Banana Republic Newsflash

[Sigma_Orionis]

So, far no major outlets have covered this. But here's one of the consequences of Maduro's latest policies so far:

Maduro's huge salary increases force 40% percent of Venezuelan stores to close

Government's response? the usual. I haven't found anything in English, but they're arresting Supermarket Managers because they're "boycotting" the policies by keeping the store shelves empty.

[SciFiFisher]

Yikes! 40% of the stores that were STILL open. I can't imagine what people are going through.

[Sigma_Orionis]

As usual someone claims that this is part of a plan. Nope, I've seen incompetence of this level in this country a lot of times. The difference is that this is country wide...

The Venezuelan Crisis Is Part of Maduro’s Plan

[SciFiFisher]

As usual someone claims that this is part of a plan. Nope, I've seen incompetence of this level in this country a lot of times. The difference is that this is country wide...

The Venezuelan Crisis Is Part of Maduro’s Plan

Well, right at the end of the article the author does say "And Maduro is inept".

[Sigma_Orionis]

As usual someone claims that this is part of a plan. Nope, I've seen incompetence of this level in this country a lot of times. The difference is that this is country wide...

The Venezuelan Crisis Is Part of Maduro’s Plan

Well, right at the end of the article the author does say "And Maduro is inept".

Yeah, and in other news: Generalissimo Fransisco Franco is still dead, The Sun is Big and Hot, and 100% of the cases of death are permanent. Details at 11

[Sigma_Orionis]

You already let him in. Could you please NOT let him out?

Venezuela crisis: Maduro willing to 'shake hands' with Trump

[grapes]

You already let him in. Could you please NOT let him out?

Venezuela crisis: Maduro willing to 'shake hands' with Trump

The socialist leader repeated accusations that the US was also behind a drone attack in August - an action the US denies any knowledge of.

How big of a drone?

[Sigma_Orionis]

You already let him in. Could you please NOT let him out?

Venezuela crisis: Maduro willing to 'shake hands' with Trump

The socialist leader repeated accusations that the US was also behind a drone attack in August - an action the US denies any knowledge of.

How big of a drone?

Not big enough

[Sigma_Orionis]

Just great

Death of Political Prisoner Under State Custody Shrouded in Mystery

[code monkey]

You already let him in. Could you please NOT let him out?

Venezuela crisis: Maduro willing to 'shake hands' with Trump

when trump visited Belgium I begged my colleague there (the one who told me the election results) to keep him. martijn was building a wall in his garden and we all know how much trump likes walls. I thought that he could be a help. no dice.

[Sigma_Orionis]

You already let him in. Could you please NOT let him out?

Venezuela crisis: Maduro willing to 'shake hands' with Trump

when trump visited Belgium I begged my colleague there (the one who told me the election results) to keep him. martijn was building a wall in his garden and we all know how much trump likes walls. I thought that he could be a help. no dice.

Back when Bush Jr was in Power in the US and Chavez here. I said several times I'd trade Chavez for Bush, These days I'm not tempted. Despite that Maduro has been the worst disgrace this country has had in its entire history

[code monkey]

Back when Bush Jr was in Power in the US and Chavez here. I said several times I'd trade Chavez for Bush, These days I'm not tempted. Despite that Maduro has been the worst disgrace this country has had in its entire history

we see you and raise.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Back when Bush Jr was in Power in the US and Chavez here. I said several times I'd trade Chavez for Bush, These days I'm not tempted. Despite that Maduro has been the worst disgrace this country has had in its entire history

we see you and raise.

Hopefully not. Our problem as disastrous as it is (trying not to think about it personally) is a regional problem. If Trumps makes a major international screw up, the consequences will be world wide.

[SciFiFisher]

Back when Bush Jr was in Power in the US and Chavez here. I said several times I'd trade Chavez for Bush, These days I'm not tempted. Despite that Maduro has been the worst disgrace this country has had in its entire history

we see you and raise.

Hopefully not. Our problem as disastrous as it is (trying not to think about it personally) is a regional problem. If Trumps makes a major international screw up, the consequences will be world wide.

too late.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Finally made the international news

[code monkey]

Back when Bush Jr was in Power in the US and Chavez here. I said several times I'd trade Chavez for Bush, These days I'm not tempted. Despite that Maduro has been the worst disgrace this country has had in its entire history

we see you and raise.

Hopefully not. Our problem as disastrous as it is (trying not to think about it personally) is a regional problem. If Trumps makes a major international screw up, the consequences will be world wide.

I meant just in terms of being a disgrace.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And in the meantime, things get worse and worse.

Last week had two power outages at home. One on Wednesday that lasted 8 hours, the other one on Thursday, lasted for 3 hours. And, I'm one of the lucky ones. There are places outside the capital that can spend 2 or 3 days or even a week without power.

My brother is trying to get a Chilean Visa to emigrate. He's young enough that companies will actually consider hiring him. The requirements would not be too onerous in a civilized country (valid passport and a notarized criminal record so it's valid outside the country). HOWEVER, here, both things here require the use of fixers. And, they charge in US$. Don't know how much they charge for the passport. But, to get the criminal record, it's US$ 110.

Lately, the government has been censoring sites on the Internet. An opposition newspaper I tend to read, can't be accessed through my home ISP (which is owned by the government) but can be accessed freely through my work ISP. And they're also trying to block Tor.

Finally there's this: Damned Spaniards came here in troves between the 1930s up till the 70s. Now, they don't want to return the favor.

[SciFiFisher]

I can only imagine how hard it is to come by U.S. currency at the moment. The exchange rate must be mind-blowing.

[Sigma_Orionis]

I can only imagine how hard it is to come by U.S. currency at the moment. The exchange rate must be mind-blowing.

The official exchange rate was fixed at 60 "Sovereign" Bolivares per US$ dollar on August 20th. Today, the Black Market Exchange rate is between 171 and 197 per US$. IOW i that "Sovereign Bolivar" BS has lost two thirds of its value in 2 months. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

But don't worry. Now I can see my bank balance in Petros too (no, I'm not kidding).

[SciFiFisher]

I can only imagine how hard it is to come by U.S. currency at the moment. The exchange rate must be mind-blowing.

The official exchange rate was fixed at 60 "Sovereign" Bolivares per US$ dollar on August 20th. Today, the Black Market Exchange rate is between 171 and 197 per US$. IOW i that "Sovereign Bolivar" BS has lost two thirds of its value in 2 months. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

But don't worry. Now I can see my bank balance in Petros too (no, I'm not kidding).

I think one thing that boggles my mind is the ability of a government to ignore everything that contradicts their narrative. I am sure that everyone in the Venezuelan government knows very well that no one is paying 60 Bolivares for $1 US. And that at least some of them are well aware of how bad things are. And yet... The band plays on. I suppose it has a lot to do with rational self-interest. As long as everyone plays the game then they have a chance of getting out of this alive. Or staying in power.

[Sigma_Orionis]

I think one thing that boggles my mind is the ability of a government to ignore everything that contradicts their narrative. I am sure that everyone in the Venezuelan government knows very well that no one is paying 60 Bolivares for $1 US. And that at least some of them are well aware of how bad things are. And yet... The band plays on. I suppose it has a lot to do with rational self-interest. As long as everyone plays the game then they have a chance of getting out of this alive. Or staying in power.

I agree. As I mentioned before, when the government announced it had made a "Conversion Box" with the Petro and the "Sorvereign Bolivar". People in the slums don't know, nor care what a "Conversion Box" is. People who know what it is, know it's BS. So, the only reason they made an announcement like that was so Chavistas could BS each other.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And in that vein.

Since the so-called "Sovereign Bolivar" has lost over 75% of its value from August 20th till today, the government is making a big propaganda (hmm, sorry, publicity) campaign whose motto is "Venezuela is Free and Independent and its Bolivar is Sovereign". Pushing out ads saying that our currency is the only currency in the world backed by Oil Reserves and coming out with ads touting the virtues of using electronic transfers instead of cash while at the same time pushing some cockamamie scheme where people would keep their savings in gold. And, best of all it has made its "International Tourism Fair" the showcase of their Plan for "Economic Recovery, Growth and Prosperity" (Commies sure love their long-winded names for everything). Again, I presume that all this is so they can BS themselves. Because, frankly I don't see anyone buying any of this crap.

International Tourism, in the middle of this disaster. Not even die hard PSFs are going to visit

[SciFiFisher]

In in that vein.

International Tourism, in the middle of this disaster. Not even die hard PSFs are going to visit

Of course, there is always the highly complimentary U.S. State Department Travel Advisory for Venezuela

Reconsider travel to Venezuela due to crime, civil unrest, poor health infrastructure, and arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Not to mention, just how do you save when the economy is in Hyper inflation?

It gets better.

The BBC Reports that according to the UN. 2.3 Million have emigrated since 2014 when things started to get bad. And the government is very happy because they managed to convince 9000 people to return. Hell, just today some Chavista was bitching because nobody paid attention that 35 people were accepted as refugees by the government (Yeah, in Spanish, it's not like the international news is going to waste bits on this one, not even the Cuban news agency I referenced about the 9000 suckers that decided to come back).

ETA

This is grimly amusing. Everywhere I browse I get ads telling me that I can get a US Visa for US$500,000.00 Anybody got any spare change?

[Sigma_Orionis]

Of course, there is always the highly complimentary U.S. State Department Travel Advisory for Venezuela

Reconsider travel to Venezuela due to crime, civil unrest, poor health infrastructure, and arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Hey that travel advisory mentions that the neighborhood of El Llanito is a high crime area. it's somewhat near from where I live. Good to know.