Banana Republic Newsflash

[SciFiFisher]

Ok, Game Over. We lost Citgo.

I thought it would happen in May, It happened in August.

On a side note, I was surprised to find that bonds issued by the Venezuelan government are still worth something. My minor nitpick with the article is that they claim it's a failure of the "socialist economy". I really don't think it was socialism per se that sank the economy. It was graft, corruption, and gross incompetence.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Ok, Game Over. We lost Citgo.

I thought it would happen in May, It happened in August.

On a side note, I was surprised to find that bonds issued by the Venezuelan government are still worth something. My minor nitpick with the article is that they claim it's a failure of the "socialist economy". I really don't think it was socialism per se that sank the economy. It was graft, corruption, and gross incompetence.

Et tu Brute? We have have here in Bananaland is not "Socialism", "Social Democracy", "Social Christianism" or even that so called "Democratic Socialism" your snotty elite "limousine liberals" talk so much about. It's an attempt at implanting COMMUNISM, plain and simple

[SciFiFisher]

Ok, Game Over. We lost Citgo.

I thought it would happen in May, It happened in August.

On a side note, I was surprised to find that bonds issued by the Venezuelan government are still worth something. My minor nitpick with the article is that they claim it's a failure of the "socialist economy". I really don't think it was socialism per se that sank the economy. It was graft, corruption, and gross incompetence.

Et tu Brute? We have have here in Bananaland is not "Socialism", "Social Democracy", "Social Christianism" or even that so called "Democratic Socialism" your snotty elite "limousine liberals" talk so much about. It's an attempt at implanting COMMUNISM, plain and simple

Communism, as practiced in most places, is just an inefficient way to re-distribute the labors of the working class to benefit the political class while stealing the wealth of the bourgeoisie.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Communism, as practiced in most places, is just an inefficient way to re-distribute the labors of the working class to benefit the political class while stealing the wealth of the bourgeoisie.

Well, it was certainly practiced this way here....

[Sigma_Orionis]

More Nicky Ripe WTF.....
Venezuela 'drone attack': Maduro would accept FBI help to investigate

[Rommie]

Anything to keep from talking about Citgo, huh...

So, do they still have a revenue stream at all then? Only so much you can scavenge in a country falling apart.

Also, was wondering, with hyperinflation do you guys have "1 million Bolivar" type notes, or are they not even bothering?

[Sigma_Orionis]

Anything to keep from talking about Citgo, huh...

Oh yeah.

So, do they still have a revenue stream at all then? Only so much you can scavenge in a country falling apart.

No, that's why I said Game Over.

Also, was wondering, with hyperinflation do you guys have "1 million Bolivar" type notes, or are they not even bothering?

Our highest denomination bank note is 100.000 Bolivares. And it's pitifully inadequate. Considering that it doesn't pay for ANYTHING. Plus, bank notes are pretty scarce. So, transactions tend to be electronic. In fact, cash is so scarce, that goods have two different prices, one for cash, one for debit cards. And the difference in some places can be 4 to 1 (as in if you pay cash, you get whatever you're buying at a quarter of what the cost would be if you had payed by debit card).

[Sigma_Orionis]

But wait, there's more:

Venezuela crisis: Maduro to curb fuel subsidies

[Thumper]

Did I read that right, One Dollar = Four Million Bolivar ?

[Sigma_Orionis]

Did I read that right, One Dollar = Four Million Bolivar ?

More like FIVE MILLION now....

http://preciocucuta.com/dolar-hoy

[Rommie]

Wow. Any idea how long they can last then? I guess no one really does, just that things have eked on longer than many thought.

Stay safe, my friend.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Wow. Any idea how long they can last then? I guess no one really does, just that things have eked on longer than many thought.

Stay safe, my friend.

No idea, but won't be much.

Like I said before I was pretty sure we were going to collapse in May (I actually said April on January) due to the loss of Citgo.

Yeah, I'm keeping my head down, something tells me that next week is going to be chaotic.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Chaotic is a rather a tame description

[SciFiFisher]

What on earth is propping this government up? Are there any real loyalists left? Are the Chavistas just blindly following the party right over the cliff? I realize the answer appears to be "YES!" But, some part of me keeps going "Any minute now they will realize they are all jumping off the cliff and they will stop... surely, they will stop before the last one jumps?"

[Sigma_Orionis]

What on earth is propping this government up? Are there any real loyalists left? Are the Chavistas just blindly following the party right over the cliff? I realize the answer appears to be "YES!" But, some part of me keeps going "Any minute now they will realize they are all jumping off the cliff and they will stop... surely, they will stop before the last one jumps?"

Honestly, I don't know. They still say that people from the slums still don't give a damn. Or maybe he has Cuban Intelligence keeping on eye on everyone in the Military. For the life of me I can't understand how this clown stays in power.

[Sigma_Orionis]

The BBC does have a gift for understatement

Venezuelans confused as Maduro's economic plan starts

Dramatic. But true

Venezuelan bolivar - what can it buy you?

Two pearls from the first link.

But economists have been warning that the new measures do not address the root causes of inflation in Venezuela and that the printing of new notes could exacerbate inflation rather than curb it.

They say the rise in the minimum wage will only drive inflation up faster. Some analysts estimate that the benefits of the new currency could be wiped out by hyperinflation "within months".

Economic experts have also questioned wisdom of anchoring the new currency to the petro.

Even though the government says the virtual currency has been a huge success, details of how it operates have been hard to come by.

The US has banned its citizens from trading in it and one cryptocurrency site, ICOindex.com, has even labelled the petro "a scam".

"Anchoring the bolivar to the petro is anchoring it to nothing," economist Luis Vicente León told AFP news agency.

The Opposition has called for a nation wide day long strike for tomorrow. Considering that most business won't be able to afford to stay open with the new Minimum Salary "Executive Order". They probably won't open at all.

[Thumper]

As if things weren't bad enough there...Did the Earthquake affect you or folks in your area?
I hope you guys are ok.

[Sigma_Orionis]

As if things weren't bad enough there...Did the Earthquake affect you or folks in your area?
I hope you guys are ok.

The epicenter of the quake was in the state of Sucre. About 600 KM from here. Here in Caracas, there were tremors and a abandoned high rise (the famous "Tower of David") was slightly damaged. I didn't feel any of the tremors because both times it happened (yesterday and the day before) I was on a moving car.

My brother, in the east side of the country (in the state of Monagas, which is south of the epicenter) did feel the tremors, which of course were stronger than here. But, nothing happened to him, his family or his house.

Thanks for asking.

[Thumper]

That's good to hear.

[Sigma_Orionis]

In the meantime, the so called "Sovereign Bolivar" which is "pegged" to the imaginary Petro at 60 (6.000.000 of the older Bolivares) per US$, lost 40% of its value in three days.

Edited for spelling (TWICE!)

[Rommie]

In the meantime, the so called "Sovereign Bolivar" which is "pegged" to the imaginary Petro at 60 (6000.000 of the older Bolivares) per US$, lost 40% of its value in three days.

Whenever I read stuff like this, I always wonder who bothers to still invest in the bolivar.

[Sigma_Orionis]

In the meantime, the so called "Sovereign Bolivar" which is "pegged" to the imaginary Petro at 60 (6000.000 of the older Bolivares) per US$, lost 40% of its value in three days.

Whenever I read stuff like this, I always wonder who bothers to still invest in the bolivar.

Nobody does, particularly Maduro and his clique.

A couple of weeks ago, when it was obvious that Maduro was going ahead with this crap. And they came up with this hare-brained scheme of pegging to the Bolivar to an imaginary cryptocurrency, they claimed they were going to implement a "Conversion Box".

A Conversion Box is a scheme in which a currency is pegged to a stronger currency and the Central Bank can't by law "create" new money without having reserves from the stronger currency to back it up with.

It's usually done with currencies with low credibility (such as ours) as a way to force a reduction (usually a drastic reduction) of Government Spending.

Argentinians tried it in 2001, pegging the Peso to the US Dollar. They had to abandon it because they were never able reduce spending or raise taxes enough to cover the deficit they had.

So, of course the claims that pegging the Bolivar to the Petro and pretending it's a "Conversion Box" is BS in its purest form. Particularly with the massive increase in spending that Maduro just decreed by raising the Minimum Wage to 34 times its former level. After all, Maduro pledged to reduce the fiscal deficit to ZERO.

Now, the people from the Slums, don't know, nor care what a Conversion Box is. The people who do know what a Conversion Box is, know pretty well this is nonsense. So, the only possible reason left is that these damned Commies are throwing around all this crap to BS each other.

Edited for Clarity

[SciFiFisher]

When nothing rational comes to mind then they resort to irrational attempts to maintain control. The rational thing at this point would be to attempt to revive the oil industry, take drastic measures to reduce the inflation, and to abdicate.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Venezuelan government: 'Thousands' of migrants want to come back

The government of President Nicolas Maduro said Venezuelan migrants were answering his call to "stop cleaning toilets abroad" and come back home. Maduro has branded the regional refugee crisis a "right-wing campaign."

And if you believe that, I can sell you Petros at 60 bucks a piece

[Rommie]

I like how he implies that people want to go to strange countries to clean toilets, as if thousands of people flippantly decide to do so like a kid on a backpacking adventure.