International Trade
Maduro,
Foreign Minister claims Venezuela remains in MERCOSUR
Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez says Venezuela will
continue to preside pro tempore over the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR).
“Venezuela is neither leaving nor being
expelled from MERCOSUR. We will never accept this kind of aggression against
our Fatherland”, she tweeted in rejection of an announcement by Uruguay’s
President Tabaré Vásquez and Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga, saying
that Venezuela will be suspended from MERCOSUR if it has not complied with all
the organization’s rules by December 1st. President Nicolas Maduro
said the group of MERCOSUR founding nations was applying “a sanction that does not exist”. Experts, however, report that the
other 4 nations within MERCOSUR are applying the Vienna Convention on Treaty
Rights in this case under the “pacta
sunct servanda” clause that states that any treaty in force requires the
parties to comply in good faith, which applies to international organizations. More in Spanish: (Noticiero
Venevisión, http://www.noticierovenevision.net/economia/2016/noviembre/22/176386=presidente-maduro-expreso-que-nadie-podra-sacar-a-venezuela-del-mercosur;
El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/politica/maduro--nadie-podra-sacar-a-venezuela-del-mercosur.aspx;
El
Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/politica/aplican-convencion-de-viena-para-suspender-a-venez.aspx#ixzz4QpN3G8Ql;
AVN; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/venezuela-ni-se-va-ni-expulsan-mercosur;
El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/noticias/rodriguez--venezuela-ni-se-va--ni-la-expulsan-de-m.aspx)
ECLAC estimates 26.1% drop in Venezuela’s exports in
2016
The UN
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates a 5%
drop in Latin American exports during 2016, and expects a slight recovery in
2017. Venezuela has experienced the worst contraction in the region: at 26.1%
this year. More in Spanish: (El Carabobeño: http://www.el-carabobeno.com/cepal-exportaciones-america-latina-se-contraera-5-2016/)
Burnt petcoke cargo sets sail from Venezuela, exports
resume
A vessel
carrying Venezuelan petroleum coke whose load caught fire set sail late on
Tuesday for Colombia, allowing exports from the terminal to resume after a
three-week halt while authorities decided what to do with the ship. The
PETROSANFELIX terminal where the vessel was stuck accounts for more than a
third of the around 150,000 tons of petroleum coke that Venezuela can export
per month. Utilities buy the product and mix it with coal to burn at power
plants. The Top Trader, chartered by U.S. Koch Industries and carrying 22,000
metric tons of petroleum coke, sailed on Tuesday, according to Thomson Reuters
vessel tracking data. The cargo was sailing for Cartagena, Colombia, a change
from the original destination in Europe. Petroleum coke is a product derived
from upgrading Venezuelan Orinoco belt's extra heavy oil into a crude more
valuable for refiners. The coke is typically transported from production
facilities to the terminals at a high temperature, but many customers do not
accept loading the cargoes if they detect fire. Frequent outages and logistics
problems have created an accumulation of millions of tons of petroleum coke at
PDVSA's eastern terminals in recent years. Exports have also been affected in
the past. After the Top Trader left the Petrosanfelix terminal, loading
operations resumed at that facility, while other PDVSA ports were also loading
petroleum coke this week, according to an independent report. (Reuters: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/23/reuters-america-burnt-petcoke-cargo-sets-sail-from-venezuela-exports-resume.html)
Customs impounds humanitarian shipment sent to CARITAS
here
SENIAT
customs authorities reported they have impounded 525 boxes of medicine and 92
boxes of nutrition supplement consigned to CARITAS Venezuela. They declared the
cargo abandoned because it lacked permits, and consigned it to the Social
Security Institute. More in Spanish: (El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/politica/seniat-declara-en-abandono-legal-cargamento-de-car.aspx#ixzz4Qv7xNPhP)
New currency bills reportedly have arrived at La
Guaira port
Cipriana
Ramos, President of the National Trade Association (CONSECOMERCIO) says the
current currency scarcity could improve with the arrival of newly minted bills
at La Guaira port. She said: “We were
able to see a cargo that arrived at La Guaira on Tuesday and was strongly
guarded by national security” More in Spanish: (El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/Presumen-billetes-denominacion-llegado-Guaira_0_963503883.html)
Venezuela's
iron and steel complex plans to raise US$ 54 million in exports in 2017
Venezuela's
iron and steel complex expects to raise US$ 54 million next year for exports of
industry and building materials, said Carlos Padilla, Planning Director of the
complex. He told the government news agency that about 30,000 tons of finished
products −including steel bars, beams, angles and fences, and more than 80,000
tons of base steel for billets. He said that Panama and Brazil, as well as
other Caribbean nations, are the main destinations for the export of steel
material. (AVN, http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/venezuela039s-iron-and-steel-complex-plans-raise-54-million-exports-2017)
Oil & Energy
Maduro orders an “absolute
restructuring” of PDVSA
President
Nicolas Maduro has issued a decree ordering an “absolute restructuring” and “change
of course” at state oil company PDVSA, to “defeat corruption and bureaucracy” within. He claimed there are “infiltrators” inside the Venezuelan oil
industry, and that he will have “zero
tolerance with corruption and treason”. He called on PDVSA President
Eulogio Del Pino, who is also Oil and Mining Minister, work with the company
workers in a group for “specific change
policies” to “strengthen” the
industry, and ordered an increase in production. Venezuela’s National Assembly
last week voted to censure former PDVSA President Rafael Ramírez, currently
Venezuela’s UN ambassador, whom they accused of being a part of a US$ 11
billion corruption case. Maduro said Ramírez was being targeted in a defamation
campaign by imperialists, and Ramírez said he would sue the legislature. More
in Spanish: (EFE: http://www.economiaynegocios.cl/noticias/noticias.asp?id=311421)
Venezuela refinery network operating at roughly a
third
Venezuela's
refinery network was operating at about a third of capacity, according to union
sources and workers, as state oil company PDVSA struggles with equipment issues
after years of underinvestment. Venezuela's biggest refinery,
645,000-barrel-per-day Amuay refinery, was operating at only 260,000 bpd with
two of its five crude distillation units out of service, union leader Ivan
Freites told Reuters, citing an internal report. Its flexicoker remains down,
Freites added. Adjacent Cardon, with
capacity of 310,000 bpd, was at 120,000 bpd, added Freites, a fierce critic of
PDVSA and the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, the smaller refineries of El
Palito and Puerto La Cruz, with capacities of 146,000 barrels per day and
187,000 bpd respectively, were barely refining any crude, according to a
separate union leader and a worker. The El Palito refinery was halted in
October for scheduled maintenance, according to PDVSA. Union leader Freddy
Alvarado said on Wednesday that the complex remained shut. The catalytic
cracking and alkylation units at Puerto la Cruz have been inoperative since the
start of November, union leader Jose Bodas said earlier this month. Over the
weekend, the refinery's reformer unit for octane 95 gasoline stopped operating,
Bodas added. Venezuela's refineries have been plagued with blackouts, equipment
issues and stoppages for years. PDVSA often blames problems on "saboteurs" intent on bringing down
socialist rule in Venezuela, and says its foes and hostile media try to
exaggerate refinery issues. Critics say years of underinvestment and poor
maintenance are the cause. U.S. refining firm CITGO Petroleum is sending more
products to its parent company, PDVSA, to compensate for problems in the
domestic network, according to sources and Reuters data. (Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-refinery-idUSKBN13I2MA)
Economy & Finance
Maduro threatens legal action against JPMorgan
President
Nicolas Maduro has ordered state oil company PDVSA to look into legal action
against JPMorgan after the U.S. investment bank reported delays in US$ 404
million in bond interest payments. PDVSA said on Monday it was using a 30-day
grace period for coupon payments on its 2035 bond but that reports of other
payment delays were wrong. It suggested paying agent CITIBANK was creating a
backlog that had spooked markets. "JPMorgan's
attitude is of a criminal nature," Maduro said. He claimed local and
foreign opponents were conspiring to give a false impression that Venezuela is
on the verge of a debt default. Maduro accused JPMorgan of falsely reporting
that PDVSA was in default. In fact, the report in question said payments on
three bonds were not made on time and that the company had a "30-day grace period to make payments on the
coupons before (the situation) becomes an event of default." Maduro
said he had asked PDVSA head Eulogio Del Pino to study legal options. "The least JPMorgan can do is apologize to
the Venezuelan people," Maduro said. Maduro also said the U.S.
Treasury Department was behind a campaign against PDVSA. PDVSA said it had
"punctually" paid this month's obligations for 2021, 2024 and 2026
paper but had activated the grace period for the 2035 bond. "I'd tell the bondholders to call CITIBANK
and ask why they are delaying payment of money that is already in their
accounts," Del Pino said on state television. He suggested CITIBANK was
participating in "attacks"
on Venezuela's socialist government and implied that it had reneged on its
contract, but later said the bank confirmed it was making payments. CITIGROUP
told bondholders in a letter in July that PDVSA would need to name a new paying
agent for seven outstanding dollar-denominated bonds, but will stay on as
paying agent until PDVSA finds a new one. (Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pdvsa-debt-idUSKBN13H24G?il=0; El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/venezuelan-oil-authority-blames-citibank-for-bond-payment-delay_628216; http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/venezuelan-govt-ponders-lawsuit-against-morgan_628283)
Faría says economic crisis is not over
Foreign
Trade and Investment Minister Jesús Faria say Venezuela has not yet overcome
its economic crisis, calling it deep and structural. He claims economic
activity has improved substantially and expects slight growth in 2017. More in
Spanish: (Noticiero Venevisión, http://www.noticierovenevision.net/economia/2016/noviembre/22/176374=ministro-jesus-faria-afirmo-que-la-crisis-economica-no-ha-sido-superada)
Venezuelan top court rules that the extension of state
of emergency is constitutional
Venezuela’s
Supreme Tribunal has declared that the extension for more 60 days of the state
of exception and economic emergency, decreed by President Nicolás Maduro is
constitutional and said he is authorized to continue “adopting urgent, conclusive, and exceptional measures required to
ensure full enjoyment of their rights by the population, to preserve domestic
order, and to ensure timely access to goods, services, food, medicines and
other products which are essential for everyday life.” (El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/venezuelan-top-court-rules-constitutional-extension-state-exception_628328)
Politics and International Affairs
Opposition says Vatican-brokered talks are 'frozen'
Venezuela’s
opposition said that talks with the government were “frozen” after officials failed to attend meetings, throwing cold
water on Vatican-brokered attempts to bridge the country’s deep political
crisis. Though the formal talks, which began last month, appeared to have led
to the release of a handful of detained activists, hopes for real rapprochement
were always slim. The two sides are fundamentally at loggerheads, with the
opposition seeking to oust the socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, while authorities
vow he will not leave office before his term ends in 2019. “The government, in an irresponsible manner,
froze the dialogue process by not showing up to two technical meetings last
night,” said opposition coalition leader Jesús Torrealba. Opposition
activists said authorities backed away after the national assembly on Tuesday
held a heated session in which they slammed Maduro over a drug scandal. Two
nephews of Maduro’s wife were found guilty this month on charges in the US that
they tried to carry out a multimillion-dollar drug deal to help their family
stay in power. “The government is using
the debate as an excuse,” said two-time presidential candidate Henrique
Capriles, accusing authorities of not being committed to talks. “The government has not complied with any of
its promises. They promised to free political prisoners; there are more than
100 imprisoned. They promised [to open] a humanitarian channel; not a single
medicine has come in.” “They [the
government] don’t want to fulfill any commitments”, he said. During the
talks, the opposition and the government have agreed to hold parliamentary
elections in the contested state of Amazonas, which could give Maduro’s
opponents a supermajority in congress to enact sweeping new laws and fire
ministers. It is unclear whether the elections will take place if the talks
don’t resume. It was not clear if the talks could be revived or if the
opposition would resume a more militant agenda, which before the talks included
protests and putting Maduro on trial before the national assembly. Spain’s
ex-prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and US diplomat Thomas Shannon
were holding or seeking meetings with both sides. Dialogue had divided the
diverse opposition coalition, with some activists feeling the government was
duping the opposition to buy time. Previous sit-downs also showed little
progress. Chavista lawmaker Elias Jaua, the government negotiator in talks with
the opposition, claimed that an early election as an attempt to remove
President Nicolas Maduro from power was never on the table, never mind what the
opposition says. Carlos Ocariz, an opposition representative in
government-opposition talks, said the government “lies” when claiming that the removal of President Nicolás Maduro
from office was never addressed in the negotiating table. In that connection,
Ocariz said that “since the very first
day” they proposed early elections or the activation of a recall referendum
against Maduro. He pointed to in-house strife within pro-regime forces, tweeting
that: “honoring agreements has become a
nightmare for them and has made their in-house warfare worse. That’s why any
excuse is good enough to back away”. He asked mediators to pressure the
government to comply on agreements. (The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/23/venezuela-nicolas-maduro-opposition-vatican-talks-frozen;
The Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuela-talks-break-down-opposition-claims-1479934607;
Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2425748&CategoryId=10717;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/elections-recall-vote-proposed-since-the-launch-dialogue-venezuela_628320;
and more in Spanish: Globovision: http://globovision.com/article/ocariz-solicitamos-a-los-mediadores-que-exijan-al-gobierno-cumplir-con-los-acuerdos)
…. then Maduro backs down, meets with Zapatero and
says government has not withdrawn from talks
President
Nicolas Maduro denied the government was withdrawing from the talks. After a
meeting with Spain’s Rodríguez Zapatero, he said: “The dialogue table continues to move forward, is consolidating”, he
said, expressing optimism over a process sponsored by the Union of South American
Nations (UNASUR) and the Vatican. He demanded that the National Assembly
exclude three legislators from Amazonas state that were incorporated in
defiance of a Supreme Tribunal ruling. He claimed his regime has completely
complied with all agreements. The mediators also met with representatives of
the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition alliance and said both sides were willing
to continue. More in Spanish: (Infolatam: http://www.infolatam.com/2016/11/23/gobierno-venezolano-niega-haber-abandonado-la-mesa-dialogo-oposicion/;
Noticiero Venevision: http://www.noticierovenevision.net/politica/2016/noviembre/23/176579=mediadores-del-dialogo-reiteran-)
Supreme Tribunal urges National Assembly to formally
separate contested legislators
The
Supreme Tribunal’s Constitutional Chamber has urged the National Assembly to take
formal action to separate three contested legislators from Amazonas state, as
it did on January 11th this year, since the three legislators said
they were willing to withdraw. The Tribunal again held that all acts of
parliament in defiance of Tribunal orders are null and void. Hector Rodríguez,
head of the pro-government minority caucus at the National Assembly said that
new pro Maduro legislators and a new “revolutionary”
governor would soon be elected in Amazonas state. More in Spanish: (Noticiero
Venevision: http://www.noticierovenevision.net/politica/2016/noviembre/23/176546=tsj-exhorto-a-la-an-a-desincorporar-formalmente-a-diputados-impugnadosM
http://www.noticierovenevision.net/politica/2016/noviembre/23/176581=hector-rodriguez-afirmo-que-en-amazonas-elegiran-a-diputados-del-psuv-en-apoyo-al-presidente-maduro)
Foreign Minister, Capriles, trade accusations over
diplomatic passports held by convicted drug dealers
Foreign
Minister Delcy Rodríguez has brought charges with the Prosecutor General
against Miranda state governor and opposition leader Henrique Capriles,
accusing him of “presumably” forging
official documents. She denied a charge that Efrain Campo Flores and Francisco
Flores de Freitas, the nephews of First Lady Cilia Flores that were recently
convicted for drug trafficking in NY, were holding Diplomatic Passports when
they were arrested. Capriles quickly retorted: “Now the issue is over the passports they themselves issued and not with
the drugs that went through from the Presidential airport ramp. They have no
shame!”. More in Spanish: (Noticiero Venevision: http://www.noticierovenevision.net/politica/2016/noviembre/23/176517=delcy-rodriguez-denuncio-a-capriles-por-falsificacion-de-documentos; El
Nacional, http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Capriles-respondio-acusaciones-Delcy-Rodriguez_0_963503797.html; El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/politica/canciller-desmiente-emision-pasaportes-implicados-caso-campo-flores_628147)
Opposition lawmaker jailed for 2 years joins
legislature
The
National Assembly welcomed opposition lawmaker Rosmit Mantilla, the country’s
first openly gay legislator, who was released from jail last week after being
imprisoned for two-and-a-half years as a new member. Mantilla was received with
applause and was sworn-in before the leadership of the legislature headed by
speaker Henry Ramos Allup, who invited him to take a seat and participate in
the debate. “Outside (in the street)
there’s hunger, there’s insecurity, I was imprisoned by the SEBIN (national
intelligence service), but Venezuela is imprisoned by hunger and insecurity,”
Mantilla told reporters after being sworn-in. (Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2425768&CategoryId=10717)
What it's like being a political prisoner in Venezuela
under Maduro
Since
Nicolas Maduro became president in 2013, the Venezuelan government has arrested
and detained thousands of citizens. Most but not all are let go within a few
days. One who remains incarcerated is opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Another
is Joshua Holt, an American from Utah. Francisco Marquez wants the
international community to understand something about the government of
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro: "You
are dealing with a government that currently engages in having political
prisoners and systematic torture within their prison system." Marquez
says he's seen it himself. He was released from a Venezuelan prison in late
October after spending four months as a political prisoner. Marquez says
he witnessed the torture of political prisoners as well as common inmates.
Marquez is 30 and a dual citizen of the United States and Venezuela,
lawyer by training and a political activist by choice. He graduated from
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 2012. He was arrested in June
while working for the political opposition and campaigning for a referendum to
remove Maduro from office. He was in jail for a month before being charged
with money laundering and conspiracy to incite violence. He says the prison
conditions were dungeon-like. "Almost
no sunlight, very dark, very humid. Full of mosquitoes. I actually got dengue
fever," he says. Marquez says the brutal treatment he witnessed is
systematic. "It's not like a one-off
prison guard doing this. The warden in my prison, I saw him as he beat
other prisoners with what all the prison guards had: this bat with a flat
surface," he recalls. Alfredo Romero, a human rights lawyer in Caracas
who works on behalf of political prisoners, says since student protests
rocked Venezuela in 2014, there have been hundreds of political prisoners, but
the actual number in jail at any one time rarely rises above 100 to avoid international
scrutiny. Romero says that's a perfect example of the Venezuelan government's
revolving-door method of dealing with political prisoners. "They keep people for four months,
one year, 20 days," Romero says. "Then they release them and put new people into prison. It's never the
same people. It's never the same number." Romero says as of
Nov. 22, there are 108 political prisoners in Venezuela. Some are
incarcerated. Others have restrictions on their freedom. They can't leave the
country. They must present themselves to court. They're prohibited from talking
to the media or attending public meetings. "Most of them are protesters, students. Some have been persecuted
for tweeting," he says. The United Socialist Party of Venezuela
controls the judicial system, which intimidates the political opposition
through arrests and detentions, a point echoed in a 2015 report by Human Rights
Watch. Romero says since January 2014 there have been nearly 7,000
political arrests and detentions. (PRI: http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-11-23/what-its-being-political-prisoner-venezuela-under-maduro)
President dances salsa while Venezuela churns
Venezuelans
are running short of food, medicine and patience, but fear not: President
Nicolas Maduro is here to cheer them up -- by dancing salsa. Grinning under his
black mustache, the burly, towering socialist swivels his hips and twirls his
wife Cilia Flores in front of the cameras. With hunger and violent crime
gripping the country and the opposition calling for his head, this is Maduro's
new strategy for winning hearts and minds. That is an uphill battle; most
Venezuelans would like him to leave power. Wednesday was a case in point as
Maduro celebrated his 54th birthday with a live performance by old-school salsa
greats El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. But his continued capering amid the
crisis, and his recent launch of a dedicated salsa radio show, seem like bad
taste to some weary citizens. Spoof photo "memes" of Maduro online have shown him dancing in various
inappropriate settings: at the scene of a crime or in a long queue for food.
Maduro launched his radio show "Salsa
Hour" late last month on the same day that opposition lawmakers called
for a political trial against him. Now Maduro is using salsa's popular beats to
reach out to ordinary Venezuelans who deserted him in that vote, says social
psychologist Ricardo Sucre. "He
wants to show himself to be confident and relaxed, not as though his government
is about to fall." With his long broadcasts, Maduro is carrying on a
tradition of his late mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez. But Maduro lacks
Chavez's charisma, Sucre says, but all the same "Chavez chose him as his successor because he could get through
difficult times without looking nervous." Maduro weathered a scandal
last week when a US jury convicted two of his wife's nephews of plotting to
smuggle cocaine. But the following Sunday, the presidential couples were on
television dancing for the nation. "Are
you still dancing now?" said senior opposition leader Henrique
Capriles. "The country is waiting
for you to face up to things." (Agence France Presse: http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/24/16/president-dances-salsa-while-venezuela-churns)
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.