Category: Venezuela

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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