Latin America’s largest airline, Latam, has joined German airline Lufthansa in suspending service to or from Caracas because of outstanding financial debts. Venezuela’s currency controls have made it difficult for international airlines to convert earnings from the bolivar to other currencies, according to several companies, and Lufthansa claims that Venezuela…
Venezuela Supreme Court Rejects Opposition’s Housing Privatization Law
This May, Venezuela’s Supreme Court rejected a controversial law that would have allowed for the privatization and sale of low-income housing on the private market. Earlier this year, the opposition-controlled National Assembly approved a law that would have granted residents of the Great Venezuelan Housing Mission the “right to private…
Venezuela Plunges Into Worse Conditions With New Government Decree
A state of emergency was declared on Monday, by a decree, published in the government gazette, which will give President Nicolas Maduro and his government and security forces the authorization to ignore most constitutional safeguards in a bid to keep order and supply basic services. Despite its oil reserves, Venezuela…
Venezuela: No Longer the Utopia It Once Was
Once the world’s socialist paradise, Venezuela is no longer a place people wish they lived in. Corruption, dysfunction, bankruptcy, and one of the highest crimes rates in the world is how most people would describe the state of the country today, according to the National Post’s Kelly McParland.Venezuela is no longer able…
Venezuela’s Resource Shortages Reveal Economic Decline’s True Effects
With Venezuela in the midst of an economic crisis, shortages of resources are hitting cities and towns all across the country. According to Euro News, everything from beer to toilet paper is scarce within the country that was once prospering. Food is sold at subsidized prices, and many people fear…
Venezuela to Re-enter to the Humane Kimberley Process For Non-Conflict Diamonds
At the end of April, Venezuela concluded a week of meetings with the Kimberly Process in what is being called the final steps towards re-certifying the country’s status as an international producer of non-conflict diamonds. The Kimberly Process (KP) is an intergovernmental body, composed of 81 countries, that regulates the…
Venezuelan Judicial System Continues to Struggle
“Make beer or I will put you in prison,” said Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro. According to Peace FM, the beverage company, Empresas Polar shut down its operation in April, and President Maduro is not happy about it. Maduro has since ordered Empresas Polar to reopen its breweries and begin producing…
Empresas Polar has Shut Down Beer Production in Venezuela
“This could mean the end,” said Sergio Silva, a shopkeeper in a poor Venezuelan neighborhood. “If Venezuelans do not have beer… this country could blow.” Silva is referring to the shut down of Empresas Polar, Venezuela’s largest privately-owned company and holder of 80% of the domestic beers in the country.…