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GatoGordo
GatoGordo's Journal
GatoGordo's Journal
September 28, 2017
September 26, 2017
by The RR Politician
Translation: Five women gave birth on the floor of the Hospital Dr. Raul Leoni in San Felix (Bolívar), denounced Dr. Maria Yanes, former president of the network of Scientific Societies.
Yanes also stressed the importance of opening up humanitarian assistance in Venezuela. "Yesterday, 5 patients were delivered to the floor in the Social Security of Guaiparo Hospital (Dr. Raúl Leoni Hospital)," he wrote on Twitter and published a photograph of the women on the health center floor.
-snip-
http://www.elpolitico.com/en-el-piso-dan-a-la-luz-cinco-mujeres-en-hospital-de-bolivar/
The Revolution brings dignity to women! (as they give birth on a filthy hospital floor in VZ)
Five women in the hospital of BolivarSeptember 26, 2017
by The RR Politician
Translation: Five women gave birth on the floor of the Hospital Dr. Raul Leoni in San Felix (Bolívar), denounced Dr. Maria Yanes, former president of the network of Scientific Societies.
Yanes also stressed the importance of opening up humanitarian assistance in Venezuela. "Yesterday, 5 patients were delivered to the floor in the Social Security of Guaiparo Hospital (Dr. Raúl Leoni Hospital)," he wrote on Twitter and published a photograph of the women on the health center floor.
-snip-
http://www.elpolitico.com/en-el-piso-dan-a-la-luz-cinco-mujeres-en-hospital-de-bolivar/
September 26, 2017
It takes 25 minimum wages to buy the Venezuelan food basket... in August
Oh, how they miss the old days (last month), when it took only 14 minimum wages to buy the food basket!
AUGUST
Basic Food Basket: Increased to Bs. 2,938,277 in August, (source: Cendas FVM). The annual variation is 484.3%, equivalent to 25 minimum wages and the gap between controlled and market prices is 18,000%.
Corn oil cannot be found. Nor can bread, outside of state controlled sales.
JULY
The price of the Family Food Basket (CAF) of July 2017 was 1,443,634.25 bolívares, increasing Bs. 213,935.90, 17.4% with respect to June 2017 and 296.7% between July 2016 and July 2017.
It is required 14.1 minimum wages (97,531.56 bolivars) to be able to acquire the basket, referring to a family of five members: 48,121.14 bolivars per day.
All items went up in price
All items in the food basket increased in price: sugar and salt, 39.4%; fats and oils, 27.1%; cereals and derived products, 23.1; grains, 19.7%; fish and shellfish, 19.3%; milk, cheese and eggs, 16.5%; roots, tubers and others, 14.8%; fruit and vegetables, 14.6%; salsa and mayonnaise, 9.6%; meats and their preparations, 6.1% and coffee, 4.0%.
-snip-
http://www.finanzasdigital.com/2017/08/cendas-caf-jul-2017/
September 22, 2017
Caracas dawned with lack of gasoline
By: Counterpoint | Thursday, 9/21/2017 02:02 PM
translated by Google Translate
Service station managers said they only receive gasoline from 91 and assured that queues are due to the "desperation" of people.
95 octane gasoline is still the largest absent in eastern Caracas. On a tour of four service stations, the Contrapunto team was able to observe large lines to fill the tanks of vehicles and motorcycles. The gasoline of 95 shone by its absence and the users had to acquire only of 91.
Managers of stations of service in zones like Las Mercedes, the Cafetal and Bello Monte agreed that the queues were due to the "desperation" of the people. They also said they were not given 95 gasoline for two weeks.
"We supply the gas in the normal way: only 91, but normal. We were told that for today (Thursday) in the afternoon would come the 95. The queues are by people's alarm. The lack of fuel of 91 is an issue that concerns PDVSA and not us, "said a businessman in Las Mercedes.
One of the firefighters said that tails have been repeated for two weeks; said that people are very restless and worried about running out of fuel. "You can see it with your own eyes: whatever you say there is a serious problem with the fuel these days," said the worker, who declined to identify himself.
https://www.aporrea.org/energia/n314811.html
Aporrea is an apologist Chavista website that caters to the ultra-Left.
Gasoline is getting to be a rare find in non-urban areas. Also, liquid propane tanks (bombas) that most use for cooking are disappearing, and ones that can be found can't be filled.
No food. No medicine. Now, no gas coming to Venezuela (worlds biggest oil reserves)
The 95 octane is the largest absent in eastern CaracasCaracas dawned with lack of gasoline
By: Counterpoint | Thursday, 9/21/2017 02:02 PM
translated by Google Translate
Service station managers said they only receive gasoline from 91 and assured that queues are due to the "desperation" of people.
95 octane gasoline is still the largest absent in eastern Caracas. On a tour of four service stations, the Contrapunto team was able to observe large lines to fill the tanks of vehicles and motorcycles. The gasoline of 95 shone by its absence and the users had to acquire only of 91.
Managers of stations of service in zones like Las Mercedes, the Cafetal and Bello Monte agreed that the queues were due to the "desperation" of the people. They also said they were not given 95 gasoline for two weeks.
"We supply the gas in the normal way: only 91, but normal. We were told that for today (Thursday) in the afternoon would come the 95. The queues are by people's alarm. The lack of fuel of 91 is an issue that concerns PDVSA and not us, "said a businessman in Las Mercedes.
One of the firefighters said that tails have been repeated for two weeks; said that people are very restless and worried about running out of fuel. "You can see it with your own eyes: whatever you say there is a serious problem with the fuel these days," said the worker, who declined to identify himself.
https://www.aporrea.org/energia/n314811.html
Aporrea is an apologist Chavista website that caters to the ultra-Left.
Gasoline is getting to be a rare find in non-urban areas. Also, liquid propane tanks (bombas) that most use for cooking are disappearing, and ones that can be found can't be filled.
September 18, 2017
By Manuel Llorens - September 18, 2017
Gilber Caro has sewn his lips shut.
Imprisoned since January in a 2×3 meter cell, he can barely lie down. Isolated, he has read the books they allow him over and over again. He was allowed to see sunlight one hour per day, but this “privilege” was suspended a few weeks ago.
He’s an elected member of the National Assembly, arrested despite his parliamentary immunity. Jailed without charges for 121 days, then taken to a military court (even though he’s a civilian), Gilber was charged with treason. According to the authorities (who are also holding his girlfriend, Steyci Escalona, as a way to force a “confession”), he drove through the country with a stolen assault rifle in the backseat of his car, planning to murder opposition leaders and sow chaos.
That’s the information on the public record, the rest of his case is confidential.
-snip-
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2017/09/18/gilber-caros-hunger/
Please defend torture, Chavistas
Gilber Caro’s HungerBy Manuel Llorens - September 18, 2017
Gilber Caro has sewn his lips shut.
Imprisoned since January in a 2×3 meter cell, he can barely lie down. Isolated, he has read the books they allow him over and over again. He was allowed to see sunlight one hour per day, but this “privilege” was suspended a few weeks ago.
He’s an elected member of the National Assembly, arrested despite his parliamentary immunity. Jailed without charges for 121 days, then taken to a military court (even though he’s a civilian), Gilber was charged with treason. According to the authorities (who are also holding his girlfriend, Steyci Escalona, as a way to force a “confession”), he drove through the country with a stolen assault rifle in the backseat of his car, planning to murder opposition leaders and sow chaos.
That’s the information on the public record, the rest of his case is confidential.
-snip-
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2017/09/18/gilber-caros-hunger/
September 16, 2017
BY: KARINA MARTÍN - SEP 10, 2017, 9:25 PM
Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro usually picks a fight with whomever calls his regime a dictatorship, insisting it is nothing but democratic. But amid a deep economic and political crisis, now even himself is admitting that he might have to “become a dictator” to wrestle with inflation and shortages.
On Friday, September 8, Maduro said during a mandatory televised address that his government would “achieve economic peace, prosperity, and price stability” by any means necessary.
“I want to do it nicely, but if I have to do it the bad way and become a dictator to guarantee [low] prices to the people, I will do it,” he added.
To the successor of the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez, that means more price controls. The recently elected Constituent Assembly, made up only of regime loyalists, has taken up vast powers, overruling the legitimate Parliament controlled by the oppositon.
It is now setting up an Economic Commission that will, along with the “productive and distribution sectors” and “the consumers,” determine mandatory prices for basic goods such as milk, chicken, pasta, and cooking oil.
-snip-
https://panampost.com/karina-martin/2017/09/10/maduro-dictator-ensure-economic-peace-in-venezuela/
Well, there you have it, Chavistas. From the horses mouth... err... ass himself.
To paraphrase Game of Thrones, "He would see his country burn to be King of the Ashes"
Maduro Drops All Pretense, Vows to Become a Dictator to Ensure Economic Peace in Venezuela
PAN AM POSTBY: KARINA MARTÍN - SEP 10, 2017, 9:25 PM
Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro usually picks a fight with whomever calls his regime a dictatorship, insisting it is nothing but democratic. But amid a deep economic and political crisis, now even himself is admitting that he might have to “become a dictator” to wrestle with inflation and shortages.
On Friday, September 8, Maduro said during a mandatory televised address that his government would “achieve economic peace, prosperity, and price stability” by any means necessary.
“I want to do it nicely, but if I have to do it the bad way and become a dictator to guarantee [low] prices to the people, I will do it,” he added.
To the successor of the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez, that means more price controls. The recently elected Constituent Assembly, made up only of regime loyalists, has taken up vast powers, overruling the legitimate Parliament controlled by the oppositon.
It is now setting up an Economic Commission that will, along with the “productive and distribution sectors” and “the consumers,” determine mandatory prices for basic goods such as milk, chicken, pasta, and cooking oil.
-snip-
https://panampost.com/karina-martin/2017/09/10/maduro-dictator-ensure-economic-peace-in-venezuela/
Well, there you have it, Chavistas. From the horses mouth... err... ass himself.
To paraphrase Game of Thrones, "He would see his country burn to be King of the Ashes"
September 16, 2017
The dizzying spiral structure in central Caracas was conceived in the 1950s as a monument to a nation’s confidence – but now its crumbling shell houses a notorious political prison. Is El Helicoide a metaphor for modern Venezuela?
by Emma Graham-Harrison in Caracas
"El Helicoide – as it was named in a nod to the geometry that inspired it – was conceived in the early 1950s as a shopping mall that would embody Venezuela’s wealth and confidence. Its curving lines are created by more than two miles of ramps in an interlocking helix, designed as a modern take on the high street.
The design included space for 300 boutiques, and parking spaces for each. There were also plans for a hotel and galleries. But the building was never finished, and the shops never opened. Instead, areas earmarked for the sale of luxury goods were turned first into shelters for the homeless, then prison cells, police headquarters and eventually even torture chambers, described by former inmates as “hell on earth”.
Several Venezuelan governments tried to remake El Helicoide as a museum or cultural centre, but all the efforts ended in failure. Its cells have never been as crowded as they are today, after months of street protests against the government of Nicolás Maduro that often turned violent. Support for his government has collapsed in the face of severe shortages of food and medicine, hyper-inflation and spiralling violence.
The president blames foreign sabotage for the country’s problems, even though Venezuela sits on the world’s largest oil reserves, and he has responded to the unrest by jailing and blacklisting opponents, convening a legislative super-assembly to sideline the opposition controlled parliament, and even openly flirting with “becoming a dictator to guarantee prices for the people”."
-snip-
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/15/el-helicoide-venezuela-caracas-building-symbol
El Helicoide: From Venezuelan architectural symbol of hope to Chavista torture chamber
Downward spiral: how Venezuela’s symbol of progress became political prisoners’ hellThe dizzying spiral structure in central Caracas was conceived in the 1950s as a monument to a nation’s confidence – but now its crumbling shell houses a notorious political prison. Is El Helicoide a metaphor for modern Venezuela?
by Emma Graham-Harrison in Caracas
"El Helicoide – as it was named in a nod to the geometry that inspired it – was conceived in the early 1950s as a shopping mall that would embody Venezuela’s wealth and confidence. Its curving lines are created by more than two miles of ramps in an interlocking helix, designed as a modern take on the high street.
The design included space for 300 boutiques, and parking spaces for each. There were also plans for a hotel and galleries. But the building was never finished, and the shops never opened. Instead, areas earmarked for the sale of luxury goods were turned first into shelters for the homeless, then prison cells, police headquarters and eventually even torture chambers, described by former inmates as “hell on earth”.
Several Venezuelan governments tried to remake El Helicoide as a museum or cultural centre, but all the efforts ended in failure. Its cells have never been as crowded as they are today, after months of street protests against the government of Nicolás Maduro that often turned violent. Support for his government has collapsed in the face of severe shortages of food and medicine, hyper-inflation and spiralling violence.
The president blames foreign sabotage for the country’s problems, even though Venezuela sits on the world’s largest oil reserves, and he has responded to the unrest by jailing and blacklisting opponents, convening a legislative super-assembly to sideline the opposition controlled parliament, and even openly flirting with “becoming a dictator to guarantee prices for the people”."
-snip-
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/15/el-helicoide-venezuela-caracas-building-symbol
September 11, 2017
Venezuela has 30% of all malaria cases in Americas. Chavismo FTW!
Not bad, for a country that before Chavismo was on the brink of eliminating malaria. Only 2% in 2000. And this year? a 76% increase!
link from the WHO
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/252038/1/9789241511711-eng.pdf?ua=1
https://elpitazo.com/ultimas-noticias/venezuela-lista-casos-de-malaria-contintente/
For those America haters, and what America does in/for Latin America, the following, from the WHO:
The United States of America is the largest single international funder of malaria
control activities, accounting for an estimated 35% of global funding in 2015,
followed by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (16%),
France (3.2%), Germany (2.4%), Japan (2.3%), Canada (1.7%), the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation (1.2%) and European Union institutions (1.1%).
September 8, 2017
By Ben Bartenstein
September 8, 2017, 4:00 AM CDT September 8, 2017, 10:31 AM CDT
"For years, investors in Venezuela and its state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, took comfort knowing that in the event of a default, there’d be assets they could potentially seize to recoup some of their losses.
But for bond buyers with an even bigger appetite for risk, those willing to throw themselves at the mercy of President Nicolas Maduro’s survival and track record of making good on debt payments, there’s another option: Electricidad de Caracas, the state-run electric utility.
The company’s $650 million of bonds coming due in April trade at just 67 cents on the dollar with a whopping 96 percent yield, making them the riskiest notes maturing over the next year in the world’s riskiest nation. And with good reason. In the event of default, PDVSA bondholders, and possibly even owners of Venezuela’s sovereign debt, could lay claim to the crude producer’s oil, tankers and U.S. refining unit. But Elecar, which PDVSA bought a decade ago, has nothing for overseas investors to seize..."
-snip-
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-08/for-venezuela-s-true-believers-the-ultimate-risky-bet-beckons?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=bd&utm_campaign=headline&cmpId=yhoo.headline&yptr=yahoo
Not to worry... Maduro doesn't have a history of selling off every asset... just the ones that aren't nailed down. Lumber, oil, mining, shipping... its not like investors are going to come charging into Venezuela and steal copper cable. (His "colectivos" already do that!)
If Chavismo's "hunger" bonds for PdVSA oil aren't paying enough, go electric!
For Venezuela’s True Believers, the Ultimate Risky Bet BeckonsBy Ben Bartenstein
September 8, 2017, 4:00 AM CDT September 8, 2017, 10:31 AM CDT
"For years, investors in Venezuela and its state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, took comfort knowing that in the event of a default, there’d be assets they could potentially seize to recoup some of their losses.
But for bond buyers with an even bigger appetite for risk, those willing to throw themselves at the mercy of President Nicolas Maduro’s survival and track record of making good on debt payments, there’s another option: Electricidad de Caracas, the state-run electric utility.
The company’s $650 million of bonds coming due in April trade at just 67 cents on the dollar with a whopping 96 percent yield, making them the riskiest notes maturing over the next year in the world’s riskiest nation. And with good reason. In the event of default, PDVSA bondholders, and possibly even owners of Venezuela’s sovereign debt, could lay claim to the crude producer’s oil, tankers and U.S. refining unit. But Elecar, which PDVSA bought a decade ago, has nothing for overseas investors to seize..."
-snip-
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-08/for-venezuela-s-true-believers-the-ultimate-risky-bet-beckons?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=bd&utm_campaign=headline&cmpId=yhoo.headline&yptr=yahoo
Not to worry... Maduro doesn't have a history of selling off every asset... just the ones that aren't nailed down. Lumber, oil, mining, shipping... its not like investors are going to come charging into Venezuela and steal copper cable. (His "colectivos" already do that!)
September 5, 2017
Under the official excuse that their broadcasting licenses were not “renewed”, they became part of the 50 radio and TV stations closed down this year, with 80% of all radio stations in Venezuela in legal limbo regarding licensing. It’s the latest signal of an escalation strategy (which reached the international front), at a time when a new piece of legislation could kill free speech for good.
-snip-
read it and weep for the death of democracy
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2017/09/05/what-lies-at-the-heart-of-corazon-llanero/
50 radio and TV stations taken off Venezuela airwaves this year. AND COUNTING
On the night of August 25th, two well-known FM radio stations in Caracas left the airwaves by orders of CONATEL: Magica 99.1 FM and 92.9. Tu FM. Immediately, two new ones took their places, Radio Vinotinto FM and Corazón Llanero.Under the official excuse that their broadcasting licenses were not “renewed”, they became part of the 50 radio and TV stations closed down this year, with 80% of all radio stations in Venezuela in legal limbo regarding licensing. It’s the latest signal of an escalation strategy (which reached the international front), at a time when a new piece of legislation could kill free speech for good.
-snip-
read it and weep for the death of democracy
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2017/09/05/what-lies-at-the-heart-of-corazon-llanero/
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