Category: Latin America

Last week, Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma received an unexpected visit from the Venezuelan political police. After being taken into custody from his office without a warrant, Ledezma was charged with conspiring to overthrow the government of President Nicolás Maduro. He is now being held in the Ramo Verde military prison, where Leopoldo López and several other opposition leaders are also in detention. (The photo above shows Ledezma supporters demonstrating outside the headquarters of the domestic intelligence service in Caracas on Feb. 19.) Ledezma’s imprisonment marks a dangerous new watershed for Venezuela’s escalating political and economic crisis, one whose solution becomes more difficult to visualize with each passing week. The polarization in the country, caused by the government’s harsh treatment of the opposition, makes it practically impossible for Venezuelans to address their country’s challenges on their own. The tragedy is that there seem to be no honest brokers left to help usher […]

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(Bloomberg) — With oil prices ticking up and new financing commitments, cash-strapped Venezuela is persuading traders and analysts alike to back away from calls the country will default this year. But not everyone is buying it. Deutsche Bank AG and Jefferies LLC still see Venezuela running out of money to pay debt in 2015. They’re the only ones out of 10 firms surveyed by Bloomberg, which included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG. While the country has raised almost $5 billion in the past month and oil has jumped 21 percent from an almost six-year low, Deutsche Bank’s Armando Armenta says that’s still not enough. Venezuela needs $32 billion to finance itself this year, according to his estimates. “The financing gap that they are facing for this year with current oil prices is just too large,” Armenta, the bank’s New York-based economist, said by telephone. “I […]

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CARACAS, Venezuela — For a glimpse into Venezuela ’s economic disarray, slip into a travel agency here and book a round-trip flight to Maracaibo, on the other side of the country, for just $16. Need a book to read on the plane? For those with hard currency, a new copy of “50 Shades of Grey” goes for $2.50. Forget your toothpaste? A tube of Colgate costs 7 cents. Quite the bargain, right? But for the majority of Venezuelans who lack easy access to dollars, such surreal prices reflect a tremendous currency devaluation and a crumbling economy expected to contract 7 percent this year as oil income plunges and price controls produce acute shortages of items including milk, detergent and condoms . “I’ve seen people die on the operating table because we didn’t have the basic tools for surgeries,” said Valentina Herrera, 35, a pediatrician at a public hospital in […]

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CARACAS, Venezuela—The arrest of one of the government’s leading critics here by armed state agents has angered the opposition, which rallied in protest Friday as condemnation mounted, much of it coming from former regional leaders and human-rights groups. “It’s becoming clearer every day that we’re living in a dictatorship,” Mitzy Capriles, wife of this capital city’s mayor, Antonio Ledezma, said in an interview a day after intelligence-service commandos broke down her husband’s office door and took him into custody. The 59-year-old Mr. Ledezma—one of the few remaining conservative lawmakers whose career survived the rise of late leftist firebrand Hugo Chávez in 1998—was charged in court Friday to face charges of conspiracy to “organize and execute violent acts,” against the government, state prosecutors said. Attempts to contact a lawyer for Mr. Ledezma weren’t successful. The attorney general said Mr. Ledezma, who leads an antigovernment movement, was also suspected of coordinating […]

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Photo Supporters of the mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, demanded his release on Thursday. Credit Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press Photo Mr. Ledezma was accused by President Nicolás Maduro of plotting with the United States to overthrow him. The State Department issued a statement saying, “Venezuela’s problems cannot be solved by criminalizing dissent.” Credit Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters CARACAS, Venezuela — A new political crisis convulsed Venezuela on Friday over the arrest of the Caracas mayor, one of the country’s top opposition figures, accused by President Nicolás Maduro of abetting what he called an American plot to overthrow the government. Supporters of the mayor, Antonio Ledezma, quickly mobilized protests over his arrest — which they called a kidnapping — which was carried out without warning Thursday night. Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups demanded Mr. Ledezma’s release, and hundreds of demonstrators gathered in a Caracas plaza to protest. But Mr. Maduro, whose […]

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National Guard monitor a supermarket in Caracas, on Feb. 3, 2015. (Bloomberg) — By packing bags for $1 a day and with tips at a Caracas supermarket, Luis has managed to save up for a Japanese sports motorbike. His secret? Getting hold of scarce food before it hits the shelves. Luis offers preferential access to detergent, milk and sugar to his clientele of about 100 diplomats at a Centro Madeirense shop in the south of the capital. In return, they offer him occasional work as a handyman or courier and loan him money during dry patches. “Times are tough. We have to spin to survive,” Luis, 30, said in an interview in Caracas last month. “We have to be creative with the opportunities at hand to make ends meet.” Price controls have emptied stores of most goods, while the world’s highest inflation has pushed what is available beyond the […]

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(Bloomberg) — Venezuela is considering a request from oil companies to cut taxes as a way of coping with a crash in prices and encouraging investments, according to an industry association official with direct knowledge on the matter. The proposal is to lower royalties and extraction taxes to 20 percent from 30 percent, said the official from hydrocarbon association AVHI, who attended meetings with authorities last week and asked not to be named in line with AVHI policy. Facing a shortage of dollars for servicing debt after oil fell 46 percent in the past six months, Venezuela is looking at ways to attract more investment from the national oil company’s joint venture partners. Private companies have held back investments amid currency controls, surging inflation and late payments. Oil accounts for 96 percent of Venezuelan exports. Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment on the proposal. The press […]

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A Texaco fueling station stands near San Nicolas, southeast of Oranjestad, Aruba, on Jan. 3. Gasoline costs about $4.24 a gallon at Texaco and Valero service stations in Aruba. Photographer: Pietro D. Pitts/Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — How does an Aruban taxi driver who shuttles mostly U.S. visitors around the Dutch Caribbean save $17,000 a year? By sailing to Venezuela to buy the world’s cheapest fuel. The driver, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because what he’s doing is illegal, said he makes the 18-mile trip to Venezuela’s Paraguana Peninsula at least once a week, loading as much as 104 gallons of Venezuelan gasoline into numerous small containers at a cost of $120. The $3.09 a gallon he saves after expenses on each trip adds up to almost $17,000 a year. In Venezuela, 95-octane fuel costs 0.097 bolivar a liter, or about a fifth of a U.S. penny a gallon […]

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SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (AP) — Protesters clashed with police in this anti-government stronghold Thursday amid a storm of tear gas, rocks and buckshot as Venezuelans staged dueling marches on the anniversary of last year’s bloody protest movement. While demonstrations were mostly calm elsewhere in the country, the anti-government march turned violent in this restive city near the border with Colombia, which was an epicenter of the 2014 movement. A sea of protesters marched in San Cristobal’s streets. Some youths threw projectiles at police officers clad in riot gear, who fired tear gas canisters while onlookers ran in the opposite direction with young children in their arms. At least five people were injured in the fighting, San Cristobal Mayor Patricia Gutierrez said. In Caracas, both friends and foes of Venezuela’s socialist government braved pouring rain to stage competing marches. A small group of students in Caracas rallied against the government […]

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(Bloomberg) — Venezuela had its credit rating lowered by Standard & Poor’s, which said the government will struggle to implement changes needed to shore up the economy. S&P cut Venezuela’s long-term rating by one level to CCC, eight notches below investment grade. The outlook is negative, S&P said Feb. 9 in a statement. “Economic recession, high inflation, and growing shortages have weakened public support for the government, likely reducing its political room to introduce difficult corrective economic measures that would improve its external liquidity position,” S&P said. Venezuela’s gross domestic product could shrink as much as 7 percent this year after the 60 percent plunge in prices for oil since June, S&P said. The commodity accounts for 90 percent of exports and the decline in prices means the government has less room to adjust policy and avoid a default, S&P said. “Pressure is growing for the government to reschedule […]

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Shoppers queue outside the supermarket ‘Dia a Dia’ in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday. The government took over stores of supermarket chain after alleging that it was hoarding food. According to many economists, government controls are making the economic crisis worse. (EPA/Landov) By John Otis, NPR Simon Nobile, 72, runs the Capri pasta factory in the capital Caracas, which was founded by his Italian-born father in 1940. Capri’s two plants crank out 11 million pounds of pasta per month. They could produce nearly twice that much. However, Nobile says a government policy designed to help the poor forces him to sell half of his inventory for just five cents a pound. "There is no incentive because price controls mean that you lose money. So the more you produce, the more money you lose," he says. Another headache is securing the grain to make pasta, says Angie Mendible who works in […]

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(Bloomberg) — Venezuelan officials arrested a second retail executive in two days, accusing their companies of hoarding goods and fixing prices, as President Nicolas Maduro responds to mounting shortages and the lowest support in two decades. Officials detained the owner of Dia a Dia supermarket chain and took over the company’s stores, National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello told state television last night from one of the 35 occupied shops. On Feb. 1, police detained the chief executive officer of Farmatodo C.A., which runs almost 200 drug stores across Venezuela and Colombia. The collapse of oil revenue has deepened shortages of everything from diapers to sugar in the country that imports almost everything it consumes. Rather than relaxing price controls to boost supply, Maduro has blamed private industry for “waging economic war” against his government. His approval rating fell to 22 percent in December, according to the latest poll made […]

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CARACAS, Venezuela — Mary Noriega heard there would be chicken. She hated being herded “like cattle,” she said, standing for hours in a line of more than 1,500 people hoping to buy food, as soldiers with side arms checked identification cards to make sure no one tried to buy basic items more than once or twice a week. But Ms. Noriega, a laboratory assistant with three children, said she had no choice, ticking off the inventory in her depleted refrigerator: coffee and corn flour. Things had gotten so bad, she said, that she had begun bartering with neighbors to put food on the table. “We always knew that this year would start badly, but I think this is super bad,” Ms. Noriega said. Venezuelans have put up with shortages and long lines for years. But as the price of oil, the country’s main export, has plunged, the situation has […]

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0 Like Share 0 CARACAS  – Demonstrators against Venezuela’s economic crisis — facing sky-high inflation and shortages of food and consumer goods — took to the streets in their thousands Saturday, banging pots and demanding an end to President Nicolas Maduro’s term. Opposition leaders, fed up with shortages of milk, coffee, sugar, meat, toilet paper, diapers, deodorant and corn meal, and with Maduro’s refusal to overhaul the increasingly state-managed economy, say the elected socialist should go. Ex-lawmaker Maria Corina Machado — who was jailed after deadly riots last year for inciting violence — said Maduro “must step aside now, so the Venezuelan people can stand united again. ” “The government needs to be changed urgently,” Machado argued, at what opposition activists called the “March of Empty Pots. ” She insisted that constitutional order — waiting for Maduro to be voted out — “cannot wait,” even as some marchers chanted, […]

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Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro told lawmakers last week he’s considering raising gasoline prices. That might be a good idea. It’s been two decades since the government last lifted state-set local prices, the result of politicians’ concern that the move could spark protests like those that swept across the oil-rich nation following an increase in 1989. In the interim, a string of currency devaluations has pushed down the cost in dollar terms to levels that would seem implausible to consumers in other parts of the world, even after the recent oil tumble cut prices at the pump. The CHART OF THE DAY shows it now costs about 0.2 U.S. cent (that’s right; one-fifth of a penny) to buy a gallon of gasoline in Venezuela , based on black-market currency rates. Expressed another way, you can get 482 gallons with just one dollar. That’s enough to drive a Chevrolet Silverado pickup […]

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro faces uphill economic battle as low oil prices take their toll. (UPI Photo/Mohammad Kheirkhah) WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) — Venezuela’s economy will decline more than any other in the region as a result of the drop in oil prices, analysis from the International Monetary Fund found. The Central Bank of Venezuela in December said the collapse in oil prices was in part to blame for a 2.3 percent drop in third quarter gross domestic product. That marked three straight quarters of decline for the member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a formal slip into recession . Oil prices have dropped more than half since June and are down 20 percent since the Central Bank’s announcement. Alejandro Werner, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere division, said declining oil prices means a sharp economic downturn for Caracas. "Venezuela’s economy will take the largest hit […]

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The U.S. wants to use shale oil as a geopolitical weapon to destroy Venezuela by flooding the market with supply and driving prices down, according to the OPEC member. Hydraulic fracturing, the method used to remove shale oil trapped in rock, is “destructive,” President Nicolas Maduro said during a national address broadcast on radio and television. Venezuela’s economy shrank 2.8 percent last year as crude slumped almost 50 percent amid the fastest pace of U.S. production in more than three decades while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut output. “The U.S. wants to use oil as a geopolitical weapon,” Maduro, 52, said during his speech on Jan. 21. “They’re trying to destroy Venezuela.” OPEC members Venezuela and Iran have questioned the group’s decision to maintain its quota. Oman, the biggest Middle Eastern oil producer that’s not part of OPEC, is having a “really difficult time” […]

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ENLARGE Citgo-branded gas stations weren’t part of the sales process. Reuters A sale process for Venezuela’s Citgo Petroleum Corp. has been called off, and the U.S.-based oil refiner instead plans a debt sale that would raise funds for the cash-strapped country. The auction was scrapped in recent days after several suitors submitted bids in early December, people familiar with the matter said. Citgo is now planning to raise $2.5 billion in debt instead, one of the people said. The sales process could be restarted later. Corporate auctions are rare in the immediate aftermath of such recapitalization deals, however, and the added debt could make the company less attractive to suitors too. Citgo, which operates three U.S. oil refineries and related assets from its Houston headquarters, was expected to fetch between $8 billion and $11 billion should it have been sold, analysts and people close to the sales process have […]

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Harvest Natural Resources Inc. , Houston, is seeking international arbitration against Venezuela, alleging the country’s government has thwarted efforts to sell its interest there. Through subsidiaries, Harvest owns 32% of Petrodelta SA, which produces oil in eastern Venezuela. The US company tried to sell the interest to state-owned PT Pertamina (Persero) of Indonesia and later to Pluspetrol Venezuela SA ( OGJ Online, Nov. 20, 2013 ). Harvest Pres. and Chief Executive Officer James A. Edmiston blamed the government for failure of those efforts. “Over the past decade, the Venezuelan government has violated Harvest’s rights as an investor by systematically thwarting the development of Harvest’s investment in Venezuela as well as the company’s ability to sell its interest there,” he said in a statement. Harvest has had interests in the Latin American country for 22 years. Affiliates HNR Finance BV and Harvest Vinccler SCA submitted a request for arbitration before […]

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his government plans to coordinate with OPEC and non-OPEC producers to create a “formula that impacts the oil market and restores the normalization of prices” in the next few weeks. Maduro spoke on Venezuela state television after meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as falling oil prices threaten the economies of both nations. The two leaders met today in Moscow to discuss global oil markets and the “stability of natural resources,” Maduro said. “Venezuela is not just a friend but also a close partner, one of Russia ’s most important partners,” Putin said in a statement posted online by Venezuela’s Information Ministry. Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest crude reserves, relies on oil exports for almost 95 percent of foreign currency earnings. The price of the country’s crude fell to $42.44 a barrel last week from a peak of $100.64 on June 27. […]

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People line up outside a supermarket to buy toilet paper in Caracas January 12, 2015. REUTERS/Jorge … CARACAS (Reuters) – Governors in three Venezuelan states have banned overnight queuing amid huge and sometimes rowdy lines around shops across the scarcity-plagued country. Shortages of basic consumer products from milk to toilet paper have worsened since a lull in distribution over the Christmas and New Year holidays, prompting many to wait from the early hours on foot – or in hammocks – before shops open. The ubiquitous lines and frequent jostling for places when shop doors finally open are an embarrassment and irritation to Venezuelans across the political spectrum. There have also been scattered protests and arrests. "We are going to prohibit lines outside commercial establishments," Falcon state governor Stella Lugo said late on Tuesday. "Security forces have been instructed." She joined two other governors, in the states of Bolivar and […]

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Print | Single Page [ – ] Text [ + ] (Adds comments from National Assembly leader, access limits.) By Alexandra Ulmer and Javier Farias CARACAS/ SAN CRISTOBAL Jan 12 (Reuters) – At least a dozen protesters arrested in Venezuela remained in jail on Monday and masked assailants burned a bus amid scattered unrest over swelling lines for basic goods, activists said. Police rounded up 16 people for protesting outside stores over the weekend, according to the opposition MUD coalition, which said four of them were released shortly after. Rights group Penal Forum said 18 protesters were still behind bars on Monday. The government did not confirm that. Venezuela is suffering from chronic shortages of goods ranging from diapers to flour that have worsened since an ebb in deliveries over Christmas. The scarcity has forced shoppers across Venezuela to line up in front of stores before dawn. The MUD […]

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is seeking several billion dollars from Qatari lenders to help plug a budget gap after oil lost more than half its value. “We’re finalizing a financial alliance with important banks from Qatar that will give us sufficient oxygen to help cover the fall in oil prices and give us the resources we need for the national foreign currency budget,” he said on state television. Maduro, Hugo Chavez ’s hand-picked successor, is turning to Asia and the Middle East for relief as crude’s nosedive of more than 50 percent erodes international reserves and funding options. Boasting the world’s biggest oil reserves, the Latin American nation has seen its crude output slump since 2008 and imports of refined products surge as state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA revenue is diverted to social programs and fuel subsidies. The financing would be for “various” billions of dollars for 2015 and […]

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(Adds Venezuela government comments) RIYADH Jan 11 (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman in Riyadh on Sunday as part of a diplomatic tour of OPEC members to discuss falling oil prices, which have hit its economy hard. The Saudi side in the meeting included Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and several princes including Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin, intelligence chief Prince Khaled bin Bandar and three sons of King Abdullah, who is in hospital, state media reported. No details of the meeting were given by the official Saudi Press Agency and there was no indication that the world’s biggest oil exporter was any closer to taking action to stem the over 50 percent rout in oil prices. The Venezuelan government said in a statement that "we agreed to work to recover the market and oil prices with state policies between the two energy powerhouses." It […]

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Members of Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Police used tear gas to disperse a student protest at the Catholic University of Tachira in San Cristobal, Tachira state, NTN 24 reported Jan. 7, citing social media reports. At least two protesters were arrested. The previous night, a separate group of protesters used burning tires to block the Pan American Highway in San Cristobal but were eventually dispersed by police as well. Last year’s wave of protests began in Tachira state with student demonstrations against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he’ll outline steps to fix the nation’s economy, as low oil prices push it into recession. File photo UPI CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 31 (UPI) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he’d unveil economic reform efforts next year as an economy linked strongly to oil prices slips into recession. The Central Bank of Venezuela said the collapse in oil prices was in part to blame for a 2.3 percent drop in third quarter gross domestic product. That marks three straight quarters of decline for the member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. With a reform agenda in mind, Maduro said that, with Venezuelan oil valued at around $46 per barrel, it was time to usher in an economic overhaul and a time for opportunity. "Awareness and national unity are required," he said. "Widespread debate and national commitment are needed." As part of the agenda, […]

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Venezuela relies on oil revenue for 96 percent of its hard currency reserves, so  the plunging price of oil — which has dropped by half in the past six months to $48 a barrel — threatens to destabilize its economy. President Nicolas Maduro has a theory about what’s behind the sudden drop. "Did you know there’s an oil war?” Maduro asked the leaders of Venezuela’s state-run businesses in a speech Monday in which he accused the United States of trying to flood the market with shale oil. “And the war has an objective: to destroy Russia. It’s a strategically planned war … also aimed at Venezuela, to try and destroy our revolution and cause an economic collapse," Maduro added. The boom in U.S. shale oil production has pushed down oil prices worldwide, from $96 a barrel just six months ago, but Maduro’s comments say more about the pressure on his government […]

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on December 30, 2014. Venezuela confirmed Tuesday that it has entered recession, while annual inflation topped 63 percent, exacerbating the outlook for an economy already hit by crippling shortages and crashing oil prices. AFP PHOTO/JUAN BARRETO Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s socialist president, pledged to reform tight currency controls as part of a package to revive an oil-dependent economy that is officially in recession trampled by policy paralysis and falling crude prices. “We are going to perfect the currency system,” said Mr Maduro, adding that the details would be revealed in the new year, after putting the blame of the fall in global crude prices on a US-led plan to destabilise Venezuela and, its ally, Russia. Political opponents counter that the anointed successor of the late Hugo Chávez, had stalled on the reforms the Opec country […]

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