Economy in tatters, Venezuela's Maduro tells citizens 'God will provide'

[Bacchus4.0]

Source: CS MOnitor

Caracas — At a pharmacy in Caracas Thursday morning, hundreds of people stood in line hoping to get their hands on diapers and other essentials inside. Queuing up has become routine for many here, as Venezuela has struggled to pay for the import of most of its goods.

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“We have confidence in God but not so much Maduro. He’s to blame for all this,” says Marvelis Bazque, a housewife standing in line. She’s referencing a line from the president’s speech Wednesday night, where he assured Venezuelans that despite a big drop in the price of oil, which the nation greatly relies on, “God will provide.”

The Venezuelan economy is in tatters with higher than 64 percent inflation and dwindling foreign reserves. Protests like those that paralyzed the country last February are beginning to sprout up again. Maduro’s decision to essentially maintain business as usual – in his speech last night he accused opposition politicians of planning a coup and avoided an explicit devaluation of the currency – signaled to Venezuelans and the world that he’s not willing to face the country’s ailing economy head on.
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Maduro also announced that the country’s gas prices, the lowest in the world at just a few cents per tank, were a “distortion.” He said the time had come to raise them, which would be a small start to recovering some of the lost income due to the fall in international oil prices. However, no concrete announcements were made. Last time the government here tried to increase gas prices, in 1989, thousands took to the streets to protest.


Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2015/0122/Economy-in-tatters-Venezuela-s-Maduro-tells-citizens-God-will-provide

[Fearless]

1. Doing a bang up job so far.

[Archae]

2. Maduro phanbois is 3-2-1...

Blaming the CIA, the "oligarchs," the Illuminati, the Jews, whoever, but Maduro can do no wrong, donchu know...

[Bacchus4.0]

3. Not too many Maduro lovers thats for sure. Most of the chavistas dropped out when chavez did n/t

[wordpix]

29. Maduro was Chavez' chosen one & is just continuing

his policies. But many on DU couldn't see it when Chavez was alive. Yes, he was opposed by wealthy capitalists but also by those who want democracy and accountability, which Chavez like Maduro did not provide

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. +1. It's never Maduro's fault.

[Iliyah]

7. Sounds like a GOPer

[elias49]

5. Hey everybody! Nothing to cheer about here.

One thing I hate about the issue of Venezuela...too many people applaud when things go bad. WTF? We're talking about real people trying to do things right. If Maduro sucks, so be it. But reveling in Venezuela suffering is just mean spirited.

[Bacchus4.0]

6. Nope, nothing to cheer about at all n/t

[christx30]

8. All of their wounds are self inflicted.

But they keep winning elections. And they won't do anything different. They won't pay their bills, so people won't do business with them. They keep expropriating property that belongs to other people, so no one wants to bring their stuff into the country just to be stolen by Maduro's people.

Time to try something else. I'm not cheering the problems.

[pretzel4gore]

27. too bad they haven't got $10 billion/month

ie 'Quantitative Easing', to blow on stock markets...
One good thing these poor 3rd world economies like Venezuela, Nigeria, Cuba, Phillipines etc, enjoy is the fact the governments are so decrepit (poor, underfunded and helpless) the population learns how to get along without them- indeed they almost fly under the radar of the world bank, imf, the kkk, nsa etc....lol
it drives the fascasti nuts, you betcha!

[christx30]

28. They don't need that.

They just need to pay people what they're owed. If they want the airlines to keep flying there, they need to release the dollars the airlines want. Otherwise, no one is going to fly there. The airlines are going to cut their losses, and not risk their planes getting stolen by Mudaro.
We are able to produce more oil here, so we don't have to rely on them any more. That's what we've been shooting for since the 70's. You know that whole thing about "reducing reliance on foreign oil" that every politician has crowed about since the embargo? It's happening now. This is what it looks like. That's why gas is so low, and countries that rely on oil revenue are screaming bloody murder. We don't need them, so they are hurting. It's bad for them, but good for us and anyone that doesn't want to pay $4 for a gallon of unleaded. I paid $1.71 yesterday, giving me more money for groceries.

And the population of those countries do need their governments. No one is doing business with Venezuela, so they can't get basic neccessities, unless you get them on the black market. Toilet paper, diapers, dish soap.
It's not about the World bank, the IMF, the KKK, NSA. It's about an incompetant government coming up with a stupid policy, seeing it blow up in their face, and refusing to make changes, but blaming everyone under the sun for the explosion.

[wordpix]

30. the Chavistas keep winning b/c they control elections tightly

I would not trust one election return from these guys

[ND-Dem]

31. "But they keep winning elections" = democracy

"They keep expropriating property that belongs to other people" = so does the US government

"Time to try something else" = what did you have in mind?

[christx30]

42. And the stealing that VZ and the U.S.

does is wrong, no matter who does it. It leads to mistrust from every one involved.
The problem with VZ is that it makes people nervous about doing business with them. And what's why they can't get the foreign goods their people need.
So I would start off with a pledge that as long as the companies are operating within the law, the government will not expropriate their stuff.
I would then reduce currency controls. Give the airlines the money they need to operate. I would also rigerously investigate, and brutally punish corruption from government officials. How much money does the government lose from some jackhole lining his pockets?
Also, reducing or eliminating the gas subsidies VZ pays its people would ensure that people would actually pay for the one product they sell. If all I sold were pants, and I was doing a "buy 1, get 12 pair free" sale, I'd go out of business pretty damn quick. You got one product, don't give it away to just anyone that asks.

[EX500rider]

9. "We're talking about real people trying to do things right."

Except they keep doing everything wrong.

Rigid price & currency controls topped with corruption and a single commodity economy make it easy to figure out what went wrong. Yet they double down instead. I do feel sorry for the Venezuelans but contempt for beyond stupid governing.

[elias49]

10. That's fair. nt

[Ken Burch]

34. It's not as letting prices soar as high as the rich want them to would help, either

Maduro has problems, but the "opposition" offers nothing but surrender to foreign capital.

[Adrahil]

19. I agree overall, but those folks elected this moron.

He's as bad as republicans.... fuck the evidence and believe what you WANT to believe despite the evidence.

[Nye Bevan]

11. I bet he prays to God every day for oil to go back up to $140.

There are so few non-capitalist countries, and it is always interesting to see how well non-capitalism works in practice,

[Bacchus4.0]

12. That is in fact what he wants. He has criticized the US for producing too much too

saying Obama is trying to hurt Venezuela, Russia, and Iran.

[christx30]

13. And there are going to be more and more

things like this happening in oil producing countries as we move more and more away from petroleum and start going to clean energy. I look forward to that day, when countries like Saudia Arabia lose all influence because they are selling something no one needs.

[ND-Dem]

32. Obama is trying to hurt Venezuela, Russia, and Iran = he is.

[Ken Burch]

35. You do realize that you're posting under the name of a famous left-wing Welsh socialist, don't you?

Why do you use that name when your opinions are basically Thatcherite?

[geek tragedy]

14. turning the national economy into a commodity-driven monoline has predictably bad consequences

This chump has all of Chavez's weaknesses but none of his strengths

Chavez cared about governing, little Nicky just cares about ruling.

[Dreamer Tatum]

15. DU's Venezuela Booster Team has gone curiously quiet.

Wonder what that's all about.

[Bacchus4.0]

17. Hugo is gone. It was all about devotion to him n/t

[Ken Burch]

36. It wasn't about worshipping Chavez, it was about standing with the workers and the poor in VZ.

Anti-PSUV types don't care about those people.

[FLPanhandle]

16. I feel bad for the people of Venezuela and for how thier example will be used by conservatives

No one on the left supports the outright mismanagment and nationalization that Venezuela has done.

It's an extreme example that will be used against any government saftey net by the right, even though most of us on the left don't support what has been done there.

[christx30]

18. There are still those on the left

that will say that as bad as things are, it's still not as bad as it used to be. Or they will paint any opposition against the leadership as a right wing CIA backed plot, or supporters of the coup against Chavez.
Things are bad there. And they are not going to get better without massive changes in the way they do business.

[Adrahil]

20. You're mostly right...

but I HAVE had contact with folks who still believe in central planning, price controls, and nationalization of virtually all industry. Usually they try to justify their belief on magic by pedaling the line that of it weren't for the evil U.S, Venezuala and Cuba would be a workers' paradise!

[elias49]

21. But then there are still too many people in the US

who believe in supply-side economics. Both nations - the US and Venezuela - refuse to modify ideologies.

[Adrahil]

22. Absolutely - supply side "voodoo" economics is just as "magical" n/t

[Ken Burch]

37. Market economics can't co-exist with social justice and human solidarity.

We've seen that in South Africa, where the ANC is just as capitalist as you want Venezuela to be and where the dispossesed majority, while freed from the racial shackles of legal apartheid, hasn't gained anything at all in the last twenty-three years.

The government agreed not to spend enough on housing and education to make any meaningful difference, and obeyed globa capital blindly on its insistence that nothing be done at all to ease poverty or lower the unemployent rate.

That's what "pro-business economics" like those of you on the right demand, always means-leaving the many to rot for the good of the few-other than letting Bill and Melinda show up for a photo op now and then, or being a child shopping trip for Madonna or Angelina.

[hack89]

43. How about Norway and Sweden?

strong market economies with an equally strong social safety net.

[quadrature]

23. how are the poor people doing?

(I realize that the middle class has been wiped out,
but...)

are the poor any better off than
during the pre-Hugo era?

[Adrahil]

24. Probably not, if...

They have to wait in line for hours to get basic necessities.

And destroying the middle class in exchange for marginal improvements for the poor is not a good trade off, even if it were true.

[Ken Burch]

38. Not that you guys have any suggestions to offer other than letting prices soar, cutting wages,

and making the place into a colony for foreign capital again.

Yes, Venezuela has problems...but adopting Puerto Rico-style tax and business policies won't solve them. Neither will obeying foreign oil companies again like in the old days.

[hack89]

39. They need to diversify their economy

they are too dependent on oil. Corruption also needs to be addressed as well as their propensity for giving a way oil for political purposes. But all of that is irrelevant if they don't balance their economy.

[FLPanhandle]

40. They are already a colony for foreign capital

China is owed a bulk of their one asset (their oil reserves) at low prices.

Basically, they traded away IMF debt for Chinese debt. Even if oil prices increase, they owe so much oil to China now, it really won't help.

[Adrahil]

41. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

At this point, I can't see how any of those things would be worse for people in the long run. Price controls may make bread cheap, but it doesn't help if there is no bread to be had!

There are social democracies in the world that WORK. Use them as a model. But the rainbow drippings and unicorn farts economic "theories" of Venezuela and Cuba are pure fantasy. They are mere emotional appeals with no real substance. They do not work, have never worked, and will never work because they ignore basic economic principals. Despite what Marx said, only the market can determine the value of something. That doesn't mean you give the market free reign, as in some nightmarish Ayn Randian dystopia, but it DOES mean history tells us that centrally planned, and tightly controlled economies fail. Not one has succeeded on a national scale in the history of the world.

[FLPanhandle]

25. With a 65%+ inflation rate, their buying power is dropping fast

Soon any gains they made under Hugo will be wiped out due to rampant inflation and lack of common items.

[bluestateguy]

26. I've been afraid of this for years

The Chavez/Maduro regime would run Venezuela into the ground, and that will ultimately result in a right wing dictatorship.

Just watch.

[brooklynite]

33. Why a dictatorship?

Give people a free election and they'll probably dump the Chavistas in a second...