International Venezuela, The Socialist Dystopia, v2: The region's worst humanitarian crisis in decades

I'm not sure what the Venezuelan people's strategy is at this point. No revolution, no voting, no more country-wide protests. Looks like most folks just gonna try to survive day-to-day under the status quo.



Like Cuba, anyone who gave a shit has left for greener pastures. I’m speaking from a hypocritical stance (since I left Cuba too) but the youth aren’t interested in revolution and dying. I’ve heard a lot of why can’t Cubans just revolt they can’t kill you all etc, but the hard truth is we don’t want to kill our countrymen even if they are commies and hence retarded to common sense. I have a feeling something very very very horrible will have to happen in Venezuela for a significant revolt to take place
 
Like Cuba, anyone who gave a shit has left for greener pastures. I’m speaking from a hypocritical stance (since I left Cuba too) but the youth aren’t interested in revolution and dying. I’ve heard a lot of why can’t Cubans just revolt they can’t kill you all etc, but the hard truth is we don’t want to kill our countrymen even if they are commies and hence retarded to common sense. I have a feeling something very very very horrible will have to happen in Venezuela for a significant revolt to take place

Shouldn't have left Cuba, comrade Alex. Maduro is still trying to be a good big brother and continue sending oil to the island!

Granted, Venezuela is quickly losing the ability to extract and refine their own crude, so he had to buy that $440 Million oil shipment from the open market to subsidize Cuba, even though his own people are starving in the streets, that's true dedication to the Socialist ideals!



Good to finally know where crippled PDVSA is investing the cash they raised from the bonds firesale, though. That oughtta get them broken oil rigs and refineries humming along in no time.
 
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Shouldn't have left, bro. Maduro is still trying to be a good big brother and continue sending oil to the island!

Granted, Venezuela is losing the ability to refine their own crude, so he had to buy that oil shipment from somebody else, even though his own people are starving in the streets, that's true dedication to the Socialist ideals!



USSR-esque.

We were feeding Cuba, some African and Asian countries while our own people were standing in 5 hour lines to get told there's no more food.
 
I'm not sure what the Venezuelan people's strategy is at this point. No revolution, no voting, no more country-wide protests. Looks like most folks just gonna try to survive day-to-day under the status quo.



Its not a paradox when there isnt any more legitimate opposition, it only adds to the legitimacy of the elections if people turn out.
 
Shouldn't have left Cuba, comrade Alex. Maduro is still trying to be a good big brother and continue sending oil to the island!

Granted, Venezuela is quickly losing the ability to extract and refine their own crude, so he had to buy that $440 Million oil shipment from the open market to subsidize Cuba, even though his own people are starving in the streets, that's true dedication to the Socialist ideals!



Good to finally know where crippled PDVSA is investing the cash they raised from the bonds firesale, though. That oughtta get them broken oil rigs and refineries humming along in no time.


Haha stay in Cuba?? And risk not being able to converse with you fine people on the dog? I refused to call anyone compañero (comrade) btw

Cubas educational system isn’t as good as it was in the 80´s and early 90´s so the doctors they are trading for that oil with Venezuela will be subpar and probably looking for the quickest way out of Venezuela
 
USSR-esque.

We were feeding Cuba, some African and Asian countries while our own people were standing in 5 hour lines to get told there's no more food.

Hahaha, history is repeating itself alright. The flag-bearer of the Bolivarian Alliance is just about as broke and hungry as the USSR in the early 90s, but still trying hard to posture even as the country crumbles around them.

Those ALBA meetings are quite a sight to behold, especially as Maduro is getting desperate. You guys should look it up just to see what an alternate reality would be like.
 
Venezuela’s Empty Election
Regardless of its outcome, the country will keep spiraling downward.
May 17, 2018 |

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Elections are supposed to enable voters to improve their fortunes. Sadly, that is not the case with this weekend’s vote in Venezuela. Regardless of the outcome, voters can expect no quick exit from their country’s downward spiral.

Officials from the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the European Union, the U.S., and Venezuela’s neighbors have denounced the upcoming vote as flawed beyond redemption. Even if one of President Nicolas Maduro’s three opponents were allowed to win — other more popular candidates have been barred, leading to a broader opposition boycott — he would be hamstrung by Maduro’s allies. They control the military and effectively all branches of government.

Maduro’s tenure has been an economic disaster. Inflation will exceed 13,000 percent this year. Gross domestic product is expected to shrink by 15 percent; it has fallen by almost 50 percent since 2013. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves — but thanks to mismanagement, you’d never know it: By 2020, oil production will be less than half of what it was in 2013. Venezuela has already defaulted on some of its debt, which stands at nearly 120 percent of GDP.

For ordinary Venezuelans, these numbers mean daily misery. Never mind shortages of food, medicine and toilet paper — even water is now in short supply in Caracas. Nearly 3 million of Venezuela's 8 million students have been kept out of school for want of food, electricity, safe water and fuel for transport. Communicable diseases are on the rise, with malaria cases jumping by nearly 70 percent last year — the world’s biggest increase. Many Venezuelans are voting with their feet. If current trends continue, by the end of this year close to 10 percent of the population will have left.

Outside pressure hasn’t worked. Venezuela can’t be made to accept humanitarian aid, and so far it has refused help. Its neighbors are distracted by their own political turmoil, and U.S. sanctions haven’t thrown Maduro off course. With the economy collapsing, he has continued to subsidize oil shipments to Cuba, whose security services have helped keep him in power.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has speculated that a military coup might offer one way out. But almost all of Venezuela’s officers have risen through the ranks under Hugo Chavez and Maduro. Some have been implicated in narcotics trafficking and many more in the looting of the economy, which they now dominate. Expect no guaranteed relief from that quarter.

The U.S., the European Union and Venezuela’s democratic neighbors have few new levers to pull. The so-called Lima Group (comprising Canada, Mexico and much of South America) has pledged to ignore commitments — during any debt negotiations, for instance — not approved by the National Assembly, which the opposition controls and Maduro has moved to supplant. As far as possible, though, any further tightening of sanctions should be aimed at the country’s leadership rather than at Venezuela’s people. Adding to their plight would be the main drawback of banning imports of Venezuelan oil, which the Trump administration has been considering.

The end might not be that far away. Creditors are closing in on Venezuela’s national oil company, confiscating assets and threatening to cripple its operations. Even China is reportedly balking at extending the grace period on loan repayments. Foreign companies — most recently, the U.S. food giant Kellogg Co. — continue to flee.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Europe should do more to help the countries hosting Venezuela’s refugees. And leading members of the International Monetary Fund — including China, which has lent Venezuela more than $60 billion — should be planning how to help Venezuela recover, once a government capable of being helped is in place. Until that happens, outsiders have little choice but to look on in dismay.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-17/venezuela-s-empty-election
 
Its not a paradox when there isnt any more legitimate opposition, it only adds to the legitimacy of the elections if people turn out.

This is why I think the idea of making voting compulsory tyranical.
 
Shouldn't have left Cuba, comrade Alex. Maduro is still trying to be a good big brother and continue sending oil to the island!

Granted, Venezuela is quickly losing the ability to extract and refine their own crude, so he had to buy that $440 Million oil shipment from the open market to subsidize Cuba, even though his own people are starving in the streets, that's true dedication to the Socialist ideals!



Good to finally know where crippled PDVSA is investing the cash they raised from the bonds firesale, though. That oughtta get them broken oil rigs and refineries humming along in no time.


Buddy of mine lived in the oil part of Venezuela years ago. He stated that the quality of the oil that is in Venezuela is very poor and takes a long time to refine.

Yes, it has HUGE reserves, but takes a lot of energy and time to get on the market. During the nation wide protest during Chavez's presidency, the month long shut down took many many months to get back online.

Sort of off topic....apparently, Libya has a higher quality oil in their fields. It takes less processing to get their oil in the market.
 
Shouldn't have left Cuba, comrade Alex. Maduro is still trying to be a good big brother and continue sending oil to the island!

Granted, Venezuela is quickly losing the ability to extract and refine their own crude, so he had to buy that $440 Million oil shipment from the open market to subsidize Cuba, even though his own people are starving in the streets, that's true dedication to the Socialist ideals!



Good to finally know where crippled PDVSA is investing the cash they raised from the bonds firesale, though. That oughtta get them broken oil rigs and refineries humming along in no time.


I hope Venezuela gets regime changed by US at this point. Becoming like colombia is way better. Also wonder if Cuba make it another 10 ywars
 
I hope Venezuela gets regime changed by US at this point. Becoming like colombia is way better. Also wonder if Cuba make it another 10 ywars

Nobody will touch Valenzuela at this point maybe the Chinese will regime change them soon.
 
Buddy of mine lived in the oil part of Venezuela years ago. He stated that the quality of the oil that is in Venezuela is very poor and takes a long time to refine.

Yes, it has HUGE reserves, but takes a lot of energy and time to get on the market. During the nation wide protest during Chavez's presidency, the month long shut down took many many months to get back online.

Sort of off topic....apparently, Libya has a higher quality oil in their fields. It takes less processing to get their oil in the market.

It's true. Venezuela's extra-heavy crude is comparable to Canadian oilsands. They must be diluted before they can be transported via pipelines, they are expensive to refine, and about the only modern refineries in the world that could handle them efficiently are all on the U.S Gulf Coast.

In order to refine their own oil in-house, Venezuela must buy large quantities of lighter-grade oil from the open market (or diluent agents from the U.S) to mix in with their extra-heavy crude stock first, and oil refining is increasingly hard to do in Venezuela, with all sorts of broken equipments and the treasury is nearly out of U.S dollars to buy what they needs.

You can see a more technical post on this subject back on page 5:

http://forums.sherdog.com/posts/138908347/
 
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Buddy of mine lived in the oil part of Venezuela years ago. He stated that the quality of the oil that is in Venezuela is very poor and takes a long time to refine.

Yes, it has HUGE reserves, but takes a lot of energy and time to get on the market. During the nation wide protest during Chavez's presidency, the month long shut down took many many months to get back online.

Sort of off topic....apparently, Libya has a higher quality oil in their fields. It takes less processing to get their oil in the market.
Yes Venuzuelan oil is hard to refine its kinda ridiculous because they need to import naphta or some thing like tha to process their dirty oil.


And some said libyan oil is the highest quality in the middle east.
 
Venezuelans, rocked by poverty and inflation, head to polls
By Paula Newton and Natalie Gallón, CNN | Sun May 20, 2018

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A man walks past graffiti in support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

Venezuelans trekked to the polls Sunday to elect a new president, amid widespread economic anxiety and voter apathy.

President Nicolas Maduro is seeking reelection for a six-year term in an electoral process that has been criticized both inside and outside Venezuela.
The main opposition coalition is boycotting the election, though Maduro is not without challengers.

Maduro's chief rival for the presidency is Henri Falcon, a former state governor and onetime loyalist of the ruling party who broke ranks in 2010. On Sunday Falconcited hundreds of complaints of election violations. Election officials said they would address the claims.

Amid allegations from leaders in the region that the election process lacks legitimacy, Maduro said the outcome will be respected.

"There has been a fierce campaign by the government of Donald Trump," Maduro said in a news conference on Sunday. "In the United States there has been a fierce pressure to try to besmirch the Venezuelan elections -- and they couldn't."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that he was watching the election closely. "Sham elections change nothing. We need Venezuelan people running this country ... a nation with so much to offer the world," he said on Twitter.

Maduro predicted a good electoral turnout and encouraged voters to head to the polls. "Today is a historic day. Let no one miss this historic day," he said, after casting his ballot and claiming his was the first vote of the day.

Later Sunday, he took to Facebook to call on people to vote, offering to provide transportation to Venezuelans living in remote areas.

"We should feel proud that we have not had any mishaps, that none of the candidates have felt threatened solely for being a candidate," Communications Minister Jorge Rodríguez said.

Polls close at 6 p.m. ET Sunday. Results are expected Sunday night or Monday.

'Nothing is normal'

The country has endured political tumult and economic misery, including food and medicine shortages, and hyperinflation.

"Nothing is normal," said citizen Carmen Herrera. "The little bit of money that we earn is not enough to buy even half dozen eggs."

"I would like to see a change because at this rate we're not going to get anywhere."

Because of the deteriorating situation, an estimated 1.6 million people fled the country between 2015 and 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Maduro has been Venezuela's President since former President Hugo Chavez died in 2013.

Under Chavez, the country turned toward socialism. Many Venezuelans saw him as the hero of the poor. Before he died, Chavez picked Maduro as his successor, which helped put Maduro over the top in the 2013 presidential election.

Once he took power, Maduro kept up Chavez's practices such as huge welfare programs and price controls for most goods, including food.

Venezuela holds the world's largest supply of crude oil -- which once seemed like an endless gusher of cash for the government.

Plummeting oil prices crashed the country's economy in 2016. It has since completely collapsed, and the country now finds itself in the middle of a financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund expects that inflation in Venezuela will reach 13,000% in 2018.

Falcon was once a Chavez supporter. In 2010, he broke with the ruling party and has been a vocal critic of the government in recent years. He believes the way out of the financial crisis is the dollarization of the country -- pinning the country's economy on the US dollar.

Casting ballots

Many of those who are boycotting the election believe it is rigged. The event is an afterthought for so many citizens battling despair, fatigue and economic insecurity. People say they are preoccupied with getting their next meal or leaving the country.

"Both my family and I are very undecided about whether we're going to vote," said Betty Fernandez.

Falcon -- who cast a ballot and spoke to reporters at a polling station -- said this is not the time to be complacent. "The hunger situation, the misery, the uncontrolled political situation that our country lives is truly alarming."

He said there have been no less than 350 reports of election violations. He urged security forces to address the issues.

Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council, is following up.
"We haven't had any significant incident so far, we don't have any knowledge of any aggression made or of any greater difficulty during the process," said Lucena.

CNN staff said one polling station was very quiet and the turnout wasn't very high at that spot.

Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa -- who has a good relationship with Maduro -- was in Caracas monitoring the elections and cited a healthy turnout.

"In a few hours early morning, there was already participation at 30%, which illuminates a big participation at the end of the working day."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/20/americas/venezuela-elections/index.html
 

Lima (Reuters) - The Lima group of Latin American countries plus Canada issued a statement on Monday saying it did not recognize the legitimacy of Venezuela’s presidential election, which was held the day before amid criticism over alleged irregularities.

The Lima Group includes Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Santa Lucia, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

The statement said the countries would call their ambassadors back from Caracas for consultations and hold a meeting to coordinate a regional response to outflows of Venezuelans “who have been obligated to abandon their country”.

Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro won a new six-year term in the vote, but his main rivals disavowed the election alleging massive irregularities in a process critics decried as a farce propping up a dictatorship.

It was the least they could do, really.
 
Venezuela's Maduro Wins Boycotted Elections Amid Charges Of Fraud
May 21, 2018​

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Venezuelan leftist President Nicolás Maduro has easily won a second term, but his main rivals have refused to accept the results, calling the polling fraudulent — a view shared by the United States and many independent observers.

Venezuela's National Election Council, run by Maduro loyalists, said that with nearly 93 percent of polling stations reporting by Sunday, Maduro had won almost 68 percent of the vote, beating his nearest challenger, Henri Falcon, by almost 40 points.

"They underestimated me," said a triumphant Maduro to cheers from his supporters as fireworks sounded and confetti fell at the presidential palace in Caracas.

Maduro, 55, replaced Hugo Chavez when the longtime Venezuelan socialist died of cancer in 2013. Since then, Maduro has presided over a collapsing economy, hyperinflation, widespread hunger and a mass of refugees trying to escape the desperate conditions. The country has been further hit by falling oil exports and U.S. imposed sanctions.

Fewer than half of registered voters turned up at the polls, but the opposition, which has boycotted the election, said even that figure was inflated.

Those opposed to Maduro have long maintained that the election is fraudulent, not least because the opposition's most popular leaders — the ones with the best chance of unseating the president — were barred from running.

As NPR's Philip Reeves reports from Caracas, "Throughout the day voting stations appeared almost empty around the capital." Despite that, election officials claim turnout of nearly 50 percent.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...ins-boycotted-elections-amid-charges-of-fraud
 
President Trump Prohibits Purchase of Debts Owed to Venezuela and PDVSA
By Toluse Olorunnipa | May 21, 2018,​


President Donald Trump stepped up economic pressure on Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro with an order prohibiting purchases of debts owed to the government, including to the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.

The executive order, which covers all transactions on any debts owed to the Venezuelan government or state-owned enterprises including accounts receivable, was posted on the Treasury Department website Monday afternoon.

The prohibition on purchases of debts owed to Venezuela specifically includes accounts receivable. One administration official said the action was intended to choke off funding the Maduro regime has been raising by selling off money owed in future to the government and state-owned enterprises in exchange for immediate payment cash.

An official said such transactions were tantamount to mortgaging the future of Venezuela.

The order prohibits the sale, transfer or pledging of collateral of any equity interest in which the Venezuelan government has a 50 percent or greater ownership interest.

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/...ts-purchases-of-venezuela-debt-after-election
 
Washington hits Venezuela with sanctions as 14 nations limit diplomatic ties
BY JIM WYSS - May 21, 2018​

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BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - As the international community piled on Venezuela Monday, the White House rolled out new sanctions and more than a dozen countries rejected Sunday’s “sham” presidential elections that handed Nicolás Maduro a new six-year term.

On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an order limiting Venezuela’s ability to liquidate assets “at fire sale prices,” the Associated Press reported.

The move might be aimed at keeping Venezuela from selling off its stake in the CITGO oil company, which operates in the United States.

Closer to Caracas, the 14 nations that are part of the “Lima Group” said they would be limiting diplomatic ties with Venezuela and would study blocking all future loans to the nation.
The moves come less than 24 hours after Maduro won a new term in a controversial vote that his rivals and critics say was marred by fraud.

In a statement, the Lima Group, said it did not recognize the “legitimacy” of Sunday’s vote and said its members had agreed to “reduce the level of diplomatic relations with Venezuela” and recall their ambassadors for consultation.

The Lima Group is comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia. And the bloc has been a vocal opponent of what it sees as growing authoritarianism in Venezuela.

But the Lima Group went further, saying it would take steps so that national and international banks would not offer loans to Venezuela that did not have prior approval from the opposition-held National Assembly.

That could be a serious blow for the cash-strapped nation that needs external funding to import food and medicine.

Maduro and his allies have sidelined the National Assembly, which was elected in 2015, and have allowed a new super-body, the National Constituent Assembly, to usurp most of its functions.

The Lima Group said it would also “intensify and broaden” the exchange of financial information to identify Venezuelan companies and individuals “who could be involved in acts of corruption, money laundering and other illicit activity.”

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL., applauded the new U.S.sanctions and called on Venezuela’s leaders to remove Maduro.

“Nicolás Maduro told his supporters that pulling off a fake election would be a reset that would result in less sanctions and less isolation,” he said in a statement. “Instead, he faces more sanctions and is more isolated than ever. Maduro’s days in power are numbered.”

The Lima Group group said it will hold a regional meeting to create a strategy to deal with more than 1 million Venezuelans who have left the nation in recent years amid the economic collapse.

Electoral authorities on Sunday said Maduro had won 68 percent of the vote versus the 21 percent garnered by Henri Falcón, the former governor of Lara State, and 11 percent won by Javier Bertucci, an evangelical pastor.

The opposition had called for a boycott. Abstention was at its highest levels in 20 years, according to government figures.

Venezuela is expected to see a wave of new sanctions in coming weeks as a result of Sunday’s vote.

http://amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article211577904.html
 
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