Friday, October 31, 2014

How Venezuelan Authorities Treat the Opposition

from El Universal
Detained opposition leader and founder of political party Voluntad Popular, Leopoldo López, and deposed mayor of San Cristobal, Táchira state, Daniel Ceballos, are being subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman treatment inside Ramo Verde military prison, northern Miranda state, as reported by the dissenters' wives, Lilian Tintori and Patricia Gutiérrez.

Tintori and Gutiérrez revealed that feces have even thrown at inmates through the cell bars.

"On Saturday, October 24, early morning, they would not let them sleep. That early morning, Mr. Homero Miranda, who does not deserve to be called colonel, the director of Ramo Verde (prison), knowingly ordered their police officers to defecate in plastic bags, and they knotted the bags with ropes. Later, the police agents went up to the rooftop and hit the bags against the window bars until the bags tore, so the feces fell over Leopoldo (López), Daniel (Ceballos), Enzo (Scarano), and (San Diego police chief) Salvatore (Lucchese). Homero Miranda committed this miserable assault, following orders of (President) Nicolás Maduro," stressed Gutiérrez, according to a communiqué issued by party Voluntad Popular.

Detained dissenters Leopoldo López, Daniel Ceballos, Enzo Scarano, and Salvatore Lucchese are being prosecuted for their alleged involvement in street violence during the wave of anti-government protests staged between February and June.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Monday, October 20, 2014

Friday, October 17, 2014

Uncle Sam is Now the Pusherman, Folks!

from Xinhuanet.com
CARACAS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday blamed Washington for the slump in global oil prices.

Washington is "flooding" the market with cheaper shale oil to bring down prices and ultimately impact Russia and other oil-producing nations, Maduro said at a televised Cabinet meeting.

"The U.S. and its allies want to affect oil prices to harm Russia, which produces around 10 million barrels per day, and that is the vital income of their economy," said Maduro.

Market analysts say a 20-percent dip in oil prices since June is driven by lower economic growth and weak demand for crude in Europe, along with signs that the core Gulf members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are in no hurry to cut production.

Maduro called for an extraordinary meeting of the group to explore ways to stabilize international oil prices.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

75% Chance of Venezuelan Default in Next 5 Years

Keep oil Priced below $85 per barrel and make it 100%
The cost of protecting Venezuela’s debt against non-payment with five-year credit-default swaps, already the highest in the world, soared 2.13 percentage points this week to a five-year high of 19.89 percentage points yesterday, according to data provider CMA.

The level implies a 75 percent chance that Venezuela will default in the next five years.

PDVSA’s bonds due November 2017 fell 4.63 cents yesterday to 68.26 cents on the dollar, pushing yields to a record high of 23.76 percent. The company has $3 billion of debt payments due on Oct. 28.

Venezuela paid back $1.5 billion of debt that matured Oct. 8, reducing foreign reserves to an 11-year low of $19.8 billion.
Bloomberg