The Book
In praise of Blogging the Revolution
“Caracas Chronicles has been an indispensable source of lucidity and perspective in these turbulent times in Venezuela. Toro and Nagel have been right on target, without pretending to be ludicrously impartial; they have been able to rise above polarization, trying hard to make sense of an often implausible reality. Blogging the Revolution shows them at their best. If you are not already a fan, you will become one.”
- Francisco J. Monaldi, RFK Visiting Professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Director, Center on Energy at IESA in Caracas.Recent Comments
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Category Archives: Bonds
The China connection
Over at Foreign Policy’s Transitions blog (apologies, but you need to log in to read the piece), I take a break from my vacation to discuss the link between last week’s devaluation and Elías Jaua’s ill-fated trip to China: In … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds, CADIVI, China
44 Comments
Venezuela is a Ponzi scheme
(Posted on Foreign Policy´s Transitions blog) A pyramid scheme called Venezuela By Juan Cristobal Nagel Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s embattled president, is living on borrowed time. The real problem for Venezuelans, though, is that their economy is also living on borrowed … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds, The Economy
24 Comments
Princess of China
El Nacional continues with its reporting on the push to get China to provide new financing for the Bolivarian Revolution. In a rambling article by Andrés Rojas, we learn, among other things, that:
Posted in Bonds, The Economy
68 Comments
Hugo Chávez, darling of Wall Street
Bloomberg’s Ye Xie and Nathan Crooks have a very interesting article profiling the cozy relationship between Hugo Chávez and his bondholders. They make the case that, in spite of all his rhetoric, Chávez has never missed a bond payment, and … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds, The Economy
22 Comments
Chávez owes his re-election to the people
I mean, literally. You and me are going to have to pay for his reelection … out of our own pockets. Ultimas Noticias reports on numbers from the Ministry of Finance saying that, just the last year, Venezuela’s foreign debt … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds, The Economy
23 Comments
A closer look at Maduro’s superpowers
Press reports about Nicolás Maduro’s new powers on economic issues don’t really do justice to what is going on. When you scratch beneath the surface and actually read the text, you realize chavismo is getting ready for an election. The … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds, Nicolas Maduro, The Economy
50 Comments
Opportunism, or socialist cronyism?
Bloomberg’s Alex Cuadros has a thoughtful profile of Venezuelan banks. While it lays down the facts without sounding shrill, the facts are alarming enough in themselves. In the end the article can’t help but be a brutal indictment of a … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds, The Economy
15 Comments
Schrödinger’s Bond
Did Chávez have his “you didn’t build that” moment after the Amuay disaster when he said that, accident or no accident, “as some philosopher whose name I don’t remember said, The Show Must Go On“? Both were gaffes, and the … Continue reading
Baptism by Demonic Shit
[Hat Tip: The increasingly invaluable País Verruga,which styles itself "La revista virtual con lo más protuberante de lo que ocurre al norte de Sudamérica y de lo que marca la neo venezolanidad del siglo XXI."] Miguel O, in comments, adds:
Petrocaudillism, Churrigueresque Edition
So, our old friend Fonden – executive organ of Hankypankistan – has gone ahead and started issuing its own bonds! My first thought was, “great! if you ask people to lend you money, you have to tell them where your … Continue reading
Evrofinance Mosnarbank – no, that’s not a Maracucho name
Ever heard of Evrofinance Mosnarbank SA? Me neither…which is funny, considering – as Daniel Cancel documents in this lovely in-depth report for Bloomberg – it has recently displaced Citibank and Credit Suisse Group to become the number-one underwriter of Venezuelan … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds, Corruption
16 Comments
Fonden’s Accounting is all Greek to Me
Maybe it’s only because I’m a Fonden fanatic, but I really think Francisco Rodríguez’s new research note (link now corrected) for Bank of America/Merrill Lynch should shoot to the top of any self-respecting Venezuela wonk’s reading list. So go ahead and read it … Continue reading
Borrowing at Credit Card Rates
Let’s be clear: for a country to issue a sovereign bond with an 11.95% coupon is really just a polite way of saying it’s broke. Moderately responsible individuals in the first world can literally get credit card debt cheaper than … Continue reading
Chávez’s health issues are good for the economy (Updated)
Chávez may be gravely ill, and the investors are lovin’ it … (HT: LC) Update – A friend writes telling me that the rally in Venezuelan bonds may be the result of the Venezuelan government buying up the bonds. In … Continue reading
Posted in Bonds
38 Comments
Oil Sky-Rockets, Venezuelan Bonds Plunge
It takes a minute or two to fully absorb this Bloomberg chart: It shows the correlation between oil prices and Venezuelan sovereign bond prices. Venezuela’s ability to pay its debts is tightly bound up with PDVSA’s earning power, so oil … Continue reading
