Venezuela: All you need to know about the crisis in seven charts (BBC)

[EX500rider]

Informative text with each chart in article at BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46999668

















You can tell by the chart the GDP was collapsing under Chavez also, he just managed to die before it really hit the skids.

[MichMan]

1. Even in the Chavez years inflation appears to be around 30 %

[EX500rider]

3. Yeah same stupid polices that wrecked the economy but oil income was higher to hide it. n/t

[Massacure]

18. Based on the graph, it appears like Chavez didn't do much with inflation.

The graph only gives us 3-4 years of data prior to Chavez to look at, but if those 3-4 years are representative of the entire decade or two before Chavez, it doesn't appear that Chavez made inflation any better or any worse than his predecessors.

[UniteFightBack]

2. I thought Mexico said they were neutral? nt

[EX500rider]

4. Yeah I was surprised Mexico siding with Russia, N Korea, Iran and China..

...not good company...but they may just be mad at Trump and against whatever he is for reflexively.

[roamer65]

16. AMLO is going to move Mexico to the Sino-Russian sphere of influence.

He sees the economic future quite well.

[ret5hd]

5. Well, not quite everything:

&t=5s

[EX500rider]

7. Unknown Youtube guy in his shed Vs the BBC....hmmmmm...I wonder who I trust more. n/t

[ret5hd]

10. The issues he hit on weren't really addressed by the charts posted.

I notice you didn't either.

[EX500rider]

11. Unfortunately unknown guy stating something with no proof is vapourware.

Well that's 7 minutes of my life I want back...

"US is starting a coup" No, Venezuelans are trying to get rid of Maduro...with much international support...against it: Russia, N Korea, Iran, Cuba, China etc....great supporters of Democracy & Freedom there.

2nd, Guaido isn't some "unelected guy" but the Speaker of their Congress and inline for succession

3rd, "Wasn't a rigged election" Says that guy....or we can listen to:

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein noted that his office had concerns that reports of extrajudicial killings cast doubts on fairness, stating "this context does not in any way fulfill minimal conditions for free and credible elections"
Prior to the elections, the Lima Group, with its participating nations of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Saint Lucia, stated that they would not recognize the results of the presidential elections due to the perceived lack of transparency. After the vote, Canada joined the group in condemning the election as fraudulent. The European Union, through the European Parliament, also ruled that it would not recognize the 20 May elections and called the electoral process "fraudulent".[12] On 3 May 2018, the European Parliament again called for the immediate suspension of the 20 May election until "free and fair elections were held on a schedule agreed upon with the participation of all relevant actors and political parties"

Reports of vote buying were also prevalent during the presidential campaigning. Venezuelans suffering from hunger were pressured to vote for Maduro, with the government bribing potential supporters with food.[121] Maduro promised rewards for citizens who scanned their Carnet de la Patria at the voting booth, which would allow the government to monitor the political party of their citizens and whether or not they had voted. These prizes were reportedly never delivered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Venezuelan_presidential_election

"Exxon & Chevron getting thrown out"
Most of Venz's oil as ever goes to their subsidiary Citgo for refining and sale in the US.

"If the coup is successful there will be a bunch of refugees" lol, over 3 MILLION Venz's have fled the country, they are more likely to come back after Maduro.

"Wage a economic war"
The US is Venz's biggest trading partner for exports AND imports.....some war.

[TheRealNorth]

26. Hey EXRider

When Maduro is overthrown and the opposition is executing Chavistas is the streets, are you going to post here how we should be cutting support for the new regime?

I think not. People like you who would get in line to throw liberals from black helicopters.

[EX500rider]

27. The current regime is the one killing people in the streets.

I'll judge the next one on their actions but hard to see how it could get worse.

And nobody remotely liberal would support the current dictatorship.
I stand with the EU, Canada, Australia etc..
You apparently stand with Iran, Russia, North Korea, China etc...nice company.

[malaise]

6. Forget Maduro

The West, led in particular Exxon, has been sabotaging Venezuela since Chavez.

Forget not the failed military coup under Bush when Condi and the other idiots announced their victory while it was back-firing. On these matters BBC is as trustworthy as Fox.

[EX500rider]

8. The "sabotaging" has all been due to failed govt polices.

Price controls during rampant inflation making the shelves bare of food...check
Over printing money causing the million % inflation...check
Ridiculous multi-level currency controls ensuring no dollars to buy imports/no food...check
Confiscation of foreign property driving off investment...check
Firing competent oil workers and substituting lackeys, ensuring oil production drops...check
Failing to diversify the economy from oil...check
Failing to invest in electrical infrastructure resulting in rolling blackouts...check
Pricing gas so low it's all black marketed to neighboring countries...check

Command economies have never worked.

The US is Venz.s biggest trading partner for exports AND imports....that is some sabotage!

[ret5hd]

12. Thank you.

[EX500rider]

13. Love to see some proof of Exxon's sabotage...or just something you thought up? n/t

[EX500rider]

14. Maybe you mean this about Exxon?

Venezuela navy confronts Exxon oil ship in Guyana border dispute
GEORGETOWN/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s navy “intercepted” a ship exploring for oil on behalf of Exxon Mobil Corp in Guyanese waters over the weekend, Guyana’s foreign ministry said in a statement, while neighboring Venezuela said the incident occurred within its territory.
The latest incident in a century-old border dispute comes after a series of offshore oil discoveries have given Guyana the potential to become one of Latin America’s largest producers. In OPEC member Venezuela, by contrast, crude output has tumbled to the lowest levels in nearly 70 years amid an economic crisis.

The Ramform Tethys vessel, which belongs to Norwegian company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) and was conducting seismic survey work on behalf of Exxon, stopped exploration and turned east after being approached by the Venezuelan navy, PGS spokesman Bard Stenberg said in a statement.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-guyana-venezuela-oil/venezuela-navy-confronts-exxon-oil-ship-in-guyana-border-dispute-idUSKCN1OM0BK

[malaise]

19. I think we both know that Exxon is going to take that oil

from the Guyana side and their interests ensured that in the Guyana election. What is more we know the land has long been disputed.
The US is not in a position to tell anyone in this hemisphere about democracy or human rights.

[EX500rider]

20. Not surprising Guyana needs help with their oil sector.

Venezuela's production has dropped like a rock since they got rid of the foreign oil expertise.



And since it about their only export besides refugees and drugs it was not a smart move.

[Igel]

9. The graphs have a more coherent interpretation.

A couple of years in the economy started a downward slide.

When confronted with a perilous election, Chavez decided to do economically foolish things to rescue the economy short-term and rescue his politics for an election.

The result of those foolish things was high inflation.

There are various charts for how the black-market exchange rate's changed. Some have pretty large increases in 2017 and even 2016. Official actions kept the exchange rate fairly low--it's only when the two markets became uncoupled that one could wildly move. The ruble, for instance, had a rather large gap, but that's because there was no way for the unofficial dollars to get into official channels, or official dollars to leak out into the wild.

At the same time, as Maduro's government's become less stable and things worsened, there's more demand for black market dollars and less confidence that the dollar bought for 1000 bolivars will suddenly drop to being worth 20 bolivars.

Things started falling apart before Chavez stopped pulling the levers. He cast the die years before, and by the time of his departure from public life, well, "alea jacta fuit." The die was cast.

This is mostly an attempt to spare the idol from being seen to have clay feet, just as post-USSR there was this funny attempt to say Lenin had been good but it was Stalin who made it evil. In both cases, the idols' feet were decidedly made of half-baked clay.

[roamer65]

15. I smell war coming.

[Alea]

17. I smell a Ceaușescu coming

I wonder if the Venezuela people will learn anything from past several years.

[EX500rider]

21. They already have a dictator n/t

[Alea]

22. That's not what I meant

Referring more to what happened to Ceaușescu may be Maduro's fate.

As far as the Venezuela people learning anything... will they elect another socialist.

[EX500rider]

24. yeah..

....he may end up strung up over some gas pumps like Mussolini.

[EX500rider]

25. The latest on who supports who: (BBC)