Logistics & Transport
Venezuelan government owes AVIANCA US$ 236 million
Colombia’s
AVIANCA airline has announced that it will take all necessary steps to collect
an estimated US$ 236 million in ticket sales held back by Venezuela. Germán
Efromovich, Chairman of the Board of AVIANCA says he hopes this country will
become “stable and able to honor its
commitments”. More in Spanish: (El Nacional, http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/Avianca-gobierno_venezolano-millones-deuda_boletos_aereo_0_827917394.html)
Oil & Energy
LatAm oil producers discuss output freeze, Mexico
reluctant
Delegations
from Latin American oil exporters Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela have
met in Quito to discuss a proposed output freeze and other methods to bolster
international crude prices. The Ecuador meeting is the first significant sign
non-OPEC producers Colombia and Mexico may be involved in an effort to bolster
prices amid the global glut. But Mexico's government stressed it was only
participating as an "observer"
to share information. Its energy ministry emphasized in a statement that crude
output has already declined by more than a million barrels per day in the last
12 years. Suffering more than most producers from the 60% plummet in oil prices
since mid-2014, leftist-ruled Venezuela and Ecuador have pushed hard for the
meeting in Doha. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday he hoped
producers will agree to freeze output in Doha. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela
and Qatar agreed in February to freeze production at January levels, but said
at the time the deal was contingent on other producers joining in. (MSNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/08/reuters-america-update-1-latam-oil-producers-discuss-output-freeze-mexico-reluctant.html)
Istúriz
speaks of new gradual increase for domestic gasoline prices.
Venezuela’s Executive Vice President Aristóbulo
Istúriz has said he believes it “convenoent
to have another gradual gasolina price increase, since an adjustment has not
been made on Diesel gasoline.” More in Spanish: (Ultimas
Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/isturiz-vamos-a-tener-que-hacer-otro-aumento-progr.aspx#ixzz45bckQFJu)
Venezuela oil price falls for 3rd week
The
price Venezuela receives for its mix of medium and heavy oil fell for the third
week in a row as prices around the world slipped on oversupplied markets and
doubts about a OPEC deal to freeze oil production. According to figures
released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, the average price of
Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week
ending April 8 was US$ 27.90, down US$ 1.85 from the previous week's US$ 29.75.
(Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2409634&CategoryId=10717)
Economy & Finance
Venezuela
received US$ 100 million from oil sales in March, according to President Nicolás Maduro – who said
that two years ago oil revenues were at US$ 3.5 billion – which is a 97% drop
in revenue from this source. More in Spanish: (Agencia
Venezolana de Noticias; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/100-millones-ingresaron-al-pa%C3%ADs-marzo-venta-petr%C3%B3leo;
Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/en-marzo-ingresaron-100-millones-por-venta-de-petr.aspx)
Foreign
tourists to pay for local services in FOREX
Venezuela’s Central Bank has published a resolution
which allows tourism service providers to collect for operations in FOREX,
whether in cash or foreign currency denominated credit cards. More in Spanish: (El
Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/politicas-publicas/turistas-extranjeros-pagaran-sus-servicios-en-divi.aspx#ixzz45bX5Is7V;
Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/turistas-extranjeros-pagaran-sus-servicios-en-divi.aspx;
AVN; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/turistas-extranjeros-podr%C3%A1n-realizar-pago-servicios-divisas;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/economia/publican-regulacion-operaciones-divisas-para-sector-turistico_249241)
DIGITEL, TELEFONICA subsidiary halt international
calls from Venezuela
Spain's
TELEFONICA this month will suspend international phone service from Venezuela,
the firm's local subsidiary said, amid a growing shortage of foreign exchange
that has limited telecom investments. The subsidiary MOVISTAR, Venezuela's
second largest mobile phone provider, last year restricted international calls
to only 10 countries following chronic difficulties in obtaining dollars
through the OPEC nation's 13-year-old currency control system. DIGITEL will
also suspend roaming and long distance service after not being able to get
extended debt service terms from service providers. (Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-telefonica-idUSL2N17B1DF;
and more in Spanish: (El Nacional, http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/Digitel-suspendera-servicio-Roaming_0_825517562.html)
Local telecom authority asks telephone firms to be
"proactive"
Venezuela’s
National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) has urged telephone operators
to take “a proactive stance.”
Earlier, the companies had reported that they would limit or discontinue their
services due to debts in foreign currency. According to CONATEL, such decision
is an “undesirable situation” arising
from the country economic crisis, “particularly,
a drastic reduction of the FOREX budget.” (El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/venezuelan-telcom-authority-asks-telephone-firms-proactive_249288)
Impoverished Venezuela still finances nations with
stronger economies
According
to Alejandro Grisanti, formerly Barclay’s chief for Latin America, while
Venezuela goes through the worst economic contraction in the region – 5.7% at
the close of 2015 – it continues to fund oil sales to PETROCARIBE partner
nations with growing economies. According to Grisanti, the Dominican Republic’s
GDP grew 7%; Panama’s, 6%; Guatemala’s 3.9%; Costa Rica’s 2.9% and El
Salvador’s 2.3%. More in Spanish: (El Nacional, http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/Venezuela-empobrecida-financia-mejores-economias_0_827917526.html)
Maduro
creates new Ministry for Basic, Strategic and Socialist Industries
President
Nicolás Maduro has announced the creation of a new Ministry for Basic,
Strategic and Socialist Industries headed by Juan Arias. More in Spanish: (El
Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/noticias/crean-ministerio-de-industrias-basicas--estrategic.aspx#ixzz45bUTDW00; Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/gobierno-creo-el-ministerio-de-industrias-basicas-.aspx; AVN; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/conformado-motor-industrias-b%C3%A1sicas-estrat%C3%A9gicas-y-socialistas; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/juan-%C3%A1rias-asumir%C3%A1-nuevo-ministerio-industrias-b%C3%A1sicas-estrat%C3%A9gica-y-socialistas)
Politics and International Affairs
Venezuela's Supreme Court overturns amnesty bill
Venezuela's
Supreme Court has overturned an amnesty for jailed opposition leaders approved
by the opposition-controlled parliament. About 70 activists opposed to
President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government had been due for release under
the law approved last month. But the court declared the amnesty law
unconstitutional. Maduro had condemned the law as an attempt to destabilize his
leadership of the country. The Supreme Court has consistently backed the
Venezuelan government since the opposition triumphed in congressional elections
in December. In a statement, the court
said the amnesty law was unconstitutional because it covered offences "that are acts of organized crime, which are
not related to crimes of a political nature". Among the detainees is
Leopoldo Lopez, a prominent opposition leader who was sentenced to 13 years and
nine months in prison last year for inciting violence during mass protests. The
prosecutor in the case later fled Venezuela and told media abroad that Lopez's
conviction had been a political show trial. Government officials maintain that
Lopez is responsible for violence that erupted during protests in which 43
people were killed in 2014. Other political leaders who were set to be freed
include the former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, who is under house arrest,
and the former mayor of San Cristobal, Daniel Ceballos. President Maduro last
week told supporters that he had decided to ask the court to invalidate the
"criminal" bill. After the
Supreme Court's ruling, he said he would set up a truth commission to deal with
jailed opposition activists' cases and that opposition members would be invited
to join. Critics of the government say the top court is stacked with supporters
of the president. (BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36021976)
UN Human Rights High Commissioner slams Venezuela´s Supreme
Court anti-amnesty ruling
UN
Human Rights High Commissioner Ravina Shamdasani has issued an official
statement saying “We are very surprised
with the ruling yesterday by the Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme
Court against the Amnesty and National Reconciliation Bill. The Bill, which was
approved by the National Assembly on 29 March this year, could have served as
the basis for a path of dialogue and reconciliation in Venezuela…Upon the
request of the Government, the High Commissioner had sent a legal analysis of
this bill to Venezuela, advising that the text was generally in conformity with
international human rights standards. We call on the Government of Venezuela
and the political opposition to open up avenues for a process of dialogue that
could contribute to reaching the crucial political agreements that are
necessary to tackle the multiple human rights challenges that the people of
Venezuela are facing. We also call on the Government of Venezuela and all State
entities to ensure full respect for the basic rights and freedoms to which all
the people of Venezuela are entitled - including human rights defenders and
civil society actors - in line with the country's obligations under the
international human rights treaties it has ratified, as well as the commitments
it made during its Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council.”
(UN HRC Commission: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19808&LangID=E#sthash.Zebjk5NE.dpuf)
Maduro seeks to unseat Assembly bent on ousting him,
threatens insurrection if opposition prevails
Venezuela's
constitutional crisis took a turn towards the bizarre this week, when President
Nicolas Maduro said he would consider a move to shorten the term of the
National Assembly, which is trying to initiate a recall vote to oust the
President. “If I see this [the
initiative] as the possibility to clear the way of coup d’etat attempts by
using the National Assembly, I will activate it, if the people accompany me. I
promise you that,” said Maduro, live on state television. In a country
becoming used to the even most bizarre, even the opposition was shocked by
Maduro's move to cut the Assembly’s term -- which runs until January 6th, 2021
-- to just 60 days. Maduro has also warned that if the opposition were to reach
full power someday “the revolutionary
movement, the people of Venezuela” would take to the streets in a “general
civil-military insurrection and “start another revolution”. “I say thus to the
oligarchy, and I would be at the head of that revolution”. He added: “if someday they do something to me…you head
up a popular, revolutionary, Bolivarian and socialist civil-military
insurrection”. Maduro went on to charge that imprisoned opposition leader
Leopoldo Lopez and former Presidential candidate Henrique Capriles are “behind paramilitary crimes against community
leaders.” (Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2409675&CategoryId=10717;
and more in Spanish: Infolatam: http://www.infolatam.com/2016/04/07/maduro-convoca-una-insurreccion-popular-si-le-hacen-algo/)
National Assembly votes to reform Supreme Justice
Tribunal law
The
opposition majority in the National Assembly has passed a law to reform the
Supreme Justice Tribunal’s Constitutional Law, increasing the number of
magistrates in the Constitutional Chamber from 7 to 15 within approximately 5
months. The new law calls for a new Judicial Nominations Committee to call for
new candidates. In passing the law, the opposition coalition cited Article 204
in the Constitution, and presented the documents with which pro regime
legislators reformed the same law in 2004 and 2009. More in Spanish: (El
Nacional, http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Oposicion-sanciono-reforma-Ley-TSJ_0_825517694.html)
Public prosecutors to investigate Venezuelans
regarding Panama Papers
“We have appointed a team of public
prosecutors to investigate the Venezuelans mentioned in the Panama Papers,”
says Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega Diaz. She says that the offenses include
money laundering and corruption. Likewise, she added that four public
prosecutors with national authority were entrusted with the appropriate
inquests. (El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/public-prosecutors-investigate-venezuelans-regarding-panama-papers_249255)
Defense Minister speaks out against April 11 events in
Venezuela
“April 11 remains in history as a mark of
betrayal, deception, media manipulation, and thirst for power,” twitted
Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino López in rejection of the events
occurred back on April 12, 2002, which led to the removal from power for
several hours of late President Hugo Chávez Frías. The official said that this
date “also left lessons of rejection to
violence, of civic-minded and constitutional conscience, and civil-military
union.” (El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/defense-minister-speaks-out-against-april-events-venezuela_249279)
Venezuelan assembly's foreign policy chief ashamed of
treatment of Rajoy, OAS
The
head of the Foreign Policy Committee in Venezuela's unicameral National
Assembly, opposition politician Luis Florido, said Sunday that the treatment by
his country's government of Spain's acting prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, and
OAS chief Luis Almagro was shameful. "This
week has been shameful and unprecedented for Venezuelan diplomacy,"
declared Florido in rejecting "the insults and disqualifications" on
the part of (Venezuelan President) Nicolas Maduro and the foreign minister of
Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez" against Rajoy and the secretary general of the
Organization of American States. "We
repudiate the verbal attack" by both authorities of a government that,
"instead of insulting Spain, should
accept the help offered by the Spanish government to handle the serious
humanitarian crisis that Venezuela is suffering, where the scarcity of
medicines exceeds 80%," said Florido in a statement. Maduro on
Saturday called Rajoy a "racist,
corrupt trash and colonialist trash." The Rajoy government responded
by calling its ambassador to Caracas home for consultations, and Spain’s
Popular Party has termed Maduro a “disgraceful
madman”. Rodriguez, meanwhile, said that Almagro "reaffirms his hatred for Venezuela," "violates all the operating norms for the OAS
secretary generalship" and has joined "the interventionist zeal of the stateless right" against
Caracas. (Fox News, http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2016/04/10/venezuelan-assembly-foreign-policy-chief-ashamed-treatment-rajoy-oas/)
and more in Spanish: (El Nacional: http://www.el-nacional.com/mundo/Partido-Popular-impresentable-Nicolas-Maduro_0_827917245.html)
IAPA asks Venezuela to halt "newspaper closures due to newsprint shortage”
The
Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has asked the Venezuelan government to
stop its “strategy of closing media
outlets” and allow “immediate access”
to newsprint “without discrimination.”
The NGO made a special reference to El Carabobeño and El Impulso dailies and
other newspapers which “have had to stop
working” due to lack of paper. (El
Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/iapa-asks-venezuela-stop-newspapers-closure-due-newsprint-shortage_249284)
STRATFOR: Looking for a way out of Venezuela's crisis
As
Venezuela slouches toward a potentially catastrophic default on foreign debt
and wider social unrest appears more and more likely, individuals in the ruling
United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) are looking for a way out of the
crisis, largely motivated by self-interest. After all, if the crisis in
Venezuela continues unabated, the country's elites are sure to lose political
status, and with it, the security it brings them. Of these factions, the ruling
clique — represented by Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, legislator Diosdado
Cabello, and, to a lesser extent, Aragua State Gov. Tareck el Aissami and
National Guard Commander Nestor Reverol — is the most resistant to economic
reform and political dialogue with the opposition. In light of ongoing criminal
investigations of Cabello and Flores, losing political sway in the country
could jeopardize their futures. Similarly, swift economic adjustments — no
matter how necessary — could threaten Maduro's presidency, further driving up
inflation that already totals around 300% annually. Consequently, Cabello and
Maduro have chosen a path of inaction on the economic front, while continuing
to deflect political challenges from the opposition coalition. Several state
governors, ostensibly led by Zulia State Gov. Francisco Arias Cardenas,
represent the other major faction to emerge in the United Socialist Party.
Based on growing public dissatisfaction with the ruling party, even within the
party, the governors in this faction oppose holding gubernatorial elections
later this year. They would sooner support Maduro's departure from office,
whether by referendum or resignation, than risk holding elections they could
very well lose. In removing Maduro and transitioning toward a new government,
the governors likely hope to mitigate public anger at the ruling party and
avert a major electoral defeat. Among those in favor of holding a referendum to
remove the president is former Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres.
Rodriguez Torres — whom Maduro ousted in 2014 — has the support of a few
unspecified dissident allies, but it is unclear whether he falls in Arias
Cardenas' camp. Now the question becomes whether they can convince key
individuals and constituencies to back a transition away from Maduro. Although
Maduro's circle of elite supporters has been shrinking, one of its most
important members, Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, has not
overtly proposed Maduro's removal. As long as Padrino Lopez, accompanied by a
segment of the country's military and political elite, is allied with the
president — or at least not actively working against him — Maduro stands a
chance of retaining his office until his term ends in 2019. If the governors
prevail and Maduro is forced to resign before January 2017, the outcome will be
quite different. New elections would have to be held within 30 days of his
resignation, and the opposition would have a realistic shot at victory. But if
Maduro were to resign after January, the presidency would go to the standing
vice president until the next presidential vote in 2019. (STRATFOR, https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/looking-way-out-venezuelas-crisis?id=be1ddd5371&uuid=b942d007-6fc9-4915-9f21-78b63f934073)
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.
