.

NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Saturday, January 10, 2015

China to Grab Venezuela's Oil - Obama Golfs

























While Obama Golfed
The Chinese Cometh to the Americas

  • Last week I Blogged about China marching into Nicaragua.
  • This week we see Communist China slowly taking over the oil industry of Venezuela in return for $20 Billion in cash to help keep the collapsing socialist economy of Venezuela afloat for a few more months.


The Collapse of Venezuelan Socialism

(The Guardian)  -  China has agreed to invest more than $20 billion (£13.2bn) in Venezuela to help it overcome an economic slump exacerbated by plummeting oil prices, the Venezuelan president has announced.

Nicolás Maduro has been in Beijing since Monday to participate in a major meeting between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) – a coalition of 33 countries that was formed in 2011. He announced the $20bn deal after meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

The Venezuelan president did not give further details, and it remains unclear whether the sum represents a fresh arrangement or is part of pre-existing oil-for-loans deals.

 Xi said on Thursday China would invest $250bn in Latin American countries over the next decade. The move is part of an attempt by Beijing to boost its influence in a region that tends to look to the US as its largest trading partner.

Beijing has extended $50 billion of credit to Venezuela since 2007, mostly in exchange for oil shipments. The country exports about 600,000 barrels of oil to China a day, nearly half of which go towards repaying its loans.

Last July, China offered to loan Venezuela $4bn while Xi visited Caracas during a 10-day tour of Latin American.

Read More . . . .


Venezuelan Grocery Stores Under Military "Protection"

(
(Bloomberg)  -  Shoppers thronged grocery stores across Caracas today as deepening shortages led the government to put Venezuela’s food distribution under military protection.

Long lines, some stretching for blocks, formed outside grocery stores in the South American country’s capital as residents search for scarce basic items such as detergent and chicken.

“I’ve visited six stores already today looking for detergent -- I can’t find it anywhere,” said Lisbeth Elsa, a 27-year-old janitor, waiting in line outside a supermarket in eastern Caracas. “We’re wearing our dirty clothes again because we can’t find it. At this point I’ll buy whatever I can find.”

A dearth of foreign currency exacerbated by collapsing oil prices has led to shortages of imports from toilet paper to car batteries, and helped push annual inflation to 64 percent in November. The lines will persist as long as price controls remain in place, Luis Vicente Leon, director of Caracas-based polling firm Datanalisis, said today in a telephone interview.

 Inside a Plan Suarez grocery store yesterday in eastern Caracas, shelves were mostly bare. Customers struggled and fought for items at times, with many trying to skip lines. The most sought-after products included detergent, with customers waiting in line for two to three hours to buy a maximum of two bags. A security guard asked that photos of empty shelves not be taken.

Read More . . . .




No comments: