Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

May 5, 2019 By Fausta

Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

I have documented every post on Latin America strenuously, but this post is an exception. I do not have contacts in the country or in any of the other places involved, so please read with caution.

In his Thursday, May 2, 2019 show, Jaime Bayly described that the Minister of Defense for the National Armed Forces of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, General Vladimir Padrino, had agreed to aid Juan Guaidó remove Nicolas Maduro from office.

Who is General Padrino?
In a post three years ago, I mentioned that Padrino, upon taking the job of commanding the country’s entire supply chain possibly “was given the job by Cuban intelligence to keep an eye on Maduro.” Additionally, Nicolás Maduro had declared “All the ministries, all the ministers, all the state institutions are at the service and in absolute subordination” to the head of the armed forces, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino – including,

a new military-industrial mining, oil and gas company that will rival the state-owned oil company PdVSA.

In other words, Padrino lives up to his name, which means Godfather. His agreement would be crucial for any change to take place.

I must point out that Wikipedia correctly states,

On 22 September 2017, Canada sanctioned Padrino due to rupture of Venezuela’s constitutional order following the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election.[6][7] The United States government has also sanctioned Padrino on 25 September 2018 for his role in solidifying President Maduro’s power in Venezuela.[8] Vladimir Padrino López is also banned from entering Colombia.[9]

The Bayly YouTube, in Spanish

Bayly said that Padrino had agreed to having Maduro leave for Cuba and install Guaidó as interim president in exchange for being allowed to keep the fortune he’s amassed over the years and avoiding prosecution by the U.S. The U.S. would also give the new interim administration $20billion to pay Russia for its oil interests in the country.

This was scheduled to take place on May 1st.

But Padrino changed his mind,

ABC Spain reports that General Padrino backed out at the last moment, even when the negotiation had lasted for several months. Bayly claims that Padrino demanded at the last moment to be permanent president.

The right price?

On Sunday May 5th, the Moscow Times published an opinion piece, Putin Is Ready to Give Up Venezuela for the Right Price.
Sergei Lavrov and Mike Pompeo will soon meet in Helsinki to discuss Venezuela’s future.

On May 3, U.S. President Donald Trump called Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to flag American concerns over Russia’s “disruptive role” in Venezuela and stress his country’sdetermination to ensure Venezuela’s return to democratic rule.

The price may involve Ukraine,

For Moscow, a deal of equals on Venezuela where Russia helps the U.S. diffuse the crisis by engineering a constitutional transition, should involve an equally significant concession by the U.S. (on a par with JFK-Khrushchev deal to remove nuclear missiles from Cuba and Turkey) to pressure Kiev into fully implementing the Minsk-2 agreements that would truncate Ukraine’s sovereignty and allow Moscow to retain some degree of control over Kiev’s security policies.
…
Moscow is ready to sell its stake in Maduro, but it is still unclear whether Washington is ready to offer the right price.

Interesting times

If Russia is out of the picture, there’s still the question of China and Iran remaining in the country.

If Maduro leaves, how about Tarek El Aissami, Vice President indicted by the U.S. for drug charges?

Additionally, I doubt very much that Cuba would give up its control of Venezuela’s security services.

This coming week promises to be very interesting indeed.

UPDATE:
Linked by Ed Driscoll at Instapundit. Thank you!
Linked by Da Tech Guy. Thank you!

Share

Filed Under: China, Communism, Iran, Russia, Venezuela Tagged With: Juan Guaido, Nicolas Maduro, Tarek El Aissami, Vladimir Padrino López

March 2, 2018 By Fausta

Venezuela’s upcoming travesty has been rescheduled

Venezuela is holding a general election this year.

Yes, the most miserable country on Earth is again going to pretend it is a democracy.

And now it’s been rescheduled.

Read my post, Venezuela’s upcoming travesty has  been rescheduled.

Share

Filed Under: Communism, Fausta's blog, Venezuela Tagged With: Da Tech Guy Blog

February 16, 2018 By Fausta

Venezuela’s man-made disaster rolls along

All of which is exactly what one would expect from what dead dictator Hugo Chávez named 21st Century Socialism.

Read my post,
Venezuela’s man-made disaster rolls along

UPDATE
Linked to by The Pirate’s Cove. Thank you!



Share

Filed Under: Communism, Fausta's blog, Venezuela Tagged With: Da Tech Guy Blog

February 6, 2018 By Fausta

Venezuela: Inflation and woes

Inflation in Venezuela is starting to rival some of history’s most notorious economic debacles; hyperinflation has an annualised rate of 12,875%, prices are doubling every 52 days and the worst part: it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soonhttps://t.co/WBKDmA5FYI

— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 6, 2018

Venezuela announces 99.6 percent devaluation of official forex rate

The central bank said the first auction of its new DICOM system yielded an exchange rate of 30,987.5 bolivars per euro, equivalent to around 25,000 per dollar.

That is a devaluation of 86.6 percent with respect to the previous DICOM rate and 99.6 percent from the subsidized rate of 10 bolivars per dollar, which was eliminated last week. (goo.gl/TRuF2Z)

How Fast Are Prices Skyrocketing in Venezuela? See Exhibit A: the Egg. With hyperinflation at 13,000%, eggs become essential to bartering (emphasis added)

Such is the ordeal in a country stricken with hyperinflation and a government so flummoxed on how to fix the distortions of its crumbling economy that it’s resorting to introducing what it says is a bitcoin-like cryptocurrency. The “petro” would eclipse the near worthless “strong bolivar,” which has lost 98% of its value against the dollar in the past year.

The problem is that in a country as broke as Venezuela, the government can’t print enough bills or pay the hefty fees for commercial printers to supply them. Paying with plastic? Credit-card readers seldom work.

Additionally, Venezuela Ranked Last in the Rule of Law Index 2017-2018.

And, another one from Steve Hanke,

A shortage of medical supplies in Venezuela has left many hospitals without the reagents to test blood for diseases. This has led to a burgeoning black market for blood, another public health crisis tearing through #Venezuela. https://t.co/Ym4SwB7Zus

— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 6, 2018

Across the border,

Colombia Opens Border Shelter for Venezuelans Fleeing Crisis.Government opens facility near border city of Cúcuta as some 35,000 Venezuelans cross into the country each day

The facility, opened Saturday near the border city of Cúcuta, is expected to provide shelter of up to 48 hours for 120 people a day. Pregnant mothers, the elderly and minors who entered the country legally will be given priority. It will be administered by the Red Cross.

And they come to stay: Once-rich Venezuelans live as beggars in Colombia, but they don’t want to go back. “Bogotá officials believe that as many as 600,000 Venezuelans are now living in Colombia.”

Share

Filed Under: Colombia, Communism, Fausta's blog, Venezuela

February 2, 2018 By Fausta

Cuba: Fidel Jr kills himself

The Revolución marches on.

Read my post, Cuba: Fidel Jr kills himself



Share

Filed Under: Communism, Cuba, Fausta's blog, Fidel Castro Tagged With: Da Tech Guy Blog, Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart

January 16, 2018 By Fausta

Venezuela: Oscar Perez killed by police? UPDATED

Oscar Perez, the former police helicopter pilot who last year attacked the Supreme Court and Interior Ministry, has been killed, according to government sources (emphasis added),

Oscar Perez, a Venezuelan police pilot accused of stealing a helicopter and using it to attack the country’s Supreme Court in June, was killed Monday in Caracas, a government official told CNN.

The high-ranking member of the Venezuelan government asked to remain anonymous. CNN has not been able to independently confirm Perez’s death.

“BREAKING NEWS: Óscar Pérez is wounded by an exploded grenade launched by security forces surrounding him. He denounces that Maduro’s regime is shooting at them and do not allow them to surrender.”

ÚLTIMA HORA | Óscar Pérez está herido tras estallido de granada lanzada por cuerpos de seguridad que lo mantienen rodeado. Denuncia que régimen de Maduro les disparan y no los dejan entregarse pic.twitter.com/z1NNVCWZue

— Alberto Rodríguez (@AlbertoRT51) January 15, 2018

Roundup:
Venezuelan Helicopter Pilot Who Rebelled Against Dictatorship Livestreamed Raid that Killed Him

Venezuela forces launch deadly assault, capture rebel police officers

The assault was made public early Monday by Pérez himself, who posted video snippets on social media, including one in which he appears with a bloodied face.

“They are firing at us with RPG, grenades and grenade launchers, snipers,” Pérez says in one video. “There are civilians in here. We told them that we’re going to turn ourselves in and they don’t want to let us surrender. They want to kill us.”

A Day of Blood

A police operation for the capture of former CICPC inspector Oscar Pérez and his team took the entire day in Venezuelan social media. By 11:00 p.m., there was no official statement about his situation, only reports of the police takeover of the Bello Monte morgue, as an insinuation that his corpse might be there. Oscar Pérez’ group made a live digital recount of the assault they faced, uploading videos on his Instagram account (@equlibriogv) that showed what was happening. An unprecedented method that raised more suspicion than solidarity and prompted official mouthpieces to make unwise statements.

Two police officers and several “terrorists” have been killed in an operation to capture a helicopter pilot accused of leading an armed rebellion in Venezuela last year, officials say.

Venezuelan forces surrounded a house in the town of El Junquito, near the capital, Caracas, as they targeted the “cell” linked to pilot Oscar Pérez.

The authorities said they had arrested five people who they accuse of being part of a criminal group.

It is unclear what became of Mr Pérez.

Venezuelans Watch as Soldiers Besiege Rebel Group. Rogue police pilot Oscar Perez posts videos online as his supporters engage in gun battle at hideout

The saga of a police pilot and former actor who authorities said stole a helicopter in June and tossed grenades over official buildings took another violent turn as government forces said they had engaged in a bloody shootout with him and supporters at their rural hideout.

Venezuelans watched on Monday as Oscar Perez posted videos online of the fighting between special-forces soldiers and his group of civilians and former military personnel.

“Venezuela, they’re killing us!” Mr. Perez said in a video amid gunfire as blood streamed down the side of his face. His fate wasn’t known Monday evening. He has been calling for rebellion against President Nicolás Maduro’s autocratic rule.

La inhumana indiferencia del venezolano ante la ejecución de Óscar Pérez

UPDATE
CONFIRMED

After hours without revealing what Oscar Pérez’s fate was, Justice Minister Néstor Reverol gave a news conference on Tuesday.

In it he said that Mr Pérez was among seven “terrorists” killed in the siege.

Share

Filed Under: Communism, Fausta's blog, Venezuela Tagged With: Néstor Reverol, Oscar Pérez

November 14, 2017 By Fausta

Cuba: The forgotten Escambray

Mary O’Grady writes about A Soviet Cleansing in Cuba.The Russians used their experience at home to annihilate dissident peasants.

Most Americans have never heard of the anti-Castro uprising in Cuba’s Escambray Mountains, which began in 1959 and took Fidel and the Soviet Union six years to put down. At the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, the episode is worth revisiting. If not for 400 Soviets sent to Cuba under the command of the Red Army and the KGB in 1961, it is unlikely that Castro would have prevailed.

What happened in the Escambray pokes a giant hole in Castro’s narrative that his revolution was a justified power grab supported by working-class and rural Cubans. The fact is that when Cubans began to understand that Fidel planned to replace Fulgencio Batista as the next dictator and to impose communism, many rebelled. None fought harder than central Cuba’s guajiros—small land owners and tenant farmers.
. . .
Castro understood the importance of controlling the press, foreign as well as domestic. He used that control to popularize his version of events. He framed the resistance—those who rejected his communist takeover—as a white, urban aristocracy unhappy because it was losing its privilege under his new justice. Meanwhile, he wiped out whole farming communities with Stalinesque ruthlessness, and he did it with guidance from the Kremlin, which exported its experience in intelligence gathering and repression.

Read the whole thing.

Share

Filed Under: Communism, Cuba

November 14, 2017 By Fausta

Venezuela: Restructuring debt?

The guy in charge of the commission’s in Washington’s drug kingpin list. The Finance Minister is under U.S. sanctions for alleged corruption.

And the investors couldn’t get information on how to attend the commission’s meeting in Caracas on Nov. 13, “which happens to be the deadline for almost $300 million in outstanding bond interest payments.”

There was no information on what the requisites are for attending the meeting, where it would take place or whether the government would provide accommodation and transport.

In short, it was A Meeting About Nothing.

Gee, could this supposed meeting be just a prop so Maduro could blame the default on someone else?

I call it a Capt. Louis Renault Moment,

PDVSA downgraded to default by S&P. Let the domino effect begin.https://t.co/vnFDw0P6PR

— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) November 14, 2017

Cross-posted at WoW! Magazine.

Share

Filed Under: Communism, Fausta's blog, Venezuela Tagged With: Capt. Louis Renault

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 149
  • Next Page »
Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com