Squirrel watch......
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/25/2014 15:28 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-24/venezuela-bolivar-devalues-89-start-new-fx-market
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/24/2014 14:49 -0400
Venezuela's Maduro Averts Military Coup, Arrests Three Air Force Generals
A day after Venezuela formally devalued its currency by way of the new and improved FX central planning system SICAD II, which sent the official value of the Bolivar 89% lower, the government desperately needed a distraction. It got just that when earlier today Socialist par excellence Nicolas Maduro announced that he had narrowly avoided a coup after he arrested three air force generals suspected of plotting an uprising against the leftist government.
Maduro told a meeting of South American foreign ministers that the three generals, who were not identified, had been in contact with the opposition and "were trying to rise up against the legitimately constituted government.""This group that was captured has direct links with sectors of the opposition and they were saying that this week was the decisive week," Maduro said.He said the generals had already been summoned before a court martial, adding that the plot was discovered because other officers had come forward to say they were being recruited.The disclosure comes amid a broadening government crackdown against Maduro's opponents after weeks of street protests that have left at least 34 dead.On Monday, National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello announced that a prominent opposition deputy, Maria Corina Machado, had lost her seat and parliamentary immunity, and could be arrested at any moment.Last week, two opposition mayors were arrested, and another prominent opposition leader has been in jailed for a month, accused of inciting violence.
Ironically, while the entire international community was fuming over the "crackdown" on peaceful, if CIA-funded, Ukraine protesters nobody has anything at all to say about the daily beatings and/or murders of civilians protesting Maduro's cabinet. Why? Perhaps because while the west has already alienated Putin and his natural resources, the last thing it can afford is to tell another oil rich country, Venezuela, to take a hike.
As for the local population, it may need greater and more dazzling spectacles than this particular distraction if it is to avoid noticing that its currency just lost 90% of its official value overnight. At least the Caracas stock market continues to put even the US market bubble to shame. Finally, if the socialist paradise fails, one can always use stock certificates as toilet paper, single ply.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-24/venezuela-bolivar-devalues-89-start-new-fx-market
Venezuela Bolivar Devalues 89% in Start of New FX Market
Venezuela's exchange rate is a Gordian Knot of rules and regulations meant to baffle onlookers with bullshit and, we suspect, hide the hyperinflation from prying eyes just a little longer.
Today's launch of SICAD II, a new currency market which allows the free-market to bid for USD (in Bolivars), appears to be an effort to provide liquidity to a black-market for dollars. SICAD II priced at 55 Bolivars today - an 89% devaluation from the official rate of 6.29 (and another auction-based rate SICAD I - applicable to some firms - of 10.8).
This new SICAD II rate will replace SICAD I as the official tourist rate.
Confused? You should be - the bottom line is that Maduro and his cronies continue to suppress the reality of a hyperinflating currency as student marches grow ever more popular and outspoken.
The positive 'spin' is that SICAD II has lowered the black market rate but simply due to the additional liquidity and transparency that the platform provides -an 88% devaluation is nothing to be too excited about!!
"It is going to cover 7, 8 percent of real (dollar) demands, seeking equilibrium as regards the flow of foreign currency necessary for the functioning of the economy," Maduro said in a speech on Friday.Sicad 2 essentially revives a previous system, known locally as the "permuta" or "swap" market, which Chavez shuttered in 2010 after accusing speculators of manipulating it.Opposition politicians have long criticized the government's currency controls. Still, they are lambasting Maduro for what they call a "stealth devaluation" via the new system."Today will be 'black Monday'. Sicad 2 is another devaluation for our currency," Tweeted opposition leader Henrique Capriles. "Nicolas has also finished off the bolivar. Another blow to the poor."Venezuela's annual inflation rate, currently at more than 56 percent, is the highest in the Americas.
As Bloomberg adds,
“This is a devaluation any way you look at this,”Tamara Herrera, chief economist at financial research firm Sintesis Financiera, said by phone. “The government is trying to bring down the black market rate with this new market, with the consensus that the dollar should be trading for about 50 bolivars.”
This was not an entirely unexpected move and we suspect a large number of players in today's auction were arbitrageurs who positioned in CDS for this platform's boost in liquidity and have profited from the move...
Bear in mind that most of the risk in VENZ CDS is devaluation risk (since its priced in USD) as opposed to credit risk - which for a very weak sovereign such as this is the same issue when it comes down to it...
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/venezuela/140324/death-toll-venezuela-protests-rises-36-after-pregnan
A pregnant woman was shot dead near Caracas and a soldier was killed in the western state of Merida, officials said, as the death toll from weeks of anti-government protests in Venezuela rose to 36 on Monday.
Supporters of both sides and members of the security forces are among those killed in the nation's worst unrest in a decade, due to demonstrations against socialist President Nicolas Maduro that kicked off last month.
Francisco Garces, mayor of Guaicaipuro municipality near the capital and a member of the ruling Socialist Party, said the 28-year-old pregnant woman was shot dead on Sunday during a protest.
"We categorically reject the demonstrations that caused this death," Garces told reporters.
More from GlobalPost: Venezuela: Why they protest
The state prosecutor's office said the woman, Adriana Urquiola, was shot after getting off a public bus halted by a barricade set up by protesters.
In the western state of Merida, a senior military source and hospital officials said a National Guard sergeant died on Monday after being shot in the neck during clashes there.
Streets barriers have become flash points for violence between radical supporters of both sides, who sometimes carry firearms. Members of the security forces have also come under fire from nearby buildings as they try to dismantle them.
Merida and neighboring Tachira state, by the border with Colombia, have been harder hit by the violence than anywhere else since the protests began. Last week, intelligence agents arrested the opposition mayor of San Cristobal city in Tachira and accused him of fomenting "civil rebellion."
The protests began in February with sporadic demonstrations by university students. They intensified after three people were killed following a February 12 rally in downtown Caracas.
The demonstrators want political change and an end to high inflation, shortages of basic foods, and one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world.
The main opposition leaders have repeatedly declined offers by Maduro for dialogue, saying they refuse to take part in meetings that will provide little more than photo-ops.
The demonstrators are demanding the president resign, while Maduro says they want a coup like the one 12 years ago that briefly ousted his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.
The numbers of protesters are far fewer than those who turned out against Chavez in 2002, and there have been no signs that the current unrest threatens to topple Maduro.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/03/24/Teenager-Pregnant-28-Year-Old-Latest-Dead-In-Attacks-On-Venezuelan-Protesters
TEEN, PREGNANT 28-
YEAR-OLD LATEST KILLED
IN ATTACKS ON
VENEZUELAN PROTESTERS
On Sunday, a 16-year-old protester died of a severe beating by the Venezuelan National Guard, and a pregnant 28-year-old woman was shot exiting a bus during a protest, as Nicolás Maduro's regime continues to use severe violence to oppress national dissatisfaction with the socialist regime.
According to Spanish newspaper ABC, a press release by opposition party Popular Will stated that an unidentified 16-year-old male was killed in the rebel city of San Cristóbal after receiving "'a severe beating' from the Bolivarian National Guard." It is currently unknown whether the teenager was participating in a protest, as the city of San Cristóbal is currently under martial law after the arrest of opposition mayor Daniel Ceballos.
In the more inland state of Miranda, Miranda governor and former opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski announced on Twitter Sunday that Adriana Urquiola, a 28-year-old sign language interpreter for Venevision network, was shot twice and died on the way to the hospital. Urquiola was three months pregnant. Infobae reports that witnesses alleged that a black truck was driving near anti-Maduro protests and opened fire, hitting Urquiola twice as she stepped off a bus. Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional adds that the gunshots were targeted "against protesters, who were blocking lanes in the neighborhood and, previously, Panamerican Highway."
There is no indication that Urquiola was participating in the protests.
These deaths bring the death toll to 36, as outlets reported Sunday that 34 protesters, mostly young, had been killed in clashes that began last February when Maduro orderedthe arrest of Popular Will leader Leopoldo López. In response to the protesters' demands for the freedom of political prisoners, including López, Maduro arrested two other mayors--Ceballos and San Diego Mayor Enzo Scarano, and he threatened to arrest more public servants who oppose his socialist politics.
While the death toll continues to skyrocket, the official National Guard continues to attack protesters and raid opposition strongholds. Protesters uploaded more videos this weekend of National Guard officers shooting at protesters and entering cities with tanks in hopes of intimidating the protesters into submission. This is especially common in San Cristóbal, the capital of the western state of Táchira, which borders Colombia and has become the opposition's unofficial capital:
After weeks of international pressure, the Venezuelan government has admitted that National Guard soldiers have killed and injured protesters, though they have yet to acknowledge the countless reports of torture occurring at the hands of Cuban-trained National Guard soldiers. Attorney General Luisa Ortega described these incidents as "police excesses" and announced 60 different investigations on National Guard soldiers this week.
Many doubt that any official investigation will stop the Venezuelan government from committing violent acts against the country's citizens. As Mary O'Grady explains in The Wall Street Journal, much of the violence also occurs at the hands of unofficial Chavista guerrilla groups called "motorizados." They patrol the streets on motorcycle and attack protesters. The motorizado brigade, O'Grady revealed, was cultivated under Chávez and continues to be an unofficial wing of the Venezuelan military today.
As the bloodshed continues, opposition leaders continue to call for protests and international intervention to stop the violence. Last week, deputy María Corina Machado, who Maduro is currently investigating for "criminal acts," visited Washington to encourage the Organization of American States to intervene in the violence. She was not allowed to speak before the committee.
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