International
Trade
Cargo that has arrived at Puerto Cabello:
- Over 15,000 tons of food (whole milk powder,
frozen meat and chicken, coffee, margarine and pork) from JBS for
Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícolas (CASA)
- Over 14,000 tons of yellow corn from Industrial
de Aceite for NESTLÉ de Venezuela
- Over 1,999 tons of soybean cakes from CARGILL Bolivia
for a Agro Insumos Lara
- 1,200
tons of soybean cakes from Industrial de Aceite for NESTLÉ de Venezuela
- Milk powder from NESTLÉ Argentina for NESTLÉ
Venezuela.
National Assembly approved US$ 3.5 billion for food
imports in 2014
The National Assembly has
approved a total of US$ 3.5 billion for food purchases abroad by the Venezuelan
Foreign Trade Corporation (CORPOVEX) during 2014. Another 73,000 tons of
imported food are planned to cover some 2 months of imports, including refined
soy oil, peas, canned tuna, beans, beef, powdered milk, lentils, margarine,
pasta, chicken, wheat flour, raw soy oil, sugar and cattle. More in Spanish: (Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/an-aprobo-recursos-para-importaciones.aspx#ixzz3NHtekwn5)
350 minibuses and 17 heavy cranes arrived from China, as a part of a 1,500 unit
purchase announced by President Maduro during his visit to China in July. More
in Spanish: (El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/politicas-publicas/llegaron-de-china-350-minibuses-y-17-gruas-pesadas.aspx#ixzz3NNmzGDZL; Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/llegaron-350-minibuses-y-17-gruas-pesadas-provenie.aspx)
Oil &
Energy
Venezuela's oil price now down to US$ 48
President Nicolas Maduro reports the price of
Venezuelan oil has dropped further down to US$ 48 per barrel, US$ 3.26 below
last week's average price, and says the drop in prices is due to economic
warfare by the US against Russia. More in Spanish: (Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/precio-del-petroleo-venezolano-cerro-en-48-este-lu.aspx#ixzz3NOJTIVH5)
Commodities
SIDOR production at 37.6% of 2014 projection
SIDOR's January to November
liquid steel production was 904,042 metric tons, 37.6% of planned production
for the year, according to labor sources within the company - which were 2.4
million tons. More in Spanish: (El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
Famous Venezuelan ice-cream store closes over milk
shortage
An ice-cream store listed in the Guinness World
Records book for its 863 different flavours has become the latest victim of
Venezuela's economic crisis. "We are
closed during the season due to shortage of milk," the famous Coromoto
ice-cream store in the highland town of Merida announced on its Facebook page.
Locals confirmed that the shop, hugely popular among tourists for its exotic
and strange flavours ranging from beer to beans, had been closed since
Christmas Eve. A sign on the door asked customers' forgiveness "for not attending you due to the lack of
milk." (Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/27/venezuela-icecreams-idUSKBN0K50FN20141227)
Economy
& Finance
Maduro to announce new economic steps
President Nicolás Maduro
says he will hold a year end press conference and will announce new economic
steps, including decisions on exchange policy. Opposition spokesmen say it will
be more of the same. More in
Spanish: (AVN;
http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/presidente-maduro-ofrecerá-este-martes-detalles-sobre-programa-económico-recuperación-2015;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/141230/maduro-cambio-de-modelo-economico-se-hara-en-2015;
El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/politicas-publicas/maduro-hara-anuncios-economicos-este-martes.aspx;
Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/este-martes-haran-anuncios-sobre-economia-venezola.aspx;
El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
More inflation, lower wages
Over the last 12 years, food prices have skyrocketed
by more than 2,000%. The price of the standard basic food basket, as measured
by the Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics (INE), stood at VEB 284.5
(US$ 45 at the official exchange rate of VEB 6.30 per USD) in 2003. Today, it
stands at VEB 5,741 (U$D 909.75), despite price controls on products for mass
consumption. (El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/141227/more-inflation-less-wages)
Fitch affirms MERCANTIL
COMMERCEBANK's IDRs on downgrade of MERCANTIL Servicios Financieros
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Long- and Short-term
Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of MERCANTIL COMMERCEBANK Florida Bancorp (MCFB)
and its main subsidiary, MERCANTIL COMMERCEBANK, N.A. at 'BB/B' with a Stable
Outlook. A complete list of ratings follows at the end of this release. Through
its ultimate domestic holding company, Mercantil Commercebank Holding Corp.
(MCH), the bank is beneficially owned by MERCANTIL Servicios Financieros (MSF),
one of the largest financial institutions based in Venezuela. Although the ratings assigned are for MCFB, Fitch
also reviews the financials for MCH, which is the domestic holding company for
MCFB in the U.S. Fitch's rating action follows the downgrade of MSF and its
affiliated bank, MERCANTIL C.A. Banco Universal. (Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/24/fitch-affirms-mercantil-commercebanks-id-idUSFit88368120141224)
Politics and
International Affairs
Elections Board directors sworn in, Lucena reelected
president
Gladys Gutierrez, President of Venezuela's Supreme
Court of Justice, has sworn in the directors and alternate members of the Elections
Board, and Tibisay Lucena has been reelected President of the body. (AVN, http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/sworn-main-directors-top-electoral-body;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/141229/heads-of-venezuelan-electoral-council-sworn-in-by-top-court; and more in Spanish: El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/141230/rectores-del-cne-ratifican-a-lucena-como-presidenta)
Pro government force names Supreme Court justices by
simple majority in the National Assembly
A simple majority of the pro government United
Socialist Party has named 16 new Supreme Court justices in order to fill
vacancies in the Court. The opposition has refused a proposal brought forward
by the chair of the committee of judicial nominations, PSUV member Elvis
Amoroso, and in view of the failure to reach the favorable vote of the two
thirds of the Assembly, pro-government deputies just railed on the MUD deputies
and convened a new session –the fourth and last one to address this matter. (El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/141227/chavezism-to-appoint-on-tsj-justices-by-absolute-majority-on-sunday;
Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2367195&CategoryId=10717;
and more in Spanish: (El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/141229/mayoria-del-psuv-designo-a-16-magistrados-del-tsj; AVN; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/estos-son-nuevos-magistrados-del-tsj)
Maduro moves Foreign Minister Ramirez to U.N.
President Nicolas Maduro named powerful Foreign
Minister Rafael Ramirez to a new post as envoy to the United Nations on Friday,
saying the appointment would strengthen Venezuela's voice on the world body's
Security Council from Jan. 1. Venezuela's socialist government sees its
imminent two-year seat on the Security Council as a chance to raise its
international profile and counteract U.S. global influence. Ramirez, a
long-time former energy minister and head of state oil company PDVSA, has
headed the Foreign Ministry since September and has continued to be Venezuela's
representative at the oil producers' cartel OPEC. (Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/26/us-venezuela-cabinet-idUSKBN0K412820141226;
Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2367050&CategoryId=10717,
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2366997&CategoryId=10717)
Venezuela assents to designation of new Colombian
ambassador
The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has
confirmed Venezuela's approval of entrepreneur Ricardo Lozano as Colombian
ambassador to Venezuela, in the wake of the irrevocable resignation of
Ambassador Luis Eladio Pérez Bonilla in recent weeks.(El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/141229/venezuela-assents-to-designation-of-new-colombian-ambassador)
Venezuela's homicide rose again in 2014; 2nd highest in
the world after Honduras
A non-governmental
group that tracks crime in Venezuela says the country's homicide rate rose
again in 2014.
The Venezuelan
Violence Observatory estimates that 24,980 killings occurred this year, pushing
the homicide rate up to 82 per 100,000 inhabitants. The group says that makes
Venezuela the No. 2 country in the world for killings, after Honduras. Last
year, the observatory counted 79 killings per 100,000 people. In 1998, the rate
was 19 per 100,000. (Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/12/29/venezuela-homicide-rose-again-in-2014-2nd-highest-in-world-after-honduras/)
47 sacks of coke: a charter pilot's run-in with
Venezuelan drug lords
There aren't too many places that offer better
protection against criminality than an international airport. With all the
video cameras, security personnel and scanners, there isn't much room for
malfeasance. Furthermore, every passenger is registered, every pilot is scanned
and every cleaning lady has undergone a security check. The airport in
Valencia, Venezuela's third largest city, is also patrolled by Commando 24 of
the Bolivarian National Guard. Passengers are united in their hatred for the
unit, with complaints rampant on Internet forums. Some passengers report having
been searched up to three times before boarding their flights. The Venezuelan
secret service also has agents posted at the city's airport, Arturo Michelena
International. Karl Lückert can only smile wryly at the massive security
effort. In August 2012, he touched down at Arturo Michelena as the pilot of a
private jet for what he thought would be a routine, and brief, stopover. But
things turned out differently. So differently that, in subsequent days, he
found himself confronted with the choice between losing his life or acting as a
drug courier. Indeed, as a consequence of that layover, he was forced to burn
all bridges to the life he had led to that point and take on a new identity.
Now, over two years later, the man who forced Lückert into the drug trade may
soon be facing trafficking charges in a US court. During that night in August,
National Guard troops suddenly appeared on the airfield next to Lückert's
plane; the pilot recalls staring down the barrels of their machine guns. He
yelled: "No! No baggage!"
But he then had to watch as the military unit ignored him and loaded 47 white
plastic bags from an SUV into his jet. They were filled with cocaine. His
co-pilot was threatened with death. The odyssey has been reconstructed with the
help of interrogation records, investigation results from Germany's Federal
Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Lebanese and Venezuelan police and with the
pilot's own recollections. (Der Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-charter-pilot-becomes-an-unwilling-mule-for-1-5-tons-of-cocaine-a-1007402.html)
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