Venezuela’s Maduro Now Scheduled to Make His Annual Report Today
Caridad
HAVANA TIMES — If President Maduro is hoping to make people lose all confidence in his government, it is one of the things he is doing quickly and successfully.
He has postponed the Annual Report for 2014 a second time.
According to the Venezuelan constitution, the president must offer an account of his administration within the first ten days of the New Year.
At the end of December, Nicolas Maduro declared that he would be “announcing” new economic measures – measures everyone is anxiously waiting for, what with the crisis – in January of this year. The president, however, spent the first two weeks of the year on an international tour, forgetting his Annual Report completely.
This past weekend, when the price of oil was still dropping, he spoke about how successful his trip had been and again promised he would offer his address (including a report on the new economic adjustments and an account of last year) on Tuesday, January 20.
On Monday, however, his spokespeople addressed the people with new information: “Fellow Venezuelans, we inform you that President Maduro’s Annual Report before the National Assembly has been re-scheduled for Wednesday, January 21 at 5 pm.”
These statements appear to convey the following message: “Fellow Venezuelans, the economic measures announced will be implemented, not today, but tomorrow…perhaps the day after tomorrow.”
It is not the first time the president promises to give new information and then doesn’t. It is not the first time they don’t offer an explanation as to a given delay, situation or government action.
In social networks, Venezuelans who are not content with the president’s administration (and we can no longer speak solely of the opposition) are already announcing they will hold a demonstration during the presidential address.
Is that what Maduro was trying to avoid by postponing his address?
Are the economic adjustments so drastic that they fear that a large percentage of Venezuelans will react violently?
Is president Maduro not taking this matter seriously enough?
Are the new measures not ready to be implemented yet?
Will economic measures actually be implemented, or will they only be political in nature?
Will they continue to blame the opposition of waging an economic war, in a country with more than 60% inflation?
Will they finally dare raise the price of gas or triple the price of public transportation, as they did several weeks ago in some places?
There are many unanswered questions, and things are starting to resemble a mystery radio-play.
President Maduro may offer us the answer today. Then again, maybe he won’t.
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Editors Note: Venezuela is Cuba’s leading trade partner and top political ally.
We now know what he said. No currency devaluation as expected and no major austerity steps to be taken. Experts on the Venezuelan economy are convinced that Maduro is in way over his head. China pledged another $20 billion and it is not known how this aid will be provided. It could simply be an extension of a portion of the $60 billion in aid that China has already lent to Venezuela or it could mean $20 billion in infrastructure support. What Venezuela needs is hard currency to buy toilet paper, diapers, flour and basic goods for the Venezuelan people. The terms of this agreement have remained secret. That, in part, is a clue that it is not the ideal agreement that Maduro needed to bail out his economy. End of 2015 parliamentary elections loom and it is assumed that Maduro will lose control of his government. With inflation accelerating, he may lose control even before these elections. Either way, the Castro puppet’s days are numbered.
Venezuela is an economic mess. No need to go further since it never should have happened. Say what you will but how to ruin a country is topic “A” for further studies on how not to run a country. Massive amounts of oil revenues and decimation of free enterprise and ways to offset the precipitous drop in said commodity.