Venezuela's president blames opposition for deep recession

[Zorro]

Source: AP

Venezuela's government on Tuesday confirmed that the economy is struggling to emerge from a deep recession but President Nicolas Maduro said the crisis engulfing the oil-rich nation could have been a lot worse.

In an almost three-hour long press conference, the socialist president blamed the severe slump on his government's opponents, who brought the economy to a standstill during deadly protests earlier this year and are now heartened by a recent plunge in oil prices that they hope will loosen Maduro's grip on power ahead of key congressional elections just months away.

"We've contained the economic war, but it's not yet been defeated," Maduro said, valuing the government's efforts to step in for private business and restrict smuggling.

Maduro's comments came hours after the central bank said gross domestic product shrank 4.8 percent on an annual basis in the first two quarters of 2014 and 2.3 percent in the July-September period. Inflation soared to 64 percent in November from 54 percent a year ago.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-confirms-economy-fell-recession-225540422.html

---

Don't blame my policies for this recession! It's the fault of those other guys! You know, the ones we keep throwing in jail!

[busterbrown]

1. Amazing how the 1% is obviously the enemy of the middle class..

in every country on the planet!!

[jtuck004]

2. You can't just blame other people. You have to fuck over the most vulnerable and send

money to your bankster friends to really sell it. Otherwise someone might figure out how to provide opportunity to those who have the least, and there goes a perfectly good set of excuses, and maybe a recession, right out the window.

[jhasp]

3. Just like Walker

This is reminiscent of Scott Walker blaming the protesters or slowing down the economy in WI.

[Jake Stern]

4. It appears that "socialist" Nicholas took a page from the RWNJ playbook

Blaming the other guy for his failed policies.

I stand corrected, Maduro DOES have a sound policy: "liberating" big screen TVs, refrigerators and sound systems from stores across VZ.

[1step]

5. How did they miss the notion of blaming Obama?

[EX500rider]

33. No, he did that too...

Venezuela recession confirmed as Maduro attacks US 'oil war'

He said his country was suffering the consequences of an economic war launched by US President Barack Obama "to destroy" the oil producers' cartel, Opec.

"It is a two-year plan, which is affecting the prices of commodities and many developing economies," Mr Maduro said.

"The US wants to impose a unipolar world controlled from Washington. That is madness."

The crisis offered a "great opportunity for Venezuela to change its economic model," the president added.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30638770

[freshwest]

38. +1! Many people did, but restoring relations with Cuba was a plus, huh? Just wait for it...

That train's never late!

[StevePaulson]

6. Marduro Is Going Down

Venezuela is a very rich country, ran by people that couldn't run
a taco stand. There is not enough bribe money to stay afloat these days with oil tanking.

Only a matter of time.

Chavez was a brilliant politician, and was able to sell his bs to a bunch of
folks that never had a pot to piss in. I can understand how how he clung to power.

Maduro is an idiot, and couldn't sell ice water on a 120 degree day to folks dying of thirst.

When the Venezuelans run out of arepas, and cervezas their country will implode.

Not enough bread and circus to go around. The bread is gone, and the circus is not
entertaining. At least Chavez could talk for 8 hours straight without repeating himself.

Dickwad Maduro wants to stop smugglers. Yes smugglers, folks selling stuff like food, milk, diapers,
you know "smuggled goods" and stuff Venezuelans can't buy in their empty stores.

At least with the former governments roads were being built, and everything wasn't crumbling
to death. Their infrastructure is worse then ours, and that is saying something.

[Flatulo]

11. But all that lavish social spending was based on vast oil revenue.

With oil tanking, they've got nothing coming in.

The lesson here is don't put all your eggs in one basket. You need a much more diversified economy so that when one sector shits the bed, there's still money coming in. The Russians are learning this lesson as we speak.

Chavez didn't help with all the nationalizing he did - he scared away all the foreign investment.

Lastly, all the vilification of the most productive members of society has caused a massive brain drain as the technical class flees the country.

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. "all the vilification of the most productive members of society has caused a massive brain drain ".

You're not the only one who has realized this, and for Maduro, I think this realization has come too late.

[StevePaulson]

7. Yeah, It's The Opposition

Than can't even run their socialist farms to grow enough subsidized food
to feed their people.

Venezuela's leaders are too stupid to be called socialists.

A corrupt from top to bottom petro state is not a socialist country.

I have a relative that was a Chavista mayor. Every thing done in his
town he got a 10% cut.

My mother in law went down to help him count the money. There was a 3 foot
high stack of bills that needed counted from all the bribes he took.

This is not socialism.

This is raping and pillaging for the benefit of a few jerks while the country rots.

Venezuelans are so f-ing stupid, it may take years of starvation before they figure it out.

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. Tough times for Venezuela. I wish them the best.

[joshcryer]

21. As do I.

Petrostates are cursed, in many respects.

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. Nice chorus of low post count detractors here, too. What's up with that?

Did someone send up the bat signal?

[DireStrike]

10. I think there's some automated software that flags posts containing "Venezuela" to make the job

easier.

Or possibly they have no lives.

[StevePaulson]

26. I Just Blew Coffee Out My Nose

137 posts = "Have No Lives". Really DireStrike? I am still laughing my ass off.
There is more to life than blogging (expletive here).

My wife is from Venezuela. No "auto post" software involved.

[madokie]

12. The problem in Venezuela

is the corporate persons want their property back. In other words they'll do what ever it takes to get to that end. When Chavez nationalize the oil industry he insured that the oligarchs will be trying to over throw their government until they get that said property back. never mind that the oil belongs to the People and not to the international oil companies, never mind that. Our cia does not have a very good track record in protecting peoples rights whether they be here in the usa, Iran or Venezuela
IMHO

If anyone believes anything reported in our press concerning Venezuela you are grossly mislead. again IMO

[hack89]

13. No - the problem is they are spending more money than they bring in

Toss in a shortage of dollars due to misguided currency laws and you have an economy that cannot provide the basics to the people of Venezula.

As for the oil, the oil companies can get as much as they want at the price they set. Thst is how global markets work.

[madokie]

14. This is about the oil companies wanting what they consider their property back

Control is what is the center piece. As long as Maduro is the President there will be every wrench thrown in the works that the rich some via help from our cia can come up with

[hack89]

15. So the oil companies sponsored the currency regulations

That led to the foreign currency shortage? Interesting.

[madokie]

16. Oil companies and the cia

are mostly responsible for the strife in Venezuela today. They want what they consider their property back and will stop at nothing to get there

[hack89]

17. You keep saying that with no proof

The problems they have are due to things the oil companies have no control over - government spending and currency laws being two of them. How about addressing those two issues?

[madokie]

18. How about you look at the big picture

of whats happening in Venezuela today and since Chavez came to the Presidency and what he did to piss off the big moneyed interest.
You can take to the bank that not much you will read or hear in our press is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it comes to any of our southern neighbors

You believe what you want, I'm out of here

[hack89]

19. Enjoy your Koolaid. Nt

[creeksneakers2]

39. The dim economic figures

come from the central bank, which I assume is under government control.

[StevePaulson]

28. Wrong

The oil companies and the CIA are responsible of most of
the strife across the entire planet. Regardless how corrupt your
petrostate is.

It's not like we have all that military to "free the oppressed" or something.

In different countries different amounts of oil money trickle down
to the "regular" citizen. In Venezuela, probably more trickles down
than most. Hard to tell. I do know they won't let the state owned
news post the daily murder rate in Caracas. The numbers were getting
mind boggling.

Lee Raymond: "The time horizons for Exxon’s investments stretched out longer than those of almost any government it lobbied. “We see governments come and go,” Lee Raymond once remarked, an observation that was particularly true of Washington, with its constitutionally term-limited presidency. Exxon’s investments in a particular oil and gas field could be premised on a production life span of forty or more years. During that time, the United States might change its president and its foreign and energy policies at least half a dozen times. Overseas, a project’s host country might pass through multiple coups and political upheavals during the same four decades. It behooved Exxon to develop influence and lobbying strategies to manage or evade political volatility."

If production falls a little bit, they will "shock and awe" another country. Gotta keep them pumps a runnin'.

Exxon, and their friends are perpetual. Governments come and go. Here and there.

Soon it will be the polar ice caps, and the ocean's life that will be gone. And everything we call a beach. Exxon and
the Koch Brothers (children) will still be in charge.

What you and I want matter nothing in D.C. The future of our planet is pretty bleak. Them Swiss bank accounts
now, they are looking real good. Extract the oil, extract the money, and use the money to buy influence to extract more
oil, and more money. Welcome to the new Koch/Exxon World.

[EX500rider]

34. "This is about the oil companies wanting what they consider their property back"

State-owned oil company PDVSA was founded in 1976, when the Venezuelan oil industry was nationalised.

[joshcryer]

20. The opposition has no power and hasn't for a decade.

You can't keep blaming a powerless opposition for your own faults.

The boligarchs in Venezuela are chavistas, they've used the crony aspects of the country to leverage everything from shipping to media. They control it all.

Oil companies have long since written Venezuela off.

[Exultant Democracy]

25. I know some of the leaders of the opposition, they lost billions but still have hundered of millions

and money like that is power. Also the US media literally take everything they tell them as true.

Meanwhile when you get them together they all talk about how great it was before Chavez. You could kill a kid drunk driving and all it would take it a little money to make it go away. If the family keeps causing a problem you could send someone to deal with them too. People with money were above the law and everyone else was less then human, it is situations like this that lead to revolution.

[Bacchus4.0]

31. Venezuela has the second highest homicide rate in the world. It was much safer BEFORE Hugo n/t

[joshcryer]

42. Can you name these "billionaires?"

The boligarchs are the billionaires.

[Exultant Democracy]

44. Of course I can name them

but I am not stupid enough to do so on a public discussion board after I just accused them of murder.

[joshcryer]

45. That's absurdity.

Venezuela's billionaires are chavistas. I in fact cannot think of one that is hostile toward the government. Not one. Not even a hundred millionaire, in fact.

[newfie11]

22. +1. Nt

[reACTIONary]

23. SOS Venezuela !

[Exultant Democracy]

24. The Ven opposition is led by the worst of the worst and they activly use economic warefare

Money is just about the only thing the opposition has going for it. That and the fact that the US media act as their personal propaganda machine.

[COLGATE4]

27. Says another 'expert' on Venezuela. nt

[Adrahil]

46. So, just exactly how have they managed this so completely?

You Chavistas on this board remind me of creationists.... Willing to spin the most unbelievable of yarns in order to continue believing your version of reality, despite all the evidence. It's freakin' unbelievable.

[Bacchus4.0]

29. He also blamed the US on Ven's economic problems because we are producing too much oil

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/30/us-venezuela-oil-idUSKBN0K802020141230

Apparently he wants the US to produce less so Venezuela can sell their oil at a higher price. He's an idiot.

[Tarheel_Dem]

32. He & Putin are singing the same song. "The US is producing too much oil just to hurt us". Waaahhhh!

They sure think a lot of themselves.

[freshwest]

40. Why object to us producing our own and leave 'em alone since we're so awful.

It doesn't make sense for them to want us to keep lusting after their 'black gold' and playing byzantine games with them as is claimed we do.

One might even dare to think they want us to pay them with our allegedly worthless dollars. Why is that?

The CT's biting the dust since PBO got in office with new ideas to move out of the old paradigm.

Isn't that what everyone wanted in the first place?

And thanks for the Waaahhhh!

You got me here!

[Tarheel_Dem]

41. "Why object to us producing our own and leave 'em alone since we're so awful."

Geez, they seemingly can't live with us, but they quite obviously can't live without us. I'm pretty done with being used as a propaganda tool for idiots like Maduro & Putin. Sure wish we all felt that way. Will China replace us as the bad guy once they become #1?

[freshwest]

43. Nope, although China has... er, *issues* one might say... The USA is 'tag you're it' for too many.

It's an international industry and has been for centuries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Americanism#Degeneracy_thesis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Americanism#Fascist_critiques

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Americanism#.22Liberators.22_poster

That's just a small sample and covers all sides of arguments. So we are pretty much doomed.

I've come to see it as not really in keeping with the realities of human nature and those pesky facts and hateful logic.

It *feels so good,* some will keep scratching that itch until it bleeds.

Media heads wax orgasmic at manufactured outrage while letting the elephant in the living room continue to rampage.

[Bacchus4.0]

35. Venezuela recession confirmed as Maduro attacks US 'oil war'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30638770

The Venezuelan economy is now officially in recession after the central bank released figures showing that it has been shrinking all year.

------------------
He accused the United States of flooding the markets with oil as part of an economic war against Russia.

The central bank also said inflation had reached 63.6% in the 12 months to November, one of the highest rates in the world.

------------------------
He said his country was suffering the consequences of an economic war launched by US President Barack Obama "to destroy" the oil producers' cartel, Opec.

[Yo_Mama]

36. It all adds up to a wild flurry of excuses for his own mismanagement.

I assume that he will have to correct course somewhere in here.

[brooklynite]

37. Or head for thr border...

...with whatever convertable currency is available.