By KEJAL VYAS and SARA SCHAEFER MUÑOZ

CARACAS, Venezuela—New President Nicolás Maduro, trying to shore up Venezuela’s economy amid growing shortages of everything from corn flour to toilet paper, has extended an olive branch to the country’s private sector, in particular the country’s largest food maker.

It is a surprising turnaround given the antics of his predecessor, the late populist Hugo Chávez, who regularly threatened to nationalize the food maker, Empresas Polar SA, and accused it of hoarding products in order to sabotage his self-styled revolution.

This week, Mr. Maduro met with Polar’s top executive Lorenzo Mendoza—Mr. Chávez’s bête noire—to work together to resolve food issues. Mr. Mendoza discussed the same topic with Vice President Jorge Arreaza, Mr. Chávez’s son-in-law.

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After those meetings and others with the business sector, Mr. Maduro’s government raised by 20% state-controlled prices on key items of food like chicken, beef and dairy—a tacit acknowledgment that controls aimed at stemming inflation have ... Read More

JUAN NAGEL

Venezuela remains mired in a political and economic crisis that shows no signs of letting up. But while street protests, soaring inflation, scarcity, and skyrocketing crime are massive headaches, the government can count on still-high oil prices to soothe the pain a bit.

The question that begs asking is: How will Venezuela maintain stability if oil prices drop?

A recent report by the International Energy Agency underscores the challenges the country faces in the short term. The United States has made huge progress in oil extraction thanks to fracking technology. It is set to become the world’s largest oil producer by the year 2020, and the global spread of fracking is bound to significantly increase international recoverable oil reserves in the near future. The agency crows that fracking is creating a “supply shock that is sending ripples around the world.”

This obviously matters to Venezuela, a country that exports large amounts of oil and ... Read More

ELIAS GROLL

Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution was supposed to offer ordinary Venezuelans political power and social services. On some of these counts, it has at least partially succeeded. On others — such as the provision of toilet paper — not so much.

On Tuesday, Alejandro Fleming, the country’s commerce minister, announced that the government would make the equivalent of a frantic grocery store run to pick up some rolls. “The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper,” he told the state news agency AVN. “We are going to saturate the market so that our people calm down.” (Not that long ago, the “revolution” was promising to provide housing and health care but hey, Marx said something about the importance of toilet paper, right?)

“This is the last straw,” Manuel Fagundes, a shopper trying to track down some toilet paper in Caracas, told the Associated Press. “I’m 71 years old and ... Read More

Primero comenzaron a escasear la leche, la manteca, el café y la harina de maíz. Últimamente tampoco se encuentra otro producto que satisface necesidades básicas: el papel higiénico.

El gobierno lo atribuye a la oposición política y dijo que importará 50 millones de rollos de papel.

Pero eso es escaso consuelo para Manuel Fagundes. ”Tengo 71 años y primera vez en la vida que veo esto”, comentó molesto el hombre el miércoles a la salida de un supermercado en el oeste de Caracas.

“Es el colmo que hasta en este país tengamos que importar el papel toilette, y me imagino que esas son las comisiones que se están ganando para que aquí en Venezuela ya ni se produzca papel toilette”, agregó el anciano.

El gobierno anunció esta semana que realizará importaciones masivas de 760,000 toneladas de alimentos y de papel higiénico para hacer frente a los problemas de escasez y combatir lo que han denominado la “guerra económica” que estarían ocasionando los ... Read More

The death from cancer on 5 March of President Hugo Chávez triggered a snap presidential election just 40 days later that his anointed successor, Nicolás Maduro, won by a margin of less than 1.5 per cent over Henrique Capriles of the Democratic Unity (MUD) alliance. But the tight result and legal challenges to the validity of the vote cast a shadow over the sustainability of the new administration. A country already deeply polarised is now clearly divided into two almost equal halves that appear irreconcilable. The validity of the election result remains to be clarified and the full independence of the electoral authorities, judiciary, and other key institutions restored. But to address the governance crisis and allow Venezuela to tackle its serious economic and social problems, national dialogue must prevail over confrontation and consensus over partisan violence.

With institutions weakened by the Chávez government’s long-term policy of presidential co-optation, the MUD ... Read More

(Reuters) – Peru’s foreign minister has resigned, the government said on Wednesday, days after he was criticised for contributing to a diplomatic spat with Venezuela.

Rafael Roncagliolo, 68, resigned “strictly because of health reasons,” the office of President Ollanta Humala said in a statement.

Justice Minister Eda Rivas will be Peru’s new foreign minister, the government said. Daniel Figallo, a deputy minister of human rights, will replace Rivas as justice minister.

“He has done an impeccable job with the foreign relations of our country,” the statement said of Roncagliolo.

Roncagliolo, appointed by Humala in 2011, faced increasing criticism from the left and right in recent weeks over his handling of diplomatic tussles.

In early May, Roncagliolo called for “tolerance” in Venezuela and urged the South American bloc Unasur to mediate political tensions in Caracas after a disputed election there won by President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro complained that Roncagliolo was giving voice to opposition leaders.

“You may be Peru’s foreign minister, ... Read More

First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities – toilet paper.

Blaming political opponents for the shortfall, as it does for other shortages, the government says it will import 50m rolls to boost supplies.

That was little comfort to consumers struggling to find toilet paper on Wednesday.

“This is the last straw,” said Manuel Fagundes, a shopper hunting for tissue in Caracas. “I’m 71 years old and this is the first time I’ve seen this.”

One supermarket visited by the Associated Press in the capital on Wednesday was out of toilet paper. Another had just received a fresh batch, and it quickly filled up with shoppers as the word spread.

“I’ve been looking for it for two weeks,” said Cristina Ramos. “I was told that they had some here and now I’m in line.”

Economists say Venezuela’s shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods ... Read More

JORDI MIRO

CARACAS — Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles, narrowly defeated at the polls by the late Hugo Chavez’s successor, said the Supreme Court will decide very soon whether a new presidential vote should be held.

In an interview Wednesday with AFP, Capriles warned that if the answer was no, he would bring his fight to “international bodies.” He insists the election was stolen from him.

“Within hours, we are going to have a decision on whether (the Supreme Court) accepts” the opposition’s bid to hold new elections, he said.

The Miranda state governor, who has not conceded the race, which the National Electoral Board says Nicolas Maduro won by 1.49 points, said that if the high court takes on the legal case, it should last about three or four months but the country’s court system is not known for its swiftness.

Capriles has filed two complaints: one over the electoral process in general and ... Read More

BY DIEGO ORE

CARACAS – Socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and the billionaire boss of Venezuela’s biggest private company have buried the hatchet after a war of words over food shortages and other economic problems in the South American nation.

Perpetuating the hard-line rhetoric of his predecessor Hugo Chavez, newly-elected Maduro turned on Empresas Polar president Lorenzo Mendoza in recent days, accusing him of hoarding products as part of an “economic war” on the state by private business.

Mendoza, whose company is Venezuela’s biggest beer- and flour-maker, denied that and pointedly challenged the government to sell production plants nationalized under Chavez back to the private sector to boost efficiency.

On Tuesday night, the pair met to discuss their differences in a spat seen by Venezuelans as a bellwether for state-business relations going forward under Maduro’s government.

Both sides came out of the meeting sounding reconciliatory and pledging to work together to overcome food shortages that have ... Read More

LUDMILA VINOGRADOFF

Llenar un tanque de 40 litros de gasolina súper de 95 octanos cuestamenos de 1 dólar en Venezuela. Además de tener la gasolina más barata del mundo debe importar un tercio de su consumo, lo que arruina sus finanzas, siendo productor y exportador mundial de petróleo.

Es difícil imaginar que estas contradicciones puedan ocurrir en un país considerado como el quinto exportador de crudo con una industria petrolera que era el orgullo nacional y referente mundial de eficiencia antes de que cayera en manos del chavismo hace 14 años.

Con las dos últimas devaluaciones de la moneda al tipo de cambio de 4,30 a 6,30 bolívares por dólar decretadas este año por el gobierno de Nicolás Maduro, el precio de la gasolina se ha deteriorado mucho más: el litro de gasolina de 95 octanos pasó de 0,022 dólares a costar 0,015 dólares, medido a la tasa de cambio oficial.

El precio de la gasolina nunca ha estado ... Read More

BY IRENE CASELLI

Some 30 people are queuing outside a state-run supermarket in the 23 de Enero neighbourhood in Caracas.

A woman walks out with a bag in her hands. “There is milk!” she says enthusiastically, much to the delight of the other customers.

Milk is one of the products that are not easily available in Venezuela. Others include toilet paper, sugar, cooking oil and the cornflour used to make arepas, Venezuela’s national dish.

According to data from Venezuela’s Central Bank, the scarcity index rose to 21% last month, the highest since the bank started tracking the measure in 2009.

This means that out of 100 goods, 21 are not available.

Patience

When certain staples such as milk are available, queues inside and outside supermarkets become longer.

But shoppers at the government-run Mercal supermarket do not seem to mind. “There are always queues, but we need to be patient,” says Raul Espana, a 63-year-old retiree.

Saving on food ... Read More

Venezuelan opposition TV channel Globovision has been sold and will change its editorial line, according to a statement published on its website.

One of the new managers, Leopoldo Castillo, said it would gradually move its editorial line “toward the centre”.

The channel is known for its fierce opposition to the left-wing government of late President Hugo Chavez, and that of his successor, Nicolas Maduro.

The government has repeatedly fined it and accused it of “poisoning society”.

‘Mixed feelings’

Globovision was widely seen as the only terrestrial TV station which dared to be openly critical of Mr Chavez.

Outgoing director of Globovision Guillermo Zuloaga, who had led the channel for 18 years, asked viewers to give the new management “the benefit of the doubt”.

In a letter to station staff, he said he “had mixed feelings” about the sale.

“Unfortunately, the authoritarian government led by Hugo Chavez never liked our attitude and our mission to tell the truth ... Read More

El pasado 23 de abril, el espurio venezolano, Nicolás Maduro, designó a Calixto Ortega como su nuevo representante diplomático ante los Estados Unidos. Su intención dijo, es la de “mejorar” las relaciones diplomáticas con EE.UU.

Es difícil creer que Maduro realmente crea lo que dice cuando sus acciones simbolizan lo contrario. Un día después de la designación de Ortega, Maduro anunció la captura de un supuesto “espía” estadounidense al que acusó de planear acciones desestabilizadoras en contra de su gobierno y de querer provocar una “guerra civil”. Timothy Hallett Tracy es un cineasta que estaba documentando la elección en Venezuela. Su injusta captura es una señal más de la desesperación Cubanomadurista.

Si queremos ser congruentes con nuestros principios, debemos pedir la liberación inmediata de Timothy Hallett Tracy y negar la visa diplomática de Calixto Ortega.  Aunque Tracy sea liberado no podemos otorgar una visa como si esto fuera el pago de un ... Read More

BY KARL RITTER & FABIOLA SANCHEZ

Venezuela’s biggest food company on Monday hit back at President Nicolas Maduro’s claims that it’s to blame for the country’s persistent food shortages.

The chief executive of Empresas Polar, Lorenzo Mendoza, rejected accusations by the president that the company has reduced production and is hoarding products to create scarcity.

“The accusations that we are producing less than last year are false,” Mendoza told reporters. “I presume that President Nicolas Maduro is not well informed about the situation and about what’s happening.”

Mendoza said his company has increased production of cornmeal by 10 percent in the past four months, and he offered to buy or rent government-owned corn processing plants to boost output event further.

Shortages of basic foods including sugar, milk, butter and cornmeal are a recurring annoyance to consumers in this oil-rich nation of 30 million people. Cornmeal is a crucial ingredient in arepas, or corn cakes, a ... Read More

BY JOSE OROZCO

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro accused billionaire Lorenzo Mendoza, the owner of the nation’s largest privately-held company, of exacerbating the worst shortages in at least four years and fueling inflation.

Empresas Polar SA, which produces everything from beer to rice, has cut output to make the economic situation worse, Maduro said yesterday, resuming a conflict with a company often rebuked by former leader Hugo Chavez.

“We have many signs that Polar has been cutting production and hiding products, pretending that nothing is happening, to create shortages of products such as pre-cooked corn flour,” Maduro said on state television. Corn flour is used to make arepas, or patties, a breakfast staple in the South American nation.

Venezuela’s scarcity index, which measures the amount of goods that are out of stock in the market, rose to 21.3 percent last month, the highest since the central bank started tracking the measure in April 2009. As shortages mount, ... Read More

CARACAS — Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro said Washington was making a “grave mistake” in not acknowledging his victory in the controversial April 14 presidential election.

Maduro, 50, heir to the late leftist president Hugo Chavez, defeated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, 40, by a razor-thin margin in the snap election to complete Chavez’s six-year term in office.

Capriles however has refused to concede defeat, claiming that the vote was riddled with irregularities.

In a May 3 interview with US Spanish-language network Univision, President Barack Obama refused to say whether Washington recognized Maduro as the winner of the April vote.

“I believe (the United States) is committing a grave mistake, one more in its policy towards Latin America,” Maduro said in an interview with the Caracas-based Telesur network.

“It is making a tremendous mistake because Venezuela plays a leadership role in Latin America and the world,” he said, highlighting the visit to Caracas on Sunday of Chinese ... Read More

China and Argentina have maintained frequent high-level exchanges, strengthened political mutual trust and advanced cooperation in many areas such as the economy, trade, investments since the establishment of diplomatic relations 41 years ago and more specifically since the establishment of the strategic partnership in 2004, said Li in a written statement.

“I am looking forward to exchanging views with Argentine leaders on bilateral relations and issues of common concern,” Li said, who also voiced confidence that, with concerted efforts, his visit would achieve the goal of closer friendship, mutual trust, expanding cooperation and promoting development.

The Chinese vice president is on a four-day visit to Argentina at the invitation of Amado Boudou, his Argentine counterpart and president of the Senate.

In Beijing the Foreign ministry underlined the significance of Vice-president Li Yuanchao’s visit to Argentina and Venezuela, the first to be conducted by one of China’s new leaders.

During the visit, Li will hold ... Read More

Some believe the Latin American socialism of the 21st century is heading for a dead end. Growing debt and trade deficits are putting pressure on regimes there – does this mean the end of an ideology?

Growing economic problems in Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia are putting pressure on Latin America’s left-populist governments. In the struggle for power, competition has broken out among socialism, Peronism and liberalism. But some believe all three are in decline.

The fight for “21st century socialism,” as Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez put it, is particularly marked in the deceased statesman’s country. That Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has refused to recognize the victory of Chavez’ successor, Nicolás Maduro, who won disputed elections in April, is one sign.

Last week a fistfight broke out in Venezuelan parliament between Chavistas and the opposition. Meanwhile, Capriles is challenging the election results in Venezuela’s high court.

Ideological decline

Virgílio Arraes, a professor of contemporary history ... Read More

WITH a narrow and disputed election victory last month and an accelerating economic crisis, the man who succeeded Hugo Chávez as Venezuela’s president got off to an inauspicious start. Now Nicolás Maduro’s efforts to establish authority are making matters worse at home, and setting alarm bells ringing abroad.

After appearing to promise a full audit of the election results, as demanded by Henrique Capriles, the candidate of the Democratic Unity (MUD) coalition, the government backtracked. Human-rights groups say that more than 200 protesters, including teenagers, were detained by the military and many beaten up. Antonio Rivero, a retired general and leading opposition member, was arrested. He is on hunger strike, charged with “inciting hatred” and “criminal association”. Mr Capriles, who has asked the supreme court to annul the election, is threatened with jail.

There was violence even in the National Assembly. The MUD’s 67 legislators were barred from speaking and had their ... Read More

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his Argentine counterpart and ally, Cristina Fernandez, announced new energy and food agreements Wednesday, then Maduro cheered supporters of Argentina’s president with a rousing speech at a soccer-stadium rally.

Maduro said their two countries are more closely aligned than ever despite the deaths of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and of Nestor Kirchner, Fernandez’s husband who preceded her in the presidency.

“Hugo Chavez Frias and Nestor Kirchner! I feel them hear, more alive than ever!” Maduro said to wide applause.

It was the high point of a regional trip meant to shore up support after Maduro narrowly won an election challenged as fraudulent by his opponent, Henrique Capriles. The disputed outcome and related violence have Venezuelans even more polarized, and Maduro is looking to shore up friends amid questions about the sustainability of the petrodollar diplomacy Chavez spread around the region.

Maduro met earlier with President ... Read More