Just spent a week with a former Miss Venezuela (a recent US citizen). Sweet, kind and a lovely woman. Most of her family are here (US) now.
immigrants are welcome
she votes and doesn't think too much of the shitgibbon
I don’t think she was a former Miss Venezuela (maybe just a runner-up)
No more guessing please. Someone might get it right
Last edited by S Landreth; 16-02-2017 at 07:23 PM.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
This one?
I am surprised Maduro has not been taken out.
People cannot even afford to buy eggs.
Venezuela Muzzles Legislature, Moving Closer to One-Man Rule
By NICHOLAS CASEY and PATRICIA TORRES
MARCH 30, 2017
IQUITOS, Peru — Venezuela took its strongest step yet toward one-man rule under the leftist President Nicolás Maduro as his loyalists on the Supreme Court seized power from the National Assembly in a ruling late Wednesday night.
The ruling effectively dissolved the elected legislature, which is led by Mr. Maduro’s opponents, and allows the court to write laws itself, experts said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/w...ture.html?_r=0
The High Court rules that making the Assembly (Congress) powerless is unconstitutional.
CUENCA, ECUADOR
Venezuela’s Supreme Court Saturday reversed a controversial decision that stripped congress of all its powers, as international pressure had been building against the socialist administration.
El Universal newspaper reported that the court had published two “clarifications” including one that said that the National Assembly will maintain its legislative functions.
On Wednesday, the same court had said it would assume all legislative functions as it claimed the opposition-led congress was illegitimate for being in contempt of previous court rulings.
That decision raised alarms around the region. The opposition called it a “coup,” the Organization of American States has scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday, and several Latin American countries recalled their ambassadors.
The decision even opened divisions within President Nicolás Maduro’s usually lock-step administration, with cabinet members and high officials suggesting the move was a violation of the constitution.
The backlash prompted Maduro in a late night speech to ask the courts to review their decision in order to “maintain constitutional stability.”
Wednesday’s controversial decision to muzzle congress was embedded in a narrower ruling that allows the executive to sign joint-venture contracts without congressional approval. Such contracts are usually a function of the legislature.
Read more here: Venezuela court reverses its congressional ?coup? | McClatchy DC
I think the current disaster of Venezuela derserves its own thread here in SC instead of the thread on news updates in "World News."
As I noted before, I speak with people living in Venezuela almost every day, at least 5 days per week. I communicate with people of all ages and backgrounds. The often tell me what life is like now.
I will post articles about Hugo Chavez, who started the road this disaster as well as his handpicked protege Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver, who obviously does not understand the most basic principles of economics.
Before starting this thread I read several old threads on Chavez, some as old as 2006.
A series question for** Ray Carey:** what is you opinion of Chavez now?
Maduro?
A dozen eggs costing $150 USD. It's difficult for people to rent apartments because of a Chavez law enabling them to not pay rent for a long time, but cannot be evicted. Hence, many Apartment owners don't even rent out apartment or rooms. A shortage of flour. The government raiding bread shops because there are shortages. Govt officials taking farmers' crops, so many farmers don't even grow crops now.
Latin America has always been a mess, and I think it always will be. This is also what people from Mexico, Central America down through Brazil and Argentina tell me.
Below is the first of more articles to come.
FEB 16, 2016
Luis Salas, Too Ignorant Of Economics Even For Venezuela's President Maduro
Tim Worstall , CONTRIBUTOR
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
I think this must mark some sort of milestone for Venezuela and that poor benighted country's battered economy. Not that this is the end of the troubles there but it possibly marks the ceasing of the descent into ever more ludicrously uneconomic hells. For we've managed to find, in Luis Salas, the sociologist just sacked as the economy minister, someone too ignorant of economics for even President Maduro to put up with him. And given the ghastly mess his predecessors have managed to make of that economy that's really saying something.
The news itself:
Venezuela's President Maduro has replaced his economic czar just five weeks after appointing the hardline leftist as the country grapples with increasingly bleak economic indicators and fears of default.
Maduro said Monday Luis Salas is leaving his post as vice president for the economy for family reasons.
Ah, yes, family reasons:
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro replaced the head of his economic team just five weeks after handing the job to a widely-criticized professor who blamed the world’s fastest inflation on the country’s “parasitic” business class.
The truth is the economic ideas believed in by Salas would be, to use a technical term, best described as battily* insane. Quite seriously the sort of drivel you'd expect from an entirely uncultured sixteen year old, or perhaps a sociologist, but I repeat myself. An example:
Like Maduro, Salas says the country is suffering from the world's worst recession and triple-digit inflation because business interests are colluding with the U.S. to sabotage the economy.
He even goes further than Maduro in arguing that many of the country's problems are the result of being too capitalist.
800% inflation and a near entire absence of anything at all to buy in the shops are not normally regarded as attributes of capitalism. Apart from anything else capitalists don't like there to be shortages: it means that they're missing a profit opportunity by people not being able to give them their money. And in more general terms even Karl Marx agreed that capitalism delivered the economic goods, created plenty, even if the consumption of that plenty was unequally apportioned. And his ideas on inflation don't even rise to the level of teenage lunacy:
Venezuela's Economic Catastrophe Isn't About To Happen, It Has Happened
Venezuela Default Imminent, Chavez Legacy Rests In Pieces
Essays written by Salas describe scarcity and spiraling prices as the result of exploitation by businesses rather than government policy, offering an academic underpinning to the "economic war" explanation that Maduro uses to describe the current malaise of recession, runaway prices and widespread product shortages.
"Inflation does not exist in real life," he wrote in a 2015 pamphlet called "22 Keys to Understanding the Economic War." "When a person goes to a shop and finds that prices have gone up, they are not in the presence of 'inflation.'"
Salas has argued against the idea that excessive printing of money causes inflation - an almost universally accepted tenet of macroeconomics. He insists prices rise primarily because corporations seek excessive profit margins.
Well, there we have it, economic ideas and policies that are too mad even for Maduro to put up with them. At least we know where the limits are now: not notably connected with any form of economic reality of course, but at least not spiraling off into out and out madness.
Of course, what Venezuela really needs is an acknowledgement that "socialism " (really, anti-marketism) has not, does not and cannot work. And to get back to anything like a reasonable normality they're going to need to go full on free market for a time at least. Simply abolish all economic controls entirely and reimpose some semblance of law and order and economic regulation after the economy has picked itself up off the floor. And it really is true that it would pick itself up.
The most valuable resource in any economy is that once you've actually had one then people know how one works. Germany recovered from WWII in under a decade and that place was almost entirely leveled. But Germans knew how an economy worked. Russia never did reach German (even East German) levels of wealth simply because no one in the country had ever had any experience of a decently running economy. Venezuela's never been a rich country but a return to the levels of the pre-Chavez era will happen reasonably quickly simply because there is indeed that folk memory of how to do it.
*The more foulmouthed adult readers might want to slightly edit that word.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors.../#6e8f1cc8520e
Some info on Chavez and more to come:
How Hugo Chavez Trashed Latin America's Richest Economy
312AUG 27, 2015
By Justin Fox
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...ichest-economy
Short synopsis specifics of why Chavez and Maduro led Venezuela to hell:
More details:
Ray Carey? What do you think about this?
Apr 7, 2017
Venezuela opposition leader banned from running for office
By HANNAH DREIER and JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press
AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's government has barred opposition leader Henrique Capriles - twice a major presidential candidate - from running for office for 15 years, a surprise move sure to ratchet up tensions amid a growing street protest movement
Capriles read from excerpts of the comptroller general's order at a rally Friday night in which he urged supporters to take to the streets, beginning with a previously scheduled demonstration Saturday, to defend their political rights and demand the removal of President Nicolas Maduro.
News from The Associated Press
So you are still waiting for an answer?
Sorry but don't you know that there are far more important things going on in the world than this.
How long does Madura have? Not only his power but possibly his life?
Venezuela's Maduro pelted by protesters leaving a rally
Media captionState media were broadcasting the event, but quickly cut away after Mr Maduro was pelted by protesters
State television captured the moment the crowd began to mob the leftist leader's vehicle in the south-eastern state of Bolivar on Tuesday.
Social media users said the objects thrown included stones and eggs.
Mr Maduro's presidency has come under increasing pressure as Venezuela's economy collapses and opponents accuse him of creating a dictatorship.
There have been five days of violent protest against Mr Maduro already this month, resulting in the deaths of two young men in the last week.
Opposition leaders are calling for a date to be set for postponed regional elections.
As for events on Tuesday, the Information Ministry did not respond to a request for further information from news agency Reuters.
Socialist Party officials tweeted Mr Maduro had been received by a cheering crowd in San Felix, while state television cut off the broadcast as his bodyguards appeared to be seeking to regain control.
Venezuela's Maduro pelted by protesters leaving a rally - BBC News
Here is is could....note the word "could"....happen...if allowed. This is how he could be removed.
Venezuela crisis: What is behind the turmoil? - BBC News
These instructions on how to remove a sitting duck of a president that won't go.
A president for life as they don't understand democracy, it's because it's in their DNA, a backward evil race you couldn't find worse on this planet, Zuma and the rest of the dark continents leaders won't go.
Have you seen how many have been protesting for Zumas removal.
I had 2 separate lessons today with Venezuelans.
Learning more about the place.
The biggest protest yet is likely coming.
Venezuela braces for the 'mother of all protests' as both sides call for rallies
As dissatisfaction with the government grows, opposition leader needs no reminder of the risks involved in inflaming an already febrile national mood
Virginia López in Caracas
Wednesday 19 April 2017
As Venezuela braces for the “mother of all protests” on Wednesday, opposition figurehead Henrique Capriles needs no reminder of the risks involved in inflaming an already febrile national mood.
That clash was fuelled by the comptroller general’s decision on 7 April to bar the 44-year-old from running for public office until 2032 for allegedly misusing public funds.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nicolas-maduro
Maduro executes the Zamoro plan to take on the "mother of all protests."
Maduro executes Plan Zamoro to tackle "mother of all protests" in Venezuela | Euronews
Details on why: this WILL be in the news soon!
Why are they protesting?
In short, the opposition says Maduro has created a dictatorship in the last few years. The government has repeatedly blocked any attempts by the opposition to oust Maduro from power by a referendum vote. It has also delayed local and state elections.
The last election held in Venezuela, the parliamentary election of 2015, gave the opposition a majority. Critics say any elections since have been delayed because Maduro is afraid of the outcome.
Then, on March 29, the Venezuelan Supreme Court dissolved the Parliament, transferring all legislative powers to itself. By doing away with the opposition-controlled legislative branch, the move effectively meant the remaining two branches of Venezuelan government were controlled by the ruling United Socialist Party. The opposition was outraged and called the move a coup. The decision was reversed three days later, but by that time protests had already erupted.
The protests have been bloody. Six people have died and countless others, many journalists, have been injured.
The opposition call became even stronger when, on April 7, the government notified main opposition leader Henrique Capriles that he had been banned from doing any political work for 15 years. The 44-year-old governor, who has run for president twice, said the government was again acting like a dictatorship.
What is Maduro's response?
Maduro, 54, is defiant. Instead of taking steps to reduce tensions with the opposition, he has taken a confrontational tone with members of the opposition and protesters, whom he calls "vandals and terrorists."
"We're after and will capture the very last of the attackers," Maduro said Saturday on national TV. "You all know that I don't fool around. When I go after criminals, I get them and I will capture all of these criminals who are getting their orders from the right-wingers."
In a show of force on Monday, Maduro paraded the streets of Caracas surrounded by men and women in uniform. The military has also vowed its full support to Maduro.
political crisis intensified last week when the Supreme Court issued rulings curbing the powers of the opposition-controlled legislature. The court reversed the rulings days later, but the opposition intensified its protests from that moment.
Why oust Maduro?
Venezuela is in crisis, and while there is no simple solution to Venezuela's woes, the opposition argues it can fix the country's failing economy.
Venezuela's food shortages have become extremely severe in the last couple of years. Venezuelans have endured weeks, in some cases months, without basics like milk, eggs, flour, soap and toilet paper.
When there is food and water on the shelves, prices are so high that few Venezuelans can afford it. Many have taken to eating out of the trash.
Venezuela protests: What you need to know - CNN.com
This all happened under Obamas and Hilary's watch, something Trump will easily sort out.
Build a bigger wall cause they'll be coming over soon.
Do time bombs still tick? I would have thought some kind of digital timer would be more the norm these days. I suppose if you were a traditionalist you could add some kind of audio device to play a ticking noise on a loop.
More manisfestaciones. The dictator who destroys an economy and cancels elections.
Caracas on Knife-Edge as Maduro Protesters Erect Barricades
by Andrew Rosati and Fabiola Zerpa
April 21, 2017
Venezuelan opposition urges supporters to stay on the streets
Protesters make barriers of refuse; TV channels are silenced
Demonstrators clash with the riot police during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, on April 20, 2017. Photographer: FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images
Caracas faced another tense day after massive protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with barricades of trash and debris in the streets, shuttered businesses and sporadic blossoms of tear gas.
Demonstrators take a fallen tree from a truck to use it as a barricade during a protest in Caracas on April 20.Photographer: Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images
A coalition of opposition parties called for continued demonstrations Thursday like those the previous day in the capital and major cities. Hundreds of thousands turned out to rally against Maduro’s grip on the country’s institutions, and his policies that have left the economy in tatters. Clashes between protesters, security forces and pro-government gangs left three dead, bringing the toll to seven since demonstrations began three weeks ago.
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...ift-barricades
A good short video report from Venezuela. Click the link below.
GM faces hard road getting compensated for Venezuela factory
By TOM KRISHER AND JOSHUA GOODMAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT — Apr 20, 2017
Juan Carlos Hernandez
General Motors became the latest corporation to have a factory or other asset seized by the government of Venezuela, and the Detroit automaker faces an uphill battle to recover any damages.
GM said Thursday that its only factory in Venezuela was confiscated a day earlier, as anti-government protesters clashed with authorities in a country that is roiled by economic troubles. GM said assets such as vehicles were taken from the plant, causing the company irreparable damage.
The seizure is the latest in a long string of government confiscations of factories and other assets that have been a staple of the so-called 21st century socialist revolution in Venezuela started by the late Hugo Chavez two decades ago. Venezuela is currently fighting claims of illegal asset seizures at a World Bank-sponsored arbitration panel from more than 25 companies.
GM faces hard road getting compensated for Venezuela factory - ABC News
Socialism works. Just wait. Things will get better. Come to "capitalist" America and ask for welfare. Ridiculous.
Apr 23, 2017
MORE VENEZUELANS STRUGGLE IN US AS THEIR COUNTRY IMPLODES
BY GISELA SALOMON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
VENEZUELAN 'SYSTEM' BRINGS CLASSICS TO BARRIOS
MIAMI (AP) -- People crowd outside a church near Miami's international airport, chatting about family and friends left behind in Caracas, Valencia and Maracaibo as they wait more than an hour to receive rice, beans, yogurt and other food for their families.
At a storage space not far away, about 60 other Venezuelans line up for free sheets, towels, cookware and other goods donated to help them get on their feet in their new country.
Volunteers at South Florida social service organizations say they have seen an increasing number of Venezuelan seeking help. It's a reflection of the deteriorating situation in Venezuela, where the opposition has held massive protests against President Nicolas Maduro for his handling of the economy and a Supreme Court decision that briefly stripped the opposition-led congress of most of its power.
"I never thought I would need to receive food but the time has come and I don't have a choice," said 26-year-old Venezuelan lawyer Alejandra Mujica, who was among about 80 people waiting outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church one recent afternoon.
Venezuela was once among Latin America's most prosperous countries, with the world's largest proven oil reserves. During good times, Venezuelans who came to the United States largely did so as tourists or to go shopping.
But the Venezuelan economy is now in freefall due to a plunge oil prices and poor economic planning under the socialist government created by the late President Hugo Chavez, who took office in 1999, and continued under his successor, Maduro. The situation has grown worse because of capital flight and a crime rate that is among the highest in the world.
Venezuela's economy shrank 18 percent in 2016 and is expected to contract another 8 percent this year. It has the highest inflation of any country and its people scrounge for basic necessities.
News from The Associated Press
Now after Brexit Venezuela could do a deal with Britain, we know how to run things properly so we could invest in rebuilding Venezuela .
Another Brexit success story.
I think Zimbabwe has become so bad that it's no longer listed. Also the worlds media doesn't criticise Black governments.
555, maybe.
A few years ago I was on a bus from BKK to Chiang Mai and a Chavez fan sat next to me. He admitted that he had never been to Venezuela, but his buddies told him "Chavez is a great guy."
Yeah the US has made mistakes in SA but Chavez ran what should have been the richest country is SA into the ground. How great is lining up for hours to buy food and medicine?
The Venezuelans I have met hate both Chavez and Monduro. They call him Monburo (Donkey) But yeah they were working abroad.
And yes, I have been to Venezuela.
A few months ago, there was a Venezuelan woman standing in line to get in at the US embassy in Chaing Mai. She was telling me that she had been living in Thailand and needed to get her retirement visa renewed but couldn't because her Venezuelan passport was too soon expired. She had requested a new one several times from the Venezuelan government for months prior, but they didn't issue one or even acknowledge her request.
Thai Immigration had no idea what to do. The woman's son was an American and the embassy was trying to work out a way to help her by getting her to the US before her passport expired.
Felt bad for that frail old lady.
I've been to Venezuela myself. It was a lovely place at the time. Went down the Orinoco.
According to some reports its sitting on one of the largest oil reserves on the planet.
Makes you wonder what went wrong.
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