Venezuela is Failing, but Irony is Still Going Strong

[Weatherman2020]

How Bad Off Is Oil-Rich Venezuela? It’s Buying U.S. Oil

One oil rig was idle for weeks because a single piece of equipment was missing. Another was attacked by armed gangs who made off with all they could carry. Many oil workers say they are paid so little that they barely eat and have to keep watch over one another in case they faint while high up on the rigs.

Venezuela’s petroleum industry, whose vast revenues once fueled the country’s Socialist-inspired revolution, underwriting everything from housing to education, is spiraling into disarray.

To add insult to injury, the Venezuelan government has been forced to turn to its nemesis, the United States, for help.

“You call them the empire,” said Luis Centeno, a union leader for the oil workers, referring to what government officials call the United States, “and yet you’re buying their oil.”

 

[Two Thumbs]

they should invest in green tech.

in 30-40 years, whoever is left should get enough energy to live on.

 

[martybegan]

they should invest in green tech.

in 30-40 years, whoever is left should get enough energy to live on.

I doubt they have 5 years before some form of revolution or state failure occurs.

The only question is if the remaining leadership gets out to spend their swiss bank account money, or do they end up getting the Mussolini treatment.

 

[Two Thumbs]

they should invest in green tech.

in 30-40 years, whoever is left should get enough energy to live on.

I doubt they have 5 years before some form of revolution or state failure occurs.

The only question is if the remaining leadership gets out to spend their swiss bank account money, or do they end up getting the Mussolini treatment.

depends on what is Pres.
(D) we save them
(R) Mussolinied

 

[waltky]

Pray for Ashley...

A child's scraped knee a life or death matter in Venezuela
Oct 4,`16) -- It was just a scraped knee. So 3-year-old Ashley Pacheco's parents did what parents do: They gave her a hug, cleaned the wound twice with rubbing alcohol and thought no more of it.

Two weeks later, the little girl writhed screaming in a hospital bed. Her breathing came in ragged gasps as she begged passing patients for a sip of water. Her mother stayed day and night in the trauma unit. She kept Ashley on an empty stomach in case she might cut in front of hundreds of other patients for emergency surgery in one of the hospital's few functioning operating rooms. Her father scoured Caracas for scarce antibiotics to fight the infection spreading through his daughter's body. They had no idea how much worse it was going to get.

If Venezuela has become dangerous for the healthy, it is now deadly for those who fall ill. One in three people admitted to public hospitals last year died, the government reports. The number of operational hospital beds has fallen by 40 percent since just 2014. And as the economy fails, the country is running short on 85 percent of medicines, according to the national drugstore trade group. "I really don't know of any other country where things have deteriorated so quickly, to such an incredible extent," said Rafael Perez-Escamilla, a Yale University School of Public Health professor who has worked in Latin America and Africa. "Venezuela's health system was a model for Latin America. Now you are seeing an implosion where people cannot get basic care."

With so little room for error, the tiniest slips, like a little girl's tumble while chasing her brother, can lead to life-or-death crises. Ashley's parents had been determined to shield her from the chaos engulfing their country. As the public school system collapsed , they sent her to a private Catholic preschool. As food grew harder to find, they made sure she had protein at every meal. When water began coming out of the taps with a foul smell, they boiled it before her daily bath. But a week after her fall in mid-July, Ashley started to run a fever. At the local clinic, doctors said she would soon be on the mend. Yet the fever kept rising, and her knee was swelling. So Maykol and Oriana Pacheco loaded her between them on their motorcycle and took off, determined to find a hospital that would take their case more seriously.

Ashley Pacheco​

They went first to the public children's hospital nearest their home, which had been hit with a wave of poisoning cases. As shortages worsen, parents are giving their kids homemade medicines and food such as bitter yuca that can be toxic if not prepared correctly. With few supplies, doctors can do little but ease some of these children into death as painlessly as possible. They didn't have medicine for Ashley. Next, the family tried the country's main pediatric hospital. There, the smell of religious incense hung thick in rooms of children with milky eyes and swollen heads. Doctors were waiting for parents to bring in shunts to drain the extra fluid from their children's brains. There were no beds for Ashley.

As their little girl grew warmer between them, Maykol and Oriana went to the city's largest hospital. Men were lying mostly naked on the floor in the emergency room, IV lines snaking down from poles above them. There was no room for a sick 3-year-old. By the next morning, Ashley's temperature had spiked to 103 degrees (39.4 degrees Celsius). Maykol was growing desperate. Out of options, he turned his motorcycle toward University Hospital, once one of the best hospitals in South America but lately better known for gang shootings in the operating rooms and stickups in the stairways. They arrived around noon on a Saturday. Ashley's left leg had swollen from the tip of her toe to the top of her thigh. All at once, she was whisked into emergency care.

MORE

 

[Two Thumbs]

that's tragic and

Pray for Ashley...

A child's scraped knee a life or death matter in Venezuela
Oct 4,`16) -- It was just a scraped knee. So 3-year-old Ashley Pacheco's parents did what parents do: They gave her a hug, cleaned the wound twice with rubbing alcohol and thought no more of it.

Two weeks later, the little girl writhed screaming in a hospital bed. Her breathing came in ragged gasps as she begged passing patients for a sip of water. Her mother stayed day and night in the trauma unit. She kept Ashley on an empty stomach in case she might cut in front of hundreds of other patients for emergency surgery in one of the hospital's few functioning operating rooms. Her father scoured Caracas for scarce antibiotics to fight the infection spreading through his daughter's body. They had no idea how much worse it was going to get.

If Venezuela has become dangerous for the healthy, it is now deadly for those who fall ill. One in three people admitted to public hospitals last year died, the government reports. The number of operational hospital beds has fallen by 40 percent since just 2014. And as the economy fails, the country is running short on 85 percent of medicines, according to the national drugstore trade group. "I really don't know of any other country where things have deteriorated so quickly, to such an incredible extent," said Rafael Perez-Escamilla, a Yale University School of Public Health professor who has worked in Latin America and Africa. "Venezuela's health system was a model for Latin America. Now you are seeing an implosion where people cannot get basic care."

With so little room for error, the tiniest slips, like a little girl's tumble while chasing her brother, can lead to life-or-death crises. Ashley's parents had been determined to shield her from the chaos engulfing their country. As the public school system collapsed , they sent her to a private Catholic preschool. As food grew harder to find, they made sure she had protein at every meal. When water began coming out of the taps with a foul smell, they boiled it before her daily bath. But a week after her fall in mid-July, Ashley started to run a fever. At the local clinic, doctors said she would soon be on the mend. Yet the fever kept rising, and her knee was swelling. So Maykol and Oriana Pacheco loaded her between them on their motorcycle and took off, determined to find a hospital that would take their case more seriously.

Ashley Pacheco​

They went first to the public children's hospital nearest their home, which had been hit with a wave of poisoning cases. As shortages worsen, parents are giving their kids homemade medicines and food such as bitter yuca that can be toxic if not prepared correctly. With few supplies, doctors can do little but ease some of these children into death as painlessly as possible. They didn't have medicine for Ashley. Next, the family tried the country's main pediatric hospital. There, the smell of religious incense hung thick in rooms of children with milky eyes and swollen heads. Doctors were waiting for parents to bring in shunts to drain the extra fluid from their children's brains. There were no beds for Ashley.

As their little girl grew warmer between them, Maykol and Oriana went to the city's largest hospital. Men were lying mostly naked on the floor in the emergency room, IV lines snaking down from poles above them. There was no room for a sick 3-year-old. By the next morning, Ashley's temperature had spiked to 103 degrees (39.4 degrees Celsius). Maykol was growing desperate. Out of options, he turned his motorcycle toward University Hospital, once one of the best hospitals in South America but lately better known for gang shootings in the operating rooms and stickups in the stairways. They arrived around noon on a Saturday. Ashley's left leg had swollen from the tip of her toe to the top of her thigh. All at once, she was whisked into emergency care.

MORE

that's tragic and should be a lesson for anyone that supports socialism

 

[waltky]

Venezuela draggin' rest of So. America with it...

Report: Venezuela's economic crisis bringing down GDP for South America
Oct. 13, 2016 -- South America's combined gross domestic product is expected to decrease 2.2 percent in 2016, mainly due to Venezuela's economic crisis in which an 8 percent contraction is projected.

The United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reports that, overall, the Latin American and Caribbean GPD is expected to decrease 0.9 percent in 2016.

Of the 33 countries reported in ECLAC's projections, just Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, which -- at 4 percent -- will have the second-largest shrink in GDP following Venezuela, are expected to see GPD decreases in 2016. "In view of the current economic downturn, ECLAC again affirms that the region needs a progressive structural change with an environmental big push to drive development based on equality and environmental sustainability," ECLAC said in a statement. "Public and private investment policies need to be coordinated across different areas to reshape patterns of production, consumption and energy, based on learning and innovation."

ECLAC projects the Latin American and Caribbean combined GPD will see a 1.5 percent increase in 2017. Venezuela's GDP is the only one in the region expected to decrease in 2017, at 4 percent. The countries predicted to see the most economic growth are the Dominican Republic, Panama and the island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, which will see GDP increases of 6.5, 5.4 and 4.7, respectively.

Report: Venezuela's economic crisis bringing down GDP for South America

 

[Two Thumbs]

Venezuela draggin' rest of So. America with it...

Report: Venezuela's economic crisis bringing down GDP for South America
Oct. 13, 2016 -- South America's combined gross domestic product is expected to decrease 2.2 percent in 2016, mainly due to Venezuela's economic crisis in which an 8 percent contraction is projected.

The United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reports that, overall, the Latin American and Caribbean GPD is expected to decrease 0.9 percent in 2016.

Of the 33 countries reported in ECLAC's projections, just Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, which -- at 4 percent -- will have the second-largest shrink in GDP following Venezuela, are expected to see GPD decreases in 2016. "In view of the current economic downturn, ECLAC again affirms that the region needs a progressive structural change with an environmental big push to drive development based on equality and environmental sustainability," ECLAC said in a statement. "Public and private investment policies need to be coordinated across different areas to reshape patterns of production, consumption and energy, based on learning and innovation."

ECLAC projects the Latin American and Caribbean combined GPD will see a 1.5 percent increase in 2017. Venezuela's GDP is the only one in the region expected to decrease in 2017, at 4 percent. The countries predicted to see the most economic growth are the Dominican Republic, Panama and the island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, which will see GDP increases of 6.5, 5.4 and 4.7, respectively.

Report: Venezuela's economic crisis bringing down GDP for South America

so their answer to failed socialism is more socialism?

and then claim everyone else will improve..

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - da fix is in...

Venezuela pushes back opposition-favored regional elections
Oct 18,`16 -- Venezuela has postponed until next year gubernatorial elections the opposition is heavily favored to win.

The government-stacked electoral council on Tuesday said that elections in 23 states that were slated to take place before year's end will now be held at an unspecified date near the middle of 2017.

The move was immediately denounced by the opposition as unconstitutional. Authorities didn't provide an explanation for the new date but presented it as part of a broader schedule for elections next year.

The opposition won control of the legislature last year in a landslide and is seeking to mount a recall referendum to unseat President Nicolas Maduro. Polls show the majority of Venezuelans heavily favor cutting short Maduro's term and show almost double approval ratings for the opposition.

News from The Associated Press

 

[waltky]

A frustrated electorate...

Hundreds of students protest as Venezuela’s political standoff worsens
Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 - Masked youths burned rubbish and set up roadblocks in a volatile Venezuelan border city on Monday, witnesses said, in the latest protest over the suspension of a referendum drive to remove socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Several hundred students held demonstrations in San Cristobal, near Colombia. The city, a hotbed of anti-Maduro sentiment, was the site of the worst violence during protests two years ago that led to 43 deaths around the nation. “We want freedom!” chanted the protesters, who closed several roads under the watch of police and troops. Students held scattered protests in other places around Venezuela, including the capital Caracas, but mainstream opposition leaders were holding fire for nationwide rallies planned for Wednesday.

The political polarization is impeding solutions to Venezuela’s punishing economic crisis. In the third year of a recession, many people must skip meals due to widespread food shortages and spiraling prices. Foes say Maduro, 53, has veered openly into dictatorship by sidelining the opposition-led congress, jailing opponents and then leaning on compliant judicial and electoral authorities to stop the referendum. Officials say a frustrated and violent opposition is seeking a coup to end 17 years of socialist rule and get their hands back on the country’s oil wealth.

Many of Venezuela’s 30 million people fear the standoff will create more unrest in a nation already exhausted by political confrontation, a plunging economy and rampant crime. Ramping up the crisis, the opposition-led National Assembly this weekend began proceedings to put Maduro on trial for violating democracy. The session was interrupted when about 100 pro-government protesters stormed in, brandishing Socialist Party signs and shouting: “The Assembly will fall!”

Still, the trial is unlikely to get traction, given the government and Supreme Court say congress has delegitimized itself. Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, is on a trip to seek consensus on supporting oil prices. His popularity has tumbled since he narrowly won the 2013 election to replace his mentor, Hugo Chavez, who died from cancer.

Hundreds of students protest as Venezuela’s political standoff worsens

 

[waltky]

Health crisis is a symptom of the economic crisis...

Venezuela's military to control medicine, surgical supply distribution
Nov. 3, 2016 -- Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López announced that the military will take control of the distribution of "all medical and surgical supplies managed in all hospitals."

The National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela will take control of the medical supply sector "to guarantee that these medicines and supplies get to the patient efficiently and are neatly distributed and assigned," López said during an address broadcast on state-owned Venezolana de Televisión on Wednesday. Venezuela is facing an economic and political crisis. Basic goods such as food and toiletries are in short supply, unavailable or unaffordable, while Venezuela's supply of medicine is also running out. "We are evaluating the health issue. We will go very strongly on the issue of health," López said. "We are going to take full control of the distribution of medicines and medical surgical supplies to all hospitals in the country."

López said he and other Venezuelan officials met with 60 representatives from hospitals nationwide on Tuesday to evaluate the health crisis. He said citizens should not feel "persecuted" or "harassed" by the measure, adding that the military would not be occupying hospitals. "We are in a state of emergency, an exceptional state and we need to make checks to ensure, I repeat, that medicines and surgical supplies handled in the hospital network will reach the patient, the people of Venezuela," López said.

In May, Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly approved a bill to declare a national humanitarian health crisis that would force the ruling government of President Nicolas Maduro to accept foreign medical aid. Venezuela continues to experience shortages of medicine, food for the sick and infant formula, and increased maternal mortality rates and loss of transplant organs due to power failures. The Venezuelan opposition blames government inaction for exacerbating the country's health crisis, whereas Maduro's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV, argues the health crisis is a symptom of the economic crisis.

Venezuela's military to control medicine, surgical supply distribution