Logistics & Transport
The Venezuelan government has announced that it
will re-open the air bridge with the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, and
Bonaire, collectively known as the ABC Islands, to allow those in the country
to return to their respective countries safely. The decision comes after
Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, announced suspending all air and sea
travel with the ABC islands for 72 hours as a measure against smuggling of the
Venezuelan gold, silver, and copper through the islands. Tareck El Aissami,
Venezuela's Vice President said in a tweet that a meeting to combat contraband
would be arranged with the islands' authorities to discuss the issue. "High-level meeting with the authorities of
these islands" will be arranged to come up with "a plan of action to combat the mafias"
who steal and smuggle our goods, he wrote. The ABC islands have asked The
Netherlands for help, and the Dutch Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying
it is “disappointed” it was not formally informed of the blockade and confirmed
conversations are under way between both nations. (Curaçao Chronicle: http://curacaochronicle.com/politics/venezuela-to-open-air-bridge-with-abc-islands-for-safe-return-of-people/); and more in Spanish: (Noticiero
Venevisión, http://www.noticierovenevision.net/noticias/internacional/aruba-curazao-y-bonaire-piden-cooperacion-a-paises-bajos-por-bloqueo-de-venezuela; http://www.noticierovenevision.net/noticias/internacional/holanda-lamenta-cierre-de-fronteras-de-venezuela-con-sus-islas-en-el-caribe; El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/politica/holanda-lamento-extension-cierre-fronteras-con-venezuela_683632)
Oil & Energy
China’s debt-ridden GUANGDONG ZHENRONG Energy
(GZE) has asked a private refining group to join a multi-billion dollar
investment in an aging Caribbean oil plant to shore up financing on the deal,
said two Chinese executives involved in the matter. The Curacao government last
week scrapped a preliminary deal with GZR to operate the century-old Isla
refinery, saying the state-controlled commodity trader lacked the financial
muscle for the job on its own. Taking over the 335,000 barrels-per-day (bpd)
refinery, operated for decades by Venezuela’s cash-strapped state oil firm
PDVSA, would give China a foothold in the Caribbean’s second-largest refinery,
which has also been a key transfer point for Venezuelan oil heading to Asia.
(Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/china-caribbean-refinery/chinas-debt-ridden-guangdong-zhenrong-taps-private-refiner-for-caribbean-project-idUSL4N1P31CW)
Dutch regulators
extend time for PDVSA's oil-facility repair review
Dutch authorities on Tuesday agreed to
Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA’s request to extend the time needed to
demonstrate its financial ability to repair a decaying oil-storage facility on
the Caribbean island of Bonaire. The terminal is a key PDVSA facility and its
loss would hurt shipments to customers in Asia. In December, Dutch regulator
Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) told PDVSA unit Bonaire
Petroleum Corp (BOPEC) that it must detail a plan to repair deficiencies and
provide the necessary financing or face a loss of its operating license.
(Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/bonaire-pdvsa-terminal/dutch-regulators-extend-time-for-pdvsas-oil-facility-repair-review-idUSL4N1P44OQ)
Algeria sends more oil to Cuba as Venezuelan
supplies fall
Algeria sent 2.1 million barrels of crude oil
to Cuba last year and will ship the same amount in 2018, an official at state
energy firm SONATRACH said on Wednesday, helping Cuba to offset lower supplies
from the island’s closest ally, Venezuela. “We
delivered in 2017 three times 700,000 barrels, a total of 2.1 million barrels
to Cuba,” Omar Maaliou, SONATRACH’s vice president in charge of trade and
marketing, told Reuters. “We will do the
same this year, the first 700,000 barrels are about to be delivered.” Saharan
Blend light sweet crude is Algeria’s main export grade. Cuba and Algeria have
maintained a close relationship in recent years. The island annually imports
some US$ 200 million to US$ 300 million of oil products from the African
country, including some purchases of naphtha. (Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-algeria-oil-cuba/algeria-sends-more-oil-to-cuba-as-venezuelan-supplies-fall-idUSKBN1EZ28O)
No more oil from
Venezuela for Haiti
Jude Alix Patrick Salomon, Haiti’s minister of
the economy and finance, has revealed that the financial sanctions imposed by
the Trump administration against Venezuela, including limiting banking
transactions, have resulted in Venezuela no longer sending oil to Haiti since
October 2017, because the Bank of the Republic of Haiti is no longer able to
make payments in foreign currency. As a result, the PETROCARIBE fund is no
longer supplied and Haiti is deprived of this important source of low-rate
financing, HaitiLibre reported. This situation now makes things more difficult
in Haiti, which must henceforth obtain fuel in the international market and is
more exposed to fluctuations in the spot market, while waiting to find a viable
alternative, such as long-term fuel orders, which will require guarantees from
Haiti. (Caribbean News Now: http://wp.caribbeannewsnow.com/2018/01/10/no-oil-venezuela-haiti-trump/)
Commodities
Desperate Venezuelans swarmed supermarkets on
Saturday in a rare chance to stock up on basic goods amid a spiraling economic
crisis that has resulted in widespread poverty and food shortages. Embattled
President Nicolás Maduro, who has consistently blamed the nation’s financial
woes on low oil prices and a U.S.-led plot to topple his regime, ordered
grocery stores to reduce their prices in an effort to fight staggering
hyperinflation (Venezuela’s inflation rate reportedly soared to 2,616% in
2017.) The slashed prices prompted mobs of shoppers to flock to the stores,
leaving strikingly bare shelves behind. (Huffington Post: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-empty-grocery-shelves-photos_us_5a567751e4b08a1f624afcf6;
Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/venezuelas-empty-shelves-idUSRTX47AWF)
Looted supermarkets
halt new product orders
Employees report that Venezuela’s looted
supermarkets have halted new product orders. “What you see on shelves is what there is. The stockrooms are empty, and
we don’t know when new products will arrive. It will be difficult to replace
inventories, we don’t know what will happen”, says one. Another confirmed
new purchasing has been paralyzed since authorities are forcing them to sell at
prices below those provided by suppliers. Government supervisors continue their
daily visits and continue to order price reductions. More in Spanish: (El
Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/economia/supermercados-supervisados-por-sundde-paralizan-pedidos-proveedores_218122)
Economy & Finance
The Venezuelan
Parliament, run by the opposition, voted on Tuesday to declare Nicolas Maduro’s
plan to issue an oil-backed cryptocurrency—the Petro—illegal, claiming that it
violates the constitution and attempts to mortgage part of the country’s oil
reserves. It called the decision “totally
null and void.” According to Parliament, the Petro issuance is an attempt
by the government to avoid control over public debt operations as set in
article 312 of Venezuela’s constitution. While Maduro is recruiting miners for
the digital currency, the opposition-led Parliament denounced the
cryptocurrency move, called it illegal, and warned potential investors and
cryptocurrency market players that the Petro emission is illegal, as is any
other obligation by the state of Venezuela backed by oil or other mineral
reserves. “This is not a cryptocurrency,
this is a forward sale of Venezuelan oil,” legislator Jorge Millan said, as
quoted by Reuters. “It is tailor-made for
corruption,” Millan added. He said: “We
find ourselves before a new kind of fraud, disguised as a solution the
(financial) crisis. This incompetent government wants to compensate for lack of
oil production with these virtual barrels.” According to digital currency
experts, Venezuela’s inability to manage its economy and the Socialist party’s
historic lack of respect for private property will deter investors from
snapping up Petros. (Oil Price: https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/International/Venezuelas-Parliament-Outlaws-Maduros-Cryptocurrency.html;
The Coin Telegraph: https://cointelegraph.com/news/venezuela-parliament-calls-presidents-59-bln-petro-cryptocurrency-new-fraud;
Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy/venezuelas-congress-declares-petro-cryptocurrency-illegal-idUSKBN1EY2H2)
… and Petro Superintendent says Venezuela´s “cryptocurrency” allocations to be
controlled by regime
Carlos Vargas, the
Petro’s Superintendent, says the new “cryptocurrency”
cannot be mined and will instead be allocated by the Maduro regime through a
bidding system like that used to control normal currency allocations. He
claimed over 50,000 have registered for the project. More in Spanish: (El
Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/economia/carlos-vargas-petro-podra-ser-minado-asignara-por-subastas_218096)
Fund managers set to mark down Venezuela bond
holdings
Fund managers holding
Venezuela government bonds face a day of reckoning after months of waiting for
more than half a billion dollars in late interest payments. Since November,
investors following guidelines established by the Emerging Markets Traders
Association have marked their Venezuela bond holdings to include all the
interest they were owed, even though it hadn’t shown up yet. The trade group
decided to scratch that rule Monday, and say that beginning today the nation’s
debt will trade flat, or without accrued interest. If the coupons are
eventually paid, they’ll go to whoever holds the bonds that day. The decision,
which followed a week of talks with market participants, comes two months after
rating companies deemed Venezuela to be in default. Typically, defaulted bonds
begin to trade flat after the grace period on missed debt payments expires. But
with President Nicolas Maduro and his allies repeatedly saying the nation would
honor its debt -- and with several delayed coupons on bonds issued by the state
oil producer eventually making their way to creditors -- the market had given
Venezuela the benefit of the doubt. Recently, the government’s gone silent on
its bonds, spurring concern it’s selectively defaulting. Those creditors who’d
been following EMTA guidelines will now have to write off the accrued interest
they’d accounted for on Venezuelan notes from their net asset value. They
should also write down any missed coupons they’re entitled to reflect their
expected recovery value. By making these changes in January, money managers
avoided suffering the loss in their 2017 performance. The recommendation
doesn’t apply to debt issued by state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, which will
continue to trade with a payment for accrued and unpaid interest. Another
impact from the change may be that Venezuela’s creditors that had patiently
waited for their interest payments may now seek to demand immediate repayment
of their principal -- a process known as acceleration. Most bonds require
holders of just 25% of an outstanding security to agree to do so. “Acceleration becomes the next step -- and a
check to see if Venezuela will quickly cough up the money to pay the coupon and
halt a potential acceleration,” Russ Dallen, the managing director at
Caracas Capital, wrote in a note to clients. “Venezuela’s reaction to the potential acceleration could be the final
clarification for still-hopeful bondholders about whether they were actually
going to get paid or not.” (Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-09/managers-set-to-mark-down-venezuela-holdings-as-bonds-trade-flat;
The Wall Street Journal: https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2018/01/10/venezuelan-bonds-bake-in-permanent-default/)
Venezuela 2020 bond cut to default by S&P
"Venezuela failed to make US$ 45 million in
coupon payments for its global bonds due 2020 within the 30-calendar-day grace
period," reports global ratings agency S&P. "In line with our criteria for timeliness of
payments, we are lowering the issue rating on this bond to 'D' from 'CC'. We
are affirming the long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on
Venezuela at 'SD'." On Jan. 9,
2018, S&P Global Ratings lowered its issue rating on the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela's global bond due 2020 to 'D' from 'CC'. At the same
time, we affirmed our long- and short-term foreign currency sovereign issuer
credit ratings at 'SD/D'. The long- and short-term local currency sovereign
credit ratings remain at 'CCC-/C' and are still on CreditWatch with negative
implications, where we placed them on Nov. 3, 2017. Other foreign currency
senior unsecured debt issues not currently rated 'D' are rated 'CC'. Our CreditWatch negative listing reflects our
opinion that there is a one-in-two chance that Venezuela could default again within
the next three months. We could lower specific issue ratings to default ('D')
if Venezuela doesn't make its overdue coupon payments before the stated grace
period expires, or upon the execution of the announced debt restructuring. (Latin
American Herald Tribune: http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2448768&CategoryId=10717;
Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-sp-says-venezuela-global-bond-due/brief-sp-says-venezuela-global-bond-due-in-2020-rating-lowered-to-d-idUSFWN1P40YL)
World Bank estimates 4.2% GDP contraction in
Venezuela in 2018
The World Bank’s
“World Economic Forecast” estimates that Venezuela’s economy will shrink 4.2%
this year. It adds that Venezuela had a 11.9% “recession” in 2017, that was “deeper
than had been estimated”. In the meantime, Latin America and the Caribbean
grew by 0.9%. More in Spanish: (El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/economia/banco-mundial-estima-contraccion-economia-venezolana_683792)
Venezuela reports it paid part of its debt to
Brazil four months late
Venezuela’s
government has paid part of its US$ 262.5 million four-month overdue import
debt to Brazil on January 5th, according to official sources.
Brazil’s Ministry of Finance reports it is the balance of a debt due in the Q2
2017. (Noticiero
Venevisión, http://www.noticierovenevision.net/noticias/economia/venezuela-pago-con-cuatro-meses-de-atraso-parte-de-su-deuda-con-brasil)
Cabello claims Maduro regime to buy top private
bank BANESCO for US$ 3.5 million
A top Socialist Party
official claimed on Wednesday that Venezuela's government is in talks to buy
the country's top private bank, BANESCO, for US$ 3.5 million, potentially
expanding state control over a banking sector struggling under soaring
inflation. Socialist Party Vice President, Lieutenant Diosdado Cabello, said
talks would begin this week and that BANESCO President Juan Carlos Escotet had
accepted an offer made by the government. "We're going to buy BANESCO, really cheap," said Cabello, who
is a member of an all-powerful legislative body called the Constituent
Assembly, during his weekly television show. "We want to thank Escotet. ... BANESCO will become part of the public
banking system." Reuters was unable to immediately obtain comment from
BANESCO or Mr. Escotet. (CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/10/reuters-america-venezuela-to-buy-top-private-bank-banesco-for-3-point-5-mln-official.html)
Politics and International Affairs
Law and order
breakdown in parts of inflation-hit Venezuela
Shops and homes have been looted for a second
day in the once prosperous town of Ciudad Guayana in north east Venezuela. With
inflation at the rate of 2,600% many are struggling to buy food and medicines
... that is if they are on sale in the first place. Anger and frustration have
sparked unrest and the National Guard are often too stretched to maintain law
and order: At least five food stores were looted over-night and police sources
say 20 people have been arrested, but its’ not just the shops which are
vulnerable, some home have been struck as well. Erika Garcia tearfully
recounted how looters ransacked her food shop and home just 10 minutes after
National Guard soldiers who had been patrolling the area withdrew late on
Monday night (Euronews: http://www.euronews.com/2018/01/10/law-and-order-breakdown-in-parts-of-inflation-hit-venezuela; Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-looting/lootings-scattered-protests-hit-venezuelan-industrial-city-idUSKBN1EY2DV)
Video report shows 55
National Guard members arrested in mutiny over food
According to a video circulated on Twitter by
journalist Daniel Blanco, some 55 members of Venezuela’s National Guard have
been arrested – presumably at the Caracas Fuerte Tiuna garrison – after a
mutiny demanding food and more benefits. The video – presumably taped inside
the barracks – allegedly took place three days ago. More in Spanish: (NTN24: http://www.ntn24.com/noticia/divulgan-video-de-tropa-de-la-guardia-nacional-en-caracas-que-se-niegan-salir-a-la-calle-por-falta-162396)
Teen shot dead in food
truck looting here
A 19-year-old Venezuelan was shot dead
Wednesday when hundreds of people looted trucks carrying flour and chicken in
the western city of Guanare, as the oil-rich but impoverished country faces
desperate food shortages. According to police and military reports obtained by
AFP the unrest began when about 1,000 people looting the trucks started
fighting among themselves. Jose Materan, 19, received two gunshot wounds and
died in hospital, where three others were being treated for injuries. It was
not immediately clear who fired at him. Many of the looters made off with bags
of wheat flour or chicken, police said. There have been in the past several
days looting and attempted looting in a number of towns and cities nationwide
here. Local universities say 30.2% of Venezuelans face poverty and 51.5%
extreme poverty while the government puts the figures at 18.3% and 4.4%,
respectively. (Channel News Asia: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/teen-shot-dead-in-food-truck-looting-in-venezuela-9851026)
Talks to ease
Venezuela's crisis set to resume
Talks to ease Venezuela's dire political and
economic straits are scheduled to resume Thursday, even as severe food
shortages fuel looting and the president and parliament spar anew over access
to humanitarian aid. To address Venezuelans' desperation, representatives of
Maduro's administration and the opposition coalition Democratic Unity Committee
(MUD) plan to meet Thursday in the Dominican Republic for two days of renewed
talks. On Friday, they're to be joined by international observers: Danilo
Medina, the Dominican Republic's president, as well as officials from Bolivia,
Chile, Mexico and Nicaragua. The ruling Social Party's team seeks international
recognition of the National Constituent Assembly as well as an end to
international economic sanctions that have reduced the debt-ridden country's
access to foreign currency. The United States considers the Constituent
Assembly – an all-powerful super-body packed with Maduro supporters – to be
fraudulently chosen and a threat to the democratically elected National
Assembly. Opposition representatives – led by the National Assembly's outgoing
president, Julio Borges – want the administration to respect that legislature,
permit foreign humanitarian aid, release political prisoners and commit to
democratic elections. Maduro, who faces re-election in December, has accused
Borges of maligning his administration. Simon Calzadilla, an opposition
lawmaker expected this week at the talks in Santo Domingo, said the MUD was
negotiating in good faith. "We are
waiting for an agreement to be reached for the good of the country, to get out
of this crisis," he said in a phone interview with VOA. "… I hope the government understands that its
model has failed, that institutions must be restored through a comprehensive
agreement that gives good news to all." Calzadilla would not comment
on whether the Maduro administration's December 24 release of dozens of
prisoners stemmed from negotiations earlier that month. "We have agreed to maintain prudence,"
he said. Previous rounds of negotiations have left deep fissures in Venezuela's
opposition. The talks are opposed by political leaders such as Antonio Ledezma,
the former Caracas mayor who in November fled house arrest for exile in Spain.
"We hope that no one will recognize
the National Constituent Assembly or request the lifting of sanctions against
individuals accused of corruption and violating human rights," he said
on social media last month. Richard Blanco, a National Assembly lawmaker and
head of the opposition group July 16 Fraction, also said last month that he had
low expectations for the talks. "There
will be no results of any kind here," he predicted. "Nothing will happen at all." (VOA
News: https://www.voanews.com/a/talks-to-ease-venezuelan-crisis-set-to-resume/4202199.html)
National Assembly
president says all laws from ANC are null and void
Omar Barboza, the new President of Venezuela’s
legislature, says that no law proclaimed by the pro-regime Constitutional
Assembly (ANC) is valid since this is the exclusive right of the legitimate
National Assembly. He says: “The
Constitutional Assembly is not legal or constitutional, it is simply a
political fact because if they approve something, and the government and the
Armed Forces – or some parts of the Armed Forces – support them, they are of
course a reality we cannot deny exists ---- so when they approve laws they are
merely usurping functions, because approving laws is remains with the National
Assembly.” He expressed concern over
Venezuela’s economic predicament and supported upcoming talks between the
regime and the opposition. More in Spanish: (Noticiero Venevisión, http://www.noticierovenevision.net/noticias/politica/omar-barboza-ninguna-ley-que-apruebe-la-asamblea-nacional-constituyente-tiene-validez)
Opposition groups to take to the streets again
if negotiations fail
Congressman Juan
Andrés Mejía, of the Voluntad
Popular (VP) opposition party that is headed by jailed leader Leopoldo López,
says they will again take to the streets defending the rights of the people if
negotiations starting today in the Dominican Republic fail. He said everything
indicates “we will not be able to move
forward in this alleged negotiation” and blamed the Maduro regime for its
failure. More in Spanish: (Noticiero Venevisión: http://www.noticierovenevision.net/noticias/politica/partido-de-leopoldo-lopez-dice-si-la-negociacion-fracasa-estara-en-la-calle)
Regime continues its
excessive and arbitrary response to protests
On December 27, the powerful Chavista
politician Diosdado Cabello announced the detention of Jonatan Diniz, a Brazilian
living in Los Angeles who was visiting Venezuela for a nongovernmental group
that he directs, which provides food and aid to people in need. Diniz had been
detained, Cabello said, for “belonging to
a criminal organization with international reach.” Cabello accused Diniz of
using the organization as a “façade”
to receive “dollars” and to “finance terrorists.” After Diniz spent
nearly 10 days incarcerated at intelligence headquarters in Caracas, the
Brazilian Foreign Affairs Ministry was able to negotiate his release and
departure from Venezuela. Many others haven’t been so lucky. Since 2014, dozens
of political prisoners have been held at the same intelligence offices where
Diniz was held, some of them for months on end. A crackdown on dissent between
April and July 2017 left dozens of people dead, hundreds injured, and thousands
detained. More than 750 civilians have been prosecuted—improperly, in military
courts—for offenses including rebellion and treason. Detainees have been
systematically abused and in some cases tortured by techniques that include
electric shock and asphyxiation. Most of these crimes have gone unpunished. In
December, several street protests broke out in Venezuela after the government
failed to deliver pernil—a leg of pork traditionally served at Christmas in
Venezuela—to Venezuelans with access to boxes with food items subject to
government price controls. Officials had promised to include pernil in the
boxes, and in a country facing severe shortages of food, this was a valuable opportunity
for people to secure protein, which is limited in many Venezuelans’ diet. On
December 31, a member of the Bolivarian National Guard who, according to
witnesses, was drunk, opened fire without warning on a line of people waiting
for the expected rations of pernil, killing an 18-year-old pregnant woman who
had stood in line for hours. After the news of the killing went viral, a
Bolivarian National guard sergeant was detained in relation to this case. During
a protest in Valencia on January 3, 30 people partially closed a road, burned
tires in front of a mayor’s office, insulted security agents, and shouted: “Damn Nicolás Maduro!” At the protest,
police detained Ronald Cevilla, 25, and Erika Palacios, 41. The charges against
them include “instigating hatred”—a
crime established in November by the pro-government Constituent Assembly that
seized powers from the opposition-led National Assembly in August. The vague
and overbroad language of the law imposes prison sentences of up to 20 years
for those who “encourage, promote, or
incite hatred.” Cevilla and Palacios remain behind bars. No independent
institutions remain in Venezuela to act as a check on executive power. Without
strong international pressure, 2018 may well be the year in which Venezuela’s
government entrenches its repressive powers and the impunity it has enjoyed for
terrible abuses. (Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/01/10/why-jonatan-diniz-was-lucky)
US and Spain to discuss Venezuela
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs Thomas A. Shannon is in Madrid to meet with his Spanish counterparts on
“matters of common interest”, such as
the situation in Venezuela. More in Spanish: (El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/politica/eeuu-espana-abordaran-madrid-situacion-venezuela_683776)
U.S. embassy in Venezuela
to begin issuing visas again. But who can afford them?
For the first time in more than 18 months,
Venezuelans trying to go to the United States for business or pleasure can
apply for a visa in Venezuela. In a statement on its website, the U.S. embassy
in Caracas said it will begin accepting applications for B-1 and B-2 visas —
used for temporary business and tourism travel — starting Jan. 17. Visa
services in the South American country have been suspended since May 2016, when
Washington and Caracas both ejected diplomats and the embassy said it didn’t
have the staff to process visas. An embassy spokesperson Wednesday said the
consular office was now almost fully staffed. The move will be a welcome relief
for Venezuelans who have been forced to make a grueling overland trek to
neighboring Colombia to apply for a visa. Even so, at a cost of US$ 160 per
visa application, the price is prohibitive for most Venezuelans. The minimum
wage is equal to about US$ 7 a month. The move comes just weeks after Todd Robinson
was appointed as the embassy’s chargé, the highest-ranking official absent an
ambassador. In a Spanish-language statement, Robinson said the renewed activity
“will help support legitimate trips to
the United States while we protect our citizens.” (The Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article194007524.html)
Economic woes forces
women into prostitution to feed children
Sputnik Mundo found out how prostitution helped
both women survive the economic crisis that has gripped Venezuela for a fourth
year. The fall in oil prices, which forms more than 96% of Venezuela's income,
led to the strangulation of the country, with a debt of $150 billion. In such a
grim situation, children and families with many children became the most
vulnerable segment of society. According to some women, on a “good” day they
make US$ 4 or 5. However, it is barely enough for them to make ends meet, as
they pay for the rent on a daily basis and also hire a taxi that takes them to
the brothel and brings them back home. Apart from the tough economic situation
the women are forced to deal with, they face heartbreak and emotional pain as
well. In Venezuela there are no laws that explicitly prohibit or permit
prostitution. The Ministry of Health does not keep prostitution statistics, and
female workers say they feel very helpless. According to police reports, in the
center of Caracas alone, there are more than 40 brothels of various categories.
(Sputnik News: https://sputniknews.com/latam/201801101060658365-venezuela-women-forced-into-prostitution/)
Venezuela's 'butt-lift' boom
Brazil has long had a thriving plastic surgery
industry that has fueled countless liposuctions, implants, nips and tucks. But
recently, the economic woes of Brazil’s northern neighbor Venezuela are prompting
more Brazilians to cross the border for surgery, where cosmetic tweaks are far
cheaper. The sudden increase in purchasing power has created a unique
opportunity for Francisca Maia Vasconcelos, who has built a business, ferrying
patients, mostly from the city of Manaus in Brazil, across the border to the
Venezuelan town of Puerto Ordaz, where surgeries are cheaper. Though prices
vary, a liposuction, breast and buttock augmentation surgery in Venezuela can
cost Brazilians around 10,000 real ($3,098). In Brazil the same procedures can
cost closer to 30,000 real. (BBC: http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180110-venezuelas-butt-lift-boom)
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.
