Venezuela today has four different prices for the dollar – three of them official, one of them not.
For basic imports (chavista code for “available only to Godgiven and his cronies”) a dollar costs BsF 6.3.
For not-so-basic imports and for traveling (chavista code for “let’s throw a bone to the middle classes so they won’t overthrow us just yet”) a dollar is worth BsF 12.
For everybody else, the “free market” for the dollar (chavista code for “the only one people such as multinationals or airlines or ordinary Venezuelans will have access to”) a dollar costs a whopping BsF 170. Well, BsF 170.03 (yeah, that’s 3 céntimos, which don’t even exist). That was the opening price today.
Then, there is the black market. For you see the third rate above – called the SIMADI rate – is not unrestricted. People are limited in terms of the amount of dollars they can purchase. The black market rate, though, is BsF 189.55.
Make of it what you will…
Caracas Chronicles 
And then there’s the “above 3000” rate, which should be similar to the black market rate.
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Is it possible for multinationals to access the sicad market to pay dividends? Are the auctions public?
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I’d like to know the answer to that too and what sort of volume took place. Was it actually a true market value or was it distorted?
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Kirye, meaning the Bs. 12 Dollar? Don`t think so.
The new resolution (convenio cambiario 33) approved another mechanism: acquisition of foreign denominated bonds with Bolivars (similar to our bond swaps of old). The price (rate) will be agreed upon by the parties, and of course multinationals will have access to it. Although I don’t see any large company taking this big a hit (and I don’t think there will be enough $ in the market either).
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Thanks Kyrie. At one of the companies I work with they were told by this “contact” that they can pay dividends via sicad. This deal stinks, if in fact it’s true. Will try to dissuade them from even engaging.
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If the alternative is retaining Bolivars that will continue to depreciate a dividend makes sense unless they have hopes of getting one of the other rates or can buy something tangible in Venezuela.
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Understand that, but I am referring to the fact that having a contact to do such thing raises all the red flags of this being corruption.
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Makes sense. Operating within the bounds of the law is in essence a weird sort of tax.
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“For basic imports (chavista code for “available only to Godgiven and his cronies”) a dollar costs BsF 6.3.
For not-so-basic imports and for traveling (chavista code for “let’s throw a bone to the middle classes so they won’t overthrow us just yet”) a dollar is worth BsF 12.”
Really… what dollar did Farmatodo, Dia a Dia and P&G (Herrera CA suppliers) use for productos regulados?
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Farmatodo and Dia a DIa? None.
They are not importers. They usually buy in VEF from importers or distributors
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Kay… and the prices in VEF are function of *WHAT EXCHANGE RATE* given that they buy *PRODUCTOS REGULADOS*?
6.3… 12… ?
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They buy products at the price importers sell them, and then are forced by the fair price law to limit their earnings at 30% over the cost.
If you have any evidence of shenaningans by the importers with foreign currency, there’s a superintentendencia waiting for you to snitch on them. But the forex shenanigans are certainly not on the side of Farmatodo and Dia a Dia.
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I never answer trolls, never ever. But really… who cares what type of $ farmatodo, dia a dia used “for productos regulados” when they were supplying el pueblo, who are lining up in the sun to get products that should be readily available if it wasn’t for the billions of $$$$$$ deposited in secret accounts all over the planet by bodyguards cum ministers- who now go to Publix and CVS freely, while living “el imperio” frittering his hours away raising horses in Wellington, Palm Beach county- in behalf of “el intergaláctico eterno”, while “el pueblo” suffers to get a chicken, a flight or acetaminophen for chikungunya. Not even mentioning trucks found with 10 mill$$$$ in ports managed by godgiven’s bro. And how many tons of putrid food found?? How many times? How many many containers with expired meds?
All these numbers are beyond my brain without coffee … Yet. I rest my case.
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“Your mom” dollar.
Here you have your answer, Dspur.
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How many readers are actual venezuelan entrepreneurs as opposed to mop cleaners in miami restaurants?
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What’s your beef wth mop cleaners? It’s an honest job. El trabajo dignifica.
What’s your beef with expats? Venezonlanos son quienes nacen en Venezuela, quienes tienen un progenitor Venezolano o quienes solicitan la nacionalidad (cumpliendo los requisitos de ley). Todos los venezolanos tienen derecho a disfrutar, llorar y opinar sobre Venezuela.
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Prefiero lavar bannos que trabajar para la peste roja que destruye Venezuela. Que asco, esos son los valores bolivarianos: prefiren vivr en un pozo septico robando que tener una vida digna trabajando de lo que sea.
Ustedes son peor que un cancer
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No le paren al cabeza ‘e ñame ese, y dejen de seguirle la corriente. Lo que busca es echar a perder la discusion.
Que hacen en los pueblos cuando un loco anda hablando solo? Lo dejan hablar solito.
Por ahora, es el loco ‘e pueblo de estos lares.
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Cierto… hay que dejarlo comer mierda solo
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Oh, come on, don’t be envious! envy is a dark feeling.
Yes, you are a dung-eater (como diría un cubano, un comemierda, para que comprendas) back in Venezuela, but that doesn’t mean you have to hate everyone that isn’t keeping you company!
I have noticed you have many, many prejudices: you dislike emigrants, jews, gipsies, gays; most of all you dislike your own kin, Venezuelans.
Let me tell you, this belief, of Venezuelan expats cleaning, is not really solid. According to research done UCAB-UCV most Venezuelans abroad have received higher education, and a significant percentage have postgraduate degrees.
One can be forced to work cleaning restrooms, or waiting tables, but in the long term education has the upper hand and most people do achieve a measure of professional success.
Dspur, I know in your heart of hearts you just want to be accepted, loved, recognised. That is why you try to talk to us, in your clumsy way.
Be nicer and you may find it is possible to make friends (even among expats!).
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^^ was the next to last paragraph a bit chill or am I overly sensitive?
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Very true but you are missing the point here. Does it really matter if you are cleaning toilets, being a clerk or running a bank? The thing is that you are working and most importantly, you are earning a salary that allows you to make end meets. The rest is third world chachara… the Venezuelan left has always been very keen in diminish the value of work. Any work…
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I think you have a point, about the left demeaning manual work. That is actually very true, there is this deeply ingrained habit of considering work as a sentence for incompetents who are unable to live without working.
And this is something I noticed long before Chavez… Venezuelan syndicates never focused in increasing production or efficiency, but in making the workers work less or not at all.
Student and teacher unions in Venezuela NEVER, EVER prized merit or effort. Never. They were always trying to relax academic regulations, so students who didn’t study and teachers who didn’t teach ruled the university. And they succeeded!
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What amazes me is that somebody that prides himself (or herself) of being a chavista, the ” saviour of the poor”, the “defender of the rights of the oprimidos”, has no problem at putting down a person that cleans houses for a living. Burda de clasista arrogante la vaina, no les parece?
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That was my surprise as well. Come to think of it, the only “true” (kool-aid drinking) chavista that periodically visits the commentaries is “Arturo”. The rest seem to be sociopathic provocateurs, at various stages of adolescence.
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Here in Florida, a person who works cleaning floors, toilets, hotel rooms, etc. earns about $1300 a month, even if they’re only being paid the minimum wage. They can go to work, or anywhere else, for that matter, without fear of being robbed, kidnapped, or killed. With their pay, they can go to supermarkets or any other stores and buy whatever they want without standing in line for hours and without being told how many of each item they can buy. With this SIMADI, anyone who earns less than 17000 BsF is making less than $100 per month. I guess what I’m trying to say is that when you compare the two situations, the life of the cleaner in Florida doesn’t look so bad, does it? Maybe the best thing about this SIMADI is that it will help the Venezuelan middle class to realize that they are no longer middle class, but are actually poor. I’ve never understood the mindset of Venezuelan professionals, whether Chavista or opposition, who prefer to stay in Caracas and earn increasingly worthless salaries just because they think that menial labor is beneath them.
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Venezuelans despise trades. They loathe them. The ideal venezuelan job is to sit all day in an air conditioned office gossiping.
Try to find a plumber, carpenter, blacksmith, lathe/mill operator, welder, electrician who’s not colombian/ecuadorian/spanish/italian/peruvian/portuguese in venezuela. You can rot waiting.
And these trades are GREAT to do in Venezuela, a certified welder earns a shitton of money and a rather relaxed work journey.
Everyone wants to be a lawyer or the next hot big breasted TV Host. Dspur p-o-s is just another sample of the criollo mindset.
The only job i see venezuelans have no problem doing is everything related to food. Maybe because cooking doesnt *look* to require extensive training.
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Every job is dignified and every worker is a respectable human being, unless the worker in question is a former middle-class Venezuelan holding a humble job in the US, is that it?
And what does your question have to do with anything?
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“And what does your question have to do with anything?”
Maybe having an unsatisfying job overseas is motivation for a certain, creative understanding of how Venezuela handles money?
Private enterprises certainly receive USD at preferential rates, depending on what they’re selling. You part from the conservative premise that a businessman would know as much and you get my question.
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I don’t know about you but readers of this blog include Harvard Professors Francisco Monaldi and Ricardo Hausmann.
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I strongly suspect that these two men have the intelligence to (a) sidestep the nonsense that arises in these commentaries, when trolls purposely distract to divert attention from a regime that shows its gross incompetence, and readers who fall for the goading; and (b) withhold pontifications.
Can you imagine Monaldi and Hausmann entering the Fray? Clearly, they have better things to do!
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I read in Mon-Hauf Econ (Not to be confused with that Bader gang) that playing a Tambor de San Juan was very relaxing when making mega-devaluation decisions…
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That is not important nor is relevant. The good thing is that we all have the freedom to come here to comment and express our opinions, regardless of what we do for a living.
That includes the trolls though, which is not necessarily a bad thing. They teach us how to build character, lol.
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Well said… some apparently want a pristine and rather filtered comments section in this blog
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an intelligent response, Carolina. I congratulate you.
Certain trolls are worthwhile for revealing their hypocrisy, and for representing a noxious regime desperate to divert attention from abysmal performance. When posts on CC display this abysmal performance, you can count on the little trolls to defend the incompetence, the criminality, and the scapegoating. Hence, the view that these trolls are sociopaths with deep psychological chips on their shoulder or with a criminal mindset.
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Syd,
“When posts on CC display this abysmal performance, you can count on the little trolls to defend the incompetence, the criminality, and the scapegoating.”
I thought we already discussed how to redact lists to better evoke emotion.
Substitute with:
“[…] you can count on the little trolls to defend the incompetence, you can count on the little trolls to defend the criminality, you can count on the little trolls to defend the scapegoating.
And you can count on one man to put a stop to this lunacy…
And that man is the norwegian homosexual.”
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Chamo,
Te estamos preguntando de nuevo: puedes mostrar tus comentarios en blogs chavistas donde revelas su hipocresía? Dijiste que venías acá para mostrarnos la nuestra al no admitir nuestros defectos.
Muéstranos cómo no eres un hipócrita y haces lo mismo con los chavistas.
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Kepler, en realidad no estoy al tanto de outlets chavistas que me dejen criticar como puedo aqui.
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The reference to what the people commenting this blog are doing or not doing outside Venezuela is totally beside the point , Dspur distracts us from the main point raised by the blog and has us to start talking about things that dont matter even if they are intentionally irritating , stick to reflexting and commenting on what the blog is about not about some irrelevant provocative insult.
If you think the trolls comments are more interesting that the topic blog thats been posted then convince him to start a blog which will allow you to exchange insults with him .!! DONT GET DISTRACTED !!
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Bill Blass,
I think there are 2 problems with the comment section and most of my family and friends agree…My husband stopped coming here because of it…years back already.
1. the constant reaction to the trolls, which makes the comment section boring and childish
2. the herd mentality of not being able to discuss without insults
If the blog owners do not eliminate obvious trolls,(both the Chavista trolls and those who constantly react with flaming insults), then blame them…They are the only ones with the power to change this.My guess is that they approve of it.
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JajJJjAaaja ay now you really made my day. I’m a venezuelan entrepeneur. But I would rather be a mop cleaner in a Miami restaurant, than a brainwashed chavista standing in a queurain or shine, dor hours, getting less than crumbs for their misplaced loyalty, still believing in pajaritos preñados volando en retroceso. Poverty index in Venezuela? Baxk to where it was when the “comandante” took over riding on his promises of frying the heads of corrupt adecos in oil. And now? who fries the bolibugueses’ and the cartel’s, and the bolichicos’ and the judges’ and military’….. alllll la plana mayor doja dojita? Not enough oil in our untaped reserves to do so.
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OK, of all the responses -and they’re plenty-, you’re the only one claiming to be a businessman.
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shut up, damian. you’re not even funny.
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And with this, you add another proof that you are a poor chabobo trying to annoy here.
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What about all the Venezuelan doctors who went to Spain. And, the 100,000 plus Vnezuelan oil engineers working the oils sands of Canada for well over $100K. I have made good living and got paid in dollars, legally and hard earned. How many did you steal this month from the mouth of a working mother. You know what they say “easy come easy go.” One of these days that fat sow you have suckling from is going to go dry and you are going to have to suck another part of the pig’s anatomy.
The lucky one of us who could afford a good university degree from a good American or European university are doing very well. Thank you.
I think you are talking about yourself. I am sorry that the experience has made you bitter.
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“I have made good living and got paid in dollars, legally and hard earned. How many did you steal this month from the mouth of a working mother.”
Hahahahaha…
Soap opera.
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You forgot Venezuelans living in Venezuela who earn less than a miami’s mop cleaner.
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I wonder if students abroad will be able to get dollars through any of the systems… I was in that situation on 2003 and it is a nightmare.
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About the student issue, I think that the smartest solution would’ve been that the people studying abroad should have got part time works to have an additional income and be able to withstand any “pinchazo de culo” that could leave them with no funds to continue studying.
I’m in no way blaming the students that are having difficulties now, but I think some were kind of naive for believing they could rely in something as fickle as some chaburro system like cadivi, when it was well known that these douchebags are assholes.
On the other hand, I know some people that were openly “abusing” the system trying to live off the cupo, well, if you can call having a measily 500-600$ a month as “system abuse”
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The regime says that 30 Bln $ or 70% of the forex will go to cover the cost of importing basic foodstuffs and medical products , 25% to cover the cost of less essential imports (Sicad) and 5% (plus whatever private parties decide to bring to Venezuela on their own) to cover other forex needs of private venezuelans via free market transactions .
If you backtrack the numbers that means that they figure on Venezuelas forex earning this year to reach close to 43 bln $ or 2.650.000 bkd of oil exports at 45 $/bl . However Opec and EIA reports a current Venezuelan production a bit short of 2.350 kbd of which 750 kbd must be subtracted to cover local demand leaving 1.6 kbd available for exports. which if multiplied by 45 $/bl gives us an income for 2015 of $ 26.280 Bln , Take 10.2 Bl $ from that amount to covr this years Govt/Pdvsa Forex debt service and you’re left with about 16.1 Bln $ to cover all of Venezuelas forex needs .About half of the forex the govt says that it will use to cover the import of basic foodstuffs and medicines needed by Venezuela !!
This meanst that the govt figures on the amount of forex it has available to feed the new Foreign Exchange system is false and inoperative. Consequently that the amount of shortages , inflation and hardship awaiting Venezuelans this year is going to be much worse than it has ever known . !!
The above calculation does not consider the income loss that is represented by the 100 kbd of oil that the regime gives to Cuba in exchange not for forex but for services that arent worth one quarter of what is paid for them . Nor the many non financial obligations the regime and Pdvsa have to pay with forex to fund ongoing projects and operations at inflated prices .
As Monaldi has pointed out the dramatic fall in the production of light crudes necessitating their replacement with production of extra heavy faja crudes which are much costlier to produce and market are structurally changing the amount of forex that Venezuela actually recieves from each bl sold . Making the average per bl revenue smaller than it used to be even if the production figures were to remain the same.
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Yes, and you haven’t included the cost of China oil debt payments, ex-Cuba Petro-Caribe oil shipments, nor the many $billions sent to Cuba for Barrio Adentro “doctors”, sports trainers, esbirros, et. al., plus corruption/commissions through Cuban intermediaries, plus the obligatory Russian arms purchases, plus….All meaning little if any Govt. $ available for SIMADI, except on a short-term show basis, and to only temporarily keep the real free market from going to 200/beyond.
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Frod is saying that deliveries to Cuba are being cut down ( which ties in with information that plane fulls of cuban medics and advisors have been leaving for cuba these last months on order from Castro) , if you assumme that the 100kbd deliveries have been halved but are still paid in services then you have to subtract a further 820 M $ from the 16 Bln $ available to the regime. Dont know whether UBS calculation of the 2015 debt service includes money owed to China . I rather doubt it because according to FRod the debt service to China amounts to 6 Bln per year (of which about 4bln per year are reloaned again) and this years payments total 10.2 Bln Total so its probably hidden behind some accounting gimmick of somekind.
What FRod is saying is that China has agreed to speed up the cash which after being transferred to Chinese banks to guarantee payment of their loans ( a kind of buffer amount) is transferred back to Pdvsa thus improving its cash position ( although leaving the amount of the loan untouched) .!!
In any event the regime is facing a drastic forex cash shortage that make the figures they mention as available to support needed imports of essential goods and stapples a pure fiction and the chance of starting a free forex exchange market something very improbable.
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Sigh…
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/12/americas/venezuela-coup-attempt-foiled/
“(CNN) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says his government had blocked what he called a U.S.-backed coup plot that included plans to attack the presidential palace with a military jet.
“It is the government of the United States that is behind the plans of destabilization and coups against Venezuela. I have come here to denounce it. … We have dismantled a coup attempt against democracy, against the stability of our homeland,” Maduro said in a televised address Thursday. “It was an attempt to use a group of officials from the air force to provoke a violent act, an attack.”
He didn’t name which members of the military were allegedly involved, but claimed that the U.S. government and right-wing opposition groups in Venezuela were behind the plan.
A State Department spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday night on the Venezuelan President’s accusations.
Venezuelan authorities detained those involved in the plot on Wednesday and Thursday, Maduro said.”
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I just would like to add that Venezuela has the strongest air force in Latin America. If the air force really decides to toast Maduro, he and his allies wouldn’t be able to do anything to save themselves.
So, Venezuelan Air Force, please consider Maduro’s idea. It’s a very good one.
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How so?
I don´t think all these toys they bring at parades work as attack platforms.
Even boboduro was talking about an armed Super Tucano. Training single prop aircraft!!!. If the mighty FAV who owns SU 30’s and F-16’s resorts to training aircraft to guide-bomb targets then they are not that mighty after all.
I think that golpe show is just bullshit. They always make sensationalist announcements like that one when dealing with delicate resolutions and decrees.
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Magnicidio, magnicidio, rinse and repeat. Last refuge of a scoundrel. Kepler’s blog once had a listing of all the alleged magnicidio attempts.
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Paranoiod threats, sweeping pontifications, obligatory distractions. You can count on these from those who need to cover up the chaos. I expect to see more.
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There is at least one inaccuracy in the story
“the plot centered around a plan to commandeer a Super Tucano jet”
A super Tucano is a turboprop (I used to be an Embraer stockholder)
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I saw the Telesur English (don’t laugh, I read it for the potential accidental comedy, kind of a weird Aporrea-lite) photo of the Tucano (with prop) and then read the story on CNN about the jet. First and probably only time I can say that Telesur did a better job, at least in that regard.
At 4 AM local time, the top 7 headlines included six stories about the protests (by gov. and opposition) to mark the anniversary of last year from sources such as CNN, the Guardian and LatinoPost, and one by Telesur at number five or six, denouncing the attempted coup. They seemed overjoyed to trumpet that they were a “target” of the bombing.
Of course, as with almost all of their articles, no thumbs up, down or comments.
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And again, Venezuela is the only country where the right and its leaders apparently have real “Get Out of Jail Free” cards from Monopoly, which they use whenever they attempt their monthly coups.
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Sadly, “de Leopoldo pa´bajo” they are all lefties.
So, no coup vouchers for them!
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Communique from U.S. State Department to Venezuela:
Dear Venezuela,
Again, your president, Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of attempting to overthrow your government. Again, these charges are baseless and false. Again, he has not presented any evidence. We are really trying hard to patient with you. We get it that most of you don’t support the behavior of your government and don’t believe the charges. We are endeavoring to not engage in an exchange of petty insults with your president. We have no conflict with Venezuela. Your country is in no condition to be a threat to us. We would like to see Venezuela resolve its internal problems in a peaceful manner so your country can develop economically and socially, its people thrive and become active producers and consumers, and we can get on with doing business in your beautiful country. Really… it is a win-win scenario. So, in the interests of both our countries and peoples, we would like to ask you most cordially to please get your shit together!
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Or maybe:
“Dear Venezuela,
Since we’ve been accused of trying to do a coup for so many times now in your country without actually doing anything concrete to depose your hated president, we may start making things intersting to satisfy your government’s wishes. Maduro, expect us, because now we are REALLY coming for you and your friends!
Cheerfully,
The Government of the United States of America
PS: Hell, It feels good to be back in the business.”
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The U.S. is not going to do anything. For one, it has its plate full right now (ISIS, Ukraine, etc.). Secondly, Venezuela just isn’t important enough for them to consider anything proactive. Thirdly, its strategy over the last 25 years in LatAm is to wait for countries to grow up enough politically to become a true partner, and then re-engage economically and politically.
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That’s true, but I don’t think they would tolerate a full-scale humanitarian crisis/famine/genocide/chaos in Venezuela without doing nothing. If they don’t ignore this kind of thing in countries like Somalia and Uganda, I doubt that they would so close to their territory.
Chavismo is really testing Uncle Sam’s patience as wel as its strategy over the last 25 years in LatAm, as you said.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/01/special-ops-almost-70-percent-world-countries
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Even if Venezuela were to descend into a barbarity as brutal as Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, the U.S. would not act alone. They would probably participate, but only with Colombia taking the lead with participation including Chile and Peru. They would probably want Spain involved as well.
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That’s a possibility.
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And fourth, why would they? it’s not really their problem. We got into this ourselves, so it’s up to us to fix it.
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“And fourth, why would they? it’s not really their problem. We got into this ourselves, so it’s up to us to fix it.”
It depends, it’s not in US best interest to have a failed state as neighbour. If shit really hit the fan, it’s very unlikely that they won’t intervene somehow.
Check this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unified_Response
Why did they do it? It wasn’t really their problem, was it?
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Totally different case Marc. That was help sent for humanitarian reasons, not to overthrow a “democratically elected” government (even though we know it’s in fact a dictatorship, for the rest of the world is not), and that is why I say that is not their problem.
And by the way, do you remember this?:
“Chavez refused the help of United States soldiers in handling the emergency situation, even though the arrangements had been made and U.S. Navy ships had been already dispatched with men, heavy machines, and aid supplies. Those vessels returned in mid-voyage to their home ports after Chavez rejected their help.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vargas_tragedy
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“That was help sent for humanitarian reasons, not to overthrow a “democratically elected” ”
Carolina, I was just trying to show that yes, they do care. That an out of control neighbouring country concerns them, a lot. That if Venezuela enters an irreversible downward spiral, there’s a very palpable possibility that they will dispatch “17 ships, 48 helicopters and 12 fixed-wing aircraft in addition to 10,000 sailors and Marines” to Venezuela too. Maduro wanting or not. That’s what the US does.
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I’m sorry Marc but this is what comes to mind when I read about the US acting about the world police. I just can’t take it seriously anymore, these guys ruined it for me. LOL
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All this absurdity and madness with the dollar distortions is what I like most… It is a sick pleasure and I would like it to stop as soon as posible because many people is suffering but such level of stupidity, greed and shortsightedness is very difficult to find in other countries… meanwhile, the MUD set up a demonstration some days ago and this is what said one of the participants
“mientras Chuo gritaba que “ya el pueblo se dio cuenta de cuánto significa la unidad” -o algo así-, tenía al lado a la gente de Primero Justicia gritando “justicia está en la calle” y del otro lado a los niños -aunque deben ser de mi edad- de la bandera larga gritando que su único partido era Venezuela, que no eran de la MUD ni de ningún otro grupo (¿qué hacían allí?); delante dos señores abogando por Capriles y Leopoldo, cada uno por su lado y detrás un muchacho que quería pitar a Chuo porque “me bloqueó en Twitter”.
She finally adds “No entendí entonces qué quiere la gente, no sé para dónde vamos y eso me preocupa, me entristece y me desorienta aún más.”
If the opposition followers don’t understand people’s will in Venezuela, who can?
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What is most interesting about the Chavistas who visit these pages is when you realize that they actually believe their own Chavista propaganda horse shit about El Imperio. For example, take the person talking about the Venezuelan mopping floors in Miami for $20 an hour.
What he does not realize is that El Imperio is actually, for real, Capitalistic, and that, the wages that you earn in a free market economy are directly correlated to the skills set that you bring to the table.
There are born and bred Americanos in Miami making $20 an hour. The reason for that is that the free market economy is telling him that $20 is all the market will pay for his skills. I also know of PhDs and MDs born in Venezuela, who are happily settled in places like Miami, NYC and Philadelphia and beyond who are earning large six figure salaries.
What Chavistas need to deal with is the undeniable fact that Venezuela is experiencing a brain trust drain unlike anything in its prior history. If you mix capital flight and brain trust flight, you have a mixture of circumstances that will leave the country totally unprepared to be a competitive participant in the Capitalist economy. And, that is a fact.
One of my European mentors once said to me that “Brains bear not flags” It is about time that Chavistas realized what they have done to make Venezuelan poorer in brain trust than it has ever been. Instead, they should be asking themselves how is it possible that someone is willing to immigrate to Miami for an $20 an hour job.
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It is about time opposition realizes that chavistas don’t care about any brain drain to be understood. If anything, they are happier with that because the remaining bunch of Venezuelans are easy to manipulate.
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Ramon, the Capitalist economy is ruthless. I agree that Chavistas could give a Rats ass about brain drain. Castro never did either. My point is that the Capitalist economy is more like a predator. It knows where the easy money is and it knows how to take advantage of weaknesses in any system.
That is fine is they don’t care. But, don’t come crying to me with some bullshit story about El Imperio doing bad shit to them. They did it to themselves.
We all know that the exchange rate system is mafia style scheme for a few to prosper. The irony is that it makes the exact same point I am trying to make. You have a very few cronies who have created a closed system to benefit just a few using capitalist tools.
You and I know that it is only a matter of time before the house of cards comes crashing down. And, the country will be left poor and devoid of the right people to help with reconstruction when the lid blows off the pressure cooker they are running with high octane fuel.
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Well said…
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Offtopic: all is good guys
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Saw it… nearly puked. Of course, in her world, with one of the richest daddies in Venezuela, everything is just peachy.
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Brains Bear No Flags, But No Brains Do….
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Sorpresas te da la vida…
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/02/13/actualidad/1423847781_610731.html
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In spite of their problems, Argentina still has functioning democratic institutions. In comparison, try to imagine a prosecutor in Venezuela bringing an indictment against Maduro. He would be in Ramo Verde so fast your head would spin.
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Well, in Argentina, a prosecutor was about to involve tangentially mrs. botox in a case, guess how it ended.
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And yet, the indictment proceeded. That is the difference.
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Well, it’s not going smoothly, yet mrs. botox might soon find that she didn’t had such a tight grip on argentinian justice system like she thought:
http://www.canalntn24.info/noticia/gobierno-argentino-califica-de-disparate-la-imputacion-a-cristina-fernandez-y-asegura-que-no-hay-40354
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“What is a dollar worth?”
If you want to sweep your credit card to do electronic operations, ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY – FREAKIN’ BOLIVARS. <- Source, PayPal.
Bye-bye, electronic cupo, or maybe, HELLO, TWO HUNDRED SOMETHING BLACK MARKET COST?
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mira a Venus! al
atardecer!
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