Thursday, July 14, 2016

The Army Steps In In Venezuela


Venezuela has been hard hit by a severe economic crisis triggered by the collapse of global crude prices– the country’s principal source of export earnings–which has led to soaring triple-digit inflation as well as acute shortages of food and medicine.
Maduro has blamed much of the crisis on economic destabilization by foreign transnationals, who he has accused of lining their pockets with state dollars yet refusing to invest in production and imports.- This begs a comment. Who but the government is responsible for Polar and foreign transnationals getting cheap dollars from the government? 
The new mission is intended to combat the country’s “criminal” black market economy believed to be driving inflation and will be headed by the presidential military command under Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
Maduro further specified that the initiative will consist of six “micro-missions” dedicated to the production of seeds, animal protein, balanced food, cleaning and personal hygiene products, as well as the regionalizing of school meal menus and the supply of essential medicines.
In addition to promoting production and new mining activities, the Maduro government has also promised greater imports to offset the crisis’ impact on ordinary Venezuelans.
On Monday, the South American country received a much-anticipated shipment of 400 tons of food from Trinidad and Tobago as part of a US $26.9 million deal signed last month...

These six paragraphs tell us so much about the Venezuelanalysis's editors' estimate of their readers' intelligence. 

Back in April of 2013 petroleum prices were twice what they are now. Venezuelanalysis was reporting on government measures to combat food shortages including talks with the Polar Foods private food distribution giant that was receiving cheap dollars from the government in order to sell food cheaply to the Venezuelan people. 



The big news from Venezuela analysis is that the Army is taking over food production and distribution as well as "new mining." The Army's top general, Padrino López,  has been appointed virtual Co-President which hopefully is good news. That the government has made a deal with Trinidad and Tobago to import a dollar's worth of food per Venezuelan isn't significant.

I'm wishing General Padrino López good luck and success. And may the rains continue and petroleum prices continue to rise.

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