Gainza&Edmat Winds
Grupo G-400+ Venezuela (Agrupación informal de carácter técnico, plural e independiente)
HistoriaActual (Centro de Estudios de Historia Actual, Cátedra Pío Tamayo)
Informe21.com (Periodismo Ciudadano, Vladimir Gessen)
Jenny Alexandra Blando - Venezuela
Jesús Petit Da Costa
Joseyelim's Blog (Periscopio Venezuela, Compilador José Hernández)
La Carolina, Venezuela (Diego Arria)
La Pluma Candente
La Protesta Militar (Coronel (R) FAV Sammy Landaeta Millán)
Las Armas de Coronel (Gustavo Coronel)
- The time has come in Venezuela (Dec 22 '10)
- Hugo Chávez: reo de estado en La Haya (Nov 26 '11)
- Importante atículo de Erick Ekvall sobre el sistema electoral venezolano (Dic. 19 '11)
- Open Letter to Hugo Chávez Frías (Jun. 29 '12)
- Poverty is not like diabetes (Oct. 20 '12)
- Reflexiones sobre la Posición Capriles y la Posición López (Mar. 1 '15)
- Carta abierta a los miembros dignos de las Fuerzas Armadas venezolanas (Jun. 6 '15)
Las Fotos que Chávez No Quiere Que Veas
Los criterios del dragón (Jorge Ramírez Fernández)
Luz tras las rejas (Dibujos del Sargento Julio Rodríguez)
Martha Colmenares
Movimiento de Resistencia Nacional de Venezuela
Muevete - Por un mundo mejor
Otto Gebauer Morales (Preso Político)
Pablo Aure
Para rescatar el porvenir (Alfredo Coronil Hartmann)
Pedro G. Paúl Bello Weblog
Píldoras de un Mismo Frasco (Alberto Quirós Corradi)
Plomo Parejo (por Radio Caracas Radio)
PMBComments on the State of Democracy in Venezuela (Pedro Mario Burelli. Twitter @pburelli)
Primer Poder A.C. (Asociación civil)
Prodavinci (Alonso Moleiro)
Rafael Rivero Muñoz (Acción Cívica)
- Condenado por mata policías y fugado, resulta ser un prófugo de la justicia (Clodosbaldo Russian)
Resistencia Catia-Caracas
ResistenciaV58
Roberto Carlo Olivares (La prensa es la artillería de la libertad)
Sammy Landaeta Millán (Coronel (R) F.A.V., en Noticiero Digital)
Soledad Morillo Belloso (Escribidora de Oficio)
S.O.S. Chávez
The Devil's Excrement (Miguel Octavio)
Unidos por Venezuela (Ovario's Blog)
vdebate - Venezuela Debate (Spanish and English)
Venezolanos Perseguidos Politicos en el Exilio (VEPPEX)
Venezuela News And Views (Daniel Duquenal & Alex Beech)
Venezuela Primero
Venezuela Vetada (Juan Carlos Sosa-Azpúrua. Twitter @jcsosazpurua)
www.economiavenezolana.com (eastside magazine)
Yo Estoy con RCTV!

International Press and Opinion:

Human Rights in Venezuela:

Acción por la Libertad (Presos Políticos en Venezuela)
Amnesty International, Amnistía Internacional - Venezuela
Asociación Civil Súmate, Entornos Súmate
- Informes - Procesos Electorales de Venezuela
- En busca del cisne negro Análisis de la evidencia estadística sobre el fraude electoral en Venezuela
[Estudio de R. Haussman y R. Rigobón] (.pdf, Sep 3 '04)
- The Carter report on the Hausmann-Rigobon Analysis is bereft of any statistical basis (.pdf, Sep 17 '04)
- Information on the State of Democracy in Venezuela
- Venezuela en Cifras Oficiales (Indicadores económicos y sociales)
- Informe Súmate - Referéndo Sobre Proyecto de Reforma Constitucional (.pdf, Ene 24 '08)
- Inconsistencias e incongruencias en boletines de resultados presentados por el CNE (.pdf, Feb 25 '08)
Carr Center for Human Rights Policy (The Latin American Initiative. Harvard Kennedy School)
Case Osvaldo Álvarez Paz (Omar Estacio and Juan Carlos Álvarez, 861 KB .pdf, 27 April 2010)
Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Electoral (CAPEL) (Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos)
COFAVIC Promoción y Protección de los Derechos Humanos
Foro Penal Venezolano (ONG para defender activamente y promover los Derechos Humanos.)
Fundación para el Debido Proceso (Investigación de violaciones a los D.H. y defensa de las víctimas)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
- A Decade Under Chavez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities .... (Sep. 18, 2008)
[HRW officials were expelled from Venezuela hours after the publishing of this report]
- Venezuela Legislative Assault on Free Speech, Civil Society (Dec. 22, 2010)
- Venezuela: Concentration and Abuse of Power Under Chávez (Jul. 17, 2012)
- World Report 2013: Venezuela
- World Report 2014: Venezuela
- Who Will Protect Leopoldo López? (Sept. 30, 2015)
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR - OAS) (Organization of American States)
[Since May 2002 Venezuela has been denying the Commission its permission for another visit]
[See Annual Report 2006 - Chapter IV - Human Rights Developments in Venezuela]
[See Report Feb 24, 2010 - Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela]
Inter-American Court of Human Rights (OAS)
International Crisis Group (ICG) (Conflict prevention and resolution)
- Venezuela
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)
International News Safety Institute
International Press Institute (IPI)
International Solidarity for Human Rights (ISHR)
INTERPOL (International police organization)
- Forensic report requested by Colombia on seized FARC computers and hardware (May 15 '08)
Iván Simonovis (Preso Polìtico)
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Venezuela Programs Facts
Observatorio Hannah Arendt (El derecho a la educación vs. ideologización de la educación)
Observatorio Venezolano de Conflictividad Social
Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones Derechos Humanos en el ámbito penitenciario venezolano
Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia (OVV)
Organization of American States (OAS) [Observers of the Recall Referendum fraud in August 2004]
- OAS: Inter-American Democratic Charter [In effect?]
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea)
Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC)
- Chavez Hate Set Stage for Sabbath Armed Invasion and Desecration of Synagogue February 1, 2009
- Venezuela's Anti-Semitic Campaign Protested by Simon Wiesenthal Center January 30, 2009
- Antisemitism in Venezuela: SWC Protests to the Organization of American States January 29, 2009
- SWC to UN: "Venezuela's Candidacy for Council Seat is a Travesty" 24 February, 2012
- Wiesenthal Center Denounces Venezuelan Bloc "Defense School" in Bolivia June 3, 2012
- "Chavez' Victory a Tehran and Damascus Celebration" October 9, 2012
The Carter Center [Observers of the Recall Referendum fraud in August 2004]
- Report on an Analysis of the Representativeness of the Second Audit Sample, and the Correlation Between Petition Signers and the Yes Vote in the Aug. 15, 2004, Presidential Recall Referendum (.pdf)
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
- Caracas Nine (Nine Victims of Political Persecution in Venezuela)
- Tell Chávez (Demand Human Rights of Venezuela's Political Prisoners' Be Respected)
The Lawfare Project (Exposing Threats to Democracy & Freedom)
TIC's y Derechos Humanos (Luis Manuel Aguana)
Transparency International (Corruption Perceptions Index)
Venezuela was 158^th of 168 countries in 2015, the 17^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 161^th of 175 countries in 2014, the 16^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 160^th of 177 countries in 2013, the 17^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 165^th of 176 countries in 2012, the 11^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 172^th of 182 countries in 2011, the 10^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 164^th of 178 countries in 2010, the 12^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 162^th of 180 countries in 2009, the 14^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 158^th of 180 countries in 2008, the 16^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 162^th of 179 countries in 2007, the 17^th most corrupt in the world.
Venezuela was 138^th of 163 countries in 2006, the 25^th most corrupt in the world.
It was 130^th in 2005, 114^th in 2004, 100^th in 2003, 81^th in 2002, 69^th in 2001, 71^th in 2000, 75^th in 1999, 77^th in 1998.
- Transparencia Venezuela (Prevenir y disminuir el uso del poder público para beneficio personal)
According to the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), it can be stated that, by the end of fiscal exercise 2004, there was a difference of US $3,500 million between the money reported as paid by PDVSA and the amount that reached the BCV.
The Venezuelan government intervened in the official process for participation by Transparencia Venezuela at the Organization of American States (OAS) with the aim of silencing the 2006 report on that country's compliance with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.
- Impunidad (Misión Impunidad, para exponer a los posibles corruptos y exigir justicia en el país)
Un Fraude Largamente Preparado (urru.org - Índice de Documentos 2004 - Varios del fraude)
- En busca del cisne negro Análisis de la evidencia estadística sobre el fraude electoral en Venezuela.
Estudio de R. Haussman y R. Rigobón, para Súmate (.pdf, Sep 3 '04)
- Fraud Against Democracy: The Venezuelan Case (.pdf, Oct 15 '04)
- Fraud Against Democracy: The Venezuelan Case (Summary) (MS Word document, Oct 15 '04)
- Impugnacion del Referéndo Revocatorio ante el CNE
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations)
UN Watch Monitoring the UN, Promoting Human Rights
Venezuela's Constitution of 1999 with Amendments through 2009 (14 Oct 2013. constituteproject.org)

Oil-Price.net:

Today's crude oil price, change, % change (WTI $/bbl)
Crude oil prices for the month, quarter, year, or 5-year period (WTI $/bbl)
[Venezuelan crude oil sells at a price lower than West Texas Intermediate (WTI)]

Did High Oil Prices Cause the Financial Crash? (Oil-Price.net)

See PetroleumWorld.com (Latin American Energy, Oil & Gas)

The First Law of Petropolitics: The price of oil and the pace of freedom always move in opposite directions. Thomas L. Friedman, Foreign Policy. April 25, 2006.

New Time Zone for Venezuela:

From ~~24 September~~ 2007^* the Time Zone for Venezuela would be GMT - 4.5 hrs.
This time zome was not available from the Windows Control Panel - Date and Time - Time Zone.

^* [This change was again delayed, till December 9, 03:00]
Hotfix to add a time zone in Venezuela (GMT-4.5) for 2007 in Windows XP, Server 2003, and Vista,
Microsoft Support, September 28 '07 (available through Windows Update).

Manual solution:

Download and run the Windows Time Zone Editor (TZEDIT.EXE) from Microsoft Support or from Microsoft Download.
Create a new Time Zone, i.e. "New Time Zone VE", for GMT - 4.5 hrs.
Activate it (when it is in effect) from the Control Panel - Date and Time - Time Zone.

This time zone change backs your clock, and advances all astronomical events, in 30 minutes.

This is the original time zone for the Legal Time in Venezuela, adopted in 1912 and based on the meridian of Villa de Cura (Longitude 67.5° W, Estado Aragua). It replaced the meridian based on Punta de Playa (Longitude 60° W, Estado Delta Amacuro) adopted in 1965 for GMT - 4 hrs.

Longitude on Earth is related to Local Time:
360° of Longitude equal 24 hours, this is; 1 hour equals 15° of Longitude (360/24 = 15).
67.5° of Longitude equal 4.5 hours (67.5/15 = 4.5).

With a time zone of GMT - 4 hrs, in 2007:
The Sun is zenital over Caracas on April 17 at 12:27, and August 26 at 12:29. ^*
The earliest sunrise occurs on May 30 at 06:04, and the latest on January 27 at 06:51. ⁺
The earliest sunset occurs on November 18 at ~~18:01~~, and the latest on July 13 at 18:54. ⁺
[All these events would be advanced by 30 minutes with the Time Zone GMT - 4.5 hrs]
With a time zone of GMT - 4.5 hrs, in 2007:
The earliest sunset would occur on November 18 at 17:31. ⁺

^* See Topocentric Positions of Major Solar System Objects and Bright Stars at the US Naval Observatory,
or NOAA Solar Position Calculator.

⁺ Calculated with SunGraph for Macintosh & PC, at Analemma (Bob Urschel).

With a time zone of GMT - 4 hrs, for Caracas:
The earliest sunrise occurs at 06:04, and the latest at 06:51.
The earliest sunset occurs a las 18:01, and the latest at 18:54.

With a time zone of GMT - 4.5 hrs, for Caracas:
The earliest sunrise occurs at 05:34, and the latest at 06:21.
The earliest sunset occurs at 17:31, and the latest at 18:24.

This page was updated in: February 11 '16

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