Category: Venezuela

At least two people were shot dead on Wednesday during anti-government protests in Caracas, escalating the worst bout of unrest in Venezuela since turmoil after President Nicolas Maduro’s election last year. The violence was a crescendo to weeks of sporadic demonstrations in the provinces led by opposition hardliners who denounce Maduro for failing to control inflation, crime and product shortages and vow to push him from office. The government says the opposition is sowing violence to stage a coup similar to the one a decade ago that briefly ousted late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, though there are few signs that the current melees could topple Maduro. The country’s top prosecutor confirmed the death of a student and a pro-government community leader amid chaotic scenes as marches by opposition and government sympathizers ended just a few blocks apart in the city center. Maduro said another student suffered […]

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As people fled in panic, one demonstrator fell to the ground with a bullet wound in his head. Onlookers screamed “assassins” as they rushed the 24-year-old marketing student to a police vehicle. He was later identified by family members as Bassil Da Costa. Also killed was the leader of a pro-government 23rd of January collective, as militant supporters of Venezuela’s socialist administration call themselves. National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello said the “revolutionary” known by his nickname Juancho was “vilely assassinated by the fascists” but he didn’t provide details. The troubles moved eastward to the wealthier neighborhood of Chacao after nightfall, leaving another unidentified demonstrator dead from a bullet wound, district Mayor Ramon Muchacho said via Twitter. Calm returned as midnight approached, leaving smoldering trash cans strewn along several blocks where demonstrators threw rocks at government buildings. The unrest comes on the heels of a wave of increasingly violent, student-led […]

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Venezuelan security forces fired rubber bullets into the air Wednesday to break up a crowd of activists following the largest protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s government since he was re-elected almost a year ago. Five people were killed during standoffs including a police officer, two student demonstrators and a member of militant community groups known as "colectivos," according to local media. Twenty-five people have been injured during the protests. The fatalities came at the end of rival demonstrations to support and denounce Maduro’s government. Under the banner "The Exit," meaning Maduro’s departure, hard line opposition groups have been holding protests around the country for the past two weeks, to complain about rampant crime, corruption and economic hardships. "All of these problems — shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities — have a single culprit: the government," Leopoldo Lopez, a Harvard University-trained former mayor, told a crowd of about 10,000 […]

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“This is so depressing,” said Maria Plaza, 30, a lawyer, an hour and a half into her wait. “Pathetic.” Depressing, in an otherwise bright, modern supermarket that sells $100 bottles of Spanish wine, Jack Daniel’s whiskey and organic rice puffs. Pathetic, in a country with the world’s largest petroleum reserves and oil prices at nearly $95 a barrel, yet unable to supply basic goods because of its crumbling local currency and a shortage of U.S. dollars. “Soon we’ll be using newspaper, just like they do in Cuba!” said an elderly man nearby, inching forward in line. “Yeah! Like Cuba!” others shouted. The fate of Venezuela’s revolution, it seems, will be decided at the supermarket. Nearly a year after Chávez’s death of complications from cancer at age 58, his hand­picked successor, Nicolás Maduro, is struggling to contain food shortages, spiraling inflation and rampant crime. The arrival of basic staples such […]

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Venezuelan energy sales to the U.S. are heading for the lowest levels in 28 years as President Nicolas Maduro steps up shipments to his main lender China and the shale boom floods North American refineries. Venezuelan exports of crude and petroleum products to the U.S. averaged 792,000 barrels a day in the first 11 months of 2013, which would be the lowest annual rate since 1985, according to data published yesterday on the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s website. State-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA is sending hundreds of thousands of barrels a day to China to pay back government loans. At the same time, refiners along the U.S. Gulf Coast are sourcing more domestic supply as a surge in drilling shale rock sends output to the highest in a quarter-century. “ Venezuela is losing out by selling crude to China, which is a market where they are netting back a […]

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Venezuela ’s annual oil exports to the U.S. are on track to reach a 28-year low as the South American country faces declining production, rising domestic demand and increased shipments to China . Venezuelan exports of oil and petroleum products to the U.S. have averaged 792,000 barrels a day in the first 11 months of 2013, the lowest annual rate seen since 1985, according to data through November published by the U.S.-based Energy Information Administration on its website today. Petroleos de Venezuela SA , the state-run oil company , sends hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day to China to pay back loans for billions of dollars made to Venezuela’s government. The company’s production, which averaged 2.9 million barrels a day in 2012, according to the company’s annual report for that year, averaged 2.45 million barrels a day in December last year, a Bloomberg survey showed. “Venezuela […]

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Tempers flared at airline offices in Caracas on Friday as Venezuelans reacted angrily to international carriers’ refusal to sell tickets after the government devalued the bolivar for flights abroad. The offices of American Airlines, Delta, United and Panama’s Copa were all either closed or had halted sales on Friday as the higher exchange rate took effect, adding to uncertainty as carriers try to collect $3.3 billion they say they’re owed by the socialist government. "Don’t waste your time," a United representative, sticking her head out from behind a closed glass door, told a group of 10 waiting customers standing outside a ticket office at Caracas’ Centro Lido shopping mall. "It’s out of our hands. We can’t sell any more tickets." When customers protested that they’d never experience such poor service in the US, the agent, who didn’t identify herself by name, said "our […]

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Venezuelan bonds fell hard Thursday, a day after the government announced a partial currency devaluation seen largely as insufficient to resolve the oil-rich country’s growing economic challenges. Economists said the government’s plan to sell more dollars to Venezuelans at a weaker exchange rate against the dollar would produce a marginal difference in its fiscal deficit, and likely prompt the central bank to continue printing the bolivar currency. That is likely to potentially exacerbate an inflation rate that is already at 56%, one of the world’s highest. Economy Vice Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, said Thursday that private companies would also be allowed to sell dollars. But details of the plan are scant, and observers said there was little indication that the state would do much to ease its rigid dollar controls. "It’s a case of too little, too […]

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Gasoline is so dirt-cheap in this country that the comparison undervalues dirt. Or, for that matter, almost any other element Venezuelan drivers can think of. “It’s cheaper than water,” said one motorist, pointing out that bottled water costs far more than the 95-octane gasoline gushing into his Ford Explorer. Click Here to View Full Graphic Story “Cheaper than air,” said the driver of a Chevy Tahoe, after paying more to fill a tire than the tank. “The cheapest in the world,” a third SUV owner boasted. “We could wash our hands with it.” And why not? Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves, and its government sets the price of premium gasoline at about 5 cents a gallon. Its real price — adjusted to the soaring street value of the U.S. dollar — is half a penny per gallon. Unlimited access to virtually free gasoline […]

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