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Venezuela arrests looters, store bosses in 'economic war'

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government announced arrests of both store managers and looters on Sunday as part of what it calls an "economic war" in Venezuela between the socialist state and unscrupulous businessmen. In a major pre-Christmas campaign reminiscent of the late President Hugo Chavez’s dramatic style, Maduro has sent soldiers to "occupy" one chain of electronics stores and inspectors into scores of others to check for price-gouging. Thousands of Venezuelans have been flocking to electronics stores, hoping to take advantage of new "fair prices" the government is imposing, sometimes half the previous cost. However, scenes of looting on Saturday at a store belonging to the occupied electronics chain, Daka, have left many Venezuelans ashamed and fueled opposition claims that Maduro is stirring chaos rather than defending the poor. Authorities announced that five managers, from the local Daka, JVG and Krash companies, would be prosecuted on charges […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela arrests looters, store bosses in ‘economic war’

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government announced arrests of both store managers and looters on Sunday as part of what it calls an "economic war" in Venezuela between the socialist state and unscrupulous businessmen. In a major pre-Christmas campaign reminiscent of the late President Hugo Chavez’s dramatic style, Maduro has sent soldiers to "occupy" one chain of electronics stores and inspectors into scores of others to check for price-gouging. Thousands of Venezuelans have been flocking to electronics stores, hoping to take advantage of new "fair prices" the government is imposing, sometimes half the previous cost. However, scenes of looting on Saturday at a store belonging to the occupied electronics chain, Daka, have left many Venezuelans ashamed and fueled opposition claims that Maduro is stirring chaos rather than defending the poor. Authorities announced that five managers, from the local Daka, JVG and Krash companies, would be prosecuted on charges […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuelan Soldiers Deployed to Stores

CARACAS, Venezuela — The Christmas shopping season has started with a jolt here, with the socialist Venezuelan government dispatching soldiers to “occupy” a major chain of electronic goods stores, ordering prices slashed there and in other shops that it has accused of price gouging. Huge crowds formed outside stores in several cities over the weekend as inflation-weary Venezuelans showed up hoping for bargains. Others took the government’s order as a license to loot: Some posted cellphone videos online showing large-screen televisions and other items being carted off in Valencia, the country’s third-largest city. The dramatic measures, ordered on Friday by President Nicolás Maduro, were reminiscent of the populist gestures of his immediate predecessor, Hugo Chávez, the country’s longtime leader who died in March . They come as the government grapples with serious economic problems, including inflation of 54 percent a year and shortages of many basic goods, including toilet […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela PdVSA Says Debts Resolved With 76% of Service Providers

By Kejal Vyas MARACAIBO, Venezuela–State energy company Petroleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA, has paid off some 76% of its more than 5,000 service providers who have reported long delays before receiving payments owed by the oil giant, Venezuela Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Thursday. Mr. Ramirez declined to specify in dollar terms how much was paid of the company’s total debt to service providers, which rose 35% last year to $16.7 billion. However, he said officials aimed to erase the remaining 24% of owed money over the next two months. “We want to start 2014, a year of production increases, with a private sector that doesn’t have the pressure of the debt,” Mr. Ramirez told investors at an oil conference. “We are fixing all of our affairs with private companies,” he added. PdVSA, which is the breadwinner for Venezuela’s economy and finances the government’s politically important social programs for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Superior Energy Equipment Seized by PDVSA in Venezuela

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state oil company, seized about $1 million worth of equipment from Superior Energy Services Inc. (SPN) , the Houston-based company said. PDVSA expropriated two hydraulic units that were idled after the Caracas-based company missed payments, Greg Rosenstein, head of corporate development, said by phone from New Orleans. The units operated in eastern Venezuela’s Anzoategui state, Associated Press reported Nov. 1. The move follows comments by Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez on Sept. 11 that private companies unwilling to work with PDVSA on increasing production capacity should leave the country. Superior has operated in Venezuela for 15 years. “We were surprised by the takeover as we have had a cordial relationship with PDVSA,” Rosenstein says. “We continue to work with PDVSA and the Venezuelan authorities and look to resolve this issue soon.” The so-called snubbing units have a combined value of about $1 million and Superior’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela’s government seizes US-owned oil rigs

Page added on November 3, 2013 Venezuela has quietly seized control of two oil rigs owned by a unit of Houston-based Superior Energy Services after the company shut them down because the state oil monopoly was months behind on payments.   The seizure took place Thursday after a judge in the state of Anzoategui, accompanied by four members of the local police and national guard, entered a Superior depot and ordered it to hand over control of two specialized rigs to an affiliate of PDVSA, the state-owned oil producer.   PDVSA justified the equipment’s expropriation, calling it essential to the South American nation’s development and welfare, according to a court order obtained by The Associated Press. Company workers were instructed to load the rigs, known as snubbing units and used to repair damaged casing, onto trucks to be deployed at “critical wells” elsewhere, according to the document.   “It […]

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Brazil's Petrobras Pulls Plug on Refinery Joint-Venture with PdVSA

RIO DE JANEIRO–Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, late Friday finally pulled the plug on a refinery joint venture with erstwhile Venezuelan partner Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA. While the firm failed to call PdVSA by name, Petrobras said that negotiations with “interested parties” had failed to reach an agreement within a fixed time-frame. The Abreu e Lima refinery under construction in Brazil’s Pernambuco state was incorporated, making it easier to find potential partners, Petrobras said. The $17 billion refinery project was beset with bickering and delays between Petrobras and PdVSA since the project was first launched in March 2008, as part of bilateral agreements signed between then-presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez. Petrobras, however, pledged to build the refinery alone after PdVSA failed to get loan guarantees from the Brazilian National Development Bank to pay for the Venezuelan company’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brazil’s Petrobras Pulls Plug on Refinery Joint-Venture with PdVSA

RIO DE JANEIRO–Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, late Friday finally pulled the plug on a refinery joint venture with erstwhile Venezuelan partner Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA. While the firm failed to call PdVSA by name, Petrobras said that negotiations with “interested parties” had failed to reach an agreement within a fixed time-frame. The Abreu e Lima refinery under construction in Brazil’s Pernambuco state was incorporated, making it easier to find potential partners, Petrobras said. The $17 billion refinery project was beset with bickering and delays between Petrobras and PdVSA since the project was first launched in March 2008, as part of bilateral agreements signed between then-presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez. Petrobras, however, pledged to build the refinery alone after PdVSA failed to get loan guarantees from the Brazilian National Development Bank to pay for the Venezuelan company’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela denies devaluation coming

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government denied on Friday forecasts of an imminent devaluation due to anxiety in Venezuela over shortages of dollars and the soaring black market rate for the greenback in the South American OPEC nation. "A devaluation is not being planned here," said Rafael Ramirez, whom Maduro recently named vice-president in charge of economic policy as well as being oil minister. "This is not a problem of lack of foreign currency," he added, saying Venezuela had ample reserves – about $30.5 billion – combined in the Central Bank, its special development fund Fonden and from Chinese loans. Many private economists have been predicting a devaluation of the bolivar after local elections in December, probably in early 2014. Ramirez said such talk was unjustified scaremongering from business groups and anti-government media. "They want to create panic," he said, casting the devaluation talk as part of a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple