Or, at least in worse shape than I thought, and I thought they were in really bad shape.
Tons of hilariously sad links can be found here.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/04/27/venezuela_s_government_just_instituted_a_two_day_workweek_because_it_needs.html
Quote
Government Just Instituted a Two-Day Workweek, Because It Needs to Save Electricity
By Jordan Weissmann
Venezuela's yearslong economic disintegration hit a sad new milestone on Tuesday, when President Nicolás Maduro announced that government employees would work only on Mondays and Tuesdays for at least the next two weeks to save scarce electricity. Previously, Maduro had given the public sector Fridays off in a bid to conserve power. The country's severe energy shortage stems from a massive drought that has decimated the water levels at El Guri, the hydro-electric dam that provides a staggering 65 percent of the nation's electricity. The government in Caracas has also started scheduling rolling, four-hour blackouts around the country.
Venezuela's drought is but one result of the extreme El Niño phase that's led to a rise in global temperatures this year and last, leaving almost 100 million people around the world short on food and water. (Maduro, characteristically, has pointed to sabotage by his political foes as the reason for Venezuela's shortages.) But the collapse of the country's power grid also seems to be the result of garden variety corruption and mismanagement. As the Wall Street Journal notes, since 2008 the government has spent many billions on new energy infrastructure, including a hydropower plant that still isn't running. "A former high-ranking official who worked on electric projects said the government routinely overpaid for equipment and for poor-quality thermoelectric plants that are unable to offset the decrease in hydroelectric power," the paper reported.
The drought has done more than just shut off Venezuela's lights. Reservoirs are running dry and many in the country have found their homes waterless for weeks. Again, botched infrastructure projects, such as a $180 million deal with Iran to build a water pipeline that was never laid, seem to be part of the problem.
These are just the latest of many man-made miseries that have befallen Venezuela. When President Hugo Chávez passed away in 2013, he left behind a stunted national economy almost wholly dependent on oil production. As a result, the collapse of crude prices has been disastrous. All the while, an ill-advised system of currency and price controls, partly meant to curb inflation, have led to shortages of basic goods and a thriving black-market economy. And about Venezuela's inflation rate: It's currently the worst in the world, spurred on, it seems, by desperate money printing from a revenue-strapped government. This year, inflation is expected to hit 500 percent. The situation is so bad that the government appears unable to pay for the new bills it has ordered from foreign currency makers (because, like almost all things, Venezuela has to import its money). As Bloomberg put it in a headline Wednesday, "Venezuela Doesn't Have Enough Money to Pay for Its Money."
Somehow, it seems unlikely any workers there will be enjoying their days off.
My gf fled the country a couple years ago, like most of her class.
best friend is an MD. She makes $30 a month. No, no zeros are missing there. That's thirty dollars a month. Which she can't even spend, since the supermarkets are empty.
To buy food you need to go to the black market. To get medicines, you need to bring them over from abroad, paid in hard currency (and pray they are not stolen).
Even car batteries are impossible to find. And in Venezuela, finding yourself stranded on the road can easily cost you your life.
Quote from: Iormlund on April 28, 2016, 06:22:45 PM
My gf fled the country a couple years ago, like most of her class.
best friend is an MD. She makes $30 a month. No, no zeros are missing there. That's thirty dollars a month. Which she can't even spend, since the supermarkets are empty.
To buy food you need to go to the black market. To get medicines, you need to bring them over from abroad, paid in hard currency (and pray they are not stolen).
Even car batteries are impossible to find. And in Venezuela, finding yourself stranded on the road can easily cost you your life.
When the security situation stabilizes, they are going to be a prime sex tourism destination. Of course that probably won't be until after the civil war.
Even if the security situation were sorted tomorrow the stench of the current situation would linger a long while.
America take note. This is where populism lands you.
There was a time when populism gave us FDR. The problem is the decline in the quality of our rich New Yorkers.
No, that's about as bad as I thought.
Well I have to admit I never thought oil prices would collapse like they did, but if I had known that I probably would have expected total disaster for the 'Bolivarian Revolution'. Man even Bolivar's political career ended better than this.
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
I think it could work in a country with infinite money.
Quote from: Valmy on April 29, 2016, 11:51:11 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
I think it could work in a country with infinite money.
I thought that was what Zimbabwe tried.
(https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/3/25/1237999328897/Zimbabwe-One-Hundred-Tril-001.jpg)
Quote from: Tyr on April 29, 2016, 02:05:55 AM
Even if the security situation were sorted tomorrow the stench of the current situation would linger a long while.
America take note. This is where populism lands you.
Some Colombians called Trump a
Norteamericano Maduro when I was there. Shortly thereafter Maduro closed the border with Colombia and forced Colombians who had illegally immigrated to Venezuela to go back (on foot and carrying their few meager possessions with them. It made for truly marvelous television since they had to wade across the Orinoco river.)
Quote from: Savonarola on April 29, 2016, 12:10:24 PM
Quote from: Tyr on April 29, 2016, 02:05:55 AM
Even if the security situation were sorted tomorrow the stench of the current situation would linger a long while.
America take note. This is where populism lands you.
Some Colombians called Trump a Norteamericano Maduro when I was there. Shortly thereafter Maduro closed the border with Colombia and forced Colombians who had illegally immigrated to Venezuela to go back (on foot and carrying their few meager possessions with them. It made for truly marvelous television since they had to wade across the Orinoco river.)
were they playing Enya?
Quote from: Barrister on April 29, 2016, 11:52:47 AM
Quote from: Valmy on April 29, 2016, 11:51:11 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
I think it could work in a country with infinite money.
I thought that was what Zimbabwe tried.
(https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/3/25/1237999328897/Zimbabwe-One-Hundred-Tril-001.jpg)
I still like Ide's idea of a socialism where robots are serfs and every human is a noble. My personal Versailles will be covered with images of my own glory.
Quote from: Crazy_Ivan80 on April 29, 2016, 12:37:17 PM
Quote from: Savonarola on April 29, 2016, 12:10:24 PM
Quote from: Tyr on April 29, 2016, 02:05:55 AM
Even if the security situation were sorted tomorrow the stench of the current situation would linger a long while.
America take note. This is where populism lands you.
Some Colombians called Trump a Norteamericano Maduro when I was there. Shortly thereafter Maduro closed the border with Colombia and forced Colombians who had illegally immigrated to Venezuela to go back (on foot and carrying their few meager possessions with them. It made for truly marvelous television since they had to wade across the Orinoco river.)
were they playing Enya?
I listened to that song so many times as a teenager. :blush:
Quote from: Crazy_Ivan80 on April 29, 2016, 12:37:17 PM
Quote from: Savonarola on April 29, 2016, 12:10:24 PM
Quote from: Tyr on April 29, 2016, 02:05:55 AM
Even if the security situation were sorted tomorrow the stench of the current situation would linger a long while.
America take note. This is where populism lands you.
Some Colombians called Trump a Norteamericano Maduro when I was there. Shortly thereafter Maduro closed the border with Colombia and forced Colombians who had illegally immigrated to Venezuela to go back (on foot and carrying their few meager possessions with them. It made for truly marvelous television since they had to wade across the Orinoco river.)
were they playing Enya?
They went with the flow
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Socialism has worked, and socialism has not worked.
It seems to be working just fine, right now, in some places.
I am not sure I understand the point behind comments like this...
Sometimes I wonder if this is the path we should have taken in the Cold War. Instead of fighting Marxist regimes in South and Central America, just let them burn out.
Quote from: Razgovory on April 29, 2016, 01:21:06 PM
Sometimes I wonder if this is the path we should have taken in the Cold War. Instead of fighting Marxist regimes in South and Central America, just let them burn out.
The issue back then is that the Soviets would have supported them financially and militarily.
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2016, 01:28:38 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on April 29, 2016, 01:21:06 PM
Sometimes I wonder if this is the path we should have taken in the Cold War. Instead of fighting Marxist regimes in South and Central America, just let them burn out.
The issue back then is that the Soviets would have supported them financially and militarily.
So would have sped along our inevitable victory :hmm:
Quote from: Valmy on April 29, 2016, 12:39:12 PM
I still like Ide's idea of a socialism where robots are serfs and every human is a noble. My personal Versailles will be covered with images of my own glory.
Be careful with that. If you happen to get a bigger house than Sanders, he might just jail you and confiscate it, like Louis XIV did.
Quote from: Valmy on April 29, 2016, 01:37:00 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2016, 01:28:38 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on April 29, 2016, 01:21:06 PM
Sometimes I wonder if this is the path we should have taken in the Cold War. Instead of fighting Marxist regimes in South and Central America, just let them burn out.
The issue back then is that the Soviets would have supported them financially and militarily.
So would have sped along our inevitable victory :hmm:
until they start planting missiles everywhere pointed at your country, drop paratroopers in your cities and have a ground invasion force from Mexico. I've seen this scenario somewhere...
Quote from: viper37 on April 29, 2016, 01:55:27 PM
until they start planting missiles everywhere pointed at your country, drop paratroopers in your cities and have a ground invasion force from Mexico. I've seen this scenario somewhere...
The Soviets were so incompetent I would have loved to see them try. In order to get the Russians to fight you have to invade them first.
Quote from: crazy canuck on April 29, 2016, 01:28:38 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on April 29, 2016, 01:21:06 PM
Sometimes I wonder if this is the path we should have taken in the Cold War. Instead of fighting Marxist regimes in South and Central America, just let them burn out.
The issue back then is that the Soviets would have supported them financially and militarily.
We could draw the line at destabilizing or invading neighboring countries and Soviet military bases. Of course, I know how the cold war ends, and the people making policy did not. Still the Bush/Obama policy of pretty much ignoring Chavez has worked admirably. The ideology is even more discredited, and the US maintained the moral high ground. When the Reds are finally tossed out on their asses, the US should offer some aid to help them get on their feet.
Quote from: Valmy on April 29, 2016, 02:06:55 PM
Quote from: viper37 on April 29, 2016, 01:55:27 PM
until they start planting missiles everywhere pointed at your country, drop paratroopers in your cities and have a ground invasion force from Mexico. I've seen this scenario somewhere...
The Soviets were so incompetent I would have loved to see them try. In order to get the Russians to fight you have to invade them first.
Yeah, like when Finland invaded them in 1939. Or when Afghanistan invaded them in 1979. Plus Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
ooooh
Quote from: derspiess on April 29, 2016, 02:14:19 PM
Quote from: Valmy on April 29, 2016, 02:06:55 PM
Quote from: viper37 on April 29, 2016, 01:55:27 PM
until they start planting missiles everywhere pointed at your country, drop paratroopers in your cities and have a ground invasion force from Mexico. I've seen this scenario somewhere...
The Soviets were so incompetent I would have loved to see them try. In order to get the Russians to fight you have to invade them first.
Yeah, like when Finland invaded them in 1939. Or when Afghanistan invaded them in 1979. Plus Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Um no they didn't. Which was why all four operations were pathetic. The Czechsoslovakia invasion in particular. It was designed to be a blitzkrieg...and instead it took months...and Czechoslovaks only resisted passively. You think those hilarious exhibitions in waste and incompetence means they could have done anything against us?
Depends on your definition of the word "grammar".
If the numbers for notes given in that Bloomberg article are accurate, then we're talking about tying up a significant portion of the printing capacity of the major companies that do that. At some point, they are going to have to dedicate plant time to other customers. Not just because they probably have contracts to fill and other countries don't want cash shortages, but because it's a risky business move to dedicate all your capacity to a single customer with a dubious outlook for paying you.
Sometimes the best way to kill an idea is to implement it. If people were told that the idea doesn't work, they won't believe it until they actually see and experience themselves why it doesn't work. Desperate and unhappy people are willing to try out anything that hasn't been tried before.
Quote from: derspiess on April 29, 2016, 02:32:07 PM
Depends on your definition of the word "grammar".
Grammar can mean anything, depending on what grammar you are using.
Quote from: Berkut on April 29, 2016, 01:11:01 PM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Socialism has worked, and socialism has not worked.
It seems to be working just fine, right now, in some places.
I am not sure I understand the point behind comments like this...
Yours or mine?
Boom.
QuoteWonkblog
Analysis
There has never been a country that should have been so rich but ended up this poor
By Matt O'Brien May 19 at 9:06 AM
Washington Post
Venezuela has become a failed state.
According to the International Monetary Fund's latest projections, it has the world's worst economic growth, worst inflation and ninth-worst unemployment rate right now. It also has the second-worst murder rate, and an infant mortality rate that's gotten 100 times worse itself the past four years. And in case all that wasn't bad enough, its currency, going by black market rates, has lost 99 percent of its value since the start of 2012. It's what you call a complete social and economic collapse. And it has happened despite the fact that Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves.
Never has a country that should have been so rich been so poor.
There's no mystery here. Venezuela's government is to blame. Sure, $50-a-barrel oil hasn't helped, but it hasn't hurt so much that a "Mad Max"-style dystopia was inevitable. After all, every other country whose economy begins and ends at its oil wells has at least managed to avoid that fate. Which is to say that Venezuela is a man-made disaster. It's a gangster state that doesn't know how to do anything other than sell drugs and steal money for itself. Indeed, two of President Nicolás Maduro's nephews were arrested on charges of conspiring to bring 800 kilos of cocaine into the United States, the president's right-hand man is suspected of running a drug ring himself, and public money has a habit of disappearing into what could only be private pockets. Two ex-officials estimate that as much as $300 billion has been misappropriated the past decade. It's enough that Transparency International ranks Venezuela as the ninth-most corrupt country in the world. The only ones worse — Somalia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Angola, Libya and Iraq — are a collection of rogue and war-torn nations.
Venezuela is the answer to what would happen if an economically illiterate drug cartel took over a country. :lol:
This corruption hasn't just enriched the few. It has also impoverished the many. That's because the government has tried to control the economy to the point of killing it — all, of course, in the name of "socialism." Now let's back up a minute. It really shouldn't have been hard for Venezuela's government to spend some petrodollars on the poor without destroying its economy. All it had to do was send people a check for their share of the country's oil money. Even Alaska does that. And, to be fair, Venezuela was able to do so as well, as long as oil prices were in the triple digits. That's how its government cut poverty almost 30 percent its first 12 years in power.
You can't keep redistributing oil profits, though, if there aren't any more oil profits to redistribute. Or at least not that many of them — which there aren't now. The first reason for that is that former president Hugo Chávez replaced people who knew what they were doing with people he knew would be loyal to him at the state-owned oil company. The regime's cronies were happy to take money out of the company, but not so much about putting what they needed back in so that they'd continue to be able to turn their extra-heavy crude into refined oil. As a result, production fell 25 percent between 1999 and 2013. And the second reason has just been that oil prices have fallen in half the past two years. Add those two together — selling less oil for less than before — and you have an economic death sentence for a country that doesn't have an economy so much as an oil-exporting business that subsidizes everything else.
But Venezuela has gotten something worse than death. It has gotten hell. Its stores are empty, its hospitals don't have essential medicines, and it can't afford to keep the lights on. All the progress it had made fighting poverty has been reversed, and then some. The police are going after protesters, and vigilantes are going after petty criminals by, for example, burning a 42-year-old father alive for stealing $5. How has it come to this? Well, the underlying cause is that the government hasn't been content to just control the oil business. It wants to control every business. It tells them how much to charge, who's allowed to charge it, and even who's allowed to line up for it. Because that's the one thing Venezuela is well-supplied with now: hours and hours of lines.
Here's how it works — or doesn't, rather. Venezuela's government, you see, has tried to stop the runaway inflation that's resulted from all its money-printing by forcing companies to sell for lower prices than they want. The problem there, though, is that businesses won't sell things for less than they cost. They'll just leave their shelves unstocked instead. So to make up for that, the government has subsidized a select few by selling them dollars at well, well below market rates. Consider this: The Venezuelan bolivar is trading for 1,075 per dollar on the black market right now, but 6.3 per dollar at the government's most preferential rate. (It has two others.)
That's like paying $1 to get $170. Now, the idea is that giving companies money like this will let them make money — giving them a reason to fill their stores — even when they sell at the prices they're supposed to. But that's not how it has always worked out. Think about it like this. You could either use the $169 the government has given you to buy, say, milk for $3 overseas that you're only allowed to sell for $2 at home, or you could just sell it for $169 in the black market right away. In the first case, you'd make about $112; in the second, well, $169. So it's not profitable for unsubsidized companies to stock their shelves, but it's not profitable enough for subsidized ones to do so when they can just sell their dollars for more than they can resell imports. That's why Venezuela has had shortages of basic goods — everything from food to beer to toilet paper and especially medical supplies — even before oil prices fell so far.
Why doesn't the government just get rid of this exchange-rate system then? Because as difficult as it is to get someone to understand something when their salary depends on them not understanding it, it's even more so when their embezzling depends on it. In other words, having the power to decide who gets dollars and who doesn't means that you have them yourself, and can skim a little — or $300 billion — off the top if you're so inclined. And the Chavistas have been. It's true that this isn't exactly smart politics or economics in the long run, but in the long run they'll have moved their money into Swiss bank accounts and Miami condos. In the meantime, though, there's a country to loot.
Viva la revolución.
So this is what Bernie Bros want to change America into? :hmm:
Quote from: Martinus on May 20, 2016, 05:03:14 AM
So this is what Bernie Bros want to change America into? :hmm:
No, they want to turn it into the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 20, 2016, 05:07:17 AM
Quote from: Martinus on May 20, 2016, 05:03:14 AM
So this is what Bernie Bros want to change America into? :hmm:
No, they want to turn it into the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
QuoteThere has never been a country that should have been so rich but ended up this poor
The Democratic Republic of Congo wants that title back :mad:
Venezuela don't have diamonds!
Quote from: Monoriu on May 20, 2016, 05:16:23 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 20, 2016, 05:07:17 AM
Quote from: Martinus on May 20, 2016, 05:03:14 AM
So this is what Bernie Bros want to change America into? :hmm:
No, they want to turn it into the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Yes, because the economy of Germany and the UK are going to collapse any day. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Sanders would be in the center of the Labour party in the UK, hardly a radical.
Labour wouldn't want Bernie. Too Jewish. :P
Quote from: Monoriu on May 20, 2016, 05:16:23 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 20, 2016, 05:07:17 AM
Quote from: Martinus on May 20, 2016, 05:03:14 AM
So this is what Bernie Bros want to change America into? :hmm:
No, they want to turn it into the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Where does the road paved with bad intentions lead?
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 20, 2016, 05:48:54 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on May 20, 2016, 05:16:23 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 20, 2016, 05:07:17 AM
Quote from: Martinus on May 20, 2016, 05:03:14 AM
So this is what Bernie Bros want to change America into? :hmm:
No, they want to turn it into the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Yes, because the economy of Germany and the UK are going to collapse any day. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Thanks.
Quote from: Razgovory on May 20, 2016, 12:13:10 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on May 20, 2016, 05:16:23 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 20, 2016, 05:07:17 AM
Quote from: Martinus on May 20, 2016, 05:03:14 AM
So this is what Bernie Bros want to change America into? :hmm:
No, they want to turn it into the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Where does the road paved with bad intentions lead?
Wallstreet probably
Um, isn't is plainly obvious that it's pretty damn dangerous for a single-commodity country to make a budget assuming high prices for said commodity, and even MORE dangerous to borrow massive amounts at terrible rates when the commodity is less expensive? Derp...
Quote from: AnchorClanker on May 21, 2016, 02:35:13 AM
Um, isn't is plainly obvious that it's pretty damn dangerous for a single-commodity country to make a budget assuming high prices for said commodity, and even MORE dangerous to borrow massive amounts at terrible rates when the commodity is less expensive? Derp...
Why do you hate the people?
:lol:
I love people.
I hate stupid.
:cry:
Quote from: The Brain on May 21, 2016, 02:51:11 AM
:cry:
Hang in there, bud. Last I knew, you were neither stupid nor single-commodity, lest you have something you need to have me caught up on...
Quote from: AnchorClanker on May 21, 2016, 02:54:35 AM
Quote from: The Brain on May 21, 2016, 02:51:11 AM
:cry:
Hang in there, bud. Last I knew, you were neither stupid nor single-commodity, lest you have something you need to have me caught up on...
Thanks! I feel better now. :)
Quote from: AnchorClanker on May 21, 2016, 02:35:13 AM
Um, isn't is plainly obvious that it's pretty damn dangerous for a single-commodity country to make a budget assuming high prices for said commodity, and even MORE dangerous to borrow massive amounts at terrible rates when the commodity is less expensive? Derp...
Seedy's article notes that but also notes that Venezuela melted down faster than if that was the sole primary issue.
Quote from: AnchorClanker on May 21, 2016, 02:35:13 AM
Um, isn't is plainly obvious that it's pretty damn dangerous for a single-commodity country to make a budget assuming high prices for said commodity, and even MORE dangerous to borrow massive amounts at terrible rates when the commodity is less expensive? Derp...
I think you are completly missing the point.
Venezuela is not all fucked up because individuals made poor choices - it is fucked up because individuals made perfectly rational choices. But their goal was not "Let's make Venezuela awesome!" their goal was "Lets stay in power and make a shitload of cash for ourselves!".
Mission accomplished. They are in power, and have made shitloads of cash for themselves and their cronies.
Quote from: Berkut on May 21, 2016, 09:03:58 AM
Quote from: AnchorClanker on May 21, 2016, 02:35:13 AM
Um, isn't is plainly obvious that it's pretty damn dangerous for a single-commodity country to make a budget assuming high prices for said commodity, and even MORE dangerous to borrow massive amounts at terrible rates when the commodity is less expensive? Derp...
I think you are completly missing the point.
Venezuela is not all fucked up because individuals made poor choices - it is fucked up because individuals made perfectly rational choices. But their goal was not "Let's make Venezuela awesome!" their goal was "Lets stay in power and make a shitload of cash for ourselves!".
Mission accomplished. They are in power, and have made shitloads of cash for themselves and their cronies.
Those two objectives aren't necessarily mutually exclusive though. See so-called Communist China for example.
Quote from: Berkut on May 21, 2016, 09:03:58 AM
Mission accomplished. They are in power, and have made shitloads of cash for themselves and their cronies.
Cash that they then inflated to worthlessness.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on May 21, 2016, 12:43:10 PM
Quote from: Berkut on May 21, 2016, 09:03:58 AM
Mission accomplished. They are in power, and have made shitloads of cash for themselves and their cronies.
Cash that they then inflated to worthlessness.
They aren't stupid, I am sure they got that money out of the country and into good old Imperialist American dollars first thing.
Quote from: Berkut on May 21, 2016, 01:14:58 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on May 21, 2016, 12:43:10 PM
Quote from: Berkut on May 21, 2016, 09:03:58 AM
Mission accomplished. They are in power, and have made shitloads of cash for themselves and their cronies.
Cash that they then inflated to worthlessness.
They aren't stupid, I am sure they got that money out of the country and into good old Imperialist American dollars first thing.
Probably property in the US, etc.
Miami real estate is booming atm. :P
Was just thinking of how Venezuela's going to be affected by the clean energy revolution. They lost more than a single generation of wealth. They lost a once in a life time chance to enrich the nation and transform the economy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/15/venezuela-crisis-nicolas-maduro-salsa-dj-radio
QuoteAs Venezuela lurches from crisis to crisis President Maduro moonlights as salsa DJ
Venezuela is facing a cratering economy and political deadlock but the president still finds time to show off his 70s dance music chops on his own radio show
"It's time for salsaaaaa!" croons the newest DJ on Venezuela's national daytime radio. "Pay attention, this is the force of happiness," he tells his listeners.
The frenetic rhythms of the 1973 Ray Barreto classic Indestructible begin to drown out his rich tones before the chorus kicks in: "They can't destroy me ... they can't destroy me."
Amid an escalating humanitarian crisis, and after the abrupt suspension of a referendum designed to oust him from power, Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has launched a midday radio show.
But La Hora de la Salsa has drawn outright derision from the president's critics, who see it as tactless and mistimed, given the country's cratering economy and acute shortages of medicine and food.
"This is like the orchestra on the Titanic," wrote one commentator on the show's Facebook Live page (which last week was struggling to attract more than 100 viewers).
"It is a joke," said the opposition leader Henrique Capriles. "He should show more respect for the Venezuelan people."
The president, who seems to have a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of 1970s salsa, sits in the presenter's chair most Tuesdays and Fridays. At the end of the programme, he likes to reveal some proficient dance moves, spinning his wife, Celia Flores, AKA "the first combatant", round the studio.
"Our people surely have the right to have some fun," boomed Maduro to his co-host, the Latin music guru Javier Key, during the opening show.
Aware of at least one sensitivity, the video feed of the programme cut away every time the president helped himself to the plates of charcuterie and cakes that were served to keep him going during the four-hour show.
As well as introducing the songs, and occasionally shaking a couple of maracas, the president takes calls, talks politics, reads supportive messages and even signs government papers.
In one recent edition, Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega called in on a barely audible line from Managua, having just secured a third-term election victory, in a vote described by the country's opposition as rigged.
Maduro heartily congratulated him on the result, which he described as "world-record breaking".
Last Friday, the president, whose annual budget has not been approved by the opposition-controlled national assembly, used the show to sign off multimillion-dollar spending on a range of projects, from the refurbishment of a hospital in the city of Maracay, to a water purification project in the state of Miranda.
"Approved," he declared, with a flourish, as he faded up the next salsa tune.
The president appears to be trying to recapture some of the magic of his predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chávez.
His long-running Sunday TV show Aló Presidente, was popular partly because nobody quite knew what the maverick leader might do or say next. On one programme, the Comandante strode through one of the oldest squares in Caracas, expropriating properties live on air.
The show had its musical interludes too: Chávez endeared himself to his core supporters with his pitch-perfect rendition of Venezuelan country songs.
But those were different times. Chávez had oil trillions to spend, a military background and a natural charisma, none of which Maduro can depend upon. Polls rank the current president's support at around 25%. That may be more than respectable for leaders in some western democracies, but it is debilitating when trying to lead what the government still insists is a popular revolution. Most Venezuelans say they would vote to remove him from office, given a chance.
The government insists the next opportunity to do that will not be until the next presidential elections, at the end of 2018. An opposition-backed attempt to bring about a mid-term recall referendum seems to have been successfully blocked by pro-government courts and a tame electoral authority.
Maduro repeatedly makes references to his exasperated opposition during the radio show, dedicating salsa tunes with what he sees as appropriate titles to his foes.
A main target is Henry Ramos Allup, the 73-year-old head of the national assembly. On a recent show, Maduro dedicated La Eliminacion de las Feos ("the elimination of the ugly ones"), by the Puerto Rican Group El Gran Combo, to Ramos Allup.
"The opposition are all ugly, aren't they," he chortled, before cueing up the next track.
Meh, this'll be the US in a few years time.
Quote from: PJL on November 15, 2016, 08:08:26 AM
Meh, this'll be the US in a few years time.
Seems unlikely.
Yeah, can't see Trump digging salsa. That's a spic thing.
It's like post-Soviet Afghanistan. But with a Carribean flair!
It's nice to be reminded there are countries worse off for leadership than we are. :)
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition for something.
It escapes my mind. Something about the mind.
Quote from: Siege on November 16, 2016, 08:52:09 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition for something.
It escapes my mind. Something about the mind.
Brain was being very very sarcastic :P
Quote from: Valmy on November 16, 2016, 10:03:45 AM
Quote from: Siege on November 16, 2016, 08:52:09 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition for something.
It escapes my mind. Something about the mind.
Brain was being very very sarcastic :P
Oops.
In Venezuela the problem is populism, not socialism :contract:
Quote from: Siege on November 16, 2016, 08:52:09 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition for something.
It escapes my mind. Something about the mind.
Just because it didn't work the last 2 times does not mean it won't work now. I mean, you voted for a guy who promised to do exactly the same thing as Reagan & Bush even though it didn't work and you hated the guy who tried something different. I guess you are something!
Quote from: viper37 on November 16, 2016, 10:57:08 AM
Quote from: Siege on November 16, 2016, 08:52:09 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2016, 11:49:02 AM
I still think Socialism works, if only the world would give it a proper chance.
Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition for something.
It escapes my mind. Something about the mind.
Just because it didn't work the last 2 times does not mean it won't work now. I mean, you voted for a guy who promised to do exactly the same thing as Reagan & Bush even though it didn't work and you hated the guy who tried something different. I guess you are something!
Assuming your referring to tax cuts this will be the fourth time; Kennedy also cut income tax. To be fair to Trump, though, he has promised to raise tariffs substantially; something not tried since 1930.
Quote from: Tyr on November 16, 2016, 10:56:18 AM
In Venezuela the problem is populism, not socialism :contract:
:lol: It's both.
Quote from: Savonarola on November 16, 2016, 11:24:41 AM
Assuming your referring to tax cuts this will be the fourth time; Kennedy also cut income tax. To be fair to Trump, though, he has promised to raise tariffs substantially; something not tried since 1930.
didn't remember much of fiscality&economic policies prior to the 80s.
Cutting income tax is not bad per se, but it always depends at which point you start, since it's highly relative.
Quote from: derspiess on November 16, 2016, 12:00:34 PM
Quote from: Tyr on November 16, 2016, 10:56:18 AM
In Venezuela the problem is populism, not socialism :contract:
:lol: It's both.
It's only socialism if things turn out well. :mad:
No Moose Lamb is safe in TrumpWorld.
QuoteWashington Post
National Security
U.S. sanctions Venezuelan vice president as drug kingpin
By Carol Morello
February 13 at 6:49 PM
The Trump administration on Monday slapped sanctions on Venezuela's new vice president, Tareck El Aissami, accusing him of being an international drug kingpin.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that El Aissami, who was named vice president just last month, helped facilitate drug shipments out of the country through his control of air bases and shipping ports. Treasury officials said that in his previous positions as governor of Aragua state and the country's interior minister, he was involved in large drug shipments bound from Venezuela to Mexico and the United States.
Also sanctioned was his alleged frontman, Samark José López Bello, and 13 companies he owns or controls in the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.
The sanctions against the second-highest-ranking government official in Venezuela, who is in line to succeed Socialist President Nicolás Maduro, almost certainly will lead to an erosion in the already strained relations between the two governments.
El Aissami, the son of immigrants from Syria and Lebanon, has had a meteoric political rise. Just over a decade ago, he was a student activist in rural Venezuela. Since then, the 42-year-old has climbed the government ranks to become interior minister and governor.
On Jan. 4, Maduro named El Aissami vice president. El Aissami has a reputation as a hard-line loyalist to the late president Hugo Chávez. He also leads a special task force to root out potential coup plots against Maduro, so he's trusted by Maduro above few others.
The Treasury Department placed him on a list reserved for "specially designated narcotics traffickers," part of what's known as the Kingpin Act. Under the sanctions, assets owned by El Aissami and López Bello are blocked, and it is illegal for U.S. citizens to have any dealings with them.
Two years ago, the Obama administration ordered sanctions against seven government officials it said had repressed political opponents or were corrupt. But in Venezuela, being sanctioned by the United States has become a badge of honor and even grounds for promotion in the government. Among the officials sanctioned for alleged drug trafficking was a top anti-narcotics official, Néstor Reverol.
John E. Smith, acting director of OFAC, said Monday's sanctions resulted from an investigation into narcotics traffickers spanning several years.
"This case highlights our continued focus on narcotics traffickers and those who help launder their illicit proceeds through the United States," Smith said. "Denying a safe haven for illicit assets in the United States and protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse remain top priorities of the Treasury Department."
This month, 34 lawmakers sent a bipartisan letter urging President Trump to place sanctions on Venezuelan government and military officials — including El Aissami — allegedly involved in corruption and human rights abuses.
Venezuela has been under a state of economic emergency for more than a year. Amid hyperinflation and a deep recession caused largely by low oil prices and amplified by mismanagement of the economy, Maduro has pinned the blame on the United States, saying it is plotting to overthrow him.
Hungry Venezuelans must line up for hours to buy food with devalued currency, and Maduro has placed the military in charge of food distribution. Many people have fled to neighboring countries to get medical care.
had this been done under any other President, I would likely get behind it.
Now, I am wondering where is the truth. Is this another alternative fact? Is this real?
Corruption, voter suppression, illegal campaigning activities, I get it. But drug kingpin as a #2 in Venezuela? It seems like something out of a James Bond movie.
Well, it's Venezuela. Anything is possible, really. Their sense of honesty and reality certainly matches the Trump administration.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/22/venezuela-rule-of-law-virtually-absent-un-report
QuoteRule of law 'virtually absent' in Venezuela, UN report says
Government security forces in Venezuela carry out unjustified killings without any apparent consequences, as the rule of law is "virtually absent" in the country, according to a new report by the United Nations.
The UN human rights office called on the government to bring perpetrators to justice and said it was sending its report to the international criminal court (ICC), whose prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation in February.
The report published on Friday cited "credible, shocking" accounts of extrajudicial killings of young men during crime-fighting operations in poor neighbourhoods conducted without arrest warrants. Security forces would tamper with the scene so that there appeared to have been an exchange of fire, it said.
"The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela," said Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights. "The impunity must end."
There was no immediate response from the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Critics say Maduro has used increasingly authoritarian tactics as Venezuela's economy has spiralled deeper into recession and hyperinflation, fuelling discontent and prompting hundreds of thousands to emigrate in the past year.
About 125 people died in anti-government protests last year.
Security forces were allegedly responsible for killing at least 46 of them, said the UN rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.
Maduro says the opposition protests were aimed at overthrowing him and accuses the United States of directing an "economic war" against Venezuela.
Zeid called on the UN human rights council on Monday to set up an international commission of inquiry into alleged violations in Venezuela – one of its 47 member states.
"The time has come for the Council to use its voice to speak out before this tragic downward spiral becomes irreversible," Leila Swan of Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Friday.
Venezuela is suffering from an economic collapse that includes chronic shortages of food and medicine and annualised inflation around 25,000%. Maduro blames an "economic war" directed by the opposition and the US – which has imposed new sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry.
Populism gone mad. Just kidding populism can't go mad because it is already there.
Notice they are still using the US to keep power, man that works great.
Quote from: Valmy on June 22, 2018, 01:13:54 PM
Populism gone mad. Just kidding populism can't go mad because it is already there.
Notice they are still using the US to keep power, man that works great.
Is it populism when it's no longer popular? :hmm:
Quote from: The GuardianGrowing political authoritarianism has coincided with greater state dominance over the economy. But expropriations, price controls and mismanagement have led to a 40% contraction of the economy in the past five years.
:lol: Love the "but". Good old Guardian.
Well, if Maduro could will the economy to be better, I'm sure he would.
Quote from: citizen k on June 22, 2018, 03:01:58 PM
Quote from: Valmy on June 22, 2018, 01:13:54 PM
Populism gone mad. Just kidding populism can't go mad because it is already there.
Notice they are still using the US to keep power, man that works great.
Is it populism when it's no longer popular? :hmm:
Last I checked he remains bizarrely popular.