Economics &
Finance
Pro government congressman warns
Venezuela reaching limit for oil funding
Jesús Faría, a National assembly member from the ruling
PSUV party warns that a fiscal reform is needed to increase non-oil income and
says "at this time we are reaching
the financial limit" of income provided from oil. He called for a
progressive tax structure where those who earn more should pay a greater
percentage of their income. More in Spanish: (El Mundo, 01-15-2013; http://www.elmundo.com.ve/Noticias/Economia/Politicas-Publicas/Faria--Venezuela-esta-llegando-al-limite-en-el-uso.aspx)
Only the government expects 6%
growth in 2013, all others estimate slowdown to 2-4%
Venezuela's economy grew 5.5% in 2012, along with 20.1%
inflation, a huge fiscal deficit and a restricted allocation of foreign
currency in the market. The government has projected 6% growth for 2013, but
this prediction is conditioned by pending fiscal and exchange adjustments, as
well as reduced spending. As a consequence, private analysts, investment
bankers and multilateral agencies expect growth will actually drop to somewhere
between 2-4%. The UN Economic Commission for Latin America expects a 2%
slowdown. More in Spanish: (El Mundo, 01-15-2013; http://www.elmundo.com.ve/)
Food shortages bigger worry than Constitution
At a bustling food market in downtown Caracas, armed
officers belonging to President Hugo Chavez’s National Bolivarian Guard
marched by boxes of lettuce and tomatoes, checking prices and storage rooms.
The inspection is part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on over-pricing
and hoarding the government blames for shortages of basic goods, from toilet
paper to sugar. The government said today that consumer prices in December
jumped the most in 2 1/2 years, highlighting the growing economic problems that
are amassing as Chavez’s battle with cancer unleashes a power struggle.
(Bloomberg, 01-11-2013; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-11/chavez-s-food-shortages-bigger-worry-than-venezuela-constitution.html)
Commodities
State-run aluminum industries face
crisis early in 2013
A bleak new year has begun for Venezuela’s aluminum
makers after fierce labor protests and an output decline caused by shortages in
raw materials and spare parts in 2012. Union leaders continue to call for
further investment and subsidies for industries which lack financial capacity
to meet fixed costs; while officials claim improved conditions are expected in
2013. (El Universal,
01-12-2013; http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/130112/venezuelan-state-run-aluminum-makers-face-crisis-early-in-2013)
US oil byproduct sales to Venezuela
up 195% in 2012
According to US Energy Department data, petroleum
byproduct exports to Venezuela rose significantly from January to October 2012.
The figures reflect complicated operating conditions in the Venezuelan
oil-refining sector last year with the US supplying an average 71,000 barrels
of by-products to Venezuela, a 195% hike over 2011. More in Spanish: (El
Universal, 01-12-2013; http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/130112/us-sales-of-oil-by-products-to-venezuela-up-195)
Agriculture products cost rose 35%
in 2012, basic food basket up 28.5%
Agriculture product prices rose 35% in 2012, according to
Central Bank data; with an 11% jump in December alone. Farm representatives say
rising transportation costs, scarce spare parts and problems acquiring
fertilizers have hit crop prices. The Teachers Federation Center for Social
Analysis says prices in the basic food basket - subject to price controls -
rose an average 28.5% last year, and that "2.2 minimum wage salaries are needed to pay for the monthly basket".
More in Spanish: (El Universal, 01-14-2013; http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/130115/el-precio-de-los-productos-agricolas-se-disparo-35-en-2012
and El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
Wheat inventories may exceed storage
capacities
The Wheat Processing Association warns that due to recently increased
wheat purchases caused by of recent scarcities "granaries are now full, ships are waiting at bay and others are on
their way, which can exceed storage facilities". (El Universal, 01-14-2013; http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/130114/delays-in-venezuelan-seaports-results-in-wheat-surplus; and more in Spanish: El Nacional; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
International Trade
Venezuela's trade surplus with the
United States dropped U$D 9.2 billion
According to recent data from the US Commerce Department, Venezuela's
trade with the United States dropped 31% between January and November 2012, to
U$D 19.7 billion, U$D 9.2 billion less than the same period of 2011. The
traditional surplus (imports minus exports) dropped along a historic rise in
imports from the US. More in Spanish: (El Mundo,01-14-2013; http://www.elmundo.com.ve/Noticias/Economia/Politicas-Publicas/Superavit-comercial-de-Venezuela-con-Estados-Unido.aspx)
Logistics
& Transport
34.3% advance work has been
completed on expansion and modernization of La Guaira Port, according to the General Pedro
Castro, Deputy Minister of Air and Aquatic Transport. Completion is scheduled
for 2014. (Bolipuertos, 01-14-2013; http://www.bolipuertos.gob.ve/noticia.aspx?id=6606)
Politics
Opposition to challenge top court ruling on Chavez
swearing-in at regional court
Venezuela’s opposition plans to present a case before a
regional human rights court to challenge a Supreme Court decision that allowed
the indefinite postponement of President Hugo Chavez’s inauguration. The case
is being prepared by a group of lawyers for the country’s opposition coalition,
said Gerardo Blyde, a lawyer and opposition politician. He told reporters that
it’s not yet clear when the case will be brought before the Costa Rica-based
Inter-American Court of Human Rights. (The Washington Post, 01-12-2013; http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuela-opposition-to-challenge-court-ruling-on-chavez-swearing-in-before-regional-court/2013/01/12/34147e32-5ce9-11e2-b8b2-0d18a64c8dfa_story.html;
Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/12/venezuela-opposition-to-challenge-court-ruling-on-chavez-swearing-in-before/)
Democratic Unity Board asks the OAS
and MERCOSUR to debate Venezuela
Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, chairman of Venezuela's united
opposition has written MERCOSUR and the OAS calling for them to act upon the
Supreme Court's decision to rupture the democratic process. In a letter,
Aveledo says that extension of the Presidential term is "a clear case of usurped authority, and
violates clearly established legal and constitutional rules". More in
Spanish: (El Universal, 01-15-2013; http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/130115/mesa-solicito-a-oea-y-mercosur-debatir-caso-de-venezuela)
Brazil calls for rapid elections if
Chavez dies
High ranking Brazilian officials report this country has
asked Venezuelan authorities to hold elections "as soon as possible" in case President Chavez dies; the request
was made to Vice President Nicolás Maduro. Although the Venezuelan Constitution
calls for new elections in 30 days after the death of the President, some fear
a change in rules should Maduro be likely to lose at the polls. More in
Spanish: (Tal Cual, 01-15-2013; http://www.talcualdigital.com/index.html)
US and Latin America are monitoring
the situation in Venezuela
Roberta Jacobson, US Assistant Secretary of State for
Latin America says the US and other Hemispheric governments have been in
contact over the situation in Venezuela, and adds: "We would like the situation to become clearer" and says if
"new elections" are
required by the Venezuelan Constitution they would hope these elections are
"open to all". More in
Spanish: (El Universal, 01-15-2013; http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/130115/estados-unidos-y-latinoamerica-revisan-situacion-venezolana)
Jaua says "people’s
will above bourgeois formalities"
Elías Jaua, Vice President of the government party PSUV
in the central region claims the people’s will is above bourgeois formalities
used by right-wing sectors. “Beyond legal
technicalities, the problem is who governs in the country: whether the people
or the bourgeoisie. And here rules the Bolivarian people with the leadership of
Hugo Chavez". Jaua made his remarks at an assembly called in support
of the recent ruling of the Supreme Tribunal on the President's continuity in
office. (AVN, 01-14-2013; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/people039s-will-above-bourgeois-formalities)
Trio of Chavez protégés hold key to
Venezuela's future
A month after President Hugo Chavez left
Venezuela for a fourth cancer operation, his commanding control over the
government is slowly moving into the hands of an unlikely trio of protégés who
may shape the future of the nation. Chavez's cancer has left him in serious
condition in a Cuban hospital and created a leadership vacuum after 14 years of
cult-of-personality socialism that has made him a dominant figure in Latin
America. Given a micro-managing style that put an inordinate number of
decisions in his hands, and his unique ability to control an alliance that
ranges from union activists to military officers, that leadership is now being
shared out among his top allies. (Reuters, 01-14-2013; http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/14/us-venezuela-chavez-trio-idUSBRE90D07Z20130114)
Government political team meets in
Havana
Vice-President Nicolás Maduro and Cuban President Raúl
Castro met at Havana's according to Cuban official media. National Assembly
Speaker and ruling party Vice-President Diosdado Cabello also attended the
meeting, along with Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez and Solicitor General Cilia
Flores. No meeting agenda was revealed. (El Universal, 01-14-2013; http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/130114/venezuelan-government-political-team-meets-in-havana; Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=661837&CategoryId=10717)
Officials claim Chavez conscious, clinical course
favorable; brother says he is not in coma and recovering
Communications and Information minister Ernesto Villegas
officially said the President’s respiratory infection has been controlled. “The President is conscious, communicating
with his family, his political team and the medical team which takes care of
him, keeping updated with relevant information”. His brother, Adan Chavez,
who is also governor of Barinas state, denied that the president was in a coma
and that his family was considering disconnecting life-support machines,
according to a statement published on the Barinas state government’s website. “We know this is part of a dirty war by the
necrophiliac opposition in this country”. (Bloomberg, 01-12-2013; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-12/venezuela-s-chavez-not-in-coma-and-recovering-brother-says.html;
Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=661972&CategoryId=10717;
AVN, 01-14-2013; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/chavez-conscious-clinical-course-favorable;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/130113/chavez-requires-specific-actions-for-respiratory-failure;
http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/130114/people-have-the-right-to-know-whether-the-president-elect-is-to-rule;
Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/14/venezuela-chavez-idUSL2N0AJ0DA20130114;
Bloomberg, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-14/chavez-s-recent-health-is-favorable-infection-controlled.html;
The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelas-government-says-chavez-is-conscious-and-responding-to-treatment-for-lung-infection/2013/01/13/82857c0c-5dec-11e2-8acb-ab5cb77e95c8_story.html)
HRW says Venezuela’s Government acts
to curb discussion about Chavez health, inauguration
Venezuela should end censorship and intimidation of media
that challenge the official line regarding President Hugo Chávez’s health and
inauguration, Human Rights Watch said.
In recent days, the government has ordered a television station to cease transmission of spots that question its interpretation of the constitutional requirements for the re-elected president’s inauguration. Intelligence agents have searched the home and confiscated the computers of a blogger suspected of authoring tweets questioning official information provided about Chávez’s health. (Latin American Herald Tribune, 01-14-2013; http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=662100&CategoryId=10717)
In recent days, the government has ordered a television station to cease transmission of spots that question its interpretation of the constitutional requirements for the re-elected president’s inauguration. Intelligence agents have searched the home and confiscated the computers of a blogger suspected of authoring tweets questioning official information provided about Chávez’s health. (Latin American Herald Tribune, 01-14-2013; http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=662100&CategoryId=10717)
Opposition demands accurate
information on the President's health, rejects governance from Cuba
Opposition parties say Venezuela's government is "paralyzed"
and say Cuba's Castro brothers are only interested in keeping Venezuelan
subsidies and not the problems of the people. Thomas Guanipa, Secretary General
of Primera Justicia says: "We cannot
understand how they speak of sovereignty when in fact they are being managed by
foreign parties" More in Spanish: (El Nacional, 01-15-2013; http://www.el-nacional.com/)
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.
