VenEconomy: Government of Venezuela Looks to Regain Lost Support From the Editors of VenEconomy Latin American Heral Tribune September 24, 2015
It’s now impossible to hide the harsh economic crisis that has gripped Venezuela. It can be seen and felt; citizens are suffering its devastating effects each day of their lives in every corner of the homeland.
All analysts have forecast that the worst is yet to come. Credit ratings agency Moody’s reported this week it considers the current inflationary context in Venezuela as a "hyperinflation event"; that it doesn’t expect that the Government takes steps to counter distortions in relative prices; and that accumulated inflation for August was 155% to exceed forecasts for all 2015.
So serious is the economic deterioration of Venezuela, and so bad is the administration of Nicolás Maduro that he has everything to lose as he faces increasing rejection toward his government and himself.
The proximity of the parliamentary elections and their eventual adverse outcome, which would lead the Government to lose a majority in the Parliament and, therefore, one of the powers that has given it carte blanche to violate the Constitution, pass as many enabling laws as deemed necessary and not demanding accountability, are exacerbating the virulence and absurdity of those who just want to perpetuate themselves in power.
Since it couldn’t rekindle the voters’ devotion to Hugo Chávez, one of the strategies the Government chose is to stir up false nationalism and appeal to populist jingoism, thus irresponsibly putting the entire country on a war footing.
To that end, it has decreed in the first place a state of emergency in nearly all municipalities bordering Colombia as it illegally suspended six constitutional guarantees indefinitely, including the right to free transit, peaceful assembly and organize public demonstrations, which would restrict the rights of opposition candidates of these municipalities to organize demonstrations and speeches for their respective electoral campaigns and also coerce citizens on election day. At the same time, it keeps the conflict with Colombia alive by not clinching agreements and by diverting attention from the human rights violations of extradited Colombian nationals from the affected areas.
In addition, Maduro made public his ambition of an arms race by arranging the purchase of about 12 Sukhoi aircraft from Russia, as a response to an unexplained fatal accident of one of those aircraft in the border area, when supposedly investigating the incursion of an unidentified aircraft in Venezuelan territory. This purchase would represent an expenditure of about $514.8 million, something unacceptable at a time when Venezuelans are suffering the worst shortages issue of everything ever seen in the entire history of the country. Apart from the fact that he also announced he will clinch an important deal with China regarding the purchase of a set of military equipment for the defense of the country.
To make matters worse, after not saying a word regarding the rights of Venezuela on the Essequibo region since 1999, he is now provoking a unusual tension with Guyana through an uncommon movement of troops and military maneuvers in the east of the country that have led to a wake-up call from the government of David Granger. The government of Granger, through its Foreign Ministry, reported that Venezuela "is sending armed vessels to the Coeroeni River, which belongs to Guyana’s waters as everybody knows. In addition to the movement of troops and equipment, there is a missile launcher on the other side of the border."
While in internal matters, he is maintaining a military and police deployment with the excuse of the implementation of the so-called Operation for the Liberation of the People (OLP), the umpteenth security plan of the Bolivarian revolution that is far from being useful to keep criminal gangs at bay, and very close to exert pressure and exercise control over the people living in slums, who today are turning their backs on Maduro.
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