International Trade
Cargo that has arrived at Puerto Cabello
- 30,000 tons of yellow corn, from Argentina for
state agency CASA
- 1,070 head of cattle
from Brazil for government nutrition programs
- 3,500 metric tons of
iron rods from Costa Rica, for government housing programs
Cargo that has arrived at Bolipuertos Maracaibo
- 16,500 tons of plaster from Spain for Cementos
Catatumbo
- 8,000 tons of corn for PROTINAL
Oil &
Energy
Táchira Governor claims 60 million liters of gasoline were
prevented from being smuggled in Táchira
Táchira State Governor, Lieutenant José Gregorio
Vielma Mora, claims that since the implementation of the Colombia-Venezuela
border shutdown and the enforcement of a state of emergency decree in the
border municipalities of Táchira state 35 days ago, 60,800,000 liters of
gasoline have been prevented from being smuggled across the border. He
explained that 7,293 liters of gasoline had been seized. Also 3,806,670 million
bolivars (VEB) and 12,932 Colombian pesos have been seized. (El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/150930/60-million-liters-of-gasoline-prevented-from-being-smuggled-in-tachira)
Economy
& Finance
Finance Minister promises to reveal official
economic data, honor debt
During a meeting with
investment bankers in New York, Venezuela's Vice President for Economic Affairs
and Finance Minister, General Rodolfo Marco Torres, responded to complaints
about the lack of reliable information by promising to publish official
economic data held within the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank here. The meeting was organized by
DEUTSCHE Bank, and attended by PIMCO, ALLIANCE, GSAM, FINTECH, JP MORGAN INV
MGMT, DISCOVERY, FIDELITY, TCW, WELLINGTON, BLACKROCK, NWI and STONE HARBOR,
according to General Marco. The official is reported to have told the group that
government entities own about a quarter of the nation’s total debt stock,
according to two people with knowledge of the matter. He declined to provide
details on which bonds the government has been buying. He also said that the
government, which has about US$ 5 billion in bond payments due in the last
three months of this year and about US$ 10 billion due in 2016, is weighing
liability-management proposals, said the people, who asked not to be named
because the meeting was private. (Bloomberg, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-30/venezuela-said-to-tell-investors-it-owns-20-25-of-debt-stock; and more in Spanish: Ultimas
Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/gobierno-inicio-reuniones-con-inversionistas-estad.aspx#ixzz3nJAMigxL;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/150930/marco-torres-sostuvo-reunion-con-posibles-inversionistas-en-nueva-york;
AVN; http://www.avn.info.ve/node/322497;
El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/mercados/gobierno-inicio-reuniones-con-inversionistas-estad.aspx;
El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
Venezuela revises 2014 data to show economy
shrank 4%
Venezuela's government has revised its economic
data for 2014, showing that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined 4% in the
worst performance around Latin America, according to a filing n the United
States. The government has given no GDP data for 2015, to the anger of
opponents and consternation of economists. In its filing to the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, the Maduro government said the OPEC nation's petroleum
sector expanded 0.3% last year, whereas the non-petroleum sector decreased 3.8%.
(Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/venezuela-economy-idUSL1N1203NZ20151001)
Bolivar falls past 800
per dollar on black market
Venezuela’s bolivar passed the physiological
barrier of 800 bolivars per dollar Tuesday in black market trading as
Venezuelans rushed to protect savings amid rising inflation. That means that
the country’s biggest currency note of 100 bolivars is now worth about 12 U.S.
cents. The currency has declined 14.7% in the past month to 816 bolivars per
dollar. The government maintains official rates of 6.3, 13.5 and about 200
bolivars per dollar for authorized purchases of items deemed essential. Venezuela’s
inflation, estimated by some to be nearing 200%, is the fastest in the world as
President Nicolas Maduro’s administration prints more currency to pay budget
expenses as the falling price of oil reduces foreign currency income. The amount
of bolivars in circulation passed 3 trillion for the first time on Sept. 19, up
97% in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-29/venezuela-s-bolivar-falls-past-800-per-dollar-on-black-market;
Veneconomy, http://www.veneconomy.com/site/index.asp?ids=44&idt=45659&idc=2)
The contrarian
Venezuela bond trade that's delivering 37% return
Want to make money in Venezuela’s bond
market? Ignore the conventional wisdom. STONE HARBOR Investment Partners LP has
done just that. The New York-based money manager has been buying up the
country’s soon-to-mature notes as a bet the struggling oil-producing
nation will scrounge up enough cash to continue making payments in the
short-term. The move has paid off, with bonds maturing next month from
Venezuela’s state-owned oil company returning 37% since the end of 2014.
On average emerging-market bonds lost 0.5% this year. (Bloomberg,http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-29/the-contrarian-venezuela-bond-trade-that-s-delivering-37-return)
AT&T may take $1.1
billion charge on DirecTV’s Venezuela assets
A change in exchange rates could wipe as much
as US$ 1.1 billion off the value of AT&T's newly acquired DirecTV assets in
Venezuela, the company said in an SEC filing. AT&T said in the filing it is
evaluating whether to use a less preferential Venezuela currency exchange rate
to value more than US$ 1.1 billion in DirecTV assets in that South American
country. "If AT&T changes to the
SIMADI exchange rate, it will have a negative impact on reported revenues,
operating income and the fair value of our investment in the Venezuelan
subsidiary," the company said in the SEC filing on Friday. (CNBC, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/29/att-may-take-hit-related-to-directvs-venezuela-assets.html)
Politics and
International Affairs
Maduro hints at possible violence in December 6th parliamentary
vote in UN speech
During his address before the United Nations General
Assembly on Tuesday, President Nicolás Maduro asked the international community
to "be on the alert for any attempts
at igniting violence against the political life" of Venezuela, in the
upcoming parliament vote next December 6. "Venezuela is willing to pursue its path through participatory
democracy, through a Constitution passed by our people in 1999, through the way
of peace," Maduro added. (El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/150929/maduro-at-the-un-warns-against-possible-violence-in-parliament-vote;
Veneconomy, http://www.veneconomy.com/site/index.asp?ids=44&idt=45660&idc=1)
Colombia's Santos has suggested that Maduro set López
free
During a CNN Español interview, Colombia's President
Juan Manuel Santos, revealed that he told his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás
Maduro he felt badly about the
imprisonment of Leopoldo López and suggested the best thing would be to set him
free. Santos said that despite ideological differences he has a "pragmatic" relationship with
Venezuela on behalf of the Colombian people, but that when Maduro started to
blame Colombia for "domestic reasons",
"I said to him: Hold it there, your
problems are made in Venezuela, not in Colombia." He said he offered
to help Maduro but that the Venezuelan president did not receive advice. "He believes he is going to win the
elections. We wish him the best because it is a difficult situation". Maduro
had previously said that he and Santos, have together charted out “a route to resolve provocations, threats and
attacks by paramilitary and drug-traffickers against Venezuela.” (Latin
American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2397366&CategoryId=10717;
and more in Spanish: El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
Maduro's Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez has blasted
Inter American Human Rights Court, for "political and
ideological partisanship" on the issue of Colombian border refugees.
She said the Court is "vulgar and
immoral...once again these bureaucrats, overstepping their duties and
jurisdiction, are showing their anti-Venezuelan and anti-Bolivarian feelings".
More in Spanish: (El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
Crashed Venezuelan Air Force aircraft was escorting
FARC leader
Colombia's RCN Television revealed that a Venezuelan
Air Force SUKHOI-30 that crashed on the border between the two nations was
escorting the leader of the FARC guerrillas, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias
“Timochenko“, en route to Cuba aboard a Beechcraft 1900 owned by Venezuela's
state oil company PDVSA. The PDVSA aircraft took off from a landing strip in
Apure state, near the Colombian border, on a property owned by Guarico State
Governor former Navy Captain Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, who was also on board with
"Timochenko". The PDVSA aircraft and another escorting SUKHOI then
flew to the Manuel Ríos Air Force Base in Guárico state. They initially thought
the fallen jet has been downed by a missile. "Timochenko" travelled
to Havana one week later to meet with the Colombian government peace delegation.
More in Spanish: (Infolatam, http://www.infolatam.com/2015/09/29/avion-militar-siniestrado-de-venezuela-escoltaba-lider-de-farc/)
Border dispute with Guyana drags on
A recent deal between Venezuela and Guyana will not
resolve the two countries' border issues. On Sept. 27, Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro and Guyanese President David Granger met in New York at a
reunion hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. The two heads of state
reached an agreement on Guyana's next ambassadorial nominee to Venezuela,
Marilyn Cheryl Miles, who Caracas has refused to accept thus far in light of
the Guyanese government's efforts to seek an International Court of Justice
ruling that would award it territory to which Venezuela also lays claim. During
the meeting, Maduro also expressed his desire to continue dialogue on the
territorial issue in the hope of negotiating a resolution. Despite these
seemingly positive steps, Venezuela and Guyana are unlikely to solve their
border dispute in the coming months. The spat provides a useful platform for
the Venezuelan government's domestic propaganda, and Guyana has no intention of
changing its plans to take the dispute to the International Court of Justice.
Therefore, further flare-ups in political rhetoric on the issue will be likely
in the next few months, particularly ahead of Venezuela's crucial legislative
elections in December. (Stratfor, https://www.stratfor.com/user/login?destination=analysis/south-american-border-dispute-drags&login=1)
At U.N., Guyana blasts Venezuela over century-old
border spat
Guyana used the United Nations as a forum to blast
Venezuela, accusing it of "intimidation
and aggression" related to a border dispute two days after the
countries agreed to restore diplomatic ties. In his speech at the U.N. General
Assembly, Guyana's president David Granger accused his Venezuelan counterpart,
Nicolas Maduro, of cross-border bullying. "There has been a series of acts of aggression by presidents of
Venezuela against my country," Granger said, citing actions dating
from 1968 to "President Nicolas
Maduro's decree of May 2015." The decree created a theoretical "defense" zone offshore that would,
in Venezuela's eyes, leave Guyana with no direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. Granger
said Venezuela, "mindful of its
superior wealth and military strength and unmindful of its obligation as a
member state of the United Nations ... has pursued a path of intimidation and
aggression." (Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/29/un-assembly-guyana-venezuela-idUSL1N11Z2HR20150929)
Maduro met bilaterally with Greece's Alexis
Tsipras and Palestine's Mahmud Abbas during his visit to
the UN in New York. More in Spanish: (Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/politica/tsipras-y-maduro-se-reunieron-en-nueva-york.aspx#ixzz3nDLrwnSx; AVN; http://www.avn.info.ve/node/322370)
The following brief is a synthesis of the news
as reported by a variety of media sources. As such, the views and opinions
expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Duarte Vivas & Asociados and
The Selinger Group.
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