Venezuela

Venezuela's Supreme Court Takes Over Opposition-controlled Congress

... Over Opposition-Controlled Congress. Heard on All Things Considered. John Otis. In a move critics are calling the point of no return toward a dictatorship, Venezuela's Supreme Court took over the opposition-controlled Congress. The court ruled Congress "in contempt' and said it would take over all "parliamentary capacities.". ARI SHAPIRO, HOST. In Venezuela, the supreme court has effectively shut down the congress, and the congress was the only branch of government not controlled by the ruling Socialist Party. Critics are calling this a major blow to democracy. Reporter John Otis has more. JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: In a ruling late Wednesday night, the supreme court declared that the National Assembly, the name for Venezuela's congress, was in contempt and that the court would assume legislative functions. That decision puts even more power in the hands of Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, because, according to many analysts, the supreme court answers to him. Opposition lawmakers were quick to react. (SOUNDBITE OF ...

Venezuela In Political Crisis After Supreme Court Takes Over Legislature

... democracy has kind of become the norm. Is that changing here. DREIER: Yeah, well, that's what everybody is talking about right now down here. They're asking - has Venezuela become the second country in Latin America that's not a full democracy? And it's not clear. When does a democracy become a dictatorship? But a lot of people are saying, when you abolish a branch of power, that's a pretty good sign. GREENE: Is Cuba the other country you're talking about, I would imagine. DREIER: Cuba would be the other country. GREENE: OK. Well - so opponents of President Maduro effectively saying he's a dictator and that this is a huge deal. I suppose that when you see powerful, authoritarian leaders, sometimes they are popular because they're actually getting things done. I mean, is he doing anything to restore the economy, to restore stability in this country. DREIER: Yeah, one thing that you hear a lot down here is that Maduro's become kind of like a wounded dog. Like, he's not popular. Things are going very badly. His popularity ratings have sunk below 20 percent. People's lives have become ...

Emerging Markets-venezuela Bonds Tank; Mexico Peso Takes A Breather

... country's high court late Wednesday was met with international condemnation and street protests, and on Friday the fallout intensified when Venezuela's attorney general broke ranks with President Nicolas Maduro and rebuked the judiciary for its move. Mexico's peso weakened about 0.5 percent after the nation's central bank slowed the pace of interest rate hikes, raising its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage-point to 6.50 percent, following four straight 50-basis-point hikes. The move followed a 10 percent increase in the value of the peso so far this year, which helped ease inflationary pressures. Bets that U. S. President Donald Trump will not impose big tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States lifted the currency from a slump last year - its steepest since 2008. Lower iron ore prices dragged on demand for Brazilian assets, with shares of miner Vale SA falling more than 1 percent. Losses were limited by rising shares of wood pulp and paper producers, such as Fibria Celulose SA and Klabin SA , on hopes that a rebound in pulp prices would continue ...

Venezuela’s Socialist Government Seals Its Fate And Makes Violent Revolution Inevitable

... meaning, quite possibly, Maduro himself. Its rationale was that the MUD had tried to seat three legislators whose elections were allegedly tainted by fraud, but it could have been anything: tyrannical rule needs only the flimsiest of excuses. Venezuela, once emphatically touted as a redoubt of democratic socialism, has now been plunged into the shadow of one-man rule, with the will of the people extinguished, likely for good. The result was fury and protest, though perhaps not surprise—Venezuelans had become accustomed to the MUD’s impotence against Maduro. Still, the gumption is something to behold. In America, left-wing judges like to pretend that they’re legislators; in Venezuela, they’ve gone and made themselves the genuine article. The president of the assembly, Julio Borges, is now actively exhorting the military to mount a coup : “We know that FAN officers are also going through drama caused by the high cost of life,” he said. “We want to make a call on them to be the first guardians of democracy and the Venezuelan Constitution and ...

He Went From Being Kidnapped In Venezuela To Training A Kentucky Derby Contender

... Sano, who has a soft-spoken, gentlemanly demeanor, stroked Gunnevera’s nose as he discussed his attributes. “I liked the Unbridled line in his pedigree, that style, that height, the long stride and the endurance. “He is for me the opportunity of a lifetime.”. Salomon Del Valle, a construction company owner from Valencia, Venezuela, who owns the horse with son-in-law Guillermo Guerra and Miami businessman Jaime Diaz, who is from Spain, said Gunnevera is “the most clever horse I’ve met in 28 years working with Antonio.”. “There’s a pigeon in the barn that interacts with Gunnevera every day, sits on his back — I’ve never seen anything like it,” Del Valle said. “When I went to see him on Monday, he stopped eating to interact with me.”. Del Valle helped rescue Sano from his kidnappers in 2009 by delivering the ransom money — they had demanded nearly 700,000 Bolivars, about $320,000 at that time — to a drop point in a vacant lot. Sano’s family was only able to raise the money by cleaning out their savings, selling their cars and collecting donations from relatives ...

Are Gulf Oil Producers Falling Into The ‘venezuela Trap

... schemes, desperate for cash as oil prices stubbornly refuse to go up to the levels they need. Will these producers fall into the trap that has already claimed Venezuela. The South American country that is home to the largest oil reserves in the world owes China and Russia around $50 billion. The loans were provided in exchange for crude oil deliveries that Venezuela is now struggling to make. The problem with loan-for-oil schemes is that it can cost the supplier market share in other countries. For Venezuela, this was India. After years of consistently building its presence in the Indian market – one of the top three in terms of oil consumption – PDVSA was forced to start reducing shipments to Indian refineries in order to meet its oil obligations to China and Russia. Kazakhstan is another country that has turned to loan-for-oil schemes in difficult times. State-owned Kazmunaigaz closed a $3-billion deal with Vitol in 2015 to repay debts. In exchange for the advance payment, the company undertook to transfer ...

Venezuela Leader Urges Court To Review Ruling On Congress

... by congress, the high court could assume the constitutionally assigned powers of the National Assembly, which has been controlled by the opposition since it won a landslide victory in elections in late 2015. Friday brought a second day of condemnations of the ruling by the United States and governments across Latin America. The head of the Organization of American States likened the decision to a “self-inflicted coup” by the leftist Maduro, and the United Nations’ top human rights official urged the high court to reverse its decision. The OAS announced that it would hold an emergency meeting at its Washington headquarters Monday to discuss the situation in Venezuela. Opposition leaders, who have been during 17 years of socialist rule, called on other public officials to follow Ortega Diaz’s example in repudiating the court’s ...

Venezuela's Raging Homicide Epidemic Is Going Unrecorded

... soon. It is next to impossible to make effective public policy without reliable data. Over the last decade, Venezuela has implemented no less than a dozen anti-crime initiatives , with no visible results to show for them. In fact, there are signs that these operations actually worsened the situation by militarizing public security and stigmatizing poor communities. Curiously, Venezuelans appear to be hopeful that the government can reduce violent crime. According to the Vanderbilt survey, 70% of citizens feel that public authorities should take the lead in preventing homicide, though most rejected “iron fist” measures involving repressive police action and stiffer penalties. More than 50% of Venezuelans reject the death penalty for people convicted of murder, and 63% said that prevention measures, particularly education and employment, would be the most effective way to curtail crime. Reducing homicide is difficult, but not impossible. Many countries and cities across Latin America have successfully lowered their homicide rates after setting targets, introducing data-driven policies, and sticking to ...