February 12, 2016 - VENEZUELA - The country with the world’s biggest crude reserves could default on its
$122.9 billion external debt as early as this month. The plunge in oil
prices puts Venezuela’s ability to pay creditors in doubt.
Caracas is scheduled to make a $1.5 billion external bond repayment on February 26.
Despite the crisis the country has managed to pay bondholders on time so far. But with 96 percent of the Venezuela’s export earnings coming from crude sales, the drop in price from over $100 per barrel in mid-2014 to the current $30 per barrel has wreaked havoc on the country's economy.
In January Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro claimed the country will be able to service its debt obligations despite low oil prices.
“Venezuela has ethics, morals and commitments, first with the people and the fatherland, but also has the commitments that the republic has honored and will continue honoring,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
Venezuela currently holds a CCC credit rating from Standard & Poor with its foreign-currency assets at $35.5 billion in the third quarter of 2015. The country’s ability to pay is increasingly in doubt as foreign exchange reserves are rapidly running out.
Venezuela’s economy contracted by 10 percent last year, inflation reached 141 percent between September 2015 and the year-end, according to government statistics. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts further recession. - RT.
February 6, 2016 - VENEZUELA - At 9.30am on a Thursday six Venezuelans wait for a guided tour of the
former military museum that is now the mausoleum of Hugo Chávez, the
country’s populist president of 1999-2013. Across the road around 120
people are queuing for food at government-controlled prices from a
state-run supermarket. The food queue starts at 3am. “Sometimes there’s
food and sometimes there isn’t,” one would-be shopper says.
In this district of Caracas, once a Chávez stronghold, his aura is
fading amid the struggle for daily survival. Long gone are the days when
he used a massive oil windfall triumphantly to impose his “Bolivarian
revolution”, a mishmash of indiscriminate subsidies, price and exchange
controls, social programmes, expropriations and grand larceny by
officials. The collapse in the oil price has exposed the revolution as a
monumental swindle.
The government has admitted that in the 12 months to September 2015
the economy contracted by 7.1% and inflation was 141.5%. Even Nicolás
Maduro, Chávez’s hapless heir and successor, called these numbers
“catastrophic”. The IMF thinks worse is in store: it reckons inflation
will surge to 720% this year and that the economy will shrink by 8%,
after contracting by 10% in 2015. The Central Bank is printing money to
cover much of a fiscal deficit of around 20% of GDP.
The government has run out of dollars—liquid international reserves
have fallen to just $1.5 billion, thinks José Manuel Puente, an
economist at IESA, a business school in Caracas. While all oil-producing
countries are suffering, Venezuela is almost alone in having made no
provision for lower prices.
This spells misery for all but a handful of privileged officials and
hangers-on. Real wages fell by 35% last year, calculates Asdrúbal
Oliveros, a consultant. According to a survey by a group of
universities, 76% of Venezuelans are now poor, up from 55% in 1998.
Drugmakers warn that supplies of medicines have fallen to a fifth of
their normal level. Many pills are unavailable; patients die as a
result. In Caracas food queues at government stores grow longer by the
week. Shortages will get even worse in March, worries a food-industry
manager. Violent crime is out of control.
Rising discontent brought the opposition victory in an election for
the National Assembly in December. Stalemate has followed. Chávez turned
the institutions of state—including the Supreme Court and the electoral
authority—into appendices of the presidency. The court, packed by the
legally dubious naming of 13 new justices by the outgoing assembly,
threw out four legislators, depriving the opposition of the two-thirds
majority needed to change the constitution. Mr Maduro shows no sign of
changing course. Last month he issued an “economic emergency” decree,
rejected by the new assembly, that mainly offered more controls. His
government seems paralysed by indecision and infighting.
Henry Ramos, the speaker of the assembly, has given the president six
months to solve the economic crisis or face removal by constitutional
means. On paper these include a recall referendum, an amendment to
shorten his six-year term or a constituent assembly, which could rewrite
the constitution. In practice, the rigged court and the chavista
electoral authority can block or stall all of these. So the first step,
says Mr Ramos, is for the new assembly to replace the 13 justices.
That, too, would be vetoed by the court.
Stalemate is costly. Violent scuffles in food queues and localised
looting are everyday occurrences. “We are seconds away from situations
that the government can’t control. It’s a very thin line,” says Henrique
Capriles, a moderate opposition leader who narrowly lost to Mr Maduro
in the 2013 presidential election.
Most in the opposition and some chavistas
believe a negotiated transition is the only way to prevent a descent
into bloodshed. The outlines of such a deal are clear. The regime would
concede an amnesty for political prisoners and agree to restore the
independence of the judiciary, the electoral authority and other powers.
In return the opposition would support essential, but doubtless
unpopular, measures to stabilise the economy.
Mr Ramos says that there are “some conversations” but no formal
dialogue. On the street, time is running out. Many in the opposition
want Mr Maduro’s resignation as the price for such a deal, and either a
fresh election or his replacement by Aristóbulo Istúriz, his new and
moderate vice-president. But would Mr Maduro go along? He seems
transfixed by the thought that resignation would be a betrayal of
Chávez’s legacy. In fact, what remains of chavismo would be better off without him. - Economist.
Customers line up to enter a state-run Bicentenario supermarket in Caracas, Venezuela. (Jorge Silva/Reuters)
January 30, 2016 - VENEZUELA - The only question now is whether Venezuela's government or economy will completely collapse first.
The key word there is "completely." Both are well into their death throes.
Indeed, Venezuela's ruling party just lost congressional elections that gave the opposition a veto-proof majority, and it's hard to see that getting any better for them any time soon — or ever. Incumbents, after all, don't tend to do too well when, according to the International Monetary Fund, their economy shrinks 10 percent one year, an additional 6 percent the next, and inflation explodes to 720 percent. It's no wonder, then, that markets expect Venezuela to default on its debt in the very near future. The country is basically bankrupt.
That's not an easy thing to do when you have the largest oil reserves in the world, but Venezuela has managed it. How? Well, a combination of bad luck and worse policies. The first step was when Hugo Chávez's socialist government started spending more money on the poor, with everything from two-cent gasoline to free housing. Now, there's nothing wrong with that — in fact, it's a good idea in general — but only as long as you actually, well, have the money to spend. And by 2005 or so, Venezuela didn't.
Why not? The answer is that Chávez turned the state-owned oil company from being professionally run to being barely run. People who knew what they were doing were replaced with people who were loyal to the regime, and profits came out but new investment didn't go in. That last part was particularly bad, because Venezuela's extra-heavy crude needs to be blended or refined — neither of which is cheap — before it can be sold. So Venezuela just hasn't been able to churn out as much oil as it used to without upgraded or even maintained infrastructure. Specifically, oil production fell 25 percent between 1999 and 2013.
The rest is a familiar tale of fiscal woe. Even triple-digit oil prices, as Justin Fox points out, weren't enough to keep Venezuela out of the red when it was spending more on its people but producing less crude. So it did what all poorly run states do when the money runs out: It printed some more. And by "some," I mean a lot, a lot more. That, in turn, became more "a lots" than you can count once oil started collapsing in mid-2014. The result of all this money-printing, as you can see below, is that Venezuela's currency has, by black market rates, lost 93 percent of its value in the past two years.It turns out Lenin was wrong. Debauching the currency is actually the best way to destroy the socialist, not the capitalist, system.
Source: dolartoday.com
Now you might have noticed that I talked about Venezuela's black market exchange rate. There's a good reason for that. Venezuela's government has tried to deny economic reality with price and currency controls. The idea was that it could stop inflation without having to stop printing money by telling businesses what they were allowed to charge, and then giving them dollars on cheap enough terms that they could actually afford to sell at those prices. The problem with that idea is that it's not profitable for unsubsidized companies to stock their shelves, and not profitable enough for subsidized ones to do so either when they can just sell their dollars in the black market instead of using them to import things. That's left Venezuela's supermarkets without enough food, its breweries without enough hops to make beer, and its factories without enough pulp to produce toilet paper. The only thing Venezuela is well-supplied with are lines.
Although the government has even started rationing those, kicking people out of line based on the last digit of their national ID card.
And it's only going to get worse. That's because Socialist president Nicolás Maduro has changed the law so the opposition-controlled National Assembly can't remove the central bank governor or appoint a new one. Not only that, but Maduro has picked someone who doesn't even believe there's such a thing as inflation to be the country's economic czar. "When a person goes to a shop and finds that prices have gone up," the new minister wrote, "they are not in the presence of 'inflation,' " but rather "parasitic" businesses that are trying to push up profits as much as possible. According to this — let me be clear — "theory," printing too much money never causes inflation. And so Venezuela will continue to do so. If past hyperinflations are any guide, this will keep going until Venezuela can't even afford to run its printing presses anymore — unless Maduro gets kicked out first.
But for now, at least, a specter is haunting Venezuela — the specter of failed economic policies. - Washington Post.
The shortages reflect the deepening economic troubles in Venezuela, a
country with the world’s biggest oil reserves— and the the most
crippling oil dependency.
Shoppers waiting in line are often assigned a number, written on their arm or hand. Even once inside, store shelves can look like this.
January 22, 2016 - VENEZUELA - The International Monetary Fund says Venezuela inflation will blow past 700 percent this year.
In a note published Friday, IMF Western Hemisphere Director Alejandro Werner said inflation would more than double in the economically struggling South American country in 2016, reaching 720 percent.
Venezuela already suffers from the world's highest inflation rate.
The IMF estimates that inflation here was running at 275 percent last year.
In Caracas, the shortages have spawned a new profession: some people are
actually getting paid for simply standing in line for others.
Last week, Venezuela's Central Bank published economic data for the first time in more than a year.
The bank said inflation reached 141.5 percent by September of last year.
Werner says Venezuela's economic troubles are leading to widespread shortages and "exacting a tragic toll."
WATCH: The shortages have even sometimes sparked stampedes when goods eventually arrive. Here’s what happened when word spread a store received a new stock of diapers.
The logo of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pictured at its headquarters in
Vienna, Austria, August 21, 2015.
Reuters/Heinz-Peter Bader
January 21, 2016 - VENEZUELA - Venezuela has
requested that OPEC hold an emergency meeting to discuss steps to prop
up oil prices, which have fallen to their lowest since 2003, two OPEC
sources said on Wednesday.
But four other delegates from countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said such a meeting was unlikely to happen. OPEC's Gulf members including Saudi Arabia have opposed earlier calls for emergency meetings.
"Venezuela has requested an extraordinary meeting," said an OPEC delegate from a Middle East member-country. Another OPEC source confirmed that such a request had been made.
Oil prices have collapsed to below $28 a barrel, their lowest since 2003, on a supply glut that may worsen this year with the lifting of sanctions on Iran. The decline is painful for all producers and particularly so for less wealthy OPEC members such as Venezuela.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies led a change in OPEC policy in 2014 to defend market share against higher-cost rivals, rather than cut supply to support prices. OPEC at its last meeting, held in December, rolled over that strategy.
OPEC is already pumping oil at close to record levels, even before any extra Iranian crude reaches the market. The next scheduled OPEC meeting is not until June.
The group's statutes say support from a simple majority of the 13 members can trigger an extraordinary meeting. But delegates say that in practice, none will occur without support from Saudi Arabia and other top producers.
"There is no change in the Gulf countries' position with their market share strategy," said an OPEC delegate. "Also none of the non-OPEC (countries) show they are willing to cooperate with OPEC for a cut. Iran also still didn't add (extra) oil to the market. So things didn't change."
Another delegate, from one of OPEC's larger producers in the Middle East, did not expect the drop in prices to be prolonged as current prices challenge the economics of pumping oil outside low-cost OPEC countries.
"It will not be low for a very long time," he said. "If the price does fall to $20, many producers will leave the market."
The
last extraordinary meeting to discuss a price slump, in 2008, resulted
in OPEC making its largest-ever production cut, paving the way for
prices to double within a year. - Reuters.
April 6, 2015 - VENEZUELA - A small plane with three crewmembers crashed in Venezuela in the
middle of the week, locals reported to the police. When the National
Guard arrived at the scene, they found almost a ton of cocaine scattered
across the area.
The accident, which happened in the state of Cojedes in central
Venezuela, took the lives of all the crew. As yet they haven’t
been identified, according to local authorities.
The plane came down approximately 250 kilometers from the capital
city of Caracas on Wednesday. Pictures of the confiscated drugs
were published on Saturday.
Theanti-drugGNBlaboratoryconfirmed that cocaine was found at the crash site.
The National Guard found 863 packages of cocaine at the crash
scene, weighing over 999 kilograms. The coke packs were displayed
in a long line down the street in front of the guard’s office.
The prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation to
establish the cause of the accident, and to track down the origin
of the illegal cargo, according to the Noticias24 website.
The national Air Force is empowered to shoot down drug dealers’
aircraft in Venezuela, whose air space (and territory) is
commonly used by drug gangs to smuggle narcotics, especially
Colombian cocaine, from Latin America to the US. In 2013 alone,
the Bolivarian National Guard seized 39 tons of an assortment of
drugs. - RT.
Venezuelans face extreme shortages with long line and strict quotas. In Venezuela, the new year has brought little change to the scarcity
problem that is becoming alarming: long lines across the country to buy even the most basic products.
March 9, 2015 - VENEZUELA -
Venezuela will begin installing some 20,000 fingerprint scanners at
supermarkets nationwide in a bid to stamp out hoarding and panic buying,
which the government blames for long lines and widespread shortages of
basic goods.
The oil-rich nation has been selectively rolling out
the rationing system for months at state-run supermarkets along the
western border with Colombia, where smuggling of price-controlled goods
is a major problem.
On Saturday, President Nicolas Maduro said
that seven large private retail chains had voluntarily agreed to install
the scanners.
"I ask for the the comprehension of all of
Venezuela, to understand this problem, because there is a lot of
manipulation taking place," Maduro said at the inauguration of a
state-run supermarket.
Economists say the effort is bound to
fail. They blame decade-old price controls for destroying local
manufacturing and attracting smugglers who can resell the goods on the
black market and in Colombia for huge gains.
In recent days,
those profits have become juicier as a result of Venezuela's tanking
currency. The bolivar has slid 35 percent in the past two weeks on the
black market and now trades at nearly one-fortieth the official rate
used to import food, according to DolarToday, a website that tracks the
illegal rate based on currency trades along the border.
The fall
of world oil prices by nearly half since November is also diminishing
the supply of dollars available to import everything from milk to cars.
Crude oil accounts for 95 percent of Venezuela's exports.
As
Venezuela's economic crisis deepens the government is increasingly
lashing out at its opponents and the United States, which it says is
trying to sow instability and set the stage for a coup.
But many
Venezuelans point to Maduro. Recent polls say the embattled president
has a 22 percent approval rating, the lowest since the start of the
socialist revolution 16 years ago by the late President Hugo Chavez
On
Friday, a delegation of visiting South American foreign ministers
announced that the region would help Venezuela address the shortages.
But
many in the opposition expressed dismay that the 12-nation Unasur bloc
did not take a tougher stance against the government amid what they say
is an impending humanitarian crisis. - FOX News.
U.S. declares Venezuela a threat, sanctions top officials
Opposition supporters shout during a rally to commemorate International Women's Day and in support of jailed opposition leaders, Leopoldo Lopez
and Antonio Ledezma, in Caracas, March 8, 2015.Credit: Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
The United States on Monday declared Venezuela
a national security threat and ordered sanctions against seven
officials in the worst diplomatic dispute with the oil-rich country
since socialist President Nicolas Maduro took office in 2013.
President
Barack Obama issued and signed the executive order, which senior
administration officials said did not target the energy sector or
Venezuela's broader economy. The move raises tensions between Washington
and the OPEC member just as U.S. relations with Cuba, another longtime
U.S. foe in Latin America, are set to be normalized.
Declaring a
country a national security threat is the first step in starting a
sanctions regime. The same process has been followed with countries such
as Iran and Syria, U.S. officials said.
The White House said the
executive order targeted people whose actions undermined democratic
processes or institutions, had committed acts of violence or abuse of
human rights, were involved in prohibiting or penalizing freedom of
expression, or were government officials involved in public corruption.
"Venezuelan
officials past and present who violate the human rights of Venezuelan
citizens and engage in acts of public corruption will not be welcome
here, and we now have the tools to block their assets and their use of
U.S. financial systems," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a
statement.
"We are deeply concerned by the Venezuelan government's
efforts to escalate intimidation of its political
opponents. Venezuela's problems cannot be solved by criminalizing
dissent," he added.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez told reporters that Caracas would respond to the U.S. move soon.
The
seven individuals named in the order, which included top domestic
security and intelligence officials, would have their property and
interests in the United States blocked or frozen and would be denied
entry into the United States. U.S. persons would also be prohibited from
doing business with them. BLAME GAME
The
White House also called on Venezuela to release all political
prisoners, including "dozens of students," and warned against blaming
Washington for its problems.
"We've seen many times that the
Venezuelan government tries to distract from its own actions by blaming
the United States or other members of the international community for
events inside Venezuela," Earnest said in the statement.
"These
efforts reflect a lack of seriousness on the part of the Venezuelan
government to deal with the grave situation it faces."
U.S. officials told reporters in a conference call that the executive order did not target the Venezuelan people or economy and stressed that upcoming legislative elections should be held without intimidation of the government's opponents.
The
sanctions effectively confirm Venezuela as the United States' primary
adversary in Latin America, a label that was for decades applied to
Communist-run Cuba until Washington and Havana announced a diplomatic
breakthrough in December.
Washington said last week it would
respond through diplomatic channels to Venezuela's demand for a cut in
the U.S. Embassy's staff in Caracas after the government called for a
plan within 15 days to reduce staff to 17 from 100 at the American
facility.
Commercial ties between Venezuela and the United States
have, however, been largely unaffected by diplomatic flare-ups, which
were common during the 14-year-rule of late socialist leader Hugo
Chavez.
The United States is Venezuela's top trading partner, and
Venezuela in 2014 remained the fourth-largest supplier of crude to the
United States at an average of 733,000 barrels per day - despite a
decade-long effort by Caracas to diversify its oil shipments to China
and India.
Opposition leader and twice-presidential candidate
Henrique Capriles told Reuters the sanctions were a problem for a
corrupt elite in the Maduro government, but not ordinary Venezuelans.
"It's not a problem with Venezuela or with Venezuelans; it's a problem for the corrupt ones. It doesn't affect we Venezuelans." - Reuters.
People line up outside the Dia a Dia supermarket in hopes of buying
coffee, oil, precooked corn flour, detergent and fabric softener as a
National guard soldier stands guard in the Propatria neighborhood of
Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. The government is temporarily
taking over the Dia a Dia supermarket chain as part of a crackdown on
private businesses it blames for worsening shortages and long lines. (AP
Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
February 5, 2015 - VENEZUELA -
National guardsmen and state price adjusters fanned out across Venezuela
Wednesday to impose a military-style occupation with an unusual goal:
Making sure shoppers can buy enough sugar.
The South American country's socialist administration temporarily took over the Dia a Dia supermarket chain as part of a crackdown on the private businesses it blames for worsening shortages and long lines. Embattled President Nicolas Maduro says right-wing owners are purposely making shopping a nightmare by hoarding goods and removing checkout stations. He has promised to jail any business owner found to be fomenting economic chaos.
Two executives of Venezuela's largest drugstore chain, Farmatodo, were detained over the weekend as part of an investigation by price-control authorities.
On Monday night, Congress President Diosdado Cabello said officials had arrested Dia a Dia's owner and taken over its 35 stores "for the protection of Venezuelans." By Tuesday morning, armed soldiers were overseeing lines for bags of sugar at a Dia a Dia location near the presidential palace.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, pauses during his annual
state-of-the-nation address at the National Assembly in Caracas,
Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan 21, 2015. President Maduro acknowledged the
economic crisis wracking Venezuela during his annual address Wednesday
night, but did not announce the reforms many had expected. (AP
Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Many economists blame price and currency controls for causing the economic distortions plaguing the country at a time when falling oil prices are battering its revenues. Analysts see this week's moves against business owners as an attempt to drive home Maduro's counter-narrative that the right-wing is waging an economic war.
"The government is starting to prepare for a social explosion," said Diego Moya-Ocampos, an analyst with the London-based consulting firm IHS Global Insight. "They're trying to channel all the social discontent against the private sector."
Many Venezuelans agree with Maduro. Even Dia a Dia branch manager Carlos Barrios said it was possible that his bosses were hoarding. He'd seen the photos government workers had posted outside his store of pallets of sugar, corn flour and toilet paper apparently sitting at the chain's central warehouse.
A woman waits in line to check out at the Dia a Dia supermarket in the Propatria neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
People line up outside the Dia a Dia supermarket after it was taken over
by the government in the Propatria neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela,
Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Shoppers wait in line to check out at the Dia a Dia supermarket in the Propatria neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A government worker puts a bottle of fabric softener into a shopper's bag inside the Dia a Dia supermarket in the Propatria neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A woman wears a pot marked with a list of basic goods shortages and
holds an empty roll of toilet paper, during an event billed as the
¨March of the empty pots¨, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 24,
2015. Thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro marched in the
capital Saturday to denounce the socialist government for a deepening
economic crisis marked by widespread shortages and galloping inflation.
(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
The administration has a history of temporarily taking control of private enterprises. Just ahead of a key 2013 election, Maduro ordered electronics stores to begin selling goods at give-away prices. But this latest crackdown may reverberate more widely among the business class, because it has added the threat of imprisonment to the always present possibility of expropriation, Moya-Ocampos said.
Adding to the government's woes, some former loyalists are starting to loudly criticize the administration's handling of the shortages. In an interview published Monday, former economy chief Jorge Giordani said the government's refusal to acknowledge the mounting crisis is turning the country into the "laughingstock" of Latin America.
"If the situation is bad — if the thermometer is at 40 degrees — there are those who will say the problem is that the thermometer is broken," he said. "But if it says 40 degrees, it's because it's 40 degrees. We have to be honest. We have to acknowledge the crisis."
A close adviser to late President Hugo Chavez, Giordani was fired by Maduro last summer.
On Tuesday, state workers limited the patrons who could enter Dia a Dia using a system based on government identification numbers. Unlike Farmatodo, which serves patrons across the class spectrum, Dia a Dia caters to lower income shoppers, the bedrock of Maduro's shrinking base of support.
Shoppers who were able to enter the store praised the takeover and rationing system.
"It's a good policy; people need to learn to consume less," said Eli Asar Martinez, who works as an electrician for the local government.
Those on the outside were less enthusiastic.
"Now you're going to have to wait in line for everything. And I still haven't gotten any sugar," Estephanie Ferrera called out as she passed by, prompting cheering from those milling around on the corner. - Yahoo.
People line up to buy toilet paper and baby diapers as national guards
control the access at a supermarket in downtown Caracas January 19,
2015. There's a booming new profession in Venezuela:
standing in line. The job usually involves starting before dawn,
enduring long hours under the Caribbean sun, dodging or bribing police,
and then selling a coveted spot at the front of huge shopping lines. As
Venezuela's ailing economy spawns unprecedented shortages of basic
goods, panic-buying and a rush to snap up subsidized food, demand is
high and the pay is reasonable. Picture taken January 19, 2015.
REUTERS/Jorge Silva
January 24, 2015 - VENEZUELA
- Robbers and looters are targeting trucks carrying food across
Venezuela in another sign of worsening shortages that have turned basics
like flour and chicken into coveted booty.
Crime has long plagued shops and roads in Venezuela, which has one of the world's highest murder rates.
But widespread shortages due to a restriction of dollars for imports have worsened since the New Year.
This has made food delivery increasingly risky even as certain trucks have been fitted with GPS devices and are sometimes protected by private security agents.
"I won't transport food anymore because the streets are too dangerous," said Orlando Garcia, a 37-year-old driver from the western state of Tachira who has been ambushed twice as he crisscrossed the country.
"They put screws on the road (to burst your tires), and when you stop to fix the tire they attack you," said Garcia, who now refuses to work past midnight and will only transport plastics.
Queues that stretch around blocks are now a common sight throughout the OPEC country. Armed National Guard troops have been deployed to maintain order, but frustration mounts quickly during hours-long waits under the Caribbean sun.
"It's become a security problem to bring trucks to big supermarket stores," said Arsenio Manzanares, who heads a Venezuelan truckers' union.
A woman stands next to empty shelves inside a Makro supermarket in Caracas. (Reuters)
"This wasn't a problem before, but now with these queues, people see a truck and they lunge for it."
Local media have reported several food robberies in Caracas this month, including one by four armed thieves who stole canned tuna, corn flour and refined sugar.
President Nicolas Maduro blames the scarcities on an "economic war" waged by right-wing foes trying to topple his socialist government. This week, he announced yet another crackdown on hoarders and contrabandists who sell price-fixed goods in Colombia for a tidy profit.
Industry leaders and drivers say shortages have been exacerbated by the phasing out of night deliveries for security reasons, lack of truck batteries and tires due to the impact of currency controls, and poor roads.
The government did not reply to a request for comment.
Statistics on deliveries are hard to come by, but Manzanares estimates they have dropped by 30 percent.
But despite mounting risks, some truckers are still hitting the road.
"They've robbed me five times already," said driver Jose Alexander Rincon, 39, also from Tachira. "I'm nervous. It's more dangerous by the day, but I don't have an alternative." - Yahoo.
City That Sparked Venezuela Protests Braces for More Unrest
The young men move furtively among the would-be shoppers queued outside a supermarket, passing out pamphlets calling for the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, whose socialist policies they blame for leaving store shelves barren and Venezuela's economy in shambles.
A lookout signals that he's spotted an armed national guardsman approaching, and the group scatters like birdshot. This is not the time to risk being detained, student activist Osmel Garcia explained.
"Nobody wants to get arrested now when things are about to heat up," he said.
One year ago, Garcia was among the thousands of people who staged violent protests in this mountain city in Venezuela's far west. Home to several colleges, San Cristobal was the crucible of student-led unrest that spread to other cities and provoked clashes with authorities and pro-government demonstrators, ultimately leaving 43 people dead and sending hundreds to jail, but failing to unseat Maduro.
The barricades of burning tires and steel manned here by rock-throwing youth only fell after the government sent in tanks, thousands of troops and even scrambled fighter jets to make low, menacing passes over the city of 1 million.
While the streets are calmer now, tension is building again as the anniversary of the February uprising nears.
Venezuela's crisis has only deepened with falling crude prices crippling the oil-dependent economy, leading to a cash crunch that has restricted imported goods to just a trickle. Basic items like flour and diapers are hard to come by even on the black market and the government has had to deploy soldiers to keep peace outside stores where people wait hours for a chance to pick through near-barren shelves.
"Things are as bad as they were a year ago but now, in addition to the crime, there are more shortages in other parts of the country and the lines are longer," says Jose Vicente Garcia, a city councilman who helped lead last year's rebellion. "All the conditions needed to end this government are coming together."
The combination of shortages and spiraling inflation have shaken support for Maduro even among the poor who rely on the social programs launched by his mentor, the late President Hugo Chavez. Polls show Maduro's approval ratings have sunk to 22 percent, a low for his 2-year-old administration and just half the support for opposition leaders Henrique Capriles and the jailed Leopoldo Lopez.
Activists who took part in the 2014 unrest say they've learned from their mistakes and are working hard to counter mistrust of the traditionally elitist opposition.
An anti-government protest called for Saturday in Caracas, the first there in 10 months, seeks to harness anger over the shortages under the slogan "March of the Empty Pots." It's a departure from the previous rally cry that called for Maduro's departure: "La Salida," or "The Exit." Analysts said that phrase helped bolster Maduro's contention he's been the target of a right-wing conspiracy led by the United States.
Activists in San Cristobal appear to be preparing for battle. One student who helped organize the 2014 uprising said protesters are lining up supplies of gunpowder needed to assemble small explosive devices called "potato bombs" and to prepare spike-strips made of nails placed on a hose to stop pro-government motorcyclists. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest.
WATCH: In shortages-hit Venezuela, lining up becomes a profession.
A small demonstration last week ended in clashes with police firing tear gas and stun grenades at students who'd taken refuge on a college campus. The university has yet to reopen for fear of more disturbances.
Nellyver Lugo, a ruling-party state legislator in San Cristobal, says violence should be expected.
"We know for a fact that the students, who are really criminals, have been preparing for the last year for another round of violence to spur chaos," she said.
Nearly 500 miles southwest of Caracas, San Cristobal long has been a bastion of the opposition. Capriles defeated Maduro here almost two-to-one in the 2013 vote. The 2014 protests cost Mayor Daniel Ceballos his position and he has been jailed since for allegedly instigating the violence.
As the gateway to Colombia, the city is a center for smugglers who load up on goods and gasoline at low government-mandated prices and resell them across the border at a huge profit. The illegal trade has made shortages common here for years.
Now that economic misery is spreading, opposition leaders hope they might do well enough in legislative elections later this year to take control of Congress and push for a referendum to recall Maduro.
Historically, however, the opposition has overestimated its strength and been torn apart by infighting. More importantly, last year's harsh crackdown has left many people too afraid to take to the streets again, said Margarita Maya Lopez, a political analyst in Caracas. Plus, many are too busy standing in line to buy food.
"The sense I get is that it's not the moment for demonstrations," she said.
San Cristobal resident Ruth Molina said that despite working for the government, she's fed up with Maduro's mismanagement of the economy. She spoke Wednesday night while attending the annual state fair, helping her 12-year-old daughter into a bumper car while a televised broadcast of the president's state of the union address flickered nearby.
"It doesn't matter what he says. It's all just a farce to cover up the economic reality," Molina said. "The worst part of Maduro's speech is that inflation is so bad, by the time he finishes, prices will have risen again." - ABC News.
Students block a street as they clash with national guards during a
protest against the government in San Cristobal January 14, 2015.
REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez
January 17, 2015 - SAN CRISTOBAL, VENEZUELA
- Masked youths are once again blocking streets and burning tires in
the Venezuelan city of San Cristobal, the epicenter of last year's
massive anti-government protests.
The groups are small and the unrest contained, but dissent is rising in this volatile Andean city, a barometer of frustration with nationwide shortages that are putting pressure on the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro.
Students, who also accuse the government of corruption and repression but whom Maduro labels "coupsters," are threatening to unleash larger demonstrations again.
"It's time," Deiby Jaimes, 21, said from behind a barricade of burning trash as police gazed down from their hilltop perch. "There's a social, economic and political crisis. Economically we're completely lost and in a delirium."
But Jaimes and other students said they were restraining themselves to see if other Venezuelans also take to the streets.
Last year's protests split the opposition and failed to attract widespread support from Venezuela's poor, meaning mainstream anti-government leaders like Henrique Capriles are calling for less radical tactics including peaceful rallies and a good showing at an upcoming parliamentary vote.
"People are scared," said Jaimes, an accounting student, as dozens around him knocked rocks together menacingly. "But fear is disappearing due to shortages. We're expecting a social explosion."
Masked students block a street as they clash with national guards during
a protest against the government in San Cristobal January 14, 2015.
REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez
Students clash with national guards during a protest against the
government in San Cristobal January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo
Ramirez
National guards control the entrance of a private supermarket as people
line up to enter in San Cristobal January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos
Eduardo Ramirez
High demand and a Christmas lull in distribution have aggravated shortages across the nation of 30 million people. Queues sometimes snake around entire blocks, prompting isolated scuffles for coveted milk or diapers
Although there has been scattered violence around the OPEC nation, many eyes are once again on the opposition hotbed of San Cristobal, where clusters of demonstrators have been facing off with security forces since the New Year.
It was here that the attempted rape of a student last year prompted protests that spread into a wave of national demonstrations.
Major General Efrain Velasco Lugo, who is in charge of security for the western Andean region, called the protesters misguided delinquents. "They want to torch the city again."
Their motto, he added, can be boiled down to "because I think differently to you, I'm going to topple you."
Indeed, Maduro says right-wing foes, encouraged by the United States and compliant foreign media, are plotting an "economic coup" to topple his socialist government. Protesters retort they are decrying flawed policies, like currency controls that have crimped imports and led to shortages.
Army officials said on Thursday 18 protesters had been arrested in San Cristobal, capital of Tachira state, in the last 10 days, with six currently behind bars.
Rights group Penal Forum said 56 demonstrators were arrested nationally this year, with most now released.
A national guard shot a protester in the chest on Thursday night during clashes in San Cristobal, a student leader said. Reuters could not immediately verify the information.
The situation remains a far cry from unrest between February and May that left 43 dead and hundreds injured during the biggest disturbances in more than a decade. Victims included demonstrators, government supporters and security officials.
COMBATIVE 'CORDIAL CITY'
Still, the mood is increasingly combative in San Cristobal, traditionally known as the "cordial city," as life becomes a series of queues.
Taxi driver Luis Perez wakes up around 5 a.m. to wait in line for gasoline.
"We produce so much oil, and look how we're suffering," he said as he finally filled up his creaking blue 1982 Chevrolet.
"We need a change of government," he added before paying less than 2 cents a liter for the world's cheapest gasoline.
Roughly 15 percent of fuel in Tachira is smuggled out of the state, estimates Nellyver Lugo, a ruling party state legislator who heads a commission on gasoline. Lack of spare parts for trucks and tricky contract negotiations reduced supplies this year, she added.
Up to 25 percent of food is smuggled out for sale at a hefty profit in Colombia, the army says, citing discoveries of subsidized flour stashed in tires or rice in engines.
Even once-fervent "Chavistas" are becoming skeptical as inflation and shortages threaten anti-poverty advances under the late Hugo Chavez's 1999-2013 rule.
People line up to buy basic goods at a supermarket in San Cristobal January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez
A man is detained by police during a protest against the government in
San Cristobal January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez
Masked students block a street during a protest against the government
in San Cristobal January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez
"There was a lot of hope, but things didn't pan out the way we wanted," Ronald, a government employee who would not give his last name, said as he stood in line clutching scarce toilet paper. "Now we're paying the price. I hope they implement changes."
But Maduro, whose approval levels have steadily eroded since his 2013 election, has so far balked at implementing pressing but unpopular measures such as raising gasoline prices or unifying a baffling three-tiered currency control system.
Sinking oil prices have compounded Venezuela's cash crunch, prompting fears that the nation may have to default. An impending national parliamentary election has raised the stakes further.
With Maduro out of the country for the last 10 days on an apparently unsuccessful trip to lobby for an oil supply cut, Venezuela's perennially fragmented opposition is scrambling to unite and call for peaceful protests.
"The government is weaker," 24-year-old student leader Reinaldo Manrique said, standing next to a charred bus near the University of the Andes.
"It won't survive an explosion like last year's." - Yahoo.
January 13, 2015 - VENEZUELA -
Lines are swelling at Venezuelan supermarkets, with some shoppers
showing up before dawn in search of products ranging from chicken to
laundry detergent, as a holiday slowdown in deliveries sharpened the
nation's nagging product shortages.
National Guards control access as people line up outside a state-run
Bicentenario supermarket in Caracas. Business leaders have assured
Venezuelans the situation will improve in the coming days as
distributors return from the often extended Christmas holidays, though
many consumers blamed the socialist economic policies of President
Nicolas Maduro.
A woman stands with oil and detergent next to empty shelves inside a
Makro supermarket in Caracas. "The truth is I don't know what the
government is doing. It gets worse every day," said Elizio Velez, 65, a
delivery man who arrived at 5 a.m. at a large supermarket on the east
end of Caracas in search of chicken and toilet paper. "This is insane,
it's like the end of the world," he said, noting that troops had fired
shots in the air as scuffles broke out in the line.
People line up outside a state-run Bicentenario supermarket in Caracas.
Venezuela's 12-year-old exchange control system has for several years
struggled to provide enough hard currency to ensure adequate levels of
imports, leading to intermittent shortages of raw materials, machine
parts and consumer goods.
People
pick up groceries in a state-run supermarket in Caracas. President
Nicolas Maduro, who blames the situation on an opposition-led "economic
war," said in December he was planning to make changes to that system,
without offering details.
People line up outside a state-run Bicentenario supermarket in Caracas.
Grocery store lines in the border city of San Cristobal this week have
started as early as 3 a.m. and continued until 10 p.m., while consumers
in the coastal city of Punto Fijo have started sleeping in hammocks
outside the main shopping mall.
A woman pulls a cart with bags of rice outside Makro supermarket in
Caracas. The supermarket industry association did not immediately
respond to requests for comment, although the group's president this
week said supplies should normalise by the third week of the month.
National Guards control access as people line up outside a state-run
Bicentenario supermarket in Caracas. Economists believe Maduro's
economic reforms will include a devaluation of the bolivar currency,
which makes imported goods more expensive and has historically pushed
the inflation rate higher.
Customers walk carrying oil among empty shelves inside a Makro
supermarket in Caracas. Consumer prices in Venezuela rose 64 percent in
the 12 months to November.
People walk past shelves mostly filled with the same product at a
state-run supermarket in Caracas. Food Minister Carlos Osorio has
acknowledged distribution problems, but he urged citizens not to be
confused by "campaigns that seek to destabilise." On Thursday he visited
a branch of a state-run store to show packed shelves
Queues snaked around the
block at grocery stores and pharmacies around the country on Friday,
with consumers in some cases gathering before dawn under the gaze of
National Guard troops posted to maintain order. - Yahoo.
Empty shelves sit in a supermarket in the La Boyera part of eastern Caracas on Jan. 9, 2015. Photographer: Noris Soto/Bloomberg
January 10, 2015 - VENEZUELA - Shoppers thronged grocery stores across Caracas today as deepening shortages led the government to put Venezuela’s food distribution under military protection.
Long
lines, some stretching for blocks, formed outside grocery stores in the
South American country’s capital as residents search for scarce basic
items such as detergent and chicken.
“I’ve visited six stores already today looking for detergent -- I can’t find it anywhere,” said Lisbeth Elsa, a 27-year-old janitor, waiting in line outside a supermarket in eastern Caracas. “We’re wearing our dirty clothes again because we can’t find it. At this point I’ll buy whatever I can find.”
A dearth of foreign currency exacerbated by collapsing oil prices has led to shortages of imports from toilet paper to car batteries, and helped push annual inflation to 64 percent in November. The lines will persist as long as price controls remain in place, Luis Vicente Leon, director of Caracas-based polling firm Datanalisis, said today in a telephone interview.
Government officials met with representatives from supermarket chains today to guarantee supplies, state news agency AVN reported. Interior Minister Carmen Melendez said yesterday that security forces would be sent to food stores and distribution centers to protect shoppers.
‘Into Desperation’
“Don’t fall into desperation -- we have the capacity and products for everyone, with calmness and patience. The stores are full,” she said on state television.
President Nicolas Maduro last week vowed to implement an economic “counter-offensive” to steer the country out of recession, including an overhaul of the foreign exchange system. He has yet to provide details. While the main government-controlled exchange sets a rate of 6.3 bolivars per U.S. dollar, the black market rate is as much as 187 per dollar.
Shoppers line up outside Excelsior Gama grocery story in the Chacao section of eastern Caracas on Jan. 9. 2015. Photographer: Noris Soto/Bloomberg
Inside a Plan Suarez grocery store yesterday in eastern Caracas, shelves were mostly bare. Customers struggled and fought for items at times, with many trying to skip lines. The most sought-after products included detergent, with customers waiting in line for two to three hours to buy a maximum of two bags. A security guard asked that photos of empty shelves not be taken.
Police inside a Luvebras supermarket in eastern Caracas intervened to help staff distribute toilet paper and other products.
‘Looming Fear’
“You can’t find anything, I’ve spent 15 days looking for diapers,” Jean Paul Mate, a meat vendor, said outside the Luvebras store. “You have to take off work to look for products. I go to at least five stores a day.”
Venezuelan online news outlet VIVOplay posted a video of government food security regulator Carlos Osorio being interrupted by throngs of shoppers searching for products as he broadcast on state television from a Bicentenario government-run supermarket in central Caracas.
“What we’re seeing is worse than usual, it’s not only a seasonal problem,” Datanalisis’s Leon said. “Companies are not sure how they will restock their inventories or find merchandise, with a looming fear of a devaluation.”
The price for Venezuela’s oil, which accounts for more than 95 percent of the country’s exports, has plunged by more than half from last year’s peak in June to $47 a barrel this month.
“This is the worst it has ever been -- I’ve seen lines thousands of people long,” Greisly Jarpe, a 42-year-old data analyst, said as she waited for dish soap in eastern Caracas. “People are so desperate they’re sleeping in the lines.” - Bloomberg.
March 07, 2014 - VENEZUELA - A Venezuelan soldier and a motorcyclist died in a confused melee sparked by the opposition's barricading of a Caracas street, officials said on Thursday, boosting the death toll from nearly a month of violence to 20.
Anti-government protesters erect a fiery barricade during clashes with police at Altamira square in Caracas March 6, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Tomas Bravo
Demonstrators have for weeks staged rallies and set up barricades to demand the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, leading to clashes with security forces and government supporters.
Motorcycle drivers clearing a barricade in the middle-class neighborhood of Los Ruices were attacked by residents from nearby buildings who threw rocks and later shot at them, National Guard Gen. Manuel Quevedo told Reuters.
The motorcyclist who was killed, Jose Cantillo, who was in his early twenties, was shot in the neck, Quevedo said.
"Make no mistake, the National Guard and the armed forces are going to continue patrolling the streets to restore order," he said in an interview at the scene of the events.
A second motorcycle driver was wounded and is in critical condition, President Maduro said in a televised broadcast.
Troops arrived in some 20 armored vehicles and used tear gas to disperse several hundred demonstrators, Reuters witnesses said.
An anti-government protester walks amidst teargas during clashes with police at Altamira square in Caracas March 6, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Tomas Bravo
A man walks past a barricade set by anti-government protesters at Altamira square in Caracas March 6, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Tomas Bravo
Anti-government protesters run during clashes with police at Altamira square in Caracas March 6, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Tomas Bravo
Residents continued throwing rocks from above, but angry passers-by threw them back and attempted to force their way into buildings in an apparent attempt to find the assailants.
The troops used riot shields to shelter other soldiers from the rain of stones as they knocked down barricades and cleared debris including a car that demonstrators had burned in the morning, the witnesses said.
Maduro on Wednesday called on pro-government organizations including groups known as 'colectivos,' which opposition leaders describe as paramilitary groups, to help keep order in the streets.
The demonstrations began as sporadic protests against chronic product shortages and inflation that reached 56 percent in 2013, but expanded into a nationwide movement after three people were killed after a February 12 march, unleashing the country's worst unrest in a decade.
Since then the protests have been more focused on complaints of excessive use of force in breaking up protests and demands for the release of imprisoned activists including Leopoldo Lopez, who spearheaded the nationwide protest efforts.
PROTESTS CONTINUE
Though street protests helped briefly topple the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez in a botched 2002 coup, there seems little chance the current unrest could lead to a Ukraine-style overthrow.
Government supporters slam the protests as dangerous and damaging disruptions of public order that have prevented sick people from receiving emergency treatment and stopped citizens from carrying out day-to-day activities.
Maduro, a former bus driver who calls himself the 'son' of the late Chavez, has called for a meeting of presidents of the Unasur group of Latin American nations to address the unrest.
"Over time we are going to shut them down," Maduro said in a televised broadcast on Thursday afternoon. "They'll be remembered as violent vandals who have killed good men and women of this country."
Maduro on Wednesday cut ties with Panama on charges the country's president was conspiring with the United States to intervene in Venezuela's affairs. During a rally on Thursday he gave the Panamanian ambassador and three other diplomats in Venezuela 48 hours to leave the country.
The rally also included Hollywood actor Danny Glover, a long time supporter of Venezuela's revival of socialism who met with Maduro as part of Wednesday's first anniversary of Chavez's death.
"I'm very proud to be here with you as we commemorate and celebrate a true man of the people, Hugo Chavez; his memory lives with us," Glover told a crowd of government supporters clad in signature red T-shirts.
A Venezuelan television network on Wednesday premiered U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone's documentary called "My Friend Hugo."
WATCH: Rocks and tear gas fly as Venezuela protests heat up.
The protests have been a mix of peaceful demonstrations by student leaders and violent exchanges between security forces and hooded protesters hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails.
Barricades made of debris and burning trash have angered even government critics and have led to fights between demonstrators and drivers attempting to push their way through.
Protesters have increasingly defied opposition leaders' calls to rein in violence and focus on convincing skeptical Maduro supporters to change their views.
One prominent opposition deputy was widely pilloried via Twitter this week for calling on anti-government demonstrators to respect Wednesday's celebration of the anniversary of Chavez's death from cancer. - Reuters.
February 28, 2014 - VENEZUELA - Student protesters have clashed with police in Caracas, prompting officers to use tear gas to break up the crowds. It comes after almost two weeks of massive street demonstrations that the government has condemned as an attempted coup d’état.
An anti-government demonstrator throws a teargas canister after it was
thrown at protesters by the police,
during clashes at Altamira square in
Caracas February 27, 2014. (Reuters/Tomas Bravo)
Students marched through the Venezuelan capital on Thursday, demanding the release of their peers who were detained during the last two weeks of protests. The demonstration descended into violence when a group of masked protesters attempted to block a road in central Caracas. The police used tear gas to break up the crowd, while demonstrators pelted officers with stones.
“[President] Maduro, tell us when and where you are going to release the prisoners. Tell us when there will be justice for our dead,” the head of the student protest movement, Juan Requesens, addressed protesters on Thursday.
Over 50 people have died in the mass protests that have gripped Venezuela over the last couple of weeks, according to government figures. President Nicolas Maduro decried the unrest as an attempt at a coup d’état orchestrated by fascist elements in the Venezuelan opposition.
Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro clash with riot police
during an anti-government
protest in Caracas on February 27, 2014. (AFP
Photo/Leo Ramirez)
Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro take part in a
ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of
a deadly popular revolt,
also known as El Caracazo, in Caracas, on February 27, 2014. (AFP
Photo/Leo Ramirez)
“There will be no coup d'etat in Venezuela; you can rest assured. Democracy will continue, and the revolution will continue,” Maduro said on national television on Wednesday. The head of the Venezuelan government has also pointed the figure at President Barack Obama for “financing, promoting and defending members of the opposition that promote violence against our country.”
Elsewhere in Caracas on Thursday government supporters gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Caracazo – violent protests against economic measures imposed in 1989 that left hundreds of people dead. The historical event is widely believed to have prompted the civic-military rebellion led by Hugo Chavez that happened three years later in 1992.
The latest wave of violence in Venezuela comes on the heels of the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez who handed himself into police custody last week. The Harvard-educated opposition figure is facing charges of inciting violent protests which carries a potential jail sentence of ten years.
Lopez was initially accused of murder, but his lawyers say these charges have been dropped by prosecutors.
WATCH: Tensions flare in Caracas during new national holiday.
"I said, 'Send him to jail,' and that's what happened and that's what will happen with all of the fascists. I won't allow him to challenge the people of Venezuela, the constitution,” said Maduro shortly after Lopez’s arrest.
Following the arrest Maduro announced the expulsion of three US diplomats from Venezuela whom he accused of a “fascist” conspiracy to oust the socialist government.
In response, Washington gave three Venezuelan diplomats 48 hours to leave the Latin American country and denied the US had anything to do with the unrest. - RT.
