Wall Street Journal (January 31)
“President Trump’s advisers are considering several offramps to avoid enacting the universal tariffs on Mexico and Canada that he had pledged.” Even if Trump implements tariffs, the “frantic negotiations with Canada and Mexico” might continue, hoping to reach a resolution before the measures come into effect. Increasingly, North American businesses and labor groups are arguing that “across-the-board tariffs would snarl continental supply chains, drive up prices, and increase reliance on trade with adversarial regimes such as China and Venezuela.” Still, “the situation is fluid and Trump still may go through with his vow to slap 25%, across-the-board levies on imports from America’s two largest trading partners.”
Tags: Advisers, Businesses, Canada, China, Fluid, Labor, Mexico, Negotiations, Offramps, Prices, Supply chains, Trump, Universal tariffs, Venezuela
The Hill (November 18)
“Next year, the number of Venezuelans fleeing their country will overtake the Syrian exodus. To date, more than 4 million have left. One-third of these refugees and migrants are sheltering in Colombia, which has maintained a very generous open-door policy,” but is showing signs of being overwhelmed. Colombia “indeed appears headed towards a tipping point. Such an outcome would exacerbate the regional humanitarian crisis triggered by Venezuela’s collapse.”
Tags: Collapse, Colombia, Exodus, Fleeing, Generous, Humanitarian crisis, Migrants, Overwhelmed, Refugees, Sheltering, Syria, Tipping point, Venezuela
New York Times (May 2)
“What the Venezuelan opposition boldly proclaimed on Tuesday as a ‘final phase’ in the opposition’s three-month campaign to oust the Venezuelan strongman, Nicolás Maduro, fizzled out by Wednesday, leaving behind murky claims of secret talks gone wrong, defectors who didn’t defect and Russian and Cuban meddling. What comes next was even less clear than before.”
Tags: Cuba, Defectors, Final phase, Fizzled, Maduro, Meddling, Murky, Opposition, Russia, Strongman, Venezuela
The Times (March 11)
“Although sporadic electricity supplies returned to Caracas and other cities yesterday, millions of Venezuelans were still without power after more than 60 hours, the longest blackout in the country’s modern history.”
Tags: 60 hours, Caracas, Electricity, Longest blackout, Modern history, Power, Sporadic, Venezuela
Wall Street Journal (March 10)
“The Venezuelan dictatorship is trying to use a nationwide power outage against its political opposition by claiming sabotage.” A more plausible reason is “the colossal failure… to invest in the country’s decrepit hydroelectric plants…. The blackout and the chaos that has ensued is a metaphor for the catastrophe known as Venezuela. Every aspect of the nation’s infrastructure, physical and institutional, has broken down.”
Tags: Blackout, Broken down, Chaos, Colossal failure, Dictatorship, Hydroelectric, Infrastructure, Power outage, Sabotage, Venezuela
Reuters (February 1)
“Socialist President Nicolas Maduro is under intense pressure to step down, with Venezuela in deep economic crisis and the government facing widespread international condemnation for elections last year seen as fraudulent.” It appears he is making plans “to sell 29 tonnes of gold held in Caracas to the United Arab Emirates by February in order to provide liquidity for imports of basic goods.”
Tags: Basic goods, Condemnation, Crisis, Elections, Gold, Imports, Liquidity, Maduro, Pressure, Socialist, UAE, Venezuela
The Independent (April 8)
“As the international swooning over the young, vigorous and cool French President Emmanuel Macron continues almost unabated, a dissident voice has piped up that will play well for this (so far) very lucky politician.” Very few French are likely to side with Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who called Macron a wimp and a hit man, and also alleged he was destroying France.
New York Times (June 20)
“Venezuela is convulsing from hunger,” with over 50 food riots in just the last two weeks. The mobs storming supermarkets, restaurants and stores for anything edible are showing that even in the “country with the largest oil reserves in the world, it is possible for people to riot because there is not enough food.”
Tags: Convulsing, Food riots, Hunger, Mobs, Oil reserves, Restaurants, Stores, Supermarkets, Venezuela
Washington Post (January 19)
The drop in oil prices is hitting Venezuela, Russia and Iran hard. These “three troublesome nations” rely on energy exports for 68-95% of their external revenue. Venezuela now “appears on the edge of a political chasm. Putin will try to fend off domestic upheaval with more foreign aggression. And Iran will make a fateful choice between forging a lifeline to the United States and Europe and consciously embracing isolation and harsh austerity.”
Tags: Aggression, Austerity, Chasm, Energy, Europe, Exports, Iran, Isolation, Oil prices, Putin, Russia, U.S., Venezuela
Bloomberg (January 2)
“Venezuela had a banner year in 2014: the world’s highest misery index (inflation plus unemployment), a fresh recession, and a currency whose black-market value plunged faster than even the Russian ruble…. Unfortunately, President Nicolas Maduro doesn’t seem to have any good ideas — any ideas at all, really — for improving things.”
Tags: Black-market value, Currency, Inflation, Misery index, Nicolas Maduro, Recession, Ruble, Russia, Unemployment, Venezuela