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Apr
12
2013
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 4/12/13

i6QvFtK66Hb8 e1365799638594 In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 4/12/13

Courtesy of: Agence France Presse

This week: Interim president Nicolás Maduro, once ahead by double digits, takes a quickly narrowing lead into the presidential election weekend in Venezuela; though many thought he was a long shot, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles may indeed have what it takes to defeat Venezuela’s socialist establishment; this election presents the ultimate test for the late Hugo Chávez’s 21st century socialism, something that not lived up to its leaders’ promises; if elected, Capriles wants to improve ties with the United States and other nations. The campaign between Capriles and Maduro has been anything but boring; Maduro continues to churn out ridiculous conspiracy theories, in hopes they will deter attention away from the real issues Venezuela has faced under his and his predecessor’s leadership; Willie Colón, a Bronx-born salsa performer with Puerto Rico ties, releases a new song targeting Maduro; 40 student protestors participating in a hunger strike to promote a fair election were attacked by radical Chávez and Maduro supporters; to combat the increase of kidnapping cases, Venezuelans are banding together to create informal insurance societies to pay off ransoms; Capriles and Maduro end a hotly-contested yet short campaign season each with large rallies; a “reckoning” approaches for Venezuela, as the economy is set to suffer even more in the coming year; despite being one of the most oil rich countries on the planet, Venezuelans still struggle to find the most basic necessities; power shortages also remain a focus for Venezuelan voters, as many blame the current government for ignoring the problem and not taking the necessary steps to deal with the issue. Meanwhile, Maduro is poised to go after Venezuela’s most successful private company, Polar; the Venezuelan government continues to struggle against the inflation and shortages its economic policies have created; meanwhile, a new bill under consideration may increase expropriations and further marginalize Venezuela’s dwindling private sector.

Maduro Takes Narrowing Lead Into Sunday Vote, The Associated Press

Red-shirted backers of Hugo Chavez’s chosen heir transformed downtown Caracas into a raucous festival on the final day of campaigning for the weekend presidential election, flooding the streets Thursday in the hundreds of thousands to dance, drink beer and set off ear-splitting fireworks.

Can Henrique Capriles Defeat Venezuela’s Socialist Establishment?, ABC News

His presidential campaign has been viewed by many as a long shot, or described as an impossible dream. But on Sunday, as hundreds of thousands of people jammed the streets of Caracas to hear him speak, Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles assured his ecstatic supporters that he would win the country’s upcoming election.

Venezuela election to test Chavez’s socialist legacy, Reuters

The late Hugo Chavez’s self-declared socialist revolution will be put to the test at a presidential election on Sunday that pits his chosen successor against a younger rival promising change in the nation he polarized.

Venezuela’s Capriles Wants Better Ties With U.S. If Elected President, Fox News Latino

Cutting off subsidized oil to Cuba, distancing his country from nations that disrespect human rights and shoring up the South American country’s own troubled economy with the billions it now sends abroad to socialist friends are some of the thing that Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles has promised if elected.

Say again? Venezuela’s presidential candidates trade barbs, zingers in animated campaign, Fox News

Venezuela’s animated campaign ahead of its April 14 presidential election has seen its share of shake-your-head remarks by both candidates: Interim President Nicolas Maduro of the ruling party, and opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.

Plots and sabotage: Chavez candidate spins conspiracy theories ahead of Venezuelan election, The Washington Post

Salvadoran mercenaries are plotting with Venezuela’s opposition candidate to assassinate interim President Nicolas Maduro.

Star Hurls Musical Barbs Before Venezuela’s Vote, The New York Times

Political campaigns in Venezuela often can seem like a battle of the bands. Songs written for the campaigns blast from huge speakers at rallies and from the backs of trucks that drive around cities where candidates appear.

Radical Socialists Attack Student Protesters in Venezuela, ABC News

A group of 40 students that is currently on hunger strike to demand fair elections in Venezuela was attacked on Monday night by alleged supporters of Venezuelan interim president, Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuelan Ransom Funds Hedge Against Kidnaps as Candidates Spar, Bloomberg Businessweek

Venezuelans are banding together to create informal insurance societies to pay off criminals in case of kidnapping as violence soars and moves to the forefront of voters’ priorities before the April 14 presidential election.

Venezuela’s bitter campaign ends with big rallies, Global Post

Venezuela’s acting President Nicolas Maduro tearfully vowed to complete Hugo Chavez’s socialist revolution Thursday while rival Henrique Capriles promised change at emotional rallies to close their bitter campaign.

The reckoning after Venezuela’s election, The Washington Post

AN INTREPID Venezuelan tweeter has been keeping track of the number of times that Nicolas Maduro, the country’s interim president, has mentioned Hugo Chavez on television or radio since the caudillo’s death on March 5.

In Venezuelan election, food security – or lack thereof – can turn votes, USA Today

Venezuelans complain that what goes into their Sunday dinner plate comes from abroad: Steak, from Brazil; plantains, the Dominican Republic; rice, South Africa; Parmesan cheese, Uruguay; oats, Chile. Even coffee, in a country famed for it, often is Colombian.

Power Shortages Become a Hot Topic in Venezuela’s Presidential Race, ABC News

Venezuela’s interim president Nicolas Maduro launched his presidential campaign in Hugo Chavez’s home state of Barinas hoping that when voters head to the polls this Sunday they will identify him with the deceased socialist leader.

Venezuela goes after Polar, Financial Times

The Hugo Chávez years went well for Polar, Venezuela’s biggest privately owned company, which did solid business despite all the president’s radical socialist rhetoric.

Venezuela to Hold New Dollar Auction After Election This Month, Bloomberg

Venezuela will hold a second dollar auction on a complementary currency system created last month after presidential elections are held on April 14, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters yesterday during an interview.

Draft Law in Venezuela Is the Private Sector’s Death Knell, The Huffington Post

On April 4, acting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced he had uncovered a “conspiracy” to destabilize the government in order to lend support to his opponent in the upcoming elections, Miranda Governor Henrique Capriles Radonski.

 
Feb
24
2012
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 2/24/12

In this week’s roundup…  The Chávez administration hurled insults at opposition candidate Henrique Capriles following his landslide victory in the primaries; several Jewish groups publicly condemned Chávez’s anti-Semitic remarks against Capriles. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez heads to Cuba to undergo a third operation after doctors found another lesion where his last tumor was removed, stoking speculations about who will succeed Chávez if he is forced to step down.  A new report found that private construction in Venezuela is down 70 percent in the last two years, contributing to the critical housing shortage; Chinese loans drive PDVSA toward bankruptcy; Gold Reserve Inc. concludes oral hearings in ICSID arbitration against Venezuela; and Chávez continues to foster relationships with controversial governments, including Iran and Syria.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez faces an uprising at the ballot box, The Washington Post

Henrique Capriles Radonski, a 39-year-old Venezuelan state governor, won a primary election to become the opposition’s candidate against Hugo Chavez in October’s presidential election.

Chavez Media Say Rival Capriles Backs Plots Ranging From Nazis to Zionists, Bloomberg

Venezuela’s state media has accused opposition presidential nominee Henrique Capriles Radonski of offenses ranging from participating in a Zionist conspiracy to joining a Nazi-inspired effort to wipe out blacks and the poor.

El loco’s new foe, The New York Post

The reign of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez faces its worst trouble in years. The normally fractured opposition has suddenly united behind one man, Henrique Capriles Radonski, in the Oct. 7 presidential election.      

Jewish groups decry ‘anti-Semitic’ Venezuelan state media article, CNN

A Venezuelan state media article about Chavez’s chief political challenger drew criticism from the New York-based Anti-Defamation League and the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center last week. 

AJC Decries Anti-Semitic Assaults in Venezuela Presidential Campaign, Market Watch

“If President Chavez wants to convince the world that Venezuela is a democracy, he needs to act now to show that there is no room for willful hate,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

Chávez Health Struggle Stokes Political Uncertainties, The Wall Street Journal

New uncertainties about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s health are threatening to spur a power struggle to succeed him among the factions that make up his political movement, and boosting the hopes of a rejuvenated opposition planning for the presidential election this fall.

What Happens Next in Venezuela?, Foreign Policy

What happens if an incapacitated Chávez wins? Or, will a dying Chávez’s anointing of a successor succeed in overcoming a unified and energized opposition for the first time in a decade? Or, will voters, burdened by declining economic conditions and rising crime, opt for a new direction in the face of the uncertainty surrounding Chávez and the lack of a legitimate standard-bearer for his movement?

The republic vs. Chávez, The Miami Herald

You multiply it by 2.5 or 3 — depending on whom you ask. That’s how you usually translate the votes from the primaries into the final election results. Electoral experts insist that the three million votes obtained by Henrique Capriles in the Venezuelan primaries could bring him between 7.5 and nine million votes in the balloting against Hugo Chávez. Enough to remove him from power.

Private construction drops 70% in the past two years, El Universal

The president of the Venezuelan Construction Chamber, Juan Francisco Jiménez, stated that private construction has dropped 70% in the last two years. The situation was described as serious by the businessman leader, who said that the construction industry is necessary for the country’s development.

Thousands Of Homeless An Election Issue For Chavez, NPR

Oil-rich Venezuela is awash in hundreds of thousands of homeless. Many find places to live where they can — in half-finished shopping malls or under the grandstand at a race track. The huge number of homeless has become an election issue for President Hugo Chavez, who is seeking his fourth, six-year term.

Chinese loans put Venezuela over barrel, The Washington Times

Opposition groups in Venezuela are warning that billions of dollars in Chinese loans are driving the state oil company toward bankruptcy.

Gold Reserve Announces Conclusion of Oral Hearings in ICSID Arbitration Against Venezuela, Business Wire

Gold Reserve Inc. announces that the oral hearings held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and presided over by a three-member tribunal in the arbitration conducted under the auspices of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes concluded, as scheduled, on February 17, 2012.

As Others Isolate Syria, Chávez Ships Fuel to It, The New York Times

A day before the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn President Bashar al-Assad of Syria this month for his bloody crackdown on the uprising in his country, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela was conducting a very different kind of diplomacy on his own.

Iran and Venezuela, BFF, The NY Daily News

At a time when the world is rightly focused on the Iranian nuclear threat and its intentions against Israel, it is also important to not lose sight of that country’s clandestine dealings in Latin America. Its activities there serve multiple purposes. None of them is benign.

 

 
Dec
5
2011
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ICYMI: Chávez’s 40-Year Plan to Conquer Vice ‘Socialism, socialism and more socialism.’

The Wall Street Journal
December 5, 2011
By Mary Anastasia O’Grady

Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez says his Bolivarian Revolution needs more time to produce its utopian fruits. “We barely have 10 years here,” he told a crowd of supporters in Caracas last week. “We will take it to 10 more and 10 more and 10 more to construct the new social virtues.”

In that time, Mr. Chávez pledged, “we will deepen the socialist revolution: socialism, socialism and more socialism. We have to deepen the struggle and defeat the vices of the past that still persists among us: violence, insecurity, corruption, selfishness, individualism.”

Considering that the human condition hasn’t changed much since we got kicked out of the garden, a 40-year plan to conquer vice seems pretty ambitious. But Mr. Chávez has never suffered a lack of self-confidence. Of course being an individual is hardly a vice. On the other hand, notably absent from his list was another perennial transgression that has yet to be defeated in Venezuela: the central bank’s sinful practice of printing money to finance the government.

Double-digit inflation has been the Venezuelan norm for decades. An annual rate below 20% since 1987 has been the exception; this year the International Monetary Fund expects a 25% increase in the price level.

Of course Mr. Chávez does not blame the central bank for inflation. In his school of economics rising prices are caused by producers, suppliers and merchants, who control the availability of goods and continually charge more for their products so that they can have a fatter profit. The solution to this injustice against the consumer, according to chavismo, is price controls. When they don’t work, the answer is more of the same.

It was 2003 when the Chávez government introduced its first big wave of price controls. That year inflation exceeded 31%. Since then prices have been frozen on a wide variety of food items—meat, corn flour, rice, bread, sugar, coffee, powdered milk, cooking oil—and a host of other products and services, including cement and building materials, domestic air travel, private education and medical clinics. The main effect is that many items that used to be readily available are now scarce. Yet inflation stubbornly persists.

The inflation tax hits the poor the hardest and they are Mr. Chávez’s most important constituents. Thus, in August he officially redoubled his efforts to control inflation by decreeing the “law of costs and fair prices.” This sweeping new legislation creates a regulator charged with monitoring what consumers are charged, analyzing those charges by researching the cost of production and setting “just” prices. An army of 4,000 apparatchiks will make up “committees” that will fan out around the country to report and denounce noncompliance. Hoarders, speculators or anyone found guilty of price gouging will be prosecuted. Offenders can be fined, lose their property, be banned from commerce, and even go to jail.

Among Mr. Chávez’s more amusing traits—providing you don’t live in Venezuela—is his unshakable belief that he can dictate what the Austrian classical-economist Ludwig Von Mises called “human action.” Thousands of years of experience suggest otherwise, most recently in the Soviet Union. But never mind. It is Venezuela’s destiny to suffer central-planning hubris all over again.

Mr. Chávez recognizes at least some limitations. He knows he cannot decide, from the commanding heights, every price in the Venezuelan economy on day one. So his latest effort will start small. On Nov. 22 his government added 19 new products, mostly in the area of personal hygiene and home-cleaning, to the list of items with frozen prices. By Dec. 15 regulators will have analyzed the cost to make these products—advertising and marketing costs not included—and will decide what they should be sold for. Once those prices are set, the bean counters will move on to other goods.

Mr. Chávez has asked the regulators to keep a close eye on foreign-based companies like Colgate-Palmolive, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline, and Johnson and Johnson. The Italian milk company Parmalat, now controlled by the French Lactalis Group, has already been accused of hoarding. But the large Venezuelan food producer Polar is also in Mr. Chávez’s cross-hairs.

Putting aside the absurdity of government bureaucrats overruling the laws of supply and demand, there is also the problem that many producers require dollars—which are not available at the official exchange rate—to pay for imported inputs. If the state insists on using the artificially strong Bolivar exchange rate to calculate costs, the vast majority of producers will either be judged guilty of overcharging or go out of business.

Consumers are anticipating what will ensue. In recent weeks the local press has reported that shops have been cleaned out of many price-controlled items. Sources say that products that are hard to find in stores can usually be purchased from street vendors at market prices.

In the meantime the government is feeding inflation by ramping up spending ahead of the election. Maybe Mr. Chávez will need more than 40 years to cure original sin.

To view the article on The Wall Street Journal, please click here.