Over the coming days I will be emailing this message to public opinion making sectors in the US and Canada
I am emailing this message to poli sci faculty across North America. Also will be sending one out to media and legislators.
Venezuela Reader. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Banned by Facebook for reasons unknown.
https://venezuelareaderthetruth(dot)blogspot(dot) com
Dear Faculty Member.
You are receiving this email one time only. It is my hope to introduce a unique perspective on the issue of Venezuela. I am sending this link to many Poli Sci faculty members across the United States and Canada. I hope you find the time to read these posts.
I'm telling you a deal is going down in Venezuela.
Only 8 months after proposing a private army to overthrow Maduro According to the Associated Press Founder of the Blackwater mercenary army, Erik Prince, met in secret with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez
Share on social networks:
By Aporrea
Friday, 12/13/2019 07:13 PM

Erik Prince, director of the Blackwater company, traveled to Caracas in November to meet with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.
Credit: Archive
December 13, 2019.- Erik Prince, a controversial US multi-millionaire and close ally of US President Donald Trump, held a secret meeting with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, according to the AP agency, citing five sources.
The meeting took place at the residence of the Venezuelan vice president at the end of November, according to sources.
Prince is the founder of the controversial Blackwater security company, which provides services of mercenaries or private armies, as well as military training. Blackwater generated worldwide repudiation when in 2007, several of its mercenaries hired by the Pentagon during the occupation of Iraq killed Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad.
The businessman is a member of the Republican party and Trump's personal friend, whom he has served as an emissary in secret negotiations.
Prince is also the brother of Trump's Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, so it could be speculated that he would carry a personal message from Trump to the Maduro government.
The right-wing businessman's visit to Venezuela comes eight months since he proposed a plan to form a private army to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Both Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and her brother, Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez, declined to testify on the matter, according to the AP.
A spokesman for the Donald Trump regime denied that the meeting represents a stealth attempt by the US government. to turn aside the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, and seek an arrangement with Maduro, to which the US He does not recognize as president.
Maduro, throughout his term, has sought in several ways an approach with Trump, which he has jokedly referred to as "comrade . " The efforts began with a donation of $ 500,000 for Trump's inauguration , through the Venezuelan oil company Citgo and then through the hiring of lobbying funds . The efforts have not borne fruit and Trump has implemented severe economic sanctions against Maduro with a view to overthrowing him.
Note read approximately 3125 times.
Share on social networks:
The most read News

As far as I can tell none of the players gives a tinker's damn about the majority of Venezuelans. Venezuela now has a new exploitable resource alongside the oil, natural gas, coltan, gold, diamonds, water, soil and sun. It's called cheap labor. People in Venezuela are now working for as little as three dollars and change a month. I don't think this has escaped Wall Street's attention nor Russian oligarchs, market socialists, nor the thieves who run the political circus.
Some background information is helpful in order to understand the importance of the development of legislation passing Venezuela's National Assembly.
The Opposition won the election of December 2015 with 56% of the vote. They had a 2/3 majority. This gave them enormous leverage to create problems for President Maduro's government. It was found, (or "found") that two opposition delegates were elected by fraudulent means. The Assembly didn't dismiss them.
Neither vote was rerun and there were no criminal charges connected to the fraudulent (or perhaps "fraudulent") votes.
There followed an attempt to recall President Maduro, and this was declared unlawful by the newly named Supreme Court who had been installed by the lame duck outgoing 100% government aligned Assembly.
There followed months of turmoil and violent opposition demonstrations whose stated goal was to force the government out, to overthrow it. The government moved to create a new extra constitutional legislative body - The National Constituent Assembly which was said to have plenipotentiary powers and was to rewrite the Constitution of 1999 (a result of a democratic process carried out in the early days of President Chavez' first term. The opposition boycotted the vote and so have zero representation in it.
The Constitution was never rewritten and the problems that led to the opposition victory were not effectively addressed. There was one major accomplishment that shouldn't be overlooked however. The opposition lost morale and the near civil war in the streets came to a fizzling halt.
The National Assembly had been declared to be in contempt and the pro government delegation left en masse.
All along secret negotiations had been going on between the Maduro government and the opposition. The negotiations were near to a resolution when suddenly the opposition figuratively kicked the negotiation table over. It was believed that they had received orders from Washington or Bogata to scuttle the agreement.
Since then the United States has upped severe sanctions against Venezuela that have increased the already considerable suffering of the population.
Juan Guaido, an alternate delegate to the Assembly was rotational President of that body when in response to the election of Nicolas Maduro to a second term the Assembly declared the election null and void. A majority of the opposition had boycotted the vote.
Recently the pro government delegation has returned to the National Assembly. Talks are underway to reform the electoral council, a key opposition demand.
Parliament approved controversial agreement to address electricity crisis in Venezuela
Jessica Dirinot | December 10, 2019
twitter
Facebook
Caracas.- Officialism and opposition approved unanimously in Parliament on Tuesday a controversial agreement that provides for the mixed creation of a group of parliamentarians whose essential function will be to evaluate the Draft Law Approving the Mechanism for Financial and Technical Assistance to the Humanitarian Emergency of the Sector Electric, an instrument that opens the doors for financing for at least 350 million dollars to address the energy crisis in the states Zulia, Táchira, Mérida, Lara and Nueva Esparta. "This does not mean the recognition of the dictatorship," said legislator Avilio Troconis.
Also read: Guaidó created Presidential Commission to investigate “ecocide” derived by the Mining Arc
The Venezuelan Parliament gave the green light to the so-called "Agreement to find solutions that face the complex electrical humanitarian emergency resulting from the corruption of the Nicolás Maduro regime", a controversial point at which both official and opposition deputies - in their own way - recognized that there is an electrical emergency in Venezuela, with an emphasis on the states Zulia, Táchira, Mérida, Lara and Nueva Esparta.
The sanction of the Agreement paves the way for organizations such as the Andean Development Community (CAF) to grant loans for at least 350 million dollars to address the country's electricity crisis, a point contemplated in the Draft Law Approving the Financial Assistance Mechanism and Technique before the Humanitarian Emergency of the Electric Sector, which has not yet passed from the first discussion.
Some opposition leaders argued in the last session that the request implied recognition of Maduro's regime, de facto declared by the legislative body on January 5. However, opposition deputies such as Avilio Troconis, said that the approval of the Agreement does not imply recognition of Maduro, while the deputy of Chavismo, Pedro Santaella, said "be happy" for the step taken by the opposition.
“If it is necessary to bring Zulia to this Assembly so that his voice is heard, we will do it”
The deputy for the opposition bench, Enrique Márquez, was the first to take the floor at this point of discussion, expressing his rejection of the deterioration of the Zulia state, which - in his opinion - has affected the quality of life of the Zuliano, reason why which reiterated its commitment to work according to the project promoted by Parliament.
“We go to the last consequences with this law. There we will go to push it. If it is necessary to bring Zulia to this National Assembly so that his voice is heard, we will do it, because it is not about anything, it is about the destruction of a state. Of the destruction of the way of life and the economy of that province from which centralism has turned its back on it, ”he said.
For his part, parliamentarian Ezequiel Pérez, also for the opposition, condemned that citizens in the 21st century are obliged to “back down” about 70 years ago, in terms of their quality of life, as a result of failures electric that present states of the interior of the country.
“Today we have returned backwards, lighting up many times with oil lamps (…) All this because of a lack of maintenance by the Government. That is a violation of human rights. I join Enrique Marquez's request. If we ask that this agreement be approved, it would be good because a solution can be found so that it does not follow this disorder that we have. In Táchira it is between 4 and 15 hours a day that the light goes out, ”he denounced.
"I hope I am not deceived"
While opposition parliamentarians resumed their seats to listen to the ruling of the ruling party, MP Victoria Mata added in her minutes of debate that the resources approved to address the situation in Zulia will not be administered by the national government: “This is a request from civil society, ”he said.
He also asked that the law under discussion should not be “broken down” by the National Assembly directive, since, according to his experience, he can attest that these are the actions that usually identify the political parties, Popular Will and First Justice. In this regard, he welcomed the initiative to propose a project for the attention of the electrical situation in the country; nevertheless, he indicated that "there is no real will (on the part of the opposition) because the political question can more, than really go in favor of the people's interests".
"I'm leaving very happy, given the step taken by the opposition"
For the deputy Pedro Santaella, for the fraction of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), it is an achievement that “the step taken by the opposition” with respect to the approval of a project that addresses the electrical situation in the interior of the country , especially in the state of Zulia. “I am very happy, given the step that the opposition has taken (…) This step that was taken so important, but that really does not have those hairy hands that always arrive and give a speech to this country, and then deceive the laws simply on a whim to harm the national government, ”the parliamentarian agreed with his partner Mata.
In this way, he alerted the citizens who live in the state of Zulia, Nueva Esparta and Táchira, to keep an eye on the fulfillment of the objectives proposed by the electrical emergency project: “Because one thing is what is said to the country in the media, and another that they do. There they don't care if children die or old people die, ”he said.
“They have done all kinds of maneuvers to harm the Government. We have to agree and push this country forward. I thank God for the great step that has been taken today, ”he concluded.
"That this does not mean the recognition of this dictatorship"
Before the end of the regular session, Deputy Avilio Troconis clarified in his right to speak that the unanimous approval of this project should not mean that the opposition fraction of Parliament supports and recognizes this "dictatorship." He also said that the task of the deputies is to analyze and study the projects that benefit Venezuelans.
“We as deputies intend to analyze and study this bill, and any other initiative, but that does not mean the recognition of this dictatorship. From this commission we will be monitoring all the proposals (…) we will accept any initiative to analyze and study the certain possibility that the electrical problem will be solved in the state of Zulia and several states of the country, ”he said.
Finally, he reiterated that the electrical crisis not only goes through Zulia, but also Táchira, Lara, Mérida and Nueva Esparta, as well as much of Venezuela. “This tragedy has one responsible, and it is this Government. We from Zulia are going to be aware of this because what is true is that we are looking for a solution. ”
Project Approved
Taking into account the critical situation that the country is going through in social, political and economic matters, whose consequences have eroded the quality of life of Venezuelans, especially those living in the interior of the country, the sanctioned project agrees to the mixed creation of a group of parliamentarians who can discuss, analyze and generate other proposals that can be submitted to the Andean community for the execution of palliative immediately for the Zulia state.
This project will also be analyzed by the United Nations Organization (UN), through the Program of the Institution for Development, which is the global network of the UN, in order to support the technical and financial assistance of the humanitarian crisis, and any another project that is presented by the AN for emergency electric care in the country.
Noam Chomsky got down and dirty with Venezuela back in 2015. Some of his criticisms are relevant today , although Chomsky really went over the top when he compared Venezuela and its problems with the so-called South Korean “economic miracle”. I blogged about this unfair comparison, and it’s implicit support for South Korea having sold its soul to the devil. I tried to bring my criticism to Chomsky’s attention. Part of the persona of Noam Chomsky is the belief that he tries to read all his mail and answer. I know he’s a busy guy and he was a busy guy three years ago but I still wonder what he thinks about the South Korean “economic miracle.” I still wonder, given this comparison that he made, what he would advise the government of Venezuela to do right now in the real world.
I’m going to try to bring this thing to his attention again, Chomsky that is, and for that matter the government of Venezuela.
Buthttp://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article33587 (currently a dead link - edit)
Update - the link to Chomsky's interview is dead. We have evidence though that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro was upset about something Noam Chomsky had to say in October of 2015.
Chomsky compares Venezuela to South Korea and Venezuela's president Nicholas Maduro wants to talk with Chomsky. They ought to share watching this ten minute video. Did Chomsky know that renting 300,000 mercenaries to the United States to rape and murder Vietnamese was a big factor in South Korea's "miracle"?
A couple of weeks ago(2015) Noam Chomsky gave an interview to perfil.com that has, I think, cut many Venezuelans to the quick.
Now, personally this is one of the toughest writing assignments I’ve ever given myself. Chomsky is an icon of the left. I count myself on the left too. So many ill willed rightists attack him that anyone who draws a line between Chomsky and himself might be accused of being a rightist who is really attacking the left. On top of that much of the left adores the memory of Hugo Chavez andidealizes Venezuela that I want to choke rather than agree with any of Chomsky ' s attack on the status quo of Venezuela. Yet, through personal connection I’ve fallen in love with Venezuela and care too personally and deeply to not tell the truth.
Venezuela's situation is a mess. I've written about it here. Chomsky says the problem is corruption. Well, true- the corruption in Venezuela is monumental.
Having the world's largest oil reserves and having had year after year of high oil prices just like Chomsky says, the country has made no progress towards the goals of food sovereignty and industrial development.
Chomsky says that the legacy of Chavez is disaster. Hugo Chavez, the same man who waived Chomsky ' s book during a speech to the General Assembly and urged one and all to read this man's writing. That same Chomsky now calls the legacy of the same now dead President a disaster.
Chavez's hand picked successor Nicholas Maduro, clearly hurt, invited Chomsky to Venezuela to talk, look around and find out that he's wrong.
I wish I could advise President Maduro to shave his mustache, disguise himself as a cross country trucker and travel from Caracas to the Colombian border like I did a year ago. But he should take Chomsky with him, maybe disguised as his helper. They should take three weeks, not three days like I did, and they should park the truck in a score of town and village squares, strike up conversations, accept invitations to dinners and knock on the locked doors of Venezuela’s free medical clinics. They should visit some hospitals and chat with patients and staff.. Of course this is a fantasy. It could never happen. Too bad.
And Chomsky should shut up about comparing Venezuela to South Korea. You see it’s true that South Korea was once dirt poor and now it’s a prosperous industrial powerhouse while Venezuela was once never an industrial powerhouse but was rich in a distorted lopsided sort of way and is now poor in a lopsided and distorted way.
South Korea is rich due to a decades long brutal Stalinesque forced march to primitive accumulation. As important though is the fact that South Korea rented out 300,000 mercenaries to fight America’s war in Vietnam. Also South Korea has a nationalized banking system. Venezuela does not. South Korea followed policies opposite of the IMF and World Bank usual prescription. Protectionism, not Free Trade. FIVE YEAR PLANS, not deregulation. Magnates threatened with jail, not overseas shopping sprees.
President Maduro should probably sit down with Colonel Jose Martin Raga, Nicmer Evans, and Chavista former leaders who never rode the gravy train.
Maybe also should invite losing Presidential candidate Henry Falcon, Francisco Rodriguez of Torino Capital and some reasonable oppositionists. (This paragraph is an update.)
According to the most recent studies, 53.8% of transactions in the country are currently made in the US currency.
Does the phenomenon of dollarization is here to stay in Venezuela?
By Actualidad.RT / Jessica Dos Santos
Wednesday, 12/11/2019 09:57 PM
A man pays for his purchases with US dollars in a store in Caracas, Venezuela Credit: Ariana Cubillos / AP
December 11, 2019.-
According to some economic experts, of the most varied political ideologies, Venezuela would have experienced, in recent weeks, a certain revival of the economy, a statement that is based on the rebound in economic transactions.
"What we are living is a small economic recovery after all that monstrous fall we have had and, depending on what happens in the interim of the first quarters of the year, that recovery can be pronounced a little, I am not talking about something definitive or that the crisis is over, but I think next year will be a little better, " said economist Daniel Lahoud.
Similarly, the economic analyst Tomás Socías López considers that in the last days there have been "some beginnings of movements and activation of the economy".
"It is estimated that sales have increased close to 20 % . There is a greater influx to establishments and an increase in sales, especially of household appliances, which has had more growth in recent days," said Socias López.
In fact, the merchants of the country decided, for the first time in the history of the nation, to replicate the American experience called 'Black Friday' in order to increase sales. But not all economists consider that a symptom of recovery.
Venezuelans look at products while shopping during Black Friday - Mario Caicedo / Reuters
"For me, this refers to the seasonal phenomenon of Christmas shopping, which always marks a contrast with the rest of the year. Last year there was also a live-up experience, although on a smaller scale, encouraged by remittances sent just for that purpose. Christmas, but this year, in addition to remittances, we have bonus payments and some in dollars, to which we must add the fact that in the economy the dollars are circulating more , they are no longer used only for hoarding or special payments, but they have more and more acceptance, "explains sociologist and political economist Luis Salas to RT, who believes that" the test to talk about a recovery is not December but the first quarter of the year 2020. "
Meanwhile, economist Luis Enrique Gavazut adds another edge. "That there is a slight increase in sales does not reflect an economic recovery. The de facto dollarization process has led to a greater presence and use of foreign exchange, which has slightly increased imports of final consumer products and the acquisition of But it is not an increase in the supply for investment and national production , which is what is really needed, "he explains in dialogue with this medium.
Luis Enrique Gavazut, economist
"There is severe restriction of monetary liquidity in bolivars. By not having how to change currencies to bolivars, they use them directly, and this has increased the circulation of the dollar freely."
From the hand of the dollar
The truth is that a significant percentage of these transactions are made in dollars, despite the fact that in Venezuela the only legal tender is the Bolívar.
According to the private firm Ecoanalítica, currently 53.8% of transactions in Venezuela are made in dollars: almost all appliances are bought in that currency, as well as more than half of the clothes, spare parts for cars and food, among other items. This data is based on the study of 12,600 registered operations, between October 10 and 15, in 136 stores in Venezuela.
According to that report, 50% of the Venezuelan population is caught in hyperinflation, especially pensioners and public employees; 35% of the inhabitants are maintained with some foreign exchange income; and another 15% live from the so-called 'dollar bubble', which allows them to maintain high levels of consumption.
From the official sector there are no figures in this regard. However, on November 17, President Nicolás Maduro, showed for the first time that the government is aware of the situation.
"I, perhaps what I will say will be a sin for the owners of dogmas, I do not see it badly. I declare myself a sinner: I do not see it badly. Evaluate how this process, which they call dollarization, can be used for the recovery and deployment of productive forces and the functioning of the economy. It is an escape valve, thank God it exists, "Maduro said, in statements he would repeat last Tuesday.
The Venezuelan president argues that dollarization arose from the "necessary self-regulation" of the Venezuelan economy to ensure the " slowdown in induced criminal inflation ."
#EnVideo | Presidente @NicolasMaduro, en entrevista con José Vicente Rangel: Ese proceso que llaman dolarización puede servir para la recuperación de las fuerzas productivas, pero #Venezuela siempre tendrá su moneda: el bolívar, y vamos a recuperarlo#VictoriaPerfectaDePaz
However, is Venezuela really in a process of dollarization? Analysts such as the opposition Luis Vicente León, economist and president of Datanlisis, say that there is no such process in the country, in a "formal, comprehensive, rational and efficient way".
"What there is is a de facto and disorderly massification of the use of currencies to respond to the loss of value of the bolivar," he says .
The local currency of Venezuela is the bolivar, but the state allows operations in dollars. Even at street stalls selling hot dogs, famous in the South American country, sellers use the US currency.
"There is severe restriction of monetary liquidity in bolivars. So, people who own foreign exchange, either because they have accumulated them for years, receive them for remittances or have any commercial operation of goods or services, having no way to change them to bolivars, they use them directly, and this has increased the circulation of the dollar freely, "explains Gavazut.
But despite this situation and that the dollar is already the reference unit for calculating prices, labor contracts and bank accounts remain in bolivars, two key points that do not allow us to talk about a systematic dollarization. But, in addition, can Venezuela really move towards a formal dollarization amid the strong unilateral sanctions of the US government?
A street vendor counts dollar bills on a street in Caracas
Federico Parra / AFP
Dollarization with sanctions?
"There is a growth in dollar transactions, which does not necessarily imply that there are many more dollars than before. There is more, yes, but what has grown the most is their liquidity or circulation, because they are not only used as a reserve of value or accounting unit, but as a payment currency for daily operations. That is, they pass more from hand to hand and produce the illusion that “everyone has dollars.” But, that this becomes a dollarization? remains to be seen, "adds Salas.
For this expert, more than a "dollarization", today Venezuela is experiencing a "de-privatization", " a disorderly flight from the bolivar to any other means of payment."
Salas explains that the 'flight' is majority towards the dollars "but also, for example, gold in Guyana or the Colombian peso on the western border. And, in the case of the government, towards the Petro cryptocurrency, and many individuals , in cities like Caracas, towards crypto in general. "
Salas warns that this process can lead to three aspects: a multi-monetary regime, such as that of Zimbabwe, where up to nine different currencies plus crypto came to circulate; one 'bimonetario', as in Cuba; or, indeed, to a formal dollarization type Ecuador. But, in order for the latter to occur, the Constitution must be amended and all the appropriate adaptation made.
Luis Salas, sociologist and expert in economics
"For a dollarization, in our case, an additional one would be necessary: the lifting of the sanctions, since the restrictions imposed by the US make it impossible for the correspondent work of the banks and even with the Federal Reserve."
As paradoxical as it sounds, it seems that the main operational obstacle to a dollarization in Venezuela is the sanctions of the US government against the beaten economy of the South American country.
| Presidente 
