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Showing posts with label Chavez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chavez. Show all posts
Venezuela's Hugo Chávez seriously ill and facing more cancer treatment, rumor swirl about who might take his place

Venezuela's Hugo Chávez seriously ill and facing more cancer treatment, rumor swirl about who might take his place

It is good to know that Venezuela will be in such good hands. From the Financial Times:

. . . Mr Chávez has prevented a successor from emerging and senior government figures insist there is “no Plan B”. Still, speculation about who might replace the leader has centred on bus driver turned foreign minister Nicolás Maduro; the vice-president and former student radical Elias Jaua; and one of Mr Chávez’s former military colleagues, Diosdado Cabello, who was beaten by Mr Capriles in the elections to Miranda state in 2008. . . .
More censorship in Venezuela

More censorship in Venezuela

Is there any question that more totalitarian countries try harder to control the information that their citizens receive?

Venezuela has told a private TV company to stop showing a Colombian soap opera it says is insulting to the country.

Chepe Fortuna stars a character called Colombia and her sister Venezuela, who owns a dog called Little Hugo, the same name as Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

In one episode Venezuela loses Little Hugo, prompting Colombia to tell her she is better off without him.

The spat comes as the countries are making efforts to improve their historically strained relationship.

They restored relations last August, shortly after President Juan Manuel Santos took office in Colombia.

Venezuela's telecommunications regulator Conatel said the secretary character named Venezuela was "repeatedly characterised as associated with crime, interference and vulgarity".

Her gossipy and unscrupulous manner, it said, showed "the shameless manipulation of the plot to demoralise the Venezuelan people".

Conatel ordered the Televen channel to take the programme off air on Thursday night. The channel has not yet commented on the demands. . . .
Venezuela has become a real economic basket case

Venezuela has become a real economic basket case

From the BBC

Venezuela's biggest beer producer, food and drink giant Polar, is also the country's largest company still in private hands after President Hugo Chavez's nationalisation drive.

But that may not be the case for long.

Last week, Mr Chavez stepped up his attacks on Polar's billionaire owner, Lorenzo Mendoza, whom he has previously accused of pushing up food prices by hoarding products to cause artificial shortages.

For its part, Polar has called the allegations "absurd" and "senseless". . . .

Venezuelan economist Angel Alayon, of food industry body Cavidea, says that the government now controls 75% of coffee production, 42% of maize flour, 40% of rice, 25% of cooking oil, 52% of sugar and 25% of milk.

The government says it has a duty to secure food supplies and to prevent what it sees as "economic sabotage" by private companies. . . .

The country's economy contracted 5.8% in the first quarter of this year compared with a year earlier.

The International Monetary Fund predicts that its GDP will shrink by 2.6% in 2010, making it the only Latin American economy, and the world's only oil exporter, to see a contraction for this year.

Mr Chavez believes that a bigger economic role for the state is the only way to ensure the effectiveness of his price controls and stave off stagflation - the deadly combination of economic stagnation and high inflation that is currently assailing the country.

Venezuela's consumer inflation rate is currently the worst in Latin America, reaching an annual rate of 27% last year and expected to rise to 29.7% in 2010, according to the IMF. . . .
Guess what?: if you steal from investors, they aren't very thrilled investing more money

Guess what?: if you steal from investors, they aren't very thrilled investing more money

It seems like a pretty simple lesson, but Hugo Chavez is learning that capitalists make production possible.

In anticipation of Thursday's Carabobo oil field auction, outspoken Marxist president Hugo Chavez quietly pleaded for foreign investment.

""Investment and experience from foreign oil firms is necessary in Venezuela. We need it," Chavez said, according to Dow Jones.

The statement is a serious turnaround for a government that has nationalized dozens of foreign oil companies in recent years. But they 'need' foreign investment because mismanagement is turning the country into just another failed petro-state. . . .
"Venezuela Closes 32 Privately Owned Radio Stations"

"Venezuela Closes 32 Privately Owned Radio Stations"

Note closing down radio and TV stations isn't censorship because they are still allowed to broadcast on the internet.

The head of Venezuela’s telecommunications agency (CONATEL), and minister of housing and infrastructure, Diosdado Cabello, has announced the immediate closure of 32 privately owned radio stations and 2 regional television stations, as their broadcast licenses had expired or they had violated regulations. Cabello said the recuperated licenses would be handed over to community media. . . . .

The minister denied the government is trying to limit freedom of expression, saying those affected can continue transmitting their programs through the internet as the measure only applies to the use of the state-owned airwaves.

Cabello said that powerful families in Venezuela, who had “swindled” the people, had acquired many of the radio stations illegally and constituted “media latifundios” (a reference to large, privately-owned estates), whereby 27 families controlled more than 32% of the radio and television waves. Many of those affected own ten to twenty or stations, the minister added. . . .
Where is the Obama administration outrage over this action in Venezuela?

Where is the Obama administration outrage over this action in Venezuela?

The Obama administration seems to have no problem getting involve in Honduras' Supreme Court and Parliament's decision, but where are the comments about Venezuela? What about this move to take over the rest of the Venezuela's media.

More than a dozen of 34 radio stations ordered shut by the Venezuelan government went off the air on Saturday, part of President Hugo Chavez's drive to extend his socialist revolution to the media.

The association of radio broadcasters said 13 stations had stopped transmitting, following an announcement Friday night by government broadcasting watchdog Conatel that 34 radio outlets would be closed because they failed to comply with regulations. . . .
Venezuela's Chavez moves to take control of country's banking system

Venezuela's Chavez moves to take control of country's banking system

How many banks say that they "favor" certain sectors of the economy? Possibly banks could say that they have expertise in certain sectors, but saying that they "favor" sectors is quite different.

President Hugo Chavez's government assumed control of Venezuela's third-largest bank on Friday - making the state the largest player in the nation's banking system. . . .
The acquisition will "strengthen the public banking system," which favors sectors including agriculture, energy, housing and tourism, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said in a statement. . . . .
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