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Labradoodle posted:There's also the important point to be made, that at this point it's very likely that the military is the only thing holding the government back from drastic price adjustments to household staples, gas and the exchange rate. They've been flirting with these ideas for a while, but the military oversees smuggling through the borders in broad daylight and the exchange rate differentials make it the most loving lucrative business ever. The government has been playing lots of TV and radio ads saying how gasoline is so cheap and how a raise in the price is needed yadayada The price increase is coming
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Apr 14, 2015 16:48
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HorseLord posted:Just another fascist movement ran on US Dollars and british guns. How do you feel about chupa chups? Solid oak furniture? lol you're literally borneo jimmy the 2nd
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Apr 14, 2015 16:58
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El Hefe posted:The government has been playing lots of TV and radio ads saying how gasoline is so cheap and how a raise in the price is needed yadayada Honestly I avoid national TV like the plague. But you just know they're sweating their asses over the idea, I mean, they've been mentioning it on and off again for years so they must be nervous as hell about finally implementing it and probably still want to push it for as long as humanly possible (though with no new chinese lifelines, it can't be long now).
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Apr 14, 2015 16:59
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Labradoodle posted:There's also the important point to be made, that at this point it's very likely that the military is the only thing holding the government back from drastic price adjustments to household staples, gas and the exchange rate. They've been flirting with these ideas for a while, but the military oversees smuggling through the borders in broad daylight and the exchange rate differentials make it the most loving lucrative business ever.
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Apr 14, 2015 17:14
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Ghost of Mussolini posted:Is the view that the military is holding the price adjustments back widespread? How well-known is the fact that the military is so thoroughly corrupt? I mean on an institutional level, everyone always knows someone who knows someone who's a corrupt officer, but is that abstracted to the armed forces as a whole or do they preserve the veneer of national service etc. etc.? I'm asking because the last thing you want in a situation like this is for a price adjustment to go completely tits-up (exactly like the Caracazo) and then have people come out of the woodwork saying "oh well the military was against it!!!" and just feed the cycle of terrible confrontational politics for a whole new decade. Everyone knows the military are the main smugglers in the country
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Apr 14, 2015 17:21
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ALL-PRO SEXMAN posted:Don't be dishonest. Both of them fall under the category of "obvious loons" that I specifically excluded from my comments. So in my post making fun of the crazy people in this thread you decided that I was actually referring to the not crazy people? Both Labradoodle and Chuck Boone have answered a number of questions I've had over the last year and I'm very appreciative of the effort posts they made in this thread. If you think I was calling the posters like that reactionaries then I'm gonna fall back on my previous position and say your head is wedged firmly up your own rear end. If you want to play the game of offended sanctimonious anger then pick a fight with HorseLord or BorneoJimmy, it will probably be much more enjoyable for both of you.
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Apr 14, 2015 17:21
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Now that the spat with the United States appears to be over, Maduro has decided to take issue with Spain. Yesterday, the Spanish lower house issued a statement calling for the release of Leopoldo Lopez, Antonio Ledezma, and others they consider to be "political prisoners" in the country. Last night, Maduro went on his television show (En Contacto con Maduro) and said this: quote:Venezuela will not allow itself to be assaulted by Spanish courts and a thousand courts from Madrid. That’s what I’m announcing, and I’m ready to fight against Madrid. If they look for us, they will find us. They found us. That’s what I’m saying. [Prime Minister] Rajoy, your abuses will end. Let all of Spain know it. Let the courts give their opinions. You can have an opinion about your mothers, but you can’t have an opinion about Venezuela. That’s enough. Abusive Spanish court, corrupt elite. Madrid has recently come to the forefront of PSUV conspiracy theories. The government argues that there's a Madrid-Miami-Bogota axis that finances the Venezuelan opposition and the psychological/media/economic war against the country. A really interesting facet of Maduro's tenure is his government's obsession with "respect" for the Venezuela people, its dignity and sovereignty (whatever that means). Maduro will often invoke this idea of respect when talking about anyone who speaks out against his government. A phrase he often repeats is, "Venezuela se respeta!" [Venezuela must be respected!]. It's interesting that while he claims to hold "respect" as sacrosanct, he doesn't bat an eye when it comes to saying whatever he wants about anybody he wants.
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Apr 15, 2015 23:06
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PerpetualSelf posted:How have Arab countries avoided these issues? By collapsing. I'd contrast Venezuela's course with Nigeria, more so than Ukraine. Similar economic and insurgent problems exist in Nigeria as in Venezuela, if not moreso due to the failure of Boko Haram to completely co-opt the Nigerian government as FARC in Venezuela. Due to continued devotion to democracy, Nigeria is in a much better position to weather out an era of low oil prices than Venezuela. Ultimately, I see no way for Venezuela to avoid a similar security situation as Nigeria, and would much rather the M. Discordia's emerge victorious from it than the Borneo Jimmy's. Chuck Boone posted:Now that the spat with the United States appears to be over, Maduro has decided to take issue with Spain. Maduro sounds like quite the Ghaddafi-esque dictator. My Imaginary GF fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Apr 15, 2015 |
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Apr 15, 2015 23:27
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My Imaginary GF posted:By collapsing. lol d&d is amazing
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Apr 16, 2015 00:38
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I told you guys that MIGF would be the perfect mod for LF 2: Reactionary Bugaloo.
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Apr 16, 2015 00:58
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It sounds like they are getting ready to push dollarization as a last hope punt. The hard reality of those $40 a month salaries are going to make things interesting though. Maduro is also talking about "Radicalizing the Revolucion." and "Forming Round Tables to Debate Radicalizing the Revolution" Sounds pretty scary to me. Wonder what we will be getting. Another Hundred Flowers Campaign? In good news since we talk so much about Colombia in this thread 3 major important Political figures from Alvaro Uribe's inner circle were found guilty and sentenced to 5-6 years for their role in the Yidispolitica scandal that involved bribing Senators to vote in favor of approval of a reelection law back during his first term. PerpetualSelf fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Apr 16, 2015 |
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Apr 16, 2015 02:11
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PerpetualSelf posted:"Forming Round Tables to Debate Radicalizing the Revolution" modernleftism.txt
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Apr 16, 2015 09:53
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wait, is the Maduro government seriously considering dollarization? That would be utterly astonishing.
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Apr 16, 2015 09:59
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ronya posted:wait, is the Maduro government seriously considering dollarization? That would be utterly astonishing. I do no belive that it is. This week, and economist suggested that dollarization would be relatively easy and quick to implement, but that is the only time I've heard that word and Venezuela in the same sentence. Unless there's a reliable source on this, I don't think it's true at all.
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Apr 16, 2015 11:37
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it's consistent under a theory of a hyperrational Maduro inner circle waging a subtle battle against their own subordinates, by making it steadily more difficult to fudge where the money is coming from or going to there's very little to indicate that there's a level of disciplined doublethink that would permit this, however
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Apr 16, 2015 11:58
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How do you implement something like that anyway? Would we have to buy the currency from the U.S.? How did Ecuador do it?
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Apr 16, 2015 15:33
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Panama and El Salvador are on the USD too.
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Apr 16, 2015 15:50
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What you do is basically stop issuing your domestic currency as legal tender, and fix an exchange rate and a time frame to trade-in the old currency for the new one. Its the same process when a country joins the Euro, for example. Panama has used the US dollar since 1904, and Ecuador since 2000 (I don't know about El Salvador), whats interesting is that both Panama and Ecuador also both mint their own coins (which are equal to American cents). What happens though is that you obviously lose control of monetary policy. I really don't think that Venezuela is going to dollarise, from an ideological point of view it seems like utter suicide. Correa's administration inherited dollars and it works well for Ecuador apparently, but to go and take initiative to adopt it? Seems extremely unlikely.
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Apr 16, 2015 17:05
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Yeah Maduro would never do it
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Apr 16, 2015 17:13
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ronya posted:it's consistent under a theory of a hyperrational Maduro inner circle waging a subtle battle against their own subordinates, by making it steadily more difficult to fudge where the money is coming from or going to Sure. In other words, if anyone is seriously thinking about it they haven't told anyone, so it's 100% speculation. There's really nothing to suggest this is happening/will ever happen.
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Apr 16, 2015 17:14
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Happy 2 year anniversary of Maduro being president. Hope you guys pop the champagne.
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Apr 20, 2015 17:02
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Wow! Two years! Maduro was out at a subsidized housing complex in Caracas the other day and took a moment to jump on a seesaw with Libertador municipality mayor Jorge Rodriguez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-QrvJ1OSp4 One of the big stories breaking right now is that the CNE (the body that oversees elections) appears to have been caught trying to gerrymander parliamentary districts ahead of the fall elections. The way they're trying to do it is by playing around with census data to re-distribute population weight in a way that would benefit the PSUV and harm the opposition. For example, the CNE is projecting that the population of Aragua state will rise 4.64% between June and December of this year, which will grant the state an extra seat in the National Assembly (Aragua is a PSUV state). The CNE projects that Miranda state will lose 5.36% of its population between June and December of this year, meaning that the state will lose one seat in the National Assembly (Miranda is an opposition state). Once a state crosses a certain population threshold, it can gain or lose additional deputies to the National Assembly. The way people caught on to the shennanigans has to do with population projections by the INE, the census people, and the way they measure up against the CNE projections, which try to estimate the population of the country's different districts for December 2015 (around the time of the election). For example, for Aragua, the table looks like this:
In other words, it looks like the CNE pulled numbers out of thin air to force states to lose/gain seats to benefit the PSUV. The National Assembly is going to vote (tomorrow, I believe) on whether or not to accept the CNE's projections and go ahead with the changes. Sumate has a breakdown of the figures here, in Spanish. Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Apr 21, 2015 |
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Apr 20, 2015 22:24
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Lol So much for that end to U.S. "meddling" Obama made such a fuss about. http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11346 quote:The United States is threatening the small Central American country of El Salvador with financial repercussions for having supported Venezuela's campaign seeking the repeal of sanctions against the country.
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Apr 22, 2015 00:48
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"Your statements make raising money for you harder" is totally accurate. The republican legislature might be convinced to spend money on reducing unauthorized immigration, but not on supporting anti-US demagogues. Thanks, Obama!
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Apr 22, 2015 01:11
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Borneo Jimmy posted:Lol So much for that end to U.S. "meddling" Obama made such a fuss about.
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Apr 22, 2015 02:45
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Omi-Polari posted:Wait, so how is this meddling? Its Borneo Jimmy, he's loving with you.
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Apr 22, 2015 03:13
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Cliff Racer posted:Its Borneo Jimmy, he's loving with you. And it's coming from Venezuelanalysis, which is unabashedly hardcore pro-PSUV. As in RT-but-for-Venezuela pro-PSUV. Yeah there's a kernel of truth in their articles, but it's always slathered in whatever language makes Venezuela look saintly. ComradeCosmobot fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Apr 22, 2015 |
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Apr 22, 2015 03:23
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ComradeCosmobot posted:And it's coming from Venezuelanalysis, which is unabashedly hardcore pro-PSUV. As in RT-but-for-Venezuela pro-PSUV. Yeah there's a kernel of truth in their articles, but it's always slathered in whatever language makes Venezuela look saintly. They're biased yes, but no more so than "serious" news sources which just credulously parrot the u.s. state department or the wealthy right wing opposition.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:26
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Borneo Jimmy posted:They're biased yes, but no more so than "serious" news sources which just credulously parrot the u.s. state department or the wealthy right wing opposition. 2/10, needs work. Omi-Polari posted:Wait, so how is this meddling? America bad!!
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Apr 22, 2015 04:28
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Borneo Jimmy posted:They're biased yes, but no more so than "serious" news sources which just credulously parrot the u.s. state department or the wealthy right wing opposition. Aren't you special, Jimmy. Whats your angle? Are you trying to get yourself some air time on RT as a "Venezuela Policy Expert"? Seems like you're after something with your posting, Jimmy.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:28
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Why yes, they're biased, but no more biased than this other biased media. No, whether it's true or not is beside the point.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:33
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I don't think there exists such a thing as an unbiased news source tbf, at least not in the political world, everyone has an agenda.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:44
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El Hefe posted:I don't think there exists such a thing as an unbiased news source tbf, at least not in the political world, everyone has an agenda. Sure, and sometimes that agenda is to convey the truth.
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Apr 22, 2015 05:27
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See for Borneo anything that is opposed to his viewpoint on things is "parroting" the state department. He doesn't care about reality or the truth on the ground. He cares about what fits into his own self defined views of what are happening. In a way he's kind of like a Christian Fundamentalist who refuses to accept evolution. Or a republican that refuses to accept that trickle down economics doesn't work.
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Apr 22, 2015 17:48
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So what exactly is inaccurate in the VA article I posted? Its quite clear that Latin America is united in standing up against Obama's pathetic attempts to turn Venezuela into a regional pariah in order to appease the shrill Oligarchs in Miami. The sanctions have backfired.
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Apr 22, 2015 19:53
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Borneo Jimmy posted:So what exactly is inaccurate in the VA article I posted? Its quite clear that Latin America is united in standing up against Obama's pathetic attempts to turn Venezuela into a regional pariah in order to appease the shrill Oligarchs in Miami. The sanctions have backfired. This is just us saying "if you oppose our diplomatic efforts, we will give you less money". I suppose that's meddling, as far as any foreign policy is meddling. The US is allowed to do that, there's nothing wrong with it, and trying to act like it is a brutal act of imperialism is sad and embarrassing, but typical for people and news sources that act like restricting the personal bank accounts of a handful of kleptocrats is an assault on Venezuelan sovereignty. The problem with crying wolf like this is it makes you very hard to take seriously, as you can see by the responses you're getting.
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Apr 22, 2015 20:10
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Adventure Pigeon posted:This is just us saying "if you oppose our diplomatic efforts, we will give you less money". I suppose that's meddling, as far as any foreign policy is meddling. The US is allowed to do that, there's nothing wrong with it, and trying to act like it is a brutal act of imperialism is sad and embarrassing, but typical for people and news sources that act like restricting the personal bank accounts of a handful of kleptocrats is an assault on Venezuelan sovereignty. That said, even Colombia has voiced concerns about it. I think it is a stupid move by the US and you don't have to support Maduro to see it. While I don't agree with much of what BJ posts, the slamming he is getting for posting that article is really over the top. Ideology is a blood sport I guess.
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Apr 22, 2015 20:21
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Borneo Jimmy posted:So what exactly is inaccurate in the VA article I posted? Its quite clear that Latin America is united in standing up against Obama's pathetic attempts to turn Venezuela into a regional pariah in order to appease the shrill Oligarchs in Miami. The sanctions have backfired. Obama isn't the one making Venezuela into a regional pariah, that's Maduro and the Miami crew only care about Cuba.
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Apr 22, 2015 20:25
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Is the problem with the sanctions or the fact that Venezuela is labeled a threat to the US?
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Apr 22, 2015 20:33
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Kurtofan posted:Is the problem with the sanctions or the fact that Venezuela is labeled a threat to the US? The problem, from Jimmy's perspective, is that the world has moved on from his reflexive anti-Americanism and chosen not to take his views seriously.
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Apr 22, 2015 20:37
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