Tag Archives: exports

Nov
30
2012
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 11/30/12

In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 11/30/12

Courtesy of: Raul Abreu / AP

This week: the Bolivar’s value hits a record low as Chávez feels the pressure to increase bond sales; the Venezuelan opposition seeks amnesty for political prisoners and opponents of Chávez living in exile; and Venezuelan Judge Afiuni says she was raped while in prison, after she was jailed for issuing a ruling that irked Chávez. Chávez’s recent medical trip to Cuba causes many Venezuelans to question his longevity and the viability of his socialist regime; the central bank of Venezuela reports that non-oil exports are at their worst level since 1997; Henri Falcón, the opposition governor of Lara, says he and supporters were attacked with tear gas and stones during a political event. Meanwhile, Chávez continues to advance his plan for communes in Venezuela; the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean registered an escalation of poverty in Venezuela, despite the decrease in poverty in other Latin American countries. Lastly, the Economist reports that Chávez’s nationalization of Venezuelan ports has led to inefficient, congested wharves and a dramatic increase in imports.

Chavez Choking on Bolivars to Spur Venezuelan Bond Sales, Bloomberg

The bolivar’s plunge to a record on the black market is pressuring Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to end the longest drought of dollar-bond sales in five years.

Venezuela opposition seeks amnesty for prisoners and return home for Chavez opponents in exile, Washington Post

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan opposition lawmakers have drawn up a list of prisoners they consider to be wrongly jailed and want freed, and are also demanding that dozens of government opponents living in exile should be allowed to return home.

Venezuelan Judge Who Angered Chávez Says She Was Raped While in Prison, New York Times

CARACAS, Venezuela — An arrested judge at the center of one of Venezuela’s most prominent human rights cases was raped while in prison and then had an abortion behind bars after becoming pregnant, according to the judge’s lawyer and a book published last week in Caracas that has stirred new controversy around the case.

Venezuelan non-oil exports at the worst level since 1997, El Universal

Venezuela’s entry into the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) took place amidst the worst moment of the local industry. Dependence on oil revenues, higher imports, and small export capacity are just some of the aspects defining the country’s current economy.

Chavez’s return to Cuba for treatment rattles Venezuela, Reuters

(Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez flew into Cuba on Wednesday for cancer-linked medical treatment that revived questions about the viability of his socialist rule and left Venezuelans again guessing about his exact condition.

Venezuela Opposition Gov Says Supporters Attacked, ABC News

The opposition governor of Lara state in central Venezuela says he and his followers were attacked with guns, tear gas and stones during a political event, presumably by rival ruling party supporters.

Communal state advances in Venezuela, Buenos Aires Herald

Barely a wink after the October presidential elections, Venezuelans will once again be returning to the polls on Sunday, December 16. With Hugo Chávez re-elected for another six years with 54 percent of the vote, but absent and silent for the last 12 days and now heading to Cuba for more medical treatment, in the coming elections Venezuelans will now choose 23 governors and 233 state lawmakers.

Venezuela Raises Prices on Corn Flour, Rice, Coffee, Loyo Says, Bloomberg

Venezuela raised price caps on pre- cooked corn flour, white rice and ground coffee by as much as 46 percent, Agriculture Minister Juan Carlos Loyo said today. The cost of a kilogram of pre-cooked corn flour rose 46 percent to 5.93 bolivars ($1.38) from 4.06 bolivars and a kilogram of white rice rose 28 percent to 7.2 bolivars from 5.62 bolivars, Loyo said on state television.

ECLAC: Poverty and indigence escalate in Venezuela, El Universal

According to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), based on information compiled until 2011, seven out of 12 countries in Latin America reported a drop in poverty.

Cancelling Christmas, The Economist

THOSE who claim to deplore the commercialisation of Christmas should move to Venezuela. Seasonal products, from Christmas trees to toys, trinkets and delicacies, are piled up in the country’s ports, thanks to inefficient, congested wharves and a dramatic increase in imports.

 
Jul
28
2010
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Tense energy ties between Venezuela and United States

This article was originally posted by Reuters Africa

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to cut off oil supplies to the United States in case of any military attack by Colombia as a row escalates over charges that Venezuela harbors leftist Colombian guerrillas.

Despite his heated rhetoric, the former paratrooper has never followed through on several previous threats to stop U.S. shipments. But energy ties between the two nations have become increasingly tense in recent years.

FALLING EXPORTS

* The United States is the Latin American OPEC member’s top customer, and Venezuela is currently the fifth biggest U.S. supplier after Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Nigeria. The volume of Venezuelan crude shipped to the United States has fallen 39 percent to 1.08 million barrels per day (bpd) last year from a peak of 1.78 million bpd in 1997, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says. (r.reuters.com/hyp99m)

* The decline is partly due to increasing sales by Caracas to customers such as Cuba, China and Iran, as well as stagnating production by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

* U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, for its part, wants to develop an energy policy that reduces foreign oil dependence.

THREATS TO SUPPLIES

* Chavez first warned back in February 2004 that he would shut off Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States if it tried to invade the Andean nation or impose a trade blockade against his country — after he accused former U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration of backing a short-lived coup attempt against him in 2002. The following month, he backed away from the threat and said he did not have any intention of damaging relations with Washington.

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Jul
27
2010
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Chaos in Caracas: Chavez Says U.S. Hastening Plans to Attack

This article was orginally posted by The Huffington Post

Earlier this month Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez ordered scientists to exhume the 180-year-old remains of his hero, independence leader Simón Bolívar. But over the weekend Chávez showed his biggest bone to pick is still with America.

On Saturday, Chávez announced on State Television that the United States is accelerating a plan to attack the oil-rich nation under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking, citing a memo from a secret source inside America. The announcement capped off a frenetic two-week period in Venezuela that began with the interment of Bolívar and included a move by Chávez to seize a major stake of Globovision, the country’s only remaining opposition broadcast outlet. By last Thursday, Chávez had formally severed diplomatic relations with backyard rival Colombia. And then, just for good measure, he threatened to halt all oil exports to America in the face of a U.S. attack.

Of course, this isn’t the first time the mercurial Venezuelan leader has made anti-American accusations of dubious merit, and Latin American historians say this is just another case of Chávez being Chávez. But one still wonders why the president is ramping up the rhetoric so drastically now. Some analysts have suggested that his antics serve as an opening salvo of aggression toward Juan Manuel Santos, who will be inaugurated president of Colombia on Aug. 7, when Álvaro Uribé, an ally of President Obama, steps down. But it’s equally likely that Chávez wants to upend his own country’s parliamentary elections in September.

Venezuela’s economy is sagging and its crime rate is spiking. Chávez’s rural base is upset with him after 30,000 tons of food, destined for poor neighborhoods, was discovered rotting in Venezuelan warehouses. Chávez’s socialist government is in no danger of losing the majority, but opposition parties are making inroads. In desperate need of diversion, Chávez has created a state of high alert.

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