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Chuck Boone posted:In a bit of good news, my mom's cousin's husband was released from captivity yesterday. He was kidnapped about 55 days ago on his way to work. The kidnappers originally demanded $500,000 for his release, which I think is just a bargaining tactic because who has $500,000? I'm not sure how much my mom's cousin paid, but her husband is home safe. Holy poo poo, Chuck. I am happy to hear that he's back now but Jesus Christ. That kind of long-term kidnapping is not the norm here as far as I know, if I were him, I'd get the gently caress out of here as soon as possible. The only reason I haven't bailed yet is because I keep a low profile and I want to ensure that I can support my mom once I'm gone, but that involves all kinds of silly poo poo such as almost never going out and pretending I have no money. I'm guessing if someone thought they could fulfill that kind of ransom, it wasn't a random event, so they should liquidate all assets and get the hell out of doge.
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Jul 15, 2016 01:33
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Just tuned in to some radio stations and sure enough they are airing this stupid movie, that's right radio stations airing movies. What is going on in this stupid country.
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Jul 15, 2016 01:35
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Well, what's the movie?
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Jul 15, 2016 01:38
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Some movie about Francisco Miranda but of course seen through the PSUV's eye.
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Jul 15, 2016 01:39
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El Hefe posted:Also right now they are showing on "cadena" some loving movie meaning every single TV channel and radio station(lol) has to air the movie, I cannot believe this poo poo, its like living in the twilight zone. Add another tick to the "North Korea or Venezuela?" tally!
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Jul 15, 2016 02:01
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Chuck Boone posted:In a bit of good news, my mom's cousin's husband was released from captivity yesterday. He was kidnapped about 55 days ago on his way to work. The kidnappers originally demanded $500,000 for his release, which I think is just a bargaining tactic because who has $500,000? I'm not sure how much my mom's cousin paid, but her husband is home safe. Maybe they just set the ransom in Bolívares and waited a couple months until inflation brought it down to a reasonable amount  
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Jul 15, 2016 02:32
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I'm glad your family got him back Chuck, that's really scary.Labradoodle posted:That kind of long-term kidnapping is not the norm here as far as I know, if I were him, I'd get the gently caress out of here as soon as possible. The only reason I haven't bailed yet is because I keep a low profile and I want to ensure that I can support my mom once I'm gone, but that involves all kinds of silly poo poo such as almost never going out and pretending I have no money. I'm guessing if someone thought they could fulfill that kind of ransom, it wasn't a random event, so they should liquidate all assets and get the hell out of doge. Yeah I agree. Long-term kidnappings are planned and scouted out, so they must know your family, I hope nothing like it happens again but I'd be scared shitless. One of my wife's long time neighbors had to flee the country a couple years ago because one of his daughters was kidnapped and killed, and they didn't want a repeat for their second. They had a bunch of business across Valencia. Being successful paints a target on your back.
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Jul 15, 2016 07:57
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The very socialist and government owned telecommunications company CANTV just increased their prices up to 900% I used to pay like Bs 800 for internet service now I'm gonna pay almost Bs 8000 starting next month Thanks Maduro
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Jul 16, 2016 22:44
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El Hefe posted:The very socialist and government owned telecommunications company CANTV just increased their prices up to 900% Sorry I'm pretty drunk but I love that your currency is "BS"
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Jul 17, 2016 00:16
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Baloogan posted:Sorry I'm pretty drunk but I love that your currency is "BS" it really is
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Jul 17, 2016 01:19
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Thanks for all the comments regarding my mom's kidnapped relative. She isn't really close with that side of the family, and we'd been getting updates about the situation from our grandmother. We all thought that the length of the kidnapping was really strange too. My mom hasn't talked to her cousin about this yet, but I'm really interested to hear the full story. Anyway, in an about-face, the government re-opened the border with Colombia in Tachira state again today. The border has been closed since August, but the two crossings in Tachira were opened last Sunday. About 35,000 people streamed into Colombia then to buy food and other scarce necessities, and the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is saying that about the same number crossed today. The border will remain open until tomorrow evening. The governor of Tachira state, Jose Vielma Mora, said earlier this week that the re-opening of the border wouldn't happen again. Then, suddenly, yesterday he said "Yeah we're opening it again, I've got no problem with it". I'm not sure what's going on, but it's great that people are getting a chance to buy food. In other news, Diosdado Cabello gave a speech at an event in Aragua state, and he can't stop saying that the referendum won't happen. I'm quoting some of what he said here because Cabello is a caveman and I want you to feel the frustration that I feel when I read what he says: quote:They [the opposition] don’t want dialogue. They put conditions on the dialogue (…) so there will be no dialogue, because there won’t be a referendum here. There will be no referendum in 2016, and there won’t be one in 2017, either. There won’t be a referendum, because they haven’t done what the Constitution and the law say, and we won’t let them get away with it. Also, on the price increases that El Hefe is talking about for internet plans: you can see an outline of the price increases here. The first chart has the list of old prices under the "Total a Pagar (Bs.)" column, with the new prices effective August 1 in the second chard. Here's the price changes for three plans: ABA 6 Megas (Unlimited 6 Mbps)
ABA 10 Megas (Unlimited 10 Mbps)
Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Jul 17, 2016 |
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Jul 17, 2016 03:44
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Baloogan posted:Sorry I'm pretty drunk but I love that your currency is "BS" The currency was also rebranded as bolívar fuerte(BsF) or "strong bolivar", when Chávez lopped three zeroes of the currency in 2008. You decide if that's more or less funny.
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Jul 17, 2016 07:53
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Chuck Boone posted:Thanks for all the comments regarding my mom's kidnapped relative. She isn't really close with that side of the family, and we'd been getting updates about the situation from our grandmother. We all thought that the length of the kidnapping was really strange too. My mom hasn't talked to her cousin about this yet, but I'm really interested to hear the full story. When was the last time those prices were updated before now? Does the change in prices at least track the way the value of the currency has plummeted, or is it significantly more expensive in local currency then it should be for that purpose?
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Jul 17, 2016 14:52
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Those prices are not that old, CANTV ABA wasn't offered at 10mbps up until recently, so they were maybe 2 years old. It would be fine if the increase also came with the significant internet infrastructure investments to get the country out of the stone age (TYOOL 2016 and the fastest broadband speeds offered in Venezuela are sub 10mbps, which some countries offer for free), but of course that's not what's gonna happen. You'll maybe see less oversaturation which may mean better QoS, but it's very unlikely the new pricing scheme will benefit anyone. If all, I think the reason they're doing this is because they're very morose in many payments to Tier 1s which lead to the recent overall degradation of QoS and bandwidth allowance for the entire country in recent months.
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Jul 17, 2016 15:16
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I think many people aren't gonna be able to pay those prices tbh I got the 10mb service because I'm lucky enough to live near a CANTV datacenter though, it's not offered everywhere.
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Jul 17, 2016 15:20
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I imagine soon they'll be increasing the price of the electrical and water bills too.
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Jul 17, 2016 15:22
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quote:There won’t be a referendum in 2016. Get that in your heads. There won’t be a referendum. There’s a referendum scarcity for you because you’re lazy and ill-intentioned. Do you know what we will have in 2016? More revolution, more socialism, more Bolivar on the streets, more Chavez on the streets, more people on the streets.
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Jul 17, 2016 17:13
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fishmech posted:When was the last time those prices were updated before now? Does the change in prices at least track the way the value of the currency has plummeted, or is it significantly more expensive in local currency then it should be for that purpose? The annualized inflation rate (from July 2015-July 2016) is 487%, so the changes reflect more than just the year's inflation. The black market Bs. per US dollar rate is at Bs. 1010.65, and the official free-floating rate is at Bs. 642. At those rates, your internet bill for July could have been $1. Like El Hefe said, when you put it in the context that the average worker is making Bs. 15,500 a month, I'd bet you that there's a non-trivial amount of Venezuelans seriously considering how important it is to have an internet connection come August. Earlier this week, Jacqueline Faria (the head of a subsidiary of CANTV called MOVILNET) talked about the state of the internet in Venezuela, and this is what she had to say: quote:In other countries [the internet] is faster because few people use it and it's too expensive. Here, more than 60% of the people have the internet and there's WiFi everywhere. The border with Colombia re-opened this weekend again even though the governor of Tachira state Jose Vielma Mora had said that it wouldn't happen again. I'm not sure what's going on, but the border opened yesterday and today. I don't know if the final figures are out yet, but the Colombian immigration service was expecting at least 75,000 Venezuelans to cross the border Saturday and Sunday.
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Jul 18, 2016 00:02
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If i was in Venezuela i would use the opportunity of the open border to Columbia to go ( and not return) although i believe there is a crossing to Brazil that has not closed
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Jul 18, 2016 00:26
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Hugoon Chavez posted:I'm glad your family got him back Chuck, that's really scary. Not quite like modern Venezuela crimewise, not even during the war, but everyone who I know in Sri Lanka who is reasonably successful is all "yeah, I and/or my family have on-call goon squads available, just in case." Some of which are basically semiprofessional goon squads with multiple clients. Heck, the end of the war probably made it more affordable, what with the military drawdown and resulting labor surplus.
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Jul 18, 2016 01:14
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Chuck Boone posted:The border with Colombia re-opened this weekend again even though the governor of Tachira state Jose Vielma Mora had said that it wouldn't happen again. I'm not sure what's going on, but the border opened yesterday and today. I don't know if the final figures are out yet, but the Colombian immigration service was expecting at least 75,000 Venezuelans to cross the border Saturday and Sunday. yup 
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Jul 18, 2016 01:18
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El Hefe posted:yup  That, uh That bridge might not be rated for that load.
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Jul 18, 2016 01:22
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It'll be okay if they don't March in step
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Jul 18, 2016 02:04
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What are the Venezuelans spending in Columbia? I assume columbian storekeepers don't want bolivares.
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Jul 18, 2016 02:12
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Scaramouche posted:It'll be okay if they don't March in step This is literally the reason soldiers break step when crossing bridges, by the way.
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Jul 18, 2016 02:19
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The Lone Badger posted:What are the Venezuelans spending in Columbia? I assume columbian storekeepers don't want bolivares. Exchange houses in Cucuta take Bolivares, it's not really cheaper to buy in Colombia but you can actually find stuff. Things aren't that bad in Maracaibo because Arias Cardenas has a few companies and even though the border is closed he's bringing a bunch of Colombian foods, I went to the supermarket yesterday and they had Colombian rice, arepa flour, toilet paper, etc, all pretty expensive though so he and his business partners must be making a shitload of money.
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Jul 18, 2016 02:29
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El Hefe posted:Exchange houses in Cucuta take Bolivares, it's not really cheaper to buy in Colombia but you can actually find stuff. Ah profiteering. Profiteering never changes.
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Jul 18, 2016 16:01
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Holy crap its $160 to renew a US visa, I swear when I first did it in 2006 it was only like $40 or something... That's too much money for our poor Venezuelan pocket
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Jul 19, 2016 00:38
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Bloomberg has a correspondent in Venezuela, and she's kept a diary of her attempts to go buy food over the past few weeks. It's a really interesting read. The whole article reads like it could have just been titled "  ". Here's a bit of it:quote:Around midday, I swing by a bakery in search of bread. I’m greeted, impatiently, by a young woman. “We only sell bread at 5 p.m., señora.” On my way out, I notice a sign on the front door that I somehow missed on my way in: “NO BREAD.” As I get back in my car, I realize I’m low on cash. I head to a nearby ATM. It’s out of money. Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Jul 19, 2016 19:43
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Citibank seems to be pulling out of Venezuela, or at least out of being the USD correspondence banker for the state banks.
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Jul 19, 2016 21:04
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El Hefe posted:Holy crap its $160 to renew a US visa, I swear when I first did it in 2006 it was only like $40 or something... Can you even do that? I thought they were denying diplomatic visas (for US personnel) so the US Embassy was effectively on a skeleton crew and unable to process visas. If a couple of bucks is all that stands in the way of leaving I'm sure a few of us can help out.
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Jul 19, 2016 21:49
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Yeah they updated their press release with clearer wording and it's only new non-immigrant visas that are suspended, you can still get renewals and all other kind of visas. http://caracas.usembassy.gov/visas/niv.html I got the money it's just that it's a lot of money for us, $160 is like 10 monthly minimum wages.
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Jul 19, 2016 22:06
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Fuschia tude posted:This is literally the reason soldiers break step when crossing bridges, by the way. Man, I learn new things every day on here.
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Jul 19, 2016 22:10
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Chuck Boone posted:Bloomberg has a correspondent in Venezuela, and she's kept a diary of her attempts to go buy food over the past few weeks. It's a really interesting read. quote:I steal bread to feed family. Get home, find all family have gone Colombia! “More bread for me,” I think. But bread have worm.
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Jul 19, 2016 22:30
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Out of curiousity I checked FlightAware for the traffic into Caracas, and I'm surprised to find that American Airlines still has passenger services into Venezuela; ABX Air is still flying cargo flights to and from Miami as well. In fact, that there is traffic at all is kinda surprising, because at least from what I'm getting in this thread, I can't imagine how anyone has money to pay for airline tickets, unless those are somehow ludicrously cheap. I also noticed this: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/FAV1 Which, despite what FlightAware indicates, is almost certainly a Venezuelan Air Force flight. Which is odd, because most militaries, particularly those in countries with such volatile social situations, don't tend to broadcast where they're moving their aircraft around to. Is there any particular reason Maduro or other higher-ups would be traveling to Managua, if that is indeed what this is? e: and actually, though I suspect I may sound stupid saying this, there are a number of US-registered bizjets that appear to be making regular trips into Venezuela. Which again begs the question, why, at this time? https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N802WJ/history/ https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N851RG/history/ https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N34FS/history/ https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N355RM/history https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N377AC/history Plastic_Gargoyle fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Jul 19, 2016 22:41
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I just did a quick online search and found a Caracas - Miami flight for Bs 311738 but I wonder if those are real prices because that's still "only" like $300
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Jul 19, 2016 23:00
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Plastic_Gargoyle posted:Out of curiousity I checked FlightAware for the traffic into Caracas, and I'm surprised to find that American Airlines still has passenger services into Venezuela; ABX Air is still flying cargo flights to and from Miami as well. In fact, that there is traffic at all is kinda surprising, because at least from what I'm getting in this thread, I can't imagine how anyone has money to pay for airline tickets, unless those are somehow ludicrously cheap. This is really cool! FAV1 is the presidential airplane (Fuerza Aerea Venezolana 1). Maduro's going to Nicaragua today. As for the private jets, my first thought is that there's still business (PDVSA, for example) happening in the country so it's not so unusual, perhaps.
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Jul 19, 2016 23:22
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El Hefe posted:I just did a quick online search and found a Caracas - Miami flight for Bs 311738 but I wonder if those are real prices because that's still "only" like $300 Not impossible. Viva Colombia sells dirt cheap flights from BOG to Miami for also like $250 round trip if you buy off season early enough in advance, or at least they were when I was there last November.
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Jul 20, 2016 16:36
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Yeah I did some research and those are real prices, not too bad, I thought they were going to be more expensive.
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Jul 20, 2016 16:45
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Chuck Boone posted:This is really cool! FAV1 is the presidential airplane (Fuerza Aerea Venezolana 1). Maduro's going to Nicaragua today. PDVSA can't really do poo poo in the US because they owe several of their vendors millions of dollars. My dad worked for their Houston office last year, and shortly before he was laid off, they couldn't do any work because their bills to SAP were way overdue.
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