Caracas Chronicles

It’s been an astoundingly rainy night in Caracas. It never ceases to amaze me how medievally unprepared we are to deal with such an elementary phenomenon as rain. Caracas was actually doing well, though, compared to the Regional del Centro, which turned into mayhem. But the raining champion this week is definitely Puerto Cabello. They’ve been affected for days, putting thousands of people’s work and health at risk. Even around a hundred companies have suspended their activities, including quite a bit of port movement involving food supplies.

Fall from Diphtheria

it turns out that while La Revolución can’t bring back the dead, it sure can bring back the killers

Hey, remember that thing we used to do when we eradicated diseases? They’ be cured, and suddenly they didn’t come up any more for like 25 years, and you’d think they were completely gone? Well, it turns out that while La Revolución can’t bring back the dead, it sure can bring back the killers. Lawmaker Dr. José Manuel Olivares reported the first death from diphtheria today, in the Domingo Luciani hospital in El Llanito. He also reported another case in the Pérez Carreño hospital. This disease hadn’t been seen in Venezuela for 24 years, and our health ministry remains silent.

Money Pours

While a single unit has an international market value of $45.000, it has cost the government $81.896

Juan Andrés Sosa, president of the Venezuelan Construction Chamber, said today that the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela, the largest of the government’s many populist money hemorrhages, has cost the State three times the value of our international reserves.

Sosa went on to say that the government demands builders to set the square meter of construction at Bs. 60.000, or around 15 dollars, while they’ve been paying about $1.700 per square meter themselves. While a single unit has an international market value of $45.000, it has cost the government $81.896. All this amounts to a total of $95 billion -not to mention only about 6.4% of the population has been benefitted-, making Misión Vivienda about the most inefficient, least cost-effective, and most expensive possible way to spend Venezuelans’ money.

And while we’re on the topic of criminal spending, Ecoanalítica director Asdrúbal Oliveros spoke today at Universidad Metropolitana’s Manoa auditorium, saying that the government has burnt through $17.218 million dollars of assets in two years. Next year they’ll have about a quarter of that, while they’ll need $9.500 million in financing. Looks promising.

But never fear, because OPEC has reached a historic agreement. No doubt thanks to the valiant efforts of Eulogio del Pino, the Organization has agreed to reduce production by 1.2 million barrels daily. Hopefully, this agreement -which also involved negotiations with non-OPEC oil nations- will help keep oil prices stable for some time.

Kicking the Table

MUD will walk away from the dialogue until the government lives up to some of its commitments

Electoral NGO Súmate denounced that last Saturday marked the seventh year since they requested the Political and Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice to avoid naming Socorro Hernández and Tania D’Amelio as CNE rectors, seeing as they were already PSUV’s militants. The TSJ has, of course, remained silent, the illegal naming took place and stuck, and the illegitimate rectoras have gone on to their own personal sprees of law-shaming.

Now for an actually surprising bit, Chúo Torrealba announced today, from the gardens of the Palacio Legislativo (no, they should not be using it for that. No, he’s not a lawmaker. Yes, it’s wrong.) that MUD will walk away from the dialogue until the government lives up to some of its commitments. These being, of course, releasing political prisoners, lifting the contempt state from the National Assembly, and resolving the Amazonas lawmakers case. The plot… thickens?

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If anyone was wondering whether Omar Vizquel was leaving as the national baseball team’s head coach, he assured everyone that he’s going nowhere, and that he has the players’ support. I worshipped him as a shortstop, and I hope to God he takes the Clásico Mundial home.