Monthly Archives: October 2011

Oct
11
2011
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Expropriações dão prejuízo a Hugo Chávez

Um estudo realizado por economistas venezuelanos mostra que a política de expropriações do governo do presidente Hugo Chávez só deu prejuízo nos últimos anos. As empresas tomadas para desenvolver o país e acabar com as prateleiras vazias e os preços elevados dos alimentos se tornaram indústrias com baixa produção ou praticamente inativas.

Entre 2007 e 2009 , a Venezuela gastou mais com as expropriações (US$ 23 bilhões) do que os investimentos necessários para manter a produção petrolífera da PDVSA, principal fonte de renda do país (US$ 21 bilhões). A cifra não inclui as empresas expropriadas que não conseguiram acordo para as indenizações e submeteram o caso à arbitragem internacional.

O livro Gestión en Rojo, dos economistas Richard Obuchi, Annabela Abadi e Bárbara Lira, do Instituto de Estudos Superiores de Administração (IESA), analisa 16 grandes empresas compradas entre 2007 e 2009 – período da principal ofensiva contra o setor industrial privado. Em entrevista ao Estado, Obuchi afirmou que hoje as empresas não são autossuficientes financeiramente.

Click here to read more.

 
Oct
7
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 10/7/11

In this week’s roundup… As Venezuela’s economy and infrastructure continue to crumble, President Hugo Chávez insists on furthering his failed economic policies and expropriations; inflation spikes as Venezuelan merchants struggle to turn profits; the remains of former President Carlos Andrés Perez are finally buried at home; Chávez turns a blind eye to accusations of government complicity in the drug trade; and six in 10 Venezuelans say that the president should not be reelected next year.                                                                                                                               

Chavez: Houses on Caribbean islands will be seized, The Associated Press

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Thursday that his government will expropriate homes on the Caribbean resort islands of Los Roques, saying the structures were built on plots bought in shadowy business deals.

Venezuela’s infrastructure falling apart, The Economist 

ENSURING that the engines stay properly attached to the fuselage is, one might think, a fairly fundamental part of maintaining a passenger aircraft.

FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in Venezuela, Reuters

Speculation about President Hugo Chavez’s health after cancer treatment, falling oil output that could slow economic recovery and rising passions ahead of next year’s presidential election are the main risks to watch in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s new political battlefield: Twitter, The Associated Press via The Washington Times

Over months, Venezuelan TV soap opera writer Leonardo Padron built a Twitter following of about 250,000 people by posting more than a dozen messages a day, many of them skewering President Hugo Chavez.

 

All that’s gold doesn’t glitter, CNN (By Fareed Zakaria)

What do Hugo Chavez and Glenn Beck have in common? The socialist/populist president of Venezuela and the right-wing talk show host often have strange ideas – just not the same ones.

The struggle to balance inflation and shortages in Venezuela, Christian Science Monitor            

A recent El Universal has an article talking about how hard it is for local producers in Venezuela to sell regulated products at a profit, which leads to shortages.

Venezuelans rally as body of ex-leader returns, AFP

Thousands of supporters of former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez rallied in the capital after the return of his body from the United States following a long legal battle.

Six out of 10 people think that Chávez should not be reelected, El Universal

They would like the Venezuelan Head of State to complete his term in 2012.The positive assessment of President Hugo Chávez’s administration reached 58.9% in September, a 10% increase compared to July, according to Venezuelan polling company Datanálisis.

By the planeload: Hugo Chávez seems unperturbed by claims of official complicity in crime, The Economist

OPPONENTS of Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, are eagerly awaiting the trial of Walid Makled, a businessman extradited from Colombia five months ago.

 
Oct
6
2011
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Venezuela’s Infrastructure Crumbles as Nationalizations Continue on the Rise

Engines falling off of jet planes, commuter trains colliding, jacuzzi-size holes in the middle of main roads – those are but a few examples of the perils Venezuelans face when traveling in and out of the country. As the Chávez government continues to nationalize the remaining private companies in the transportation industry, the outlook for Venezuela’s already-crippled infrastructure does not look promising.

Transportation-related accidents are up across-the-board in Venezuela, causing delays and endangering the Venezuelan people no matter how they choose to travel. Frequent air travelers were alarmed to learn that a DC-9 belonging to Aeropostal, a state-owned Venezuelan airline lost both of its engines during a recent landing in Puerto Ordaz. The incident should not come as surprise to anyone. After all, Venezuela has reportedly the most obsolete air fleet in the Americas.  In the month of September alone, there were 33 aviation scares.

Nobody is safe in Venezuela, neither by air or land. Three days after the Puerto Ordaz near-disaster, three Caracas commuter trains collided, killing a driver and injuring dozens of passengers. Two days earlier, traffic heading into the city of Maracaibo was held up for hours after a metal joint between two sections of a long bridge over Lake Maracaibo fell into the waters below. To add insult to injury, potholes in Venezuela’s roads have become so large that local reporters have drummed up a new term to describe them – “mega-holes.” Some of these holes are large enough to swallow an entire vehicle.

True to form, Mr. Chávez has responded to the infrastructure crisis by doing what he does best – ordering more expropriations.  The recent takeover of Conferry is the latest instance of an expropriation frenzy which experts see as “part of the problem, rather than the solution.” Chávez has even “centralized” control of many public services, which were once run by Venezuela’s local governments. As the government bureaucracy swells, public services become unreliable and dangerous. In the past 10 years, for example, the Caracas metro has been riddled by breakdowns, overcrowding, and lengthy delays.

While Mr. Chávez’s 21st Century Socialism continues to crumble, Venezuelans may increasingly choose to just stay home.