Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

By

Brazil: Lula trial reveals ties with Chavez

As you may recall, Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is on trial.

All sorts of things are coming out. For instance, Lula personally recruited

Mônica Moura and her husband João Santana, a couple whose marketing strategies helped keep Brazil’s leftist Workers’ Party in power for 13 years

for help in Venezuelan Hugo Chávez’s 2012 campaign. Current dictator Nicolás Maduro (emphasis added)

Mr. Maduro, then Venezuela’s foreign minister, personally handed Ms. Moura $11 million in cash in his Caracas office, she said in the testimony given in court to Brazilian prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence on corruption charges. Brazil’s two largest construction companies, Odebrecht SA and Andrade Gutierrez, which are under investigation in Brazil for allegedly paying bribes to Mr. da Silva, wired her an additional $9 million to an offshore account, Ms. Moura said.

As the article correctly points out,

Under Mr. Chávez, Odebrecht became the biggest contractor in Venezuela, receiving roughly $11 billion over 14 years for projects ranging from irrigation channels to airports.
. . .
Odebrecht admitted to paying $98 million in bribes in Venezuela.

Now

The heads of Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez, as well as Mr. Santana and Ms. Moura, are all in jail or confined to their homes after being convicted on corruption charges related to Car Wash.

And they’re willing to talk.

Will this have any effect on Venezuela’s deteriorating condition? I doubt it; but it will have repercussions in Brazil.

Stay tuned.

Share

By

Venezuela’s Maduro: “I’m not Mussolini”

As the saying goes. at least Mussolini made the trains run on time:
Nicolás Maduro Calls for New Venezuelan Constitution. President signs order to convene special assembly to redraft constitution and tells critics: ‘I am no Mussolini’

Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro on Monday signed an order to convene a special assembly to redraft the country’s constitution, the latest in a string of efforts to retain power in the face of mounting protests and civil unrest.

Mr. Maduro called for a vote—though it remained unclear among whom—to elect a so-called constituent assembly, which would in theory become the nation’s highest authority.

I’m not sure why the article says “it remained unclear” who would vote: Maduro clearly intends it would be his yes-men and minions:
Venezuela’s Maduro calls for new constitution written by ‘people’s’ body

Maduro told the May Day crowd that he would submit the application for the new body to write the referendum to the National Electoral Council on Monday.

It urges the election of 500 people to sit on the assembly. Around half would be drawn from sectors of society — from a “working class base,” Maduro said — directly choosing their representatives, while the other half would be named by local councils across the country.

“It is going to be a Constituent Assembly elected by direct vote by the people,” he said.

This is the first call for a constituent assembly since Hugo Chávez rewrote the Venezuelan constitution in 1999.

Share

By

Venezuela: Madurantoinette

The hapless Marie Antionette supposedly said, “Let them eat cake!”

Maduro is saying “Peace will prevail.”

Nicolás Maduro’s Videos Present an Alternative Venezuelan Reality. President’s soothing social-media offerings stand in contrast to unrest and shortages plaguing his country

“Peace will prevail,” the former bus driver says in one video as he drives other ruling-party officials through a middle-class neighborhood in his car. The footage inadvertently shows them cruising past graffiti that calls the president a “murderer of students,” an apparent reference to some of the people killed in numerous clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

“With Montalbán neighbors, sharing ideas and betting with the middle class for peace and coexistence.”

The article doesn’t mention that Maduro’s show must be carried by all licensed radio and TV stations under penalty of law.

I wasn’t sure whether to call Maduro “Caracas Chuck,” a la Baghdad Bob, or Madurantoinette. I went with the latter since we don’t know who’ll be in charge after he’s done.

Share

By

Venezuela to OAS: “You can’t fire me, I quit!”

Venezuela says it will withdraw from the Organization of American States (OAS), accusing the US-based grouping of meddling in its internal affairs.

The government made the announcement after the OAS voted to hold a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the spiralling crisis in Venezuela.

Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez

said Wednesday that Mr. Maduro ordered the withdrawal from the Organization of American States after 19 of the group’s 34 members agreed on a resolution to discuss Venezuela’s precarious situation.

The demonstrations continue.

“Security forces repress demonstrators on the Francisco Fajardo highway and Las Mercedes in Caracas”

The son of Venezuela’s rights ombudsman, Tarek William Saab, has called on his father to “stop the injustice which has sunk Venezuela”.

Share

By

Venezuela: How many killed in the protests?

Caracas Chronicles reports on The assault on non-violence

The country is in such a mess that there are doubts about the official death toll for Monday. Most outlets talk about two confirmed casualties, while Avenida San Martín, on the West side of Caracas, was literally under fire. The current death toll for the protests rose to 31. Arrests, which numbered 1,365 through Sunday, have now swelled with dozens more. It’s been an episode marked by deinstitutionalization and repression, both allowed by None-budsman Tarek William Saab, discriminating murders by political affiliation and suggesting submission as the protesters’ best shot at facing dictatorship.

Why more deaths?

Runrun.es reported that at least 18 people were killed in El Valle on Thursday the 20th, in murky circumstances. A story that nine people died electrocuted out of the 11 initial circulated widely, but is highly unlikely according to experts. The truth is that it’s been four days and still no authority has bothered to offer an official account of the events on Calle Cajigal; they’ve simply repeated chavismo’s standard propaganda that any protesting dissident is a terrorist.

Maduro isn’t listening.

Things Are So Bad In Venezuela That People Are Walking To Brazil For Medicine

Why doesn’t the government change course?

Why We Have a Second Amendment: Venezuela Plans to Give Firearms to Loyalists So They Can Purge Growing Resistance; more accurately, the regime has been giving firearms to chavistas for that purpose.

UPDATE
Linked to by Designs on the Truth. Thank you!

Share

By

Venezuela: 3 dead at yesterday’s demonstrations

Adding to recent casualties,
At Least 3 Die in Venezuela Protests Against Nicolás Maduro

Still, despite the deaths in recent protests, now numbering seven, Wednesday’s rallies attracted thousands of people, the latest in a string of demonstrations against the increasingly autocratic rule of Mr. Maduro. Labeled by organizers “the mother of all protests,” it showed that a sustained movement in the streets against Mr. Maduro may now be forming.

However, Many Poor Venezuelans Are Too Hungry to Join Antigovernment Protests (emphasis added)

Many of the impoverished residents of the vast slums that ring Caracas and other major cities are angry about a collapsing economy and food shortages. But Venezuela’s political unrest remains mostly confined to middle-class enclaves, underscoring the struggle the opposition here faces in trying to unseat an increasingly authoritarian government.

“All I have is hunger—I don’t care if the people protest or not,” said laborer Alfonzo Molero in a slum in Venezuela’s second-largest city, Maracaibo. “With what strength will I protest if my stomach is empty since yesterday?”

Until the slums rise up, Mr. Maduro will likely hang on, analysts say.

The European Union urges the government to “de-escalate” tensions while the Secretary of State Tillerson stated that

Tillerson says the U.S. is watching the situation closely and is working with others, particularly through the Organization of American States, to communicate its concerns to Venezuela.

Here is the situation as I see it:

Maduro will continue to blunder in office for the time being.

Venezuela’s military are allegedly involved in the drug trade while possibly being outnumbered by the government-armed colectivos. As I posted yesterday,

the popular militia has added another 50,000 members (link in Spanish) – to an estimated total of 500,000. The regular armed forces total 160,000 with army reserves of 25,000, according to Clarín.

Yet, it is impossible to know the actual number of colectivos. The military may not see it in its best interest to fight them. [added:] Additionally, the military control the food supply, and will do so with any humanitarian aid.

The opposition is disarmed, and quite fragmented, aside from being mostly socialist.

Foreign actors such as Iran, Russia and the FARC are in cahoots with the government, especially Cuba, which controls the intelligence agencies. Maduro lived in Cuba in his younger days. Venezuela’s own vice-president, El Aissami, is in the U.S. Treasury Department’s kingpins list,  which  has frozen nearly US $3 billion of his assets, and he is reportedly linked to the sale of Venezuelan passports to Hezbollah.

The State has spent twelve-plus years consolidating power around itself. The amount it spends on its oil-sponsored international propaganda machine is immense. Everything is the fault of the U.S. “empire”.

The U.S. and the EU could implement sanctions against the regime, but should not intervene directly. Until Venezuela’s regime recognizes that it has become an international pariah, nothing is going to change.

Socialism fails. Let Venezuela live up to it.

In other Venezuelan news, General Motors Quits Venezuela After Officials Seize Plant

Announcing “immediate cessation of its operations in the country,” GM accused local officials of causing “irreparable damage” to the company and its 2,678 workers and 79 dealers in the country. GM said it would pay separation benefits “as far as the authorities permit.”

GM’s production in its Venezuelan plant had plummeted following the implementation of currency controls under Hugo Chávez.

At the blogs:
Must-read: Terror in Caracas

Venezuela on the March: Reaction

Venezuela seizes General Motors plant as property of the state

Cuba’s dictatorship warns other countries not to meddle in its affairs in Venezuela

Share

By

Cuba: Venezuela’s Maduro drops by for advice

Nicolás Maduro sought advice from Raúl Castro

Venezuela erupted into the fifth day of violent protests in a week Monday, as President Nicolas Maduro traveled to Cuba seeking support from fellow leftist leaders at a regional gathering.

The ALBA  meeting went as expected, and Maduro returned to a jeering crowd that pelted him,

Caracas Chronicles has photos of Sunday’s protests.

And then there’s this,

(h/t Babalu.

Post redone to include omitted material)

Share

By

Venezuela: Duncan, Sires Send Letter Urging Protection of U.S. Energy Security

In the U.S.,
Duncan, Sires Send Letter Urging Protection of U.S. Energy Security

Chairman Jeff Duncan (SC-03) and Ranking Member Albio Sires (NJ-08) of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Treasury urging immediate attention to a potential threat to critical U.S. energy infrastructure as a result of a recent asset transfer between Venezuela’s PDVSA and Russia’s Rosneft. This development impacts PDVSA’s U.S.-based subsidiary, Citgo, and vital U.S. national security interests.

Here’s Russ Dalen’s testimony to Congress on Venezuela’s Tragic Meltdown.

As you may recall, Venezuela’s Supreme Court granted Nicolás Maduro the power to bypass the National Assembly and approve new joint ventures with foreign oil companies. Late last December, Venezuela’s PDVSA Mortgages US Refinery Citgo to Russia’s Rosneft.

Stratfor (subscription only) analysis: The government is scrambling to find money to help the national oil company meet its debt payments and avoid a disastrous default

Standing in the way of the government strategy to ride out a default is the United States. Any moves Caracas makes to further delay elections or crack down on the opposition — necessary actions to rule a one-party state — could invite further U.S. sanctions. Venezuela’s rulers, alert to this threat, have tentatively reached out to Washington. In March, a Stratfor source said the Venezuelan government was planning to open a back channel of communication with the United States. As part of its outreach to Washington, Maduro instructed Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez and Venezuelan Oil Minister Nelson Martinez, the chairman and CEO of PDVSA’s U.S. subsidiary Citgo, to explore the possibility of further opening Venezuela’s energy market to U.S. corporations.

This tracks closely with media reports that emerged Monday claiming that business executives close to Donald Trump Jr., son of the U.S. president, had discussed with National Security Council officials the possibility of loosening sanctions on Venezuelan officials in exchange for business opportunities in Venezuela. The intent by Venezuelan officials appears to have been to buy them some time to decide how to proceed with regional and presidential elections. Still, the offer, made in early February, did not prevent Washington from sanctioning El Aissami that month. There also have been indications that the Trump administration may be willing to enact additional sanctions against Venezuela.

Frank Muci writes about How Chavismo Mágico is Swallowing PDVSA

In Venezuela, a college student was shot dead during anti-government demonstrations:
Venezuela clashes leave one man dead, dozens arrested in Caracas

College student dies during Venezuela protest

Youth shot dead during protest against Venezuela President Maduro

Venezuela confirms young man killed during anti-Maduro protests

Over at the National Assembly,
Venezuelan lawmakers avoid military blockade to start recall of pro-government justices

Venezuela’s national legislature Wednesday began the process of removing pro-government justices on the constitutional branch of the Supreme Court, after opposition lawmakers gathered before dawn to avoid a National Guard blockade

The opposition majority in the National Assembly, some of whose deputies were injured Tuesday in attacks by government agents, also approved a declaration that Venezuela is suffering a coup d’etat and demanding the release of all political prisoners. It also urged the Venezuelan armed forces to listen to the people’s demands for democracy.

In other news,
Liliana Tintori met with Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico

Share