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Venezuela's Largest Pharmacy Chain Execs Jailed For "Provoking The People With Economic War"
Because admitting that the Venezuelan utopia is failing due to the policies of Hugo Chavez' "socialist revolution" would leave the thread by which Venezuelan socialism hangs ready to snap, President Maduro has shifted the blame for hyperinflating-price-based staples shortages and food lines from a cut in oil revenues to the dastardly capitalists. As The BBC reports, Maduro ordered the arrest of executives of one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains for allegedly creating shortages of everything from diapers to heart medicine. A triumphant information minister proclaimed, "we came, we normalized sales, we summoned the owners, we arrested them and they're prisoners for having provoked the people with economic war."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the arrest of executives of one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains for allegedly creating shortages of everything from diapers to heart medicine.
Price regulators made a surprise inspection at a store on Sunday and opened a case against Caracas-based Farmatodo C.A., which operates almost 200 drug stores across Venezuela and Colombia, the company said in a statement published by Maracaibo-based newspaper Panorama. Police then invited executives of the company to give statements, the company said.
Chief Executive Officer Pedro Luis Angarita and two other top managers of the closely held company remain under arrest without access to lawyers, said a personal assistant to one of the executives, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. An Information Ministry spokesman confirmed executives were detained on economic crime charges, without giving details.
“We discovered a famous chain of shops conspiring against the people,” Maduro said in a televised address on Feb. 1.
...
“I’m not sure the government is aware of what it is starting,” Freddy Ceballos, president of the Venezuelan Pharmacy Federation, said today in a telephone interview, adding that Farmatodo had been working with the government to improve distribution. “This is a threat to the private sector, even to those who are working with the government.”
Mr Maduro said the owners had reduced the number of employees working on cash tills in order to create queues and "annoy the Venezuelan people".
He has accused Venezuela's business elite of boycotting his government.
The opposition blames the socialist policies of the past 16 years for the worsening economic crisis.
"Yesterday we detected that a famous chain of stores was conspiring, irritating the people," said Mr Maduro.
"We came, we normalized sales, we summoned the owners, we arrested them and they're prisoners for having provoked the people with economic war," he said.
And it appears the people are losing patience with nirvana's arrival...
A week ago, thousands of Venezuelans attended an opposition march in Caracas, banging empty pots to highlight what they say is the shortage of many staple foods.
Demonstrators also voiced discontent at high inflation, crime and long queues.
Many analysts say currency controls that restrict the availability of dollars for imports play a key role in creating a scarcity of many items.
But President Maduro is adamant that many businessmen are colluding with the political opposition to oust his government.
He accused four supermarket chains of hoarding goods and smuggling items out of the country.
"Those who use their stores to hurt the people will pay with time in prison," Mr Maduro told a group of his supporters.
It appears US firms remain at risk...
For many years, the Venezuelan government was able to mask the failures of Hugo Chavez’ “socialist revolution” somewhat with the help of the country’s oil revenues. However, it should be remembered that shortages of basic goods in Venezuela are nothing new; the first press reports appeared about two years ago, when oil prices were still quite high (see also this late 2013 article of ours: “The Hygienically Challenged Crack-Up Boom”). As we quoted from a press report on that occasion, some Marxists – as long as they are members of the ruling class – seem actually not overly worried about scarcity:
“Not everyone thinks these shortages spell bad news. Planning Minister Jorge Giordani, an avowed Marxist, famously quipped in 2009 that “socialism has been built based on scarcity.”
Of course it was easy to make such quips, callous though they may be, back when the hugely popular Hugo Chavez was still around and able to distribute large oil revenues with both hands. The situation is a lot more difficult for Nicolas Maduro, who is probably slowly but surely getting worried about the potential for a counter-revolution (there has already been intermittent unrest in Caracas – and at the time the bolivar’s black market rate was still 85 to the dollar instead of 185).
Russia’s economy is likewise suffering from the decline in oil prices , but its government has a lot more breathing room in terms of debt and foreign exchange reserves and would be able to greatly help its economy merely by getting serious about tackling corruption.
Maduro has a much bigger problem, as he would essentially be forced to abandon the very ideology he so wholeheartedly supports if he wants to turn the floundering ship around. He does have one advantage over Putin though: he has very little to lose anymore in terms of his approval ratings. He probably must worry about his party comrades though, many of whom will be reluctant to abandon the late and great Hugo Chavez’ “socialist achievements”. It will be interesting to see how things will play out, in light of Maduro lately adopting steps he would never have taken a year ago. Still, given the government’s debt situation and Venezuela’s monetary statistics, a complete loss of confidence in the currency remains a very real possibility. In other words, the thread by which Venezuelan socialism hangs may soon snap.
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In other news, the chocolate ration has INCREASED from 20 grams a day to 100 a week
(Don't remember the exact numbers from 1984, but in sure you get the point)
Hitlery in '2016'! [was heard chanting in the streets]...
Sounds good to me. Arrest anybody fucks with the gubamnit.
"Kill 'em" [is more the style of the above mentioned] ~ RIP John Kennedy Jr.
"Value of assets at 50-to-1"
Try 190-to-1.
https://dolartoday.com
Maduro's claims may be not that farfetched as it seems. CIA and Soros-likes have people everywhere.
Maduro will be either dead or deposed by August...
I'm making over $7k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do... www.globe-report.com
First post!
isn't it funny how there is so much manly love for Putin on ZH but NONE for Venezuela! Ah, The Venezuelan gov is Socialist i.e. evil, I get it!
Are you an advocate for Maduros govt?
Viva La Revolucion!
Be chill, we're just counting the days until their gold comes back. Some crimes (repatriation) aren't easily forgiven.
venzuallia is fast becoming the next north korea. time to write it off-zero value.
death zone, hopeless, to be avoided...
i really could care fucking less about those fucking loosers...
they get what they deserve, just like greece. certain human sub-species are just ripe to be controlled by madmen...
fuckem
Look again
look again asshole....fixed it for ya...
Venezuela should be pilloried in the global media, every hour on the hour. Here's a nation, by all objective measures---which should be one of the world's wealthiest, most propserous & opportune, highly advanced multi-cultural societies (probably the flaw, that depth in the gene pool) ....instead it's turning into a FOURTH-WORLD SHITHOLE.
Thankyou, moronic socialism, Latino machismo, and Fidel Castro.
Agreed. These assholes who come up with other nations like the us putting them down are idiots. They have destroyed themselves from within as the us is in the process of doing.
You left out Che Guevara, murdering communist psychopath.
It's "Atlas Shrugged: The Play".
First post and you've succeeded in being a complete asshole. Congrats!
Hopefully that will be your last post too.
The ZH board is certainly infested with the Pootie lovers. Many love Pootie because he invades neighboring countries. Enslaving a larger population for pillage by his Oligarchs is just awsome, in their video game view of the world. Pootie has had opportunities to advance the economy of Russia but cannot resist the wealth available from plundering every resource for personal gain.
As the Marxist in the article noted, Socialism is created and maintained by creating shortages. The government control of distribution of everything allows the Socialists to easily maintain control.
Few Americans today understand Putin & Russia, just like few Russians understand Obama and USA. Neither understands Jinping & China, just like yhe Chnese dont understand Americans or Russinas. And the Islamists? Most of them are clueless about the nuances of US, Russia and Chinese politics, but likewise the big 3 (& their populaces) don't get a schlit.
Yet there's something common between all these ( & other players). They all believe their cause is just and if war breaks out, they will be the ones to win. Sounds familiar?
Putin is about as left wing as George Bush.
You always know in a butt kissing society who the top honcho is
He's the only one with a mustache
Underlings aren't allowed, too itchy for proper butt kissing of superiors
Thank the Lord I got a full beard.
Huh, sounds like US propaganda to me. So ZH is on board, huh?
"This year President Obama approved a special State Department fund of $5 million to support anti-government groups in Venezuela. Additionally, the congressionally-funded National Endowment for Democracy is financing Venezuelan opposition groups with over $1.2 million and aiding efforts to undermine Maduro’s government. There is little doubt that millions more for regime change in Venezuela are being funneled through other channels that are not subject to public scrutiny.
President Maduro has denounced these ongoing attacks against his government and has directly called on President Obama to cease efforts to harm Venezuela. Recently, all 33 Latin American and Caribbean nations, members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), publicly expressed support for Maduro and condemned ongoing U.S. interference in Venezuela. Latin America firmly rejects any attempts to erode democracy in the region and will not stand for another US-backed coup. It’s time Washington listen to the hemisphere and stop employing the same dirty tactics against its neighbors."
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/02/venezuela-a-coup-in-real-time/
Wait a minute, are you saying Obama is a running dog capitalist pig bent on the destruction of the peoples paradise of Venezuela?
Dunno about Venezwhaleia, but he's sure as fuck doin' a great job right here in River City, "folks"!
Hang on a sec, somethings gone terribly awry with my fantastical socio-economic programs & policies.
Look! Over there! Squirrels infected with measles at Disney!!!
Sorry, I did that. I've been a little bored and obstreperous recently and just had to have some fun. Happiest Place on Earth my ass. Just had to inject a smidgen of reality into the eternally numbed masses. And they think a shot will save them! The microbes laugh at their hubris.....
Sorry, I've had a tough day and need a drink.
Miffed;-)
Now you see what I meant.
Its not that ebola isn't a nasty disease (it certainly is). Its that any minor health issue is seized upon to divert attention away from what an utter disaster these people are and the "public solution" is never wash your hands or avoid contact, it is billion dollar appropriations and appointing czars.
Destabilizing Venezuela is like harpooning a beached whale. Yeah, we could do it, but what's the point?
OIL
MONEY
Why waste a harpoon on a beached whale though? There is no need...
OK we can all get our diapers from Venezuela now.
I buy my diapers from Jessica Alba. I heard she's a stickler for QC and insists on trying on each pair before they're shipped.
*fingers crossed*
Damned pharmacists........
A waitress at our local breakfast place said the other morning "I don't go to the doctor. I get all my drugs from my friends"
Damn good thing they didn't arrest her friends!
"Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the arrest of executives of one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains for allegedly creating shortages of everything from diapers to heart medicine."
ROTFL!...yep, no doubt about it, that'll fix the shortage problem.
"Now go to his house my comrades and liberate all those diapers, tampons & pills stored in his basement for the people!"
Viva la revolucion!!!
delete
"He does have one advantage over Putin though: he has very little to lose anymore in terms of his approval ratings."
LOL, that's an advantage?
AT LEAST SOME VENEZUELAN EXECS ARE IN JAIL; NEXT GO FOR THE BANKERS.
Note: there are no Club Feds in Venezuela
fuckin' a right
Here's a perfect example of a "eat the rich" dumbass on ZH. Way to go apberdumbass. Stupid fuck.
The military will be the last ones that don't get paid.
They created a bunch of socialist junkies addicted to free shit.
I bet that repatriated gold has already left the country.
How long until we can reprint this article, only changing every 'Venezuela' to a 'United States of America.'
A year? Two?
The "eat the rich" crowd on ZH need to read more about Venezuela. This is ALWAYS the end result of socialism.
My estimate is 10.
Wtf venezuala allways been a shithole and what because the fleecing of the 1st world countries with 100 plus oil to make them rise up and once more America to blame? Oil is where it should be and Obama and bush shit clinton to should be forced to live on the streets of Mexico and Venzuala. Put Obama in Rusia yall know what to do to that coon
New paper reveals Israel's damage control efforts on Palestinian ICC bid
They are done receiving US taxpayers monies to kill innocent people to receive future Israel military aid to continue genocide. The NFL is registered as a non-profit organization. Perhaps you can log in as a Red Cross and still kill to steal wealth as pirates.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2014/01/30/the-real-super-bowl-question-should-the-nfl-be-a-nonprofit/
Edit: we will blow your head off if you come to our home.
Ah yes, the "progressive tax" intricacies of non-profits, yet curiously some 501(C)(3)'s are completely immune from rogue IRS agents from Cincinnati.
Like Media Matters ;-)
Hmm... NFL as non-profit, Israel up to its inevitable jackassery and murder.
Wee bit off topic, are we not?
That's why we have a Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Treason
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. Article III, Section 3, Clause 1
WWSPD?
What Would Sean Penn Do?
The big problem I see whenever trying to rationally discuss events in Venezuela is that, inevitably, the dogmatic and ideological arguments about the superiority of capitalism versus socialism effectively shut down any discussion of the facts and sidetrack the discussion.
Let me try to illustrate this.
Just recently CELAC presidents openly acknowledged that there is an economic war being waged against Venezuela with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the democratically elected government.
Yeah, yeah, what the fuck do these presidents know, right? After all, they are "Latin American" presidents...and "commies", and stupid, and corrupt, etc. And on top of all that, they are "socialists".
(initiate critical thinking shutdown and activate dogmatic knee-jerk, sterile argument mode now!)
--------------------------------------
Here is a news flash for all who may not be aware.
Venezuelans may be really bad guys and gals for embracing (gasp!) "socialism", but this does not change the fact that there is an economic war being waged by the US and a big push for a "color revolution" in Venezuela. This comes on the heels of the failed coup attempt of the recent "Salida" plan. The CIA, State Department and all the usual suspects are balls-deep in this economic war, which is almost carbon-copy replay of Nixon and Kissinger's destabilization of Chile's leftist government in the 70s.
Surprised? Well your taxpayer dollars are financing all of it, and it is happening in real time.
The facts are all out in the open, or just barely below the surface. The problem is that you have to actually give a shit and look. You also have to make a small effort to dig about a half inch below the surface to uncover the truth.
The lack of knowledge and bizarro-world level of discussion on this particular subject from the usually savvy ZH crowd is truly appalling.
Most of that savvy crowd you refer to left quite some time ago. Unfortunately.
I'm sorry, but the only entity waging economic war against Venezuela is itself... and it is winning handily. The fucked-up mess that it is, and I know it only too well, is sort of what happens when a society installs a government that gleefully expropriated many USD billions of assets from people and companies who invested over decades in good faith.... because Viva Bolivar and we're descended from pirates. Oh, and then they have proceeded to destroy the assets through incompetence ( read Party 'management') and the inability to pay for needed maintenance.... well, really, they just thrashed everything and now have to start over, but <Viva!>
No-one had to or needs to step or sneak in to fuck-up Venezuela economically. Chávez fucked it up just fine almost individually every time he opened his mouth, which was often, and Maduro apparently learned well. Have you ever listened to he or Maduro speak? Can you undersand what they say? OK... then look at what they have done and consider the mindset of their supporters.
Thieves and welchers. Way before oil got cheap again the Bolivarian State was failing to pay their share of numerous joint ventures. Let's take a big example: they screwed Petrobras for "n" billion at the Abreu e Lima refinery by utterly failing to pay in what they said they would.... I say "n" because Petrobras itself has been pillaged so hard they don't even know what they are worth. PDVSA-PBR, now there's a venture with a promising future on which to build a society.
Who knows, the Venezuelans may have actually been clever and realized that if they sent money to Brazil the Brazilians could steal more of it than them and so kept it home for easier pickings. Or maybe they just simply ran out of dough skimming contracts to build Utopia.
Now, if the said refinery doesn't blow-up when they start it (some day), it is, alas, optimized for the rather punky Venezuelan crude. So the Bolivarians (Viva!) fattened the home trough and set-up a captive customer for free. Viva!, indeed
BTW, in a glutted market like this refiners can be picky about optimal feedstock, and Venezuela's, while in principle is abundant, it is also pricier to digest and not a top seller to anyone with options. I guess that means that Maduro should confiscate nature from that exploiting bastard God who would dare confound la revolución Bolivariana < Viva! >
The governance of Venezuela has invincibly and deliberately shattered its'financial credibility and eviscerated its productive capacity through uniquely fierce incompetence, blithering and dithering. No-one was hired to do it.
That said, the middlemen mentioned in the article were granted access to not bolivarian cash, which is reeeeaaaallllll hard to get in Venezuela, for agreeing to import things and instead diverted those resources elsewhere (swank pad in Miami?), without including the right bolivarians < Viva!> in a cut, of course, it could explain their plight.
"They're descended from pirates!"
When it comes to the oil business, who taught their power brokers everything they know? Chevron ain't exactly for the people if you get my drift.
The Nanny Lord should get on with it's own spring cleaning.
"the only entity waging economic war against Venezuela is itself..."
"a government that gleefully expropriated many USD billions of assets from people and companies who invested over decades in good faith... lmao!
"Viva Bolivar and we're descended from pirates... thieves and welchers"
"Venezuela has invincibly and deliberately shattered its'financial credibility and eviscerated its productive capacity through uniquely fierce incompetence, blithering and dithering"
Wow! You went full dogmatic knee-jerk fast! See what I mean?
That is an interesting variation on the same concept. According to you, it is their own doing, for essentially not following the holy gospel and universal laws of "free market" capitalism.
You illustrated my point much better than I ever could, and in doing so, the critical question of whether the economic aggression is real or not, went right out the window, along with many relevant others...
Nice try dickweed. Ever done business with the bolivarians? <Viva!> Yeah, didn't think so. Their disrepute is earned.
Thank you for insisting on proving my point.
As a matter of fact, I have forgotten more about Venezuela than you will ever know in your lifetime.
I agree. There's a blind spot for the nuances of language.
Cui bono and the truth always triangulate on CORRUPTION. Semantics just obfuscate it. Of all the "isms" my favotite is "Constitutionalism" but you lose people after four syllables.
I ask a Venezuelan about the current "tense social climate" and toilet paper crisis and they say:
"You fucking gringos.... pura locura!!"
Gallistic,
Thanks for an intelligent answer to all these moronic posts.
And it doesn't change the fact that the socialists have declared economic war on the American people either Gallistic.
From Soros funding Ferguson riots, to Feinstein attacking the press, to Schumer protecting the crony-socialists on Wall Street, to Obama's assault on our very own bodies & wages.
So you'll pardon me if I don't share your enthusiasm for Maduro doing the same to the people of Venezuela.
Conflating much?
Imagine escaping from we are from government and here to help you in room 101. People must be free to bake bread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asl5-g1sT90
and together they set out from Ur
time fo' d' gheeateens, led roll suckahs, dem chumps, dey gots d'drty bottom bein's deys no tp 'n all...