Maduro government 'occupies' Venezuela electronics chain

[Zorro]

Source: Reuters

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the "occupation" of a chain of electronic goods stores in a crackdown on what the socialist government views as price-gouging hobbling the country's economy.

Various managers of the five-store, 500-employee Daka chain have been arrested, and the company will now be forced to sell products at "fair prices," Maduro said late on Friday.

State media showed soldiers in one Daka shop checking the price tags on large flat-screen TVs. And hundreds of bargain-hunters flocked to Daka stores on Saturday morning to take advantage of the new, cheaper prices.

"We're doing this for the good of the nation," said Maduro, 50, who accuses wealthy businessmen and right-wing political opponents backed by the United States of waging an economic "war" against him.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/maduro-government-occupies-venezuela-electronics-chain-134740018--sector.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. Fake 'official' rate 6.3 bolivars to the dollar, real rate 60 bolivars to the dollar. n/t

[Novel style]

2. off-topic much?

What does that have to do with the article?

[PoliticAverse]

3. The numbers are from the article (apparently you didn't read it) and explains the problem. n/t

[dbackjon]

5. Everything - Maduro is a crook

[gopiscrap]

11. welcome to DU

[MADem]

25. Says the newcomer who didn't read the article.

Here, let me HELP you -- and while you read this excerpt from the article you plainly did not read, maybe you might think about apologizing for being "off-topic" yourself with shitty and baseless accusations:

"Because they don't allow me to buy dollars at the official rate of 6.3, I have to buy goods with black market dollars at about 60 bolivars, so how can I be expected to sell things at a loss? Can my children eat with that?" added the businessman, who asked not to be identified.

Enjoy your stay.

[Yo_Mama]

38. The electronics is imported

Venezuela is trying to hide the inflation.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/venezuela/consumer-price-index-cpi

http://blog.panampost.com/maria-diaz/2013/10/21/cadivismo-the-ruin-of-venezuelas-economy/

[Bacchus4.0]

4. looks like there was a hot sale at one of the Daka stores this morning

[Zorro]

8. They're liberating those LCD TVs for the glory of the Bolivarian revolution

[dbackjon]

9. The Maduro/Chavez legacy of looting lives on

[hughee99]

6. I guess if you need electronics in Venezuela, get them now. These stores won't be restocking

their shelves. This seems to be, in general, a bad plan if you want to improve the economy.

[EX500rider]

7. Don't you people understand?

He's doing this for the good of the country!

The main pillar of Bolivian socialism is a cheap flat screen in every home!

Just 'cause all the other electronic chains will now pull out of Venezuela and there will be flat screens for no one is just a little hiccup on the road to paradise!

I mean who really needs electronics when you have 40% inflation and one of the highest murder rates in the western world!

[christx30]

15. I'm looking forward to seeing

the electronics stores pulling out, and seeing Maduro's anger. The owners of the stores can turn to the people that voted for that government and say "This is what you voted for. Enjoy it. Own it. Later."

[freshwest]

104. Chinese merchants can open up stores and sell directly. That's where it's made.

Remember Maduro fussing about that plane search on his way to meet their new Chinese masters?

The fix is in on that part of the equation. And it does nothing for the shortages affecting the poor.

These events could be a disguised form of corporate competition abetted by government. But it's being sold to the masses as a purely revolutionary act.

Ideology is being turned inside out. We've learned of the Koch partriarch hanging out with Stalin, helping him while making the family fortune in the oil business.

How many times have the oligarchs and government colluded and labeled it a socialist revolution while the money changed hands?

Just a few thoughts.

[snooper2]

10. Why don't they just go full bore, everyone gets the same wage-

regardless of what you do for a living.

Then, the government runs all business and enterprises. Everyone works for the government. Everyone gets the same wage. Government sets all prices on everything.


It would be perfect!

[mecherosegarden]

12. That guy is crazy and dangerous.

Someone should put him in a straight jacket . My poor Venezuela!

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. Looks like a certain CEO failed to tithe...

...and his business is now screwed.

[Roy Rolling]

14. Live TV of announcement

There's more:

[LiberalLovinLug]

16. hmmm

Strong...the anti-socialist sentiment in this thread is....

[Ranchemp.]

17. So you're ok with the Maduro govt. basically stealing

Last edited Sat Nov 9, 2013, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)

these businesses and throwing the managers in jail?
Just because they believe in making a profit on their goods?

[LiberalLovinLug]

20. Throwing them in jail?

I must have missed that part.

I was just taken aback at the one-sided vitriol with no regard for there being more to the story.

There are reports that these store owners live in Miami. That they import at low percentages and then sell for 6x higher. Add to that the secret and not secret American economic war against Venezuela for having the audacity to stand up to American corporacrisy, I for one am not quick to ridicule how this President fights against this and the price gauging against his people. Perhaps he overplayed his hand, but to me its refreshing to see a world leader NOT simply enslaved to the "invisible hand of the market".

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/venezuelan-shoppers-amass-outside-seized-stores

I wonder how many of you would react if your own leaders directed the big oil companies to reduce gas prices and stop collusion and price gauging.

[Ranchemp.]

21. Not the owners,

but various managers. I got that wrong.

Various managers of the five-store, 500-employee Daka chain have been arrested, and the company will now be forced to sell products at "fair prices," Maduro said late on Friday.

No, Maduro is just another strongman dictator in a long line of strongman dictators, and his ineptitude in running the country is leading them down the path of economic ruin.
How many businesses are going to invest on Ven. if this is what they can expect?
How many businesses are now going to pull up stakes and leave before Maduro screws them too?

He's a petty thug who's in way over his head.

[Comrade Grumpy]

90. "Strong man dictator." You do know that Maduro was elected, just like his predecessor, right?

Is this the Joe McCarthy Hour or what?

[Ranchemp.]

93. Just my opinion.

Don't like it? Tough.

How many businesses are going to invest in Ven. if this is what they can expect?
How many businesses are now going to pull up stakes and leave before Maduro screws them too?

Do you deny that the country's economy is coming apart at the seams? 50%+ inflation, with no end in sight, failing electrical grid, oil production falling, shortages of basic commodities, one of the highest crime rates in Latin America.
And it's not due to American sabotage, that's just Maduro's boogie man to divert citizens from the truth, which is that the Chavez, and now the Maduro govts. have massively mismanaged the economy and widespread corruption.

And that election? The opposition claims there was wide spread fraud, but I guess that's ok because Maduro seems to be the darling of some members here.

Whatever, carry on.

[freshwest]

105. But why make dramatic arrests? Why not pass laws on price fixing, anti-monopoly, etc.?

Last edited Sun Nov 17, 2013, 03:19 PM - Edit history (1)

[Ranchemp.]

109. That's a good question.

I'm guessing that they're putting on a show for the masses, but, and here's the kicker, this will likely backfire because businesses will probably start packing up and leaving and new businesses will be very reluctant to invest due to the fear the the govt. will come and confiscate the goods.

[freshwest]

110. Unless the alliance with China will now get preference in government run stores.

There is a video near the end of this thread that I can't translate, and it doesn't look like this was at all necessary.

I also found a thread that shows people are near rioting, so if it was done to get them in the streets, it's working.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024042828

But wrong targets, I think. The money problem is not related to electronic goods, but higher up in society where people (should I say mobs?) cannot touch them. I don't think the Chinese are going to throw their goods or money away.

There may be a lot more going on, or rioting, across the board against many targets and we are offered this ridiculous example of people offended about the price of non-essentials.

In a functioning socialist democracy, the people work within the system, don't have to riot in the streets.

[valerief]

22. You mean instead of giving billions in subsidies to oil companies? But we wouldn't be an oligarchy

anymore if we did that!

[freshwest]

106. I wonder about that at times, too. People vote for those who do that, as it maintains their jobs.

And a lot of other people's portfolios and pensions come out of these things. It's all so interconnected it's hard to find who is good and who is bad, when you look at it as a set of millions of people who make a living from oil. That is why it goes on.

Getting away from the fossil fuel industry is a damned hard to thing to do, if one looks about with an honest eye. We are doing the right thing going into alternative energy to end the environment effects of an archaic system.

[christx30]

24. And now the owners

Are going to cut their losses, stop sending merchandise, close the businesses and lay off their workers. So... Yay. Everyone wins, I guess. And other business owners in Venezuela are going to take a hard look at if it's a good risk to continue to do business down there. You could make some profit, sure. Or the government could send a bunch of soldiers and steal everything. Is the profit worth the risk ? No. Then the people won't have stuff to buy.

[cstanleytech]

34. "they import at low percentages and then sell for 6x higher." So why didnt the government just open

its own store and sell the items at cost itself?

[Igel]

64. Or somebodye else?

If you could sell at 2x cost and make a profit, you'd think people would be chomping at the bit.

Or perhaps they need to sell at 3x cost to make a profit. Depends on shrinkage, income taxes, tariffs, bribes, cost of living, uncertainty, etc., etc.

Maybe 6x is what's needed to make a profit, given the situation. Somehow that strikes me as a question that cannot be asked.

[freshwest]

101. Or put up tariffs, or enact windfall taxes to discourage the practice? n/t

[hack89]

111. Or provide businesses the dollars the need to buy goods?

The problem is government policies that are restricting the supply of dollars. Businesses need dollars to by stock. If they are forced to go to the black to get dollars then their costs and therefore prices will higher.

[delta17]

18. This isn't a socialist website. nt.

[Judi Lynn]

69. Apparently freepers think it is, as so many swarm here to fight leftists. n/t

[hrmjustin]

74. we do our best at mirt to stop them.

[Ranchemp.]

112. People who have a difference of opinion are now freepers?

And you deny that the Maduro govt is responsible for the massive mismanagement of the economy?
Are you denying that there is widespread corruption within the Ven. govt?
Are you denying that the failing electrical infrastructure is the result of ignoring the problem?
Are you denying that Ven. has the highest overall crime rate in Latin America?
Are you denying that there are chronic shortages of basic goods due to the govt. economic policies?
Are you denying that the exchange rate policy of the Ven. govt is a huge part of the economic nose dive?

Go ahead and be a die hard apologist for the corrupt Maduro govt., but many disagree with you and they're not freepers, like most well respected economists.

And don't bother repeating your ridiculous Chile example from the 70's, that is ancient history.

[sufrommich]

19. If American socialists are going to point to Venezuela

as a good example of socialism,they're in for a long walk in the political wilderness.

[freshwest]

107. Scandinavian examples are popular with many, though.

[hrmjustin]

23. Are ou ok with what the government did?

[MADem]

26. Maduro, his thugs, and the police are criminals. If you think supporting them is "socialist" your

definition of the word comes from Tony Soprano.

[Yo_Mama]

39. Thread winner! n/t

[Comrade Grumpy]

91. Well, tha's settled then. MADem pronounced; it must be true.

[Ranchemp.]

94. More believable than those that constantly

tout the meme that Ven. problems are U.S. manufactured and not massive mismanagement by the Ven. govt, and the widespread corruption in the country.

[MADem]

96. Well, it is true, and it would be true even if I didn't "pronounce" it.

But go on ahead and make this about ME instead of the criminal thug and his pals who are robbing Venezuela blind.

[benh57]

27. Left-wing extremism

Imagine if the left had a 'tea party'. This is what it'd look like.

There was an interesting article last week somewhere about how the far left in the US doesn't have people as crazy as the far right in the US...

[Archae]

28. A few of the old far-left radicals are still out there.

Most of the far-left radicals from the 60's and 70's like the Weather Underground are retired, dead or in jail.

A couple are still on the run.

Most though have given up their radicalism.

[Jackal87]

41. except...

In 2000, *cough NADER cough* that asshole stench who stole victory from gore.

[Archae]

42. Of course. But Nader's a has-been.

He's turned out to be as scummy as the coporations he fought 50 years ago.

[Jackal87]

99. plus

He took money from conservative donors.


http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/GOP-donors-funding-Nader-Bush-supporters-give-2708705.php

[freshwest]

100. Thanks for that. Very telling. And depressing, too.

[pothos]

43. please stop repeating this crap

the supreme court stole the election from gore, who refused to fight.

[Comrade Grumpy]

92. Give up that pathetic crap. n/t

[Ash_F]

29. Oh here they come. Salivating at headlines

Read a little more. Even Maduro's upperclass opponents are pissed at these scammers

Even opponents of Maduro expressed sympathy for his effort to check price gouging by private business. Sipping on a cup of white rum with her well-dressed, middle class friends, 24-year-old Ana Aquino said her salary as a public relations manager doesn't go as far as it used to.

"I'm not here taking a political position," said Aquino, who sometimes helps organize anti-government protests online. "I'm just against anyone abusing the Venezuelan people."

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/venezuelan-shoppers-amass-outside-seized-stores

[feathateathn]

30. we need more price fixing

Price fixing is always the right answer. We have a limited dose of it (minimum wage, rent control, medicare/medicaid payments). We need it to be applied to every good and service sold

[Laelth]

31. Very interesting.

Maduro showed astonishment at a fridge on sale in Daka for 196,000 bolivars ($31,111 at the official rate), and said an air-conditioning unit that goes for 7,000 bolivars ($1,111) in state stores was marked up 36,000 bolivars ($5,714) by Daka.

The official exchange rate is 6.3 Bolivars to the Dollar. The alleged black market rate is 60 Bolivars to the Dollar. Even at the black market conversion rate, that fridge costs $3,267. Nice fridge ... or price gouging.

I have every reason to suspect that We the People of the United States are behind the misery being inflicted upon the people of Venezuela. Sad, really.



-Laelth

[hack89]

32. I think VZ has the home grown talent they need to mismanage their economy

Without any help from us.

They are a country coming apart at the seams.

[Laelth]

33. I suspect they are as intelligent as we are.

Lots of history supports my suspicion that the U.S. is punishing a state we don't like. We're especially bad about that when it comes to South America.

-Laelth

[Dreamer Tatum]

35. So Maduro has the power to take over whatever he wants

but not to set the value of the Bolivar? Sorry, but that's fucking goddamned stupid.

They're killing their fucking economy. It's that simple. They need no help doing it.

[Laelth]

46. I have no idea what you're talking about.

And, you're rude.

-Laelth

[hack89]

37. Just like all those intelligent people on Wall Street

That crashed our economy. Yes - VZ has plenty of people like that.

[Laelth]

47. Precisely. n/t

-Laelth

[Yo_Mama]

40. No, it's just that the people are trying to exit their currency

They'd rather hold goods, any goods, than their currency.

My grandfather used to tell tales of this during the Weimar Republic - it does not end well, but governments keep doing it.

[Laelth]

45. I am very curious, here.

What does it mean "to exit" one's currency? I'd be most appreciative if you could expand on your post and explain the perspective of your grandfather on this topic.



-Laelth

[Yo_Mama]

51. When you have rapid inflation

especially in comparison to the cost for basic goods - like food - people try to convert their currency into goods as soon as possible.

There are increasing shortages of basic foods in Venezuela. The situation there is not stable at all.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/09/130927_witn_venezuela.shtml

The government has been trying to suppress the news:
https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-14518-maduro-calls-sanctions-media-outlets-reporting-venezuela%E2%80%99s-food-shortage

The reason why this happens is that people who have the goods simply don't want to sell them until they need currency to buy something, so instead of saving in currency, they save in goods.

When there are shortages of the basics, the situation is shifting into crisis.

[Laelth]

58. OK. I don't deny any of what you posted.

But why is Venezuela experiencing rapid inflation.

Is U.S. trade policy causing this situation? I simply do not know, but I would like to know.



-Laelth

[Yo_Mama]

60. They are inflating their currency - we have nothing to do with it

February:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-08/news/sns-rt-venezuela-devaluationbolivar-factboxl1n0av0hx-20130208_1_official-rate-bolivar-currency-henrique-capriles

CARACAS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Venezuela on Friday devalued its
bolivar currency in a widely expected move that will ease
pressure on government finances after President Hugo Chavez's
heavy campaign spending last year, but is likely to spur the
OPEC nation's inflation.

Now:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuela-inflation-surges-above-50-pct-as-currency-slump-hits-investment-goods-availability/2013/11/07/0991cc02-47fb-11e3-95a9-3f15b5618ba8_story.html

Inflation in Venezuela has surged above 50 percent as a plunge in the value of the currency deters investment and makes basic goods harder to find.

Consumer prices jumped 5.1 percent in October, according to a report released Thursday by the central bank. That pushed up inflation over the past 12 months to 54.3 percent, the highest since Venezuela's central bank began tracking prices nationwide in 2008.

An index measuring the scarcity of basic goods also rose to a record high of 22.4 percent.

Countries of all political stripes do this from time to time, and the result is always disastrous. Venezuela has now entered the acute danger zone, in which farmers don't want to sell food, because holding money is too expensive. So shortages develop, which drive further inflation. At this stage it's like a galloping disease.

Naturally the government doesn't want to admit that it is responsible, so it starts looking for victims.

There are stupid communists, and stupid capitalists, and stupid fascists, and stupid socialists, and this government is just stupid. The next phase, which you can see developing, is stupid and vicious.

[Laelth]

78. If Venezuala is intentionally inflating its own currency ...

... why did they choose to do that? What did they hope to gain? Again, I assume they're intelligent and reasonable. They must have had a plan of some kind. What was their thinking?

Any insight you can give would be appreciated.

-Laelth

[hack89]

82. Yo mamas first link explains it very well. nt

[Laelth]

83. I read that.

Here's what I didn't get. If the official exchange rate is 6.3 Bolivars to the Dollar while the black market rate is 60 Bolivars to the Dollar, it appears to me that Venezuela needs to de-value its currency. Yet, that's causing inflation? Why? It appears that the answer is that Dollars are scarce. If so, why are Dollars scarce in an economy that is built on oil exports when oil is traded in Dollars. This makes no sense to me.

As such, I suspect American interference in Venezuela's economy. That said, I'm no economist.



-Laelth

[hack89]

84. The VZ government is restricting how many dollars their citizens can legally obtain

That is economic stupidity of the highest order in an economy that depends on importation of most consumer goods, including food. The global currency is US dollars - business owners cannot get enough dollars to buy goods to sell in VZ. So they either use black market dollars and raise their prices to cover their actual costs or they stop selling all together. High prices and shortages are the result.

[Laelth]

85. Thanks for the thoughtful response. n/t

-Laelth

[Yo_Mama]

86. It's the combination of deflating the currency and other measures

such as rationing the outside currency and price controls.

If you let prices fluctuate, availability of goods on the market will improve, but what happens to the poor people?

Also, the official peg of bolivars to the dollar is artificially low, therefore everyone wants to change bolivars to dollars, or change bolivars into goods.

You devalue your currency when you issue more of it, but if you don't let foreign exchange rates fluctuate, you have to anticipate that people will try to shift into the foreign currency or currencies.

It's a mess.

[Laelth]

87. That makes sense. Thank you. n/t

-Laelth

[Yo_Mama]

88. I assume the same thing that everyone else thinks when they do this

But that is neither intelligent nor reasonable, given the long history of the results. The government just did not listen to the warnings it was given.

This is accelerating rapidly - over 5% inflation in the last month. The reason I say the situation is not stable is that at that rate, three month inflation is close to 16%.

Imagine that you are a farmer, and you need to sell your harvest for enough to cover the costs to put in and cultivate the next crop, plus get money for you and your family to live. If you were to sell your harvest as soon as it came in and put the money in the bank, in six months you might have lost 35-70% of your proceeds to inflation, which doesn't leave you enough money to eat and farm. If it gets worse, you may end up with 30% of your proceeds (70% loss), which may not even leave you enough money to eat.

So everyone stops selling or sells at high prices. If you don't sell much of your goods until you need to buy something else, then you don't lose the money. If you do sell, you charge what you believe will cover FUTURE prices, which feeds the galloping inflation.

Well, businessmen who stock goods are facing the same situation. Prices of market goods are not set on what they acquired them for, but on what they think they need to cover the cost of the replacement goods. Because otherwise they are going to go out of business very shortly. Suppose a business had 100 refrigerators it bought at 1400 bolivars, and it sells them for 1900 bolivars each - theoretically the business made 500 bolivars profit on each sale. But if the average replacement cost is now 2100 bolivars, then the business just went bankrupt.

Venezuela has to ration the supply of dollars it provides at the official exchange rate, so businesses are in dire trouble. And because locally produced goods are scarce, at the same time they have to ratchet up their profit margins in bolivars to cover the rising cost of necessities.

That's why central banks track inflation expectations - it is the anticipated cost of holding money that creates this situation.

[Laelth]

89. Wow! Great post. Thanks. n/t

-Laelth

[seveneyes]

80. pressure on government finances after President Hugo Chavez's heavy campaign spending last year

How does that work? The president gets to loot the government for his reappointment expenses?

[Fastcars]

63. Something doesn't add up

"Maduro showed astonishment at a fridge on sale in Daka for 196,000 bolivars ($31,111 at the official rate), and said an air-conditioning unit that goes for 7,000 bolivars ($1,111) in state stores was marked up 36,000 bolivars ($5,714) by Daka."

Why wouldn't one simply buy at the state store? Or is it a case of someone saying "IF we had it we would sell it at this price." Nevermind the fact they don't have it.

[PoliticAverse]

77. There is an old joke...

A customer walks into a butcher's shop:

Customer: I want some pork chops, how much are they?

Butcher: $5 a lb.

Customer: That's too much, at the store down the street they are $4 a pound!

Butcher: Perhaps you should buy them there then.

Customer: They haven't had any for over a week.

Butcher: Oh?! When I don't have any pork chops they are only $3 a pound!

[Laelth]

79. Absolutely true.

Price controls can lead to shortages. That said, why are there shortages in Venezuela? Is the U.S. government not involved in creating these shortages? I honestly do not know.



-Laelth

[seveneyes]

81. government not involved in creating these shortages

At this point, it appears there is no government running the country, it's more of a Mafia type operation without the compassion and sweet talking.

[Socialistlemur]

95. Venezuelan government policies cause shortages

The Venezuelan government has created serious shortages with its current policies. The main mistakes are the foreign exchange controls which peg the Bolivar to the US dollar at a fixed rate even though inflation is over 50%, and the sheer printing of valueless currency which leads to the high inflation - which is getting worse and could reach 70 % in six months; and price controls which encourage the people to buy as much of a product as they can so they can resell it or save it as a hedge against inflation.

This is compounded by haphazard and poorly managed nationalizations which destroy productive capacity. And of course there's the gradual loss in export capacity which includes oil (today Venezuela has a much lower oil production capacity than it did when Chavez took over about 14 years ago). The lack of exports means lack of dollars which means they can't import food or other items. And the disconnect between the official rate and the black market rate leads to haphazard pricing signals, this is made even worse by corruption and the ever present threats of jail. The mess this jumble of policies is incredible.

Therefore it's fairly easy to work out how the government policy is irrational and creates these problems. Government propaganda (including that distributed by Eva Golinger and other paid agents) tries to blame the "businessmen" for the mess they created. This is of course the same as a farmer blaming rabbits for eating lettuce if he plants lettuce and leaves it unprotected.

I think the end for this regime is near, and they are likely to evolve into a tyranny with very heavy repression, fascist style. They will become another dictatorship like Cuba, and I'm afraid we are about to see mass flight of refugees.

[Ranchemp.]

98. Spot on.

And if they're not blaming the businessmen, they're blaming the U.S. for it's problems, not the massive corruption or the mismanagement of the economy.

[Zorra]

36. President Obama should do that to health insurance and pharmaceutical companies in the US. nt

[ronnie624]

44. Document Evidences Destabilization Plan Against Venezuela

The strategic plan to destabilize Venezuela has the primary goal of debilitating the government before the December 8 municipal elections, as revealed in the document: “The objectives put forth in the present plan are essentially geared towards the municipal elections set for December 8, while at the same time including the accelerated deterioration of the government, facilitating an opposition victory for this event...” Though the text states further, “...but if it could be done beforehand, that would be even better”.

The document also details the strategy to sabotage the electrical system in Venezuela, with the objective of blaming the government for a weak infrastructure and therefore projecting an image of crisis in Venezuela on an international level. As part of the plan, the authors propose, “To maintain and increase the sabotages that affect public services, particularly the electrical system, that will enable responsibility to be placed on the government for supposed inefficiencies and negligence”. For the past few months, blackouts and other electrical shortages have affected different regions throughout Venezuela, causing general discontent and reflecting negatively on the government. Just weeks ago, Venezuelan authorities detained various individuals involved in sabotaging the electrical system and at the end of September, President Maduro expelled three US diplomats from the US Embassy in Caracas for their alleged role in destabilization plans against the state.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10152

[hack89]

48. Eva Golinger is a paid VZ government mouthpiece

She has been churning out pro-government propaganda for years.

[ronnie624]

49. US corporate media are government mouthpieces.

They have been churning out pro-establishment propaganda for years.

[hack89]

50. Which is why we do not trust government shills regardless of ideology. nt

[ronnie624]

53. It isn't a matter of "trust", for me.

It's a matter of facts. I get lots of information from US corporate owned media. I don't reject the information simply because it is published by big companies, but both the facts and the ingrained narrative must jive with other sources of information. I recognize that there is an agenda behind just about every written word.

[hack89]

62. There is no doubt that VZ is circling the drain

By every measure they are a failing society - sky rocketing inflation, food shortages, record high crime rates, falling oil production, routine power black outs.

Within that context it is clear that Golinger's story is nothing more than the government trying to deflect criticism towards a traditional boogie man.

[Zorra]

59. Go figure. Most democrats find corporatist ideologue shills to be the most annoying and dangerous.

[hack89]

61. Shills are shills

Leftist government shills are no more honest than corporate shills.

[Judi Lynn]

68. Where is your evidence for that claim? n/t

[Ranchemp.]

52. Eva Golinger?

That paid mouthpiece shill for the Ven. Govt.? Your going with that?

[ronnie624]

54. Do you have something more convincing than simple character assassination? n/t

[Ranchemp.]

55. She's about as believable as Fauz Snooze.

I give you this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Golinger

Eva Golinger


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eva Golinger is a Venezuelan-American[1] attorney and editor of the Correo del Orinoco International, a web- and print-based newspaper which is financed by the Venezuelan government.[2][3] In a 2011 profile in The New York Times she was described as "one of the most prominent fixtures of Venezuela’s expanding state propaganda complex", and her newspaper as "Venezuela's equivalent of the Cuban newspaper Granma".[4] "I'm a soldier for this revolution," she told The New York Times.

Golinger is the author of several books on Venezuela's relationship with the United States. She is an outspoken supporter of the former socialist president of Venezuela, the late Hugo Chávez.[5] As of May 2011 she serves as a foreign policy advisor to the Venezuelan government.[6] Chávez has called her La novia de Venezuela ("The Girlfriend of Venezuela&quot .[7] Golinger is a writer at Venezuelanalysis.com,[8][9] and according to the National Catholic Reporter in 2004 was "head of the pro-Chávez Venezuela Solidarity Committee in New York".[10] Her website, venezuelafoia.info, aims to shed light on what she calls links between U.S. government agencies and Venezuelan organizations by publishing documents obtained using the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).[11]

Golinger is a weekly host for a television show on RT Network, a television channel financed by the government of Russia[4] and a member of the International Organization for a Participatory Society.

Oh yeah, she's real believable and not biased at all is she?

About as believable as a spokesman for Wall Street.

[ronnie624]

56. Okay, so she's a journalist who supports socialism in Venezuela.

So?

[Ranchemp.]

57. She's a paid mouthpiece for the Ven. govt.

who blames all their problems and mismanagement on the U.S., which I would probably do if I were Maduro, after all, can't be admitting that I suck as a leader and the economy is coming off the tracks faster than a freight train.

[hack89]

65. She is paid by the government. Nt

[Judi Lynn]

67. Where's your evidence for that charge? n/t

[msanthrope]

72. She works for a newspaper financed by the government, and is a paid foreign advisor. nt

[Judi Lynn]

71. So the NY Times pointed its gnarly, dirty fingers at Eva Golinger!

Same paper supported its filthy Judy Miller as she lied the country into the evil, treacherous, greedy, murderous, excessive Iraq War.

This is almost to be expected, unfortunately.

The New York Times has NO credibility whatsoever. Check please.

There are some people who refuse to leave the Cold War behind them, unable to cope without it.

Those sentiments are worthless, and absurd now.

[Judi Lynn]

70. Be good enough to post your evidence regarding "that paid mouthpiece shill." n/t

[Ranchemp.]

75. Already did,

if you choose to close your eyes to the evidence, that's your problem, not mine.

On second thought, just in case you missed my earlier post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Golinger


Eva Golinger

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eva Golinger is a Venezuelan-American attorney and editor of the Correo del Orinoco International, a web- and print-based newspaper which is financed by the Venezuelan government. In a 2011 profile in The New York Times she was described as "one of the most prominent fixtures of Venezuela’s expanding state propaganda complex", and her newspaper as "Venezuela's equivalent of the Cuban newspaper Granma". "I'm a soldier for this revolution," she told The New York Times.

Golinger is the author of several books on Venezuela's relationship with the United States. She is an outspoken supporter of the former socialist president of Venezuela, the late Hugo Chávez. As of May 2011 she serves as a foreign policy advisor to the Venezuelan government. Chávez has called her La novia de Venezuela ("The Girlfriend of Venezuela&quot . Golinger is a writer at Venezuelanalysis.com, and according to the National Catholic Reporter in 2004 was "head of the pro-Chávez Venezuela Solidarity Committee in New York". Her website, venezuelafoia.info, aims to shed light on what she calls links between U.S. government agencies and Venezuelan organizations by publishing documents obtained using the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Golinger is a weekly host for a television show on RT Network, a television channel financed by the government of Russia and a member of the International Organization for a Participatory Society.

[Socialistlemur]

97. Eva Golinger is a government employee

I see have seen her in her government TV chain program for years. She is a senior member of the propaganda organization they run in the English language.

[freshwest]

108. Not news, nor a secret. Standard reactionary practice. The GOP applies it in the USA.

[Eugene]

66. Venezuela arrests looters, store bosses in 'economic war'

Source: Reuters

Venezuela arrests looters, store bosses in 'economic war'

BY ANDREW CAWTHORNE
CARACAS Sun Nov 10, 2013 3:28pm EST

(Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro's government announced arrests of both store managers and looters on Sunday as part of what it calls an "economic war" in Venezuela between the socialist state and unscrupulous businessmen.

In a major pre-Christmas offensive reminiscent of the late President Hugo Chavez's dramatic style, Maduro has sent soldiers to "occupy" one chain of electronics stores and inspectors into scores of others to check for price-gouging.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

However, scenes of looting on Saturday at a store belonging to the occupied electronics chain, Daka, have left many Venezuelans ashamed and fueled opposition claims that Maduro is stirring chaos rather than defending the poor.

Authorities announced that five managers, from the local Daka, JVG and Krash, would be prosecuted on charges of unjustified price hikes after importing products with dollars obtained at the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/10/us-venezuela-economy-idUSBRE9A90G520131110

[Pterodactyl]

73. Maduro would be a joke if this wasn't so damaging to the economy...

... and if he were not ruining businesses and people's lives. Good golly! They're arresting people over this.

This throws a wet blanket over every business and all future investment.

If you don't like the prices of TVs, don't buy one. My family didn't have a flat screen until 2012 because of the expense of the and we survived with an older TV.

[dookers]

76. Not all Venezuelans agreed with this

Some of the people in the crowds were calling the shoppers thieves and trying to prevent them from taking the TVs to their cars. As you can see in the video, many of the looters are not poor by Venezuelan standards. Obviously they are able to afford cars, some even late models. These people are not poor, the real poor are in the country who are hardly have electricity, water, or food, and live in shacks.

[freshwest]

102. The real poor is where the government's enery should be spent. Not on TVs. The whole story is weird.

[freshwest]

103. Question: Socialist democracies are funded by progressive tax rates and enacted by public ownership

of essential infrastructure that facilitates both human and economic interests. This includes healthcare, utilities, education and the basic essentials of life.

Wealth is created by the exchange of efforts of many kinds of people with their particular talents or work trading with each other. Or that's what I think.

So what is the tax rate in Venezuela, and is there a class of people who refuse to contribute to make the economy work for all?