May 1, 2018

What to do with 5 years severance package for cardiologist in Venezuela? Buy a cup of coffee!

In Venezuela, five years of severance pay now buys a coffee
01 May 2018

When Yolanda Abreu got her check for severance pay after five years working as a cardiologist, she let out a laugh of sheer disbelief: it was barely enough for a cup of coffee.

Like her, millions of Venezuelans have seen their salaries decimated by rampant hyperinflation that is expected to drive prices up by 13,000 percent this year, IMF figures show.

Her story hit the headlines after she tweeted a photo of the check for 156,584.29 bolivars, which equates to about $0.20 on the black market.

"They called me from Caracas University Hospital to come and collect my check for benefits accrued over five years of service as a level 2 specialist in cardiology and electrophysiology," she wrote on Twitter.

-snip-

http://www.france24.com/en/20180501-venezuela-five-years-severance-pay-now-buys-coffee

April 29, 2018

TeleSewer*: Survey predicts a HUGE Maduro win! 71% predict he will win!

That's a shocker. The rest of the world is 100% he will win. Every reasonable person believes that no matter what the actual tally might be, Maduro will get the 10 million votes he "predicts" he will get to win big. This despite 19,000% annual inflation, the Bolivar (currency) at 112,000,000% devalued since Chavez was elected and 99.96% devaluation in the last year. No food. No medicine. No teachers. No doctors. And 131 minimum wages required to buy food for a family of four.

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Maduro-Has-50-Lead-in-Venezuelan-Presidential-Race-Survey-20180429-0015.html

*TeleSur is a Chavismo funded propaganda mouthpiece that touts all the good news about Chavismo.

April 28, 2018

Maduro admits to breaking the law when he uses state resources to campaign. "Venezuela is Chavismo!"

https://twitter.com/Gbastidas/status/989935498478215169

(Translation:VIDEO: Maduro admits that he takes advantage of the delivery of public works to campaign and favor his candidacy.

The Law against corruption is clear: Public officials and employees are at the service of the State and not of any political bias. As a result, they can not allocate the use of public goods to favor political parties or projects.)

But to Maduro, Chavismo and the State are one and the same. You cannot separate Venezuela from Chavismo. They are forever unified! Rojo Rojito. "Redder than red". Patria, Socialismo o Muerte! Ergo, when Maduro speaks, he is speaking for Venezuela... he isn't a candidate... he IS Venezuela!

This May 20th, Maduro assures that he will win BIGGLY (10 million votes for him, despite 19,000% annual inflation, 112,000,000% devaluation of the Bolivar since 1999, and 99.96% loss of value in the last year.) And with that mandate, he will (with the help of his hand picked ANC) rewrite the Constitution to forever enshrine the will of Chavez upon the Bolivarian Republic of CubaZuela!

That hospital in the Tweet above looks WONDERFUL. Below, what an ACTUAL procure room looks like in Caracas.

April 28, 2018

Twitter "smackdown" between Maduro (Chavismo) v. Venezuelans without water for months (utility)

Maduro (during a campaign event) orders the dictatorial takeover of a Venezuelan utility that cannot supply water (or electricity blah blah blah...), because Chavismo is never to blame for infrastructure that has been left to rot for 18 years... this time blaming Chavista governor Ramón Guevara for the layoffs at the Hydrological Company and for the sabotage to the supply of water and rate increases... because this never happens when a company/utility/governor is DEDICATED to the Bolivarian Revolution!

https://twitter.com/PresidencialVen/status/989925415295881217
(rough English translation) I have approved the intervention of the Hydrological Institute of Mérida, that order be placed, I have asked for a broad explanation of the decision. In an absurd way they had increased water service rates in this entity)

and the rebuttal from the water company,

https://twitter.com/aguamerca/status/989948108418289664

giving a detailed accounting of why they can't pump the water, nor equipment to pump the water that they don't have, as well as WHY THEY HAVE NO MONEY TO MAKE WATER MAGICALLY APPEAR AT THE FAUCETS OF THE PEOPLE. Perhaps Maduro can magically pump water OUT OF HIS ASS? He blames El Nino (AGAIN) for empty reservoirs (they are full) to pump to El Pueblo?

Then, a HUGE water main collapsed (again, full of water that Chavismo says doesn't exist!), destroying houses that Chavistas allowed to build RIGHT ON TOP OF THE MAIN! (No blame on them, only the laws of physics and gravity?)

https://twitter.com/EfectoCocuyo/status/989932058976964609

Followed by "a Twitter denunciation" by Chavismo... claiming more saboteurs of the pipeline (lusty iguanas, perhaps? Anti Chavista Illuminati? Bilderbergers? Martians?)

https://twitter.com/VTVcanal8/status/990013233502146560

No end in sight for the excuses of failure for Chavismo... always somebody to blame.

Grab the popcorn and pull up a chair, kids... the entertainment has hit high gear in ChavismoLand!

April 28, 2018

Brazil struggles with massive influx of Venezuelan refugees

‘Their Country Is Being Invaded’: Exodus of Venezuelans Overwhelms Northern Brazil
By ERNESTO LONDOÑO
APRIL 28, 2018

PACARAIMA, Brazil — Hundreds turn up each day, many arriving penniless and gaunt as they pass a tattered flag that signals they have reached the border.

Once they cross, many cram into public parks and plazas teeming with makeshift homeless shelters, raising concerns about drugs and crime. The lucky ones sleep in tents and line up for meals provided by soldiers — pregnant women, the disabled and families with young children are often given priority. The less fortunate huddle under tarps that crumple during rainstorms.



The scenes are reminiscent of the waves of desperate migrants who have escaped the wars in Syria and Afghanistan, spurring a backlash in Europe. Yet this is happening in Brazil, where a relentless tide of people fleeing the deepening economic crisis in Venezuela has begun to test the region’s tolerance for immigrants.

-snip-

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/world/americas/venezuela-brazil-migrants.html

¡Viva la revolución!

April 28, 2018

Maduro: Join me on May 20 with 10 million votes and I promise you "economic prosperity"

Maduro promised "economic prosperity" if winner turns 20May
Posted on April 27, 2018by Martín Sojo in Nacionales



Presidential candidate Nicolás Maduro, who has been singled out for "deepening" the crisis in the country, promised Friday during a visit to Mérida "economic prosperity" if he wins the elections on May 20.

"Join me on May 20 with 10 million votes and I promise economic prosperity (...) at the height of the dreams of all Venezuelans, I swear," said Maduro in his speech that was broadcast for more than half an hour on the channel Estado Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), which is a violation of the electoral regulations that only allows four minutes to broadcast, through the media, content related to the campaign.

In this regard, he asked the inhabitants of that entity "not to leave him alone in this battle", referring to his candidacy for presidential re-election.

-snip-

http://www.caraotadigital.net/nacionales/maduro-prometio-prosperidad-economica-si-resulta-ganador-el-20may/

Well! 10 million is a nice, round number. I guess Maduro has already chosen how many votes for him that he will get.

April 28, 2018

Venezuela hyperinflation has broken the stock market

Venezuela's Inflation Is So Extreme It's Broken the Stock Market
April 26, 2018, 1:23 PM CDT

Venezuela’s currency devaluation is so out of control the stock market is about to bust.

Regulators say they have to lop three zeros off the price of equities on the exchange after determining its computers could no longer handle the swelling values for local shares as the bolivar has tumbled more than 99 percent versus the dollar in the past few years. The change takes effect May 2.

The Caracas index has surged 1,584 percent this year alone -- following a 3,884 percent gain in 2016 -- but it has nothing to do with confidence in the country’s companies. Instead, local businesses and individuals are piling into equities in a desperate bid to protect their savings from a plunging currency and quadruple-digit inflation. The government had already announced plans to redenominate the bolivar by a factor of 1,000 in June, but stock-exchange officials had to act sooner to avoid coming up against technical limitations.



https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-26/venezuela-s-inflation-is-so-extreme-it-s-broken-the-stock-market

Bah! The Bolivar has only lost 112,000,000% of its value since Chavez gained power in 1999. Nobody notices....

April 28, 2018

More creditors organize to collect big loan default prize from Maduro: Citgo

PDVSA’s Secured Creditors Organize Ahead of Payment

April 24, 2018, 4:37 PM CDT Updated on April 25, 2018, 11:38 AM CDT

Creditors holding secured bonds from Venezuela’s struggling state oil company are organizing ahead of an interest payment due Friday, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The group of investors, which includes Ashmore Group Plc -- the largest reported holder of the $2.5 billion of notes due 2020 from Petroleos de Venezuela SA -- has tapped law firm White & Case LLP to advise them, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. It’s unclear how much of the debt the creditor group holds. Representatives for Ashmore and White & Case declined to comment.

The group is preparing for the possibility that PDVSA fails to make its $107 million payment due Friday, which after a grace period expires would entitle them to start the process to enforce their collateral rights. The bonds are backed by a first-priority lien on a 50.1 percent stake in Citgo Holding Inc., PDVSA’s U.S. refining arm. Venezuela and its state-owned companies are behind on about $3.4 billion of obligations amid a severe shortage of hard currency and punishing international sanctions that have limited the country’s ability to find financing.

-snip-

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-24/pdvsa-s-secured-creditors-are-said-to-organize-ahead-of-payment

April 27, 2018

Times up. Maduro needs to cough up $19 billion as loans come due to Chinese

Exclusive: Venezuela Faces Heavy Bill as Grace Period Lapses on China Loans
April 27, 2018, at 1:23 p.m.

By Corina Pons

CARACAS (Reuters) - A grace period on Chinese loans to Venezuela has lapsed, according to two Venezuelan sources with knowledge of the matter, potentially depriving the cash-strapped OPEC nation of billions of dollars in desperately needed oil revenue this year.

China eased the payment terms two years ago on some $19 billion in oil-for-loan deals, under which Venezuela sends shipments of crude oil and fuel to pay off debt, allowing Venezuela to make interest-only payments.

The favorable conditions from Beijing helped President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government weather a collapse in Venezuela's economy, which slid into hyperinflation and a painful recession following a downturn in oil prices.

But the grace period has lapsed without a renewal in recent weeks, according to the sources, who have been briefed by Chinese and Venezuelan officials.

-snip-

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2018-04-27/exclusive-venezuela-faces-heavy-bill-as-grace-period-lapses-on-china-loans-sources

April 27, 2018

After Maduro's "easy win" on May 20, a new Constitution to ban opposition parties in Venezuela

Venezuela’s Maduro set to abolish voting rights and other freedoms, Colombian president says

BY ANDRÉS OPPENHEIMER
April 26, 2018 05:30 PM

It’s hard to know what will happen next in Venezuela, but what Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told me in an interview this week should raise alarm bells throughout the hemisphere.

Santos said during a visit to Miami that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s hand-picked Constituent Assembly is drafting a new constitution that would be made public after Venezuela’s May 20 presidential elections. The new charter would officially turn Venezuela into a Cuban-style dictatorship, he said.



Maduro, already a de facto dictator, is running for re-election for another five-year term. He has prohibited top opposition leaders from running against him, banned international election observers and refused to allow an independent electoral tribunal.

The United States, European Union and all major Latin American countries — including Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia — have said that they won’t accept the results of Maduro’s sham election.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/andres-oppenheimer/article209925289.html