Tag Archives: military

May
17
2013
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In Case You Missed It…Articles Roundup Week of 5/13/13

This week: Shortages prevent Venezuelans from buying basic foodstuffs, from milk to flour to cooking oil. Foreign direct investment plummets The widespread shortages caused by Maduro’s socialist policies have now choked off the supply of a new household item: toilet paper; To address rampant crime, Maduro sends Venezuela’s military into high-violence areas. Analysts worry that Venezuela, entirely dependent on oil revenues, may turn into a failed state when oil prices inevitably drop. Desperate for a scapegoat on which to blame Venezuela’s economic woes, Maduro accuses Venezuela’s largest food company, Polar, of hoarding.  Polar’s CEO convincingly rebuts these allegations and offers advice on how the government might work with the private sector to combat shortages. A conciliatory Maduro begins to show signs of extending an olive branch to the private sector.

 

Eclac reports 15% drop in foreign investment in Venezuela in 2012, El Universal

Foreign investment in Venezuela fell 15% in 2012, said the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) of the United Nations in its report “Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America,” released on Tuesday. The regional agency report highlighted that in 2012, Venezuela received USD 3.21 billion versus 3.77 billion a year earlier. In this way, Ecuador joined Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bahamas, Granada, Saint Kitts and Saint Lucia as the only countries in the region where foreign investment has dropped. Thanks to the positive performance of other countries, on average, Latin America and the Caribbean in 2012 hit a new record amount of direct foreign investment of  USD 173.36 billion (6.7% higher than in 2011), despite the external context of declining capital flows, Eclac reported in a press release.

How food shortages are dividing Venezuela, BBC News

Some 30 people are queuing outside a state-run supermarket in the 23 de Enero neighbourhood in Caracas. A woman walks out with a bag in her hands. “There is milk!” she says enthusiastically, much to the delight of the other customers. Milk is one of the products that are not easily available in Venezuela. Others include toilet paper, sugar, cooking oil and the cornflour used to make arepas, Venezuela’s national dish. According to data from Venezuela’s Central Bank, the scarcity index rose to 21% last month, the highest since the bank started tracking the measure in 2009. This means that out of 100 goods, 21 are not available.

Roiled over rolls: No toilet paper has Venezuelans fuming, USA Today

Gil, a 43-year-old Venezuelan housewife, spent two days looking for toilet paper in this city of 150,000 in the central state of Aragua. She found paper towels and napkins but no toilet paper. Gil, a 43-year-old Venezuelan housewife, spent two days looking for toilet paper in this city of 150,000 in the central state of Aragua. She found paper towels and napkins but no toilet paper.”Call me a counterrevolutionary but there are certain things that are essential and toilet paper is one of them,” she says, staring at the bare shelves where toilet tissue used to be stocked at the Morichal supermarket, one of the city’s largest. “What do they expect us to use? Banana leaves?”

 

Venezuela’s military enters high-crime slums, Miami Herald

Stern-looking soldiers clutching assault rifles wave down the beat-up Chevy Caprice entering this sprawling slum on the outskirts of Caracas. Flashlights in his face, the driver steps out and places his hands on the roof while the soldiers frisk him for drugs and weapons. He’s clean, and a hand gesture from the commanding officer sends him off into the maze of ramshackle homes that is Petare, one of the most dangerous parts of Venezuela’s notoriously crime-infested capital.

The People of Venezuela Are in Dire Need of Toilet Paper, New York

The AP brings us news that Venezuela is having a serious humanitarian crisis, one with which anyone who’s ever made a frantic late-night run to the corner bodega can sympathize. Namely, the entire country is running out of toilet paper. Venezuela’s socialist government has promised to import 50 million rolls of toilet paper (or maybe 25 million double-rolls?) and 760,000 pounds of food to make sure all citizens can eat and poop in comfort once more. “The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper,” the country’s commerce minister said. “We are going to

Venezuela remains mired in a political and economic crisis that shows no signs of letting up. But while street protests, soaring inflation, scarcity, and skyrocketing crime are massive headaches, the government can count on still-high oil prices to soothe the pain a bit. The question that begs asking is: How will Venezuela maintain stability if oil prices drop?

Venezuelan food firm tells Maduro government to boost output, Reuters

Venezuela’s top food producer, Empresas Polar, on Monday challenged the country’s socialist government to boost output of basic staples and ease nagging product shortages, rejecting accusations it is hoarding products to destabilize the economy. Food supplies have become increasingly unsteady since late last year. Shoppers struggle to find corn, wheat flour and basic medicines – a constant complaint that could become a political liability for President Nicolas Maduro. The president over the weekend said Polar, which makes products from beer to detergent, was intentionally cutting output to leave supermarket shelves bare and weaken his government through “economic war.” Polar President Lorenzo Mendoza, in a combative press conference, said the product shortages have been partly spurred by inefficiency of state-run companies nationalized during the 14-year-rule of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Caracas Offers Peace to Private Sector, Wall Street Journal

New President Nicolás Maduro, trying to shore up Venezuela’s economy amid growing shortages of everything from corn flour to toilet paper, has extended an olive branch to the country’s private sector, in particular the country’s largest food maker. It is a surprising turnaround given the antics of his predecessor, the late populist Hugo Chávez, who regularly threatened to nationalize the food maker, Empresas Polar SA, and accused it of hoarding products in order to sabotage his self-styled revolution.

 
Jul
12
2012
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Chavez foe addresses military ahead of election

Associated Press
July 12, 2012
By Fabiola Sanchez

Capriles Radonski1 Chavez foe addresses military ahead of election

Courtesy of: AVN

Opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles urged Venezuela’s armed forces to stay out of politics in a carefully crafted plea Thursday to an institution that has long been molded by President Hugo Chavez.

During 13 years in office, Chavez has endeavored to place his political stamp on the military command, promoting trusted officers and also giving former barracks comrades key political posts.

On Sunday, Chavez used an appearance at a military graduation ceremony to accuse Capriles of seeking to foment violence by trying to made inroads in poor neighborhoods, which have long been bastions of support for the leftist president.

The Capriles camp accused Chavez, a former paratrooper, of seeking to politicize the armed forces.

“The current government wants to confuse political rights with party activities, showing disrespect for soldiers and their families,” Capriles said in a speech broadcast by private television channels Thursday night. “The cult of personality they try to establish in our armed forces makes it lose its bearing, that’s not the mission of a commander in chief.”

Chavez, who led bloody but failed 1992 coup attempt, insisted during a news conference on Monday that soldiers “will be the first ones to support the will of the majority, whatever it is.”

During the election, soldiers are responsible for keeping order and safeguarding voting equipment and voter rolls. And because the election is expected to be hotly contested, there are fears that tensions could boil over into violence.

“Never before in Venezuela’s history is their role going to be so decisive in maintaining calm inside polling stations,” Rocio San Miguel, leader of the independent watchdog Control Ciudadano, said of the nation’s troops.

Opposition concerns of potential armed forces meddling in politics were spurred by a close Chavez confidant, Gen. Henry Rangel Silva, who told a newspaper in 2010 that the military would refuse to recognize an election victory by the opposition.

“A hypothetical opposition government starting in 2012 would be selling out the country; the armed forces are not going to accept that,” Rangel was quoted as saying at the time by the newspaper Ultimas Noticias.

Chavez defended Rangel, who was then a member of the joint chiefs of staff, and later appointed him defense minister.

Several senior military officials, including Rangel, have been accused by the United States of assisting drug traffickers and supplying arms to Colombia’s leftist rebels, who also have taken refuge in Venezuelan territory.

Chavez rejects the accusations.

Capriles said that if he wins election, he will prevent Colombian rebels from seeking refuge in Venezuela.

He also made an indirect reference to accusations that some members of the military have been corrupted by criminal organizations.

“We cannot permit drug-trafficking, guerrillas and paramilitary groups to infiltrate and use our institutions,” he said.

Venezuela is the departure point for aerial cocaine smuggling to the United States, according to U.S. officials.

To read this article on the Associated Press, please click here.

 
Jul
10
2012
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Who’s Next Venezuela: Another Potential Successor

Diosdado Cabello, President of the National Assembly

Diosdado Cabello Whos Next Venezuela: Another Potential Successor

Courtesy of: AVN

Long an ally of the Venezuelan President, National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello has also found his name put forward as one of the possible successors to Hugo Chávez.

Cabello’s relationship with Chávez goes back as far as the attempted 1992 coup, which landed them both in jail. Since then he has continued to rise through the ranks of Chávez’s party, serving as vice president, and even acting president during the 2002 coup when Chávez was ousted for two days. He loyally held the office only until Chávez was able to return.

The 49-year-old has served in a variety of cabinet positions under Chávez before being elected to his current post as President of the National Assembly. He is seen as a powerful leader within the PSUV and a trusted ally of Chávez.

Cabello has frequently appeared at Chávez’s side during public events. He is also known for his fiery tongue, and is often a leading PSUV member to publically contradict speculation about Chávez’s health. He is also a political attack dog, frequently launching scathing criticisms of the opposition. He has been on the defensive lately, however, forced to defend Chávez’s heavy use of the government media he insisted, curiously, that “Chávez is already in the streets” after questions emerged regarding when the president’s next campaign event would take place.

Analysts point out his background as a former soldier, like Chávez, could help him maintain ties with the military during the transition. Thus, even if he is not chosen as the next president, his support might be necessary to ensure a smooth and peaceful transition.

A short but fiery controversy sprung up in May when posters supporting Cabello for president appeared in Caracas. Although PSUV officials dismissed these posters as the work of provocateurs, their mere appearance, in addition to the fact that Cabello felt them worthy of a denial, shows that tensions do exist within the party.

Like the other successors, Cabello has neither the charisma nor the popular appeal of Chávez. In fact, polls show that he is the least popular among the leaders of Chávez’s party. In fact, he has actually already lost to opposition candidate Henrique Capriles once, in the 2008 campaign for governor of Miranda state.

He also has ties to the business community, which may hurt his image among the Chávez’s most staunchly socialist supporters. And recently, Cabello was also alleged to have ties to drug traffickers by former judge Eladio Aponte Aponte, further damaging his chances.

Given Cabello’s unpopularity among Venezuelans and ties to drug trafficking, his is perceived by some to be towards the bottom of the short list to be Chávez’s successor. However, his ties to the military and proven loyalty to the party practically guarantee that he will play an important role in any succession.