Great video. But you left out one extremely important detail, Saudi overproduction of oil around 2014 or 2015 helping to tank the price of oil, which effected not just US oil startups but also effected the Venezuelan oil prices, putting more pressure on their economy. This was compounded later with opening up US oil exports, which further suppressed the price of oil, thereby allowing a prolonged period of lower oil prices which effected Venezuela's economy. This fits in nicely with your presentation of the situation and shows that not just sanctions, rather sanctions combined with oil production and price manipulations, had an effect on an economy that failed to diversify, not for lack of trying. This shows there was a much more methodical approach to cause the economic crisis in Venezuela by outside forces, which culminated in the current situation.
@@SoulSeeking - In case you didn't see it, after the Venezuelan sanctions were increased around January 2019, OPEC magically agreed to cut production, which helped to stabilize prices. Then, in the past couple days, news came out the Saudis are cutting more than OPEC agreed upon and the Trump admin is asking them to not draw down on production so quickly. But considering they cut and artificially suppressed the price for nearly 4 years, in the face of protests due to cuts in Saudi Arabia to social programs, including those that provide food to the poor in that country, as their coffers were also being drained, they are using the new sanctions that restrict both Iran and Venezuela on trade, especially related to oil, to now cut production and get compensated for doing the US bidding in relation to the coup and foreign policy related to Iran. So, this is more evidence of direct collusion between the US and Saudi Arabia, yet the pieces never get tied together. Similarly, no one is connecting the effects of US interest rates to debts around the world, or looking at two IMF negotiations and browbeating of Turkey during the last two rate hikes by the FED last year, and how that is being used to push neoliberal policies in the IMF loans, which include the already seen issues in Argentina. But I digress.
Thank you. Also, they had to finish recruiting a "replacement" leader. Juan Guano will go down in history as Venezuela's "Benedict Arnold" but is apparently happy to accept that role in history - in exchange for a few years of lavish living and power that he could not attain thru the ballot box and hard work.
I dunno... 'Democracy Dies In Darkness' y'know. That's what the Washington Post says, anyway. You know- the paper owned by the guy who does the CIA's bidding?
Don't attribute mal intent what can be adequately explained with incompetence. Venezuela suffers a LOT from power failures, and they are getting worse. The only thing that does not change is the government finding excuses to blame everyone else, including "iguanas". Here is a report from 2018 : www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article220464510.html The government has blamed the outages on a variety of things - including pesky animals. In an Oct. 20 tweet, Energy Minister Luis Motta Dominguez named “rats, mice, snakes, cats, squirrels” as possible culprits in shorting out lines. He added: “In the list of animals mentioned above, of course iguanas are included.” Critics, however, say insufficient investment by the government is the cause, following the 2007 nationalization of the electricity sector.
The power has been going out for years. It was even being rationed (you only got power at certain hours of the day) in order to prevent a nationwide blackout. The difference this time was that it was actually a nationwide blackout and was ongoing for days straight instead of some hours each day. Don't go justifying a terrible administration just to criticize the US.
My God, no air conditioning! Wait..., I don't have air conditioning. Well at least the US isn't starvation stricken and grief stricken with people dying in the streets. Oh wait...
@Cristhian Asallam Sanchez Ramirez only if you can afford it. I worked 4 part time jobs, 7 days a week & couldn't afford the deposit for water service. Had to "pirate" & pay the power bill under anothers name. Right here in the "good ol" USA
Essentially, the best thing the U.S. can do for Venezuela is lift the sanctions and not use them as an excuse to make things worse with military intervention.
Oh I don't know, but the US might try a little friendliness in place of greediness. If my neighbor were suffering, I couldn't lift them out of it singlehandedly but I could offer what help I could rather then wait for them to fail and then rob them blind. I don't think I'm unusual in this, I think our country is made of people who would do the same. It's just that our leaders don't reflect the people's values.
Great video. I did not know that Chavez did try to diversify the economy or that Obama was the one who started with the sanctions. It sounds like Venezuela economic problems started some time ago, even before the American sanctions. No wonder things got bad, and the sanctions is a part in preventing a faster resonable recovery of the economic system. Of course they do need to overhaul the economic system in Venezuela to get out of this mess once and for all.
What about America's economic crisis? Capitalism has always been responsible for America's economic crises including the 2008 crisis, The Great Depression and the on going crisis of insurmountable debt we can never pay. It has been reported that low oil prices were a deliberate attack against Venezuela. Notice how gasoline prices have risen since the declaration that President Maduro must go. Makes the weapon of low prices no longer needed. What about America's own humanitarian crisis of poverty as reported by the United Nations? America needs to fic its own economic crisis.
I love how thorough this analysis is. There was a time in my lifetime where an analysis like this could be on a major US TV station. It is really horrible that at this point in time, a detailed and balanced analysis like this has almost no chance to be on mainstream media.
Thank you for the on-target economic analysis. It has been sorely lacking in the media. Maintaining a fixed exchange rate I believe is the major sin. Also their borrowings in a foreign currency. Rule of thumb: a sovereign that 1)issues, 2)borrows in and 3) floats its own currency can never run out of cash.
Trump starts with theme, then a position, then just pulls random words out of the air, trying to connect them in a somewhat grammatically plausible way.
Saudi Arabia was critically instrumental in lowering oil prices affecting Russia, Venezuela and Iran oil economies. IMO, that was the plan and that was their role. Saudi Arabia, apparently, will receive nuclear technology, in some form, in return. They have and are receiving military technology too. I don't see any media making that connection to the Venezuelan crisis.
I've spoken to the refugees from Venez. in Ecuador. Their stories are real. Its not a result of US sanctions, which are mostly on the government millionaires benefitting from the kleptocracy, but from endemic corruption and poor management and nationalization of industries.
Thank you for making this great video! It's hard to find news reports that don't misrepresent the Obama sanctions by failing to describe their actual effect on Venezuela's ability to conduct business.
Fast, but still a fine report, Greg and TRNN. It's welcome to hear that the crisis in Ven. isn't humanitarian; but, the USA, i.e., Washington, needs to practice MYOB and stay out of other countries' economic and political affairs, and cease harming other countries, ... in all respects. It should be possible to indict US "leadership" for their roles in harming other countries, and I think that this possibly could be done based on the US Constitution, the _Law of the Land_ for the USA, as well as internationally. Washington's conduct is highly unconstitutional. Washington continually, repeatedly, usurps the Constitution, the _Law of the Land_ , for the USA. It's been reported plenty of times that MANY people around this world think the US is the most dangerous country, which I think is an understandable outlook; for, after all, it's extremely rogue, the govt and its ignorant supporters are, that is. It's the top super power militarily and used to be economically, though I don't know about the latter status today. Based on what I think was a recent TRNN video, the USA definitely needs more people like Henry A. Wallace. Yep, it's TRNN: " *_Undoing the New Deal: Truman's Cold War Buries Walace and the Left_* " (24:24), The Real News Network, 21 Mar 2019 (Part 1. Originally done in Dec. 2016), th-cam.com/video/lDtRtOGsOeE/w-d-xo.html ; " *_Dumping Wallace, Blocking Bernie: How the Democrats Broke With the Working Class - Kuznick RAI_* " (18:35), The Real News Network, 20 Mar 2019 (originally June 2016), th-cam.com/video/BYEq6S8I21I/w-d-xo.html.
Great video and description of Venezuela's economic woes, however the price of oil is not being manipulated to hurt Venezuela. Rather the price of oil reflects market conditions, such as the economic decline in 2008 which reduced demand and thus the price of oil. Certainly Venezuela being a producer wants a high oil price. Myself as a consumer and automobile driver wants a low oil price. Availability of the oil commodity in concert with demand will determine the price.
Unless people haven't noticed most of the developing world is in crisis also. From Brazil to Turkey, to South Africa. Recessions happen in the Third World, in fact they happen ten times worse, the Great Depression on steroids. And as we see from the First World, Social Democracy gets hit by recession just like more market orientated countries. About time we knocked off the BS and just admitted capitalism always crashes, whether Keynesian or Laissez Faire - capital is blighted by instability, all the more so in the developing world.
Can any one explain why there is a gap between the official exchange rate and the black market exchange rate? How does products being imported to the Venezuela without subsidies affect the gap? Why did USA apply sanctions what was the reasoning?
You cannot keep an artificial exchange rate that is 1/100th of the street rate. You will end up wasting the whole government budget on subsidizing smugglers. Not to mention that it will destroy any non-oil industry that you have.
Chavez exactly knew we shouldn't be contingent upon oil revenues very much, because it is too fluctuating. And he exactly knew we had to diversify domestic industries into miscellaneous fields as well. It should take time especially for a country which had been under a mono industrial imperialism for centuries to do so. But, he knew we had to undergo it, at any rate. First of all, you can't develop anything really good when living in dismal cardboard houses hungry, as Confucius says, “Basic clothing, food and housing are prerequisite premise for decent education." So, Chavez started to build houses. And then he invested huge mount of money for education. That’s no wonder his excellent decision. Prior to that, Chavez convened a Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution. People throughout the country participated in drafting it, and that Constitution was put to a vote by referendum, and it was approved. People created their own Constitution by themselves, which is very important. Because, first of all, it formalized the rights of Afro Venezuelans for the first time in history, who had been invisible. And then they created the best electoral system in the world as Chavez oversaw it. Actually, they have established one of the most democratic countries in the world. What elements have been trying to undermine it? You can name that. Dutch disease? Probably, they may have some as well as any other nation has to some extent. So, it seems pretty nonsense to me that you cited “dutch disease” for the origins of Venezuela’s crisis.
Why would the 'Dutch Disease' be a problem during the Chavas period. It certainly was a problem pre Chavas, Since Chavas introduced Exchange rate controls?(Never a good idea to fix exchange rates) . Was it because they fixed the exchange rate too low, so as to keep the price of imported goods low ? The consequences of that would be counterproductive to their other policy of diversification and stimulation in the Venezuelan economy. The "Dutch Disease " had set in years before Chavas and it would have been difficult to ween the Venezuelan off cheap imports. Moreover, there was additional resistance from the elites that controlled the import business. To achieve diversification , Chavas needed to have weaken the exchange rate , artificially if necessary, if that was not achieved on the open market.
You can't stimulate the economy at the same time you're nationalizing industries. That is not stimulation, that's just government spending. So what is the solution? Maduro must either step down or die. The problem is that whoever has the guns, has the power, and the military are still benefitting from the current regime, and as long as they are earning their salaries there is little motive to change, unless of course their conscience would move them to have compassion on their failing nation, which unfortunately rarely happens. Since when and where has force of conscience overcome the lure of the dollar?
The information is very good BUT It was read too bloody fast - was the reader in a competition to finish in less than 12 minutes??? There was not time to make sense of the information - It should have been read as if someone is giving a lecture with enough pauses for people to think and make sense. Please do it again m o r e s s l o w l y .
@@dejuanrobert, Nope! All South America is nationalist, colonialist gangsters, Cabezas de Vaca. They flood North America with drugs, namely cocaine, since the early 70s. And as Trump said, "it is a disgrace"!
In general, I wish TRNN would spend 30 seconds more refuting the allegations before it moves on to the substance. Because as it is, you seem to let them stand.
Too much information too fast - speed talking is always a bad idea. Wilpert could have started with a supposition that the crisis had internal causes and then outline through the history that was presented that the steps taken by Chavez and Maduro caused the downturn that is now exacerbated by the Obama and Trump sanctions. There needs to be a followup episode on why the sanctions were imposed, to what purpose.
THE REAL PROBLEM OF VENEZUELA. Before CHAVEZ and MADURO, the absence of predictibility in the context of one issue to social problems, failed to address the essence of diversifications. What should have been an alarm by unpredictability, became a downfall for Venezuela's economy and socialism utopia. Enjoying a fast progression of their economy due to abondance of fuel, THE PEOPLES asserted that socialism was the only issue to progressive development. Contrary to commun sense, they forgot the influences of private interests, in an utopian regime. If I have to be rich, the peoples have to be poors and, they are. Unless a drastic switch to divertifications, wich will be a slow process, the venezualians attempt to refuse democratic ways, will maintain them in the most abject poverty. Hear the calls of Brazil, USA and, others, of course, they won't do it for free !, but, they represent your best alternative for a fast transformation toward diversification. In that chapter, Venezuela has a lot to offer but, don't put yourself under the mirages of communism, the alternate of socialism, two (2) utopias, with no other issue than poverty for tTHE PEOPLES. God bless you. Gerry
Davon Simmonds they are. The oil being sold in US, the profit isn’t being given back to them. That is theft, besides the economic warfare of sanctions.
Davon Simmonds yeah they are investing in cryptocurrency & have even pre sold to China for example and their foreign affair minister Jorge Arreaza is currently reaffirming bonds with countries around the world that support Maduro gov. (which is the majority, the non US controlled ones or non heavily influenced ones)
Ok first of all, you arent an economist. Second, your analysis is subjective, not objective. third, very simplified description, not comprehensive and intended just for propaganda. Conclusion: lot of omission of data and lies.
Thanks a lot. But can you tell us what Venezuela can do to came out of this economic crisis? If it is even possible. What idias do you have? Rely on China and Russia and hold on? Maybe wait fo another "pink tide"? Regional allies are badly needed. Neighboring Right-wing governments will drive crazy their citetezens with their neoliberal reforms but propoganda is crazy as well. I hope Argentina and Brazil could vote out their right wing-governments. Next "pink tide" should turn "red" and they should establish Union of Socialist States of Latin America. Only that way socialist project could be viable there.
The sustainable development of Venezuela can only be possible in tandem with the rest of the world, like in the other success stories... In the case of oil, gas, and petrochemicals, skills must be developed internationally so workers can commute around the world, we must stop thinking us/them! In this aspect Saudi Arabia did well, because SaudiAramco has a connection to the US in Texas and California, and they have workers from all over the world, trained in English, the language is key, and at the same time the most difficult hurdle, which is a cultural hurdle not a technical hurdle, in English we overcome any hurdle, with nationalism hardly!
@@dejuanrobert, I did not say that, it is not that simple, English is the standard, you can work in the IS, but it sucks. Ask an engineer. All the engineers around the world work together already, we spend a lot of energy, in keeping it national, and international under the table, with translations, it is a huge inefficiency. As you know... the Koch old man really helped refineries and petrochemical complexes to be built in Russia, in the early 20s. Also the Huntsman and others did so recently in China. Currently, Russia, China or India appear to be more open to this engineering culture in English and they deploy all over. The Latin is still very nationalist, and it was, and has been, the root cause of all evil.
@@antoniocalhau4711 I didn't say anything about language...but you're right about the English language being used world wide to communicate in new n old technology. As for "the root cause of all evil" is were you enter into a different parallel universes. Do you wish to explain it More by what you meant?
@@dejuanrobert, Yes. Everyday, for some years to this part, people complain about people retiring, and new people do not have the experience, and is not enough in number to take over the legacy systems, that by the way grew in complexity, and we all need to support us, refineries, mines, hospitals, power structures, and much more. The military, in the USA, got their budget, now we have to move to the civilian society. We can not think we need 10 engineers, let's make 10 engineers, we must have redundancy by a large margin of safety, this is human resources. So in this context, we need people from all over, with the same set of skills, so they can move beyond the national agenda, and that is not what is happening, because the cost of college soared, and some classic degrees closed because people think they can live of computers only, or psychology, or whatever, that does not have math, chemistry, "petro" prefix, or tech "prefix, and that appears to be the problem in the horizon. So if Venezuela, had prepared people, say in the USA, like Saudi Arabia does, they would be able to have enough for them, and to the world, and all countries ought to be doing the same! This is the parallel universe! WE have to move on beyond the national stuff, like China did and very well, or India!?... They want to be like Cuba, now if the Russians or the Chinese, do not tell them what is going on, we will all be here hanging high and dry!?...
THIS VIDEO IS WRONG!. I cannot believe that this video did not blame the Venezuelan government for anything. Many years ago Hugo Chavez and Maduro nationalised every company, farmers, agriculture, infrastructure, everything that produced in the past were nationalised by them, and since Chavez and Maduro did that everything started going really bad, but there is not mention about it.
For a start, it's not true that every company was nationalised, a bit of research would tell you that. Secondly, there was plenty of criticism in the video of both regimes regarding, for example, the rather cavalier way they had of not putting savings into a national emergency fund, plus the over long period of controlling the fixed exchange rate. Maybe we watched a different video. What is historically unquestionable is that the US has interfered in the democratic affairs of other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. They didn't like Chile's freely elected Allende, so they orchestrated a coup. They funded the contras in Nicaragua against the Sandanista Junta, yet happily allowed right wing dictators like Pinochet to murder many people who expressed opposition. There are plenty of other examples if you care to investigate.
Great video. But you left out one extremely important detail, Saudi overproduction of oil around 2014 or 2015 helping to tank the price of oil, which effected not just US oil startups but also effected the Venezuelan oil prices, putting more pressure on their economy. This was compounded later with opening up US oil exports, which further suppressed the price of oil, thereby allowing a prolonged period of lower oil prices which effected Venezuela's economy. This fits in nicely with your presentation of the situation and shows that not just sanctions, rather sanctions combined with oil production and price manipulations, had an effect on an economy that failed to diversify, not for lack of trying.
This shows there was a much more methodical approach to cause the economic crisis in Venezuela by outside forces, which culminated in the current situation.
Good point. I forgot about Saudi Arabia's overproduction until you pointed it out.
Have a good one! :)
@@SoulSeeking - In case you didn't see it, after the Venezuelan sanctions were increased around January 2019, OPEC magically agreed to cut production, which helped to stabilize prices. Then, in the past couple days, news came out the Saudis are cutting more than OPEC agreed upon and the Trump admin is asking them to not draw down on production so quickly. But considering they cut and artificially suppressed the price for nearly 4 years, in the face of protests due to cuts in Saudi Arabia to social programs, including those that provide food to the poor in that country, as their coffers were also being drained, they are using the new sanctions that restrict both Iran and Venezuela on trade, especially related to oil, to now cut production and get compensated for doing the US bidding in relation to the coup and foreign policy related to Iran. So, this is more evidence of direct collusion between the US and Saudi Arabia, yet the pieces never get tied together.
Similarly, no one is connecting the effects of US interest rates to debts around the world, or looking at two IMF negotiations and browbeating of Turkey during the last two rate hikes by the FED last year, and how that is being used to push neoliberal policies in the IMF loans, which include the already seen issues in Argentina.
But I digress.
Spot on! FM😉
Thank you. Also, they had to finish recruiting a "replacement" leader.
Juan Guano will go down in history as Venezuela's "Benedict Arnold" but is apparently happy to accept that role in history - in exchange for a few years of lavish living and power that he could not attain thru the ballot box and hard work.
What an enormous coincidence that the power went out at the same time they started trying to "liberate" Venezuela.
I dunno... 'Democracy Dies In Darkness' y'know. That's what the Washington Post says, anyway. You know- the paper owned by the guy who does the CIA's bidding?
Jim M I know what you mean.
Don't attribute mal intent what can be adequately explained with incompetence.
Venezuela suffers a LOT from power failures, and they are getting worse.
The only thing that does not change is the government finding excuses to blame everyone else, including "iguanas".
Here is a report from 2018 :
www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article220464510.html
The government has blamed the outages on a variety of things - including pesky animals. In an Oct. 20 tweet, Energy Minister Luis Motta Dominguez named “rats, mice, snakes, cats, squirrels” as possible culprits in shorting out lines. He added: “In the list of animals mentioned above, of course iguanas are included.”
Critics, however, say insufficient investment by the government is the cause, following the 2007 nationalization of the electricity sector.
@@2meters2 the US remotely took out a nuclear reactor in Iran using a virus, so....
The power has been going out for years. It was even being rationed (you only got power at certain hours of the day) in order to prevent a nationwide blackout. The difference this time was that it was actually a nationwide blackout and was ongoing for days straight instead of some hours each day. Don't go justifying a terrible administration just to criticize the US.
Thanks Greg Wilpert!... Stay alert!
My God, no air conditioning! Wait..., I don't have air conditioning. Well at least the US isn't starvation stricken and grief stricken with people dying in the streets. Oh wait...
So i guess USA will provide free air conditioning to the people in Venezuela 😁😁
@Cristhian Asallam Sanchez Ramirez , just like in America.
@Cristhian Asallam Sanchez Ramirez Do you feel that Greg Wilpert was fair in his assessment?
@Cristhian Asallam Sanchez Ramirez only if you can afford it. I worked 4 part time jobs, 7 days a week & couldn't afford the deposit for water service. Had to "pirate" & pay the power bill under anothers name. Right here in the "good ol" USA
Thank you really much, for this short but explanatory video.
The BEST rundown of VZ economy I've come across. You put the NY Times to shame. Thank you.
Essentially, the best thing the U.S. can do for Venezuela is lift the sanctions and not use them as an excuse to make things worse with military intervention.
Oh I don't know, but the US might try a little friendliness in place of greediness. If my neighbor were suffering, I couldn't lift them out of it singlehandedly but I could offer what help I could rather then wait for them to fail and then rob them blind. I don't think I'm unusual in this, I think our country is made of people who would do the same. It's just that our leaders don't reflect the people's values.
#HandsOffVenezuela
Can you do an analysis of the cause of hyperinflation ? I read that it was largely instigated from Miami.
That was the best, most informative and most concise video I've watched on the Venezuela issue. Thankyou
Amazingly impartial and objective video of the crisis in V. - Thank you!
Great video. I did not know that Chavez did try to diversify the economy or that Obama was the one who started with the sanctions. It sounds like Venezuela economic problems started some time ago, even before the American sanctions. No wonder things got bad, and the sanctions is a part in preventing a faster resonable recovery of the economic system. Of course they do need to overhaul the economic system in Venezuela to get out of this mess once and for all.
What about America's economic crisis? Capitalism has always been responsible for America's economic crises including the 2008 crisis, The Great Depression and the on going crisis of insurmountable debt we can never pay. It has been reported that low oil prices were a deliberate attack against Venezuela. Notice how gasoline prices have risen since the declaration that President Maduro must go. Makes the weapon of low prices no longer needed.
What about America's own humanitarian crisis of poverty as reported by the United Nations? America needs to fic its own economic crisis.
I love how thorough this analysis is. There was a time in my lifetime where an analysis like this could be on a major US TV station. It is really horrible that at this point in time, a detailed and balanced analysis like this has almost no chance to be on mainstream media.
Thank you for the on-target economic analysis. It has been sorely lacking in the media. Maintaining a fixed exchange rate I believe is the major sin. Also their borrowings in a foreign currency. Rule of thumb: a sovereign that 1)issues, 2)borrows in and 3) floats its own currency can never run out of cash.
Trump starts with theme, then a position, then just pulls random words out of the air, trying to connect them in a somewhat grammatically plausible way.
Saudi Arabia was critically instrumental in lowering oil prices affecting Russia, Venezuela and Iran oil economies. IMO, that was the plan and that was their role. Saudi Arabia, apparently, will receive nuclear technology, in some form, in return. They have and are receiving military technology too. I don't see any media making that connection to the Venezuelan crisis.
Please turn on the option for automatically generated CC/Subtitles for this and/or all future videos.
Humanitarian crises exist in places like Yemen or Central America, all being oppressed by Gringo imperialism.
breaks0 It was the United Fruit Companies (#BUYcott Dole & Chiquita) and their connection to DC & CIA. #JacoboArbenz Guatemala 1954.
I've spoken to the refugees from Venez. in Ecuador. Their stories are real. Its not a result of US sanctions, which are mostly on the government millionaires benefitting from the kleptocracy, but from endemic corruption and poor management and nationalization of industries.
there is a saying in germany : trip s.o. up and ask him why he is runnng so fast.... dont know if this translation works though...
Thank you for making this great video! It's hard to find news reports that don't misrepresent the Obama sanctions by failing to describe their actual effect on Venezuela's ability to conduct business.
Well done analysis ....
Fast, but still a fine report, Greg and TRNN. It's welcome to hear that the crisis in Ven. isn't humanitarian; but, the USA, i.e., Washington, needs to practice MYOB and stay out of other countries' economic and political affairs, and cease harming other countries, ... in all respects. It should be possible to indict US "leadership" for their roles in harming other countries, and I think that this possibly could be done based on the US Constitution, the _Law of the Land_ for the USA, as well as internationally. Washington's conduct is highly unconstitutional. Washington continually, repeatedly, usurps the Constitution, the _Law of the Land_ , for the USA. It's been reported plenty of times that MANY people around this world think the US is the most dangerous country, which I think is an understandable outlook; for, after all, it's extremely rogue, the govt and its ignorant supporters are, that is. It's the top super power militarily and used to be economically, though I don't know about the latter status today. Based on what I think was a recent TRNN video, the USA definitely needs more people like Henry A. Wallace. Yep, it's TRNN: " *_Undoing the New Deal: Truman's Cold War Buries Walace and the Left_* " (24:24), The Real News Network, 21 Mar 2019 (Part 1. Originally done in Dec. 2016), th-cam.com/video/lDtRtOGsOeE/w-d-xo.html ; " *_Dumping Wallace, Blocking Bernie: How the Democrats Broke With the Working Class - Kuznick RAI_* " (18:35), The Real News Network, 20 Mar 2019 (originally June 2016), th-cam.com/video/BYEq6S8I21I/w-d-xo.html.
If you need a corespondent on the ground , Eva Bartlett is there.
Yes she is!
She is great indeed.
a very good and solide Analysis...
Fantastic objective breakdown.
By the criteria cited here, half the population of the USA is in economic crisis.
Great video and description of Venezuela's economic woes, however the price of oil is not being manipulated to hurt Venezuela. Rather the price of oil reflects market conditions, such as the economic decline in 2008 which reduced demand and thus the price of oil. Certainly Venezuela being a producer wants a high oil price. Myself as a consumer and automobile driver wants a low oil price. Availability of the oil commodity in concert with demand will determine the price.
Unless people haven't noticed most of the developing world is in crisis also. From Brazil to Turkey, to South Africa.
Recessions happen in the Third World, in fact they happen ten times worse, the Great Depression on steroids.
And as we see from the First World, Social Democracy gets hit by recession just like more market orientated countries.
About time we knocked off the BS and just admitted capitalism always crashes, whether Keynesian or Laissez Faire - capital is blighted by instability, all the more so in the developing world.
Can any one explain why there is a gap between the official exchange rate and the black market exchange rate? How does products being imported to the Venezuela without subsidies affect the gap? Why did USA apply sanctions what was the reasoning?
You cannot keep an artificial exchange rate that is 1/100th of the street rate. You will end up wasting the whole government budget on subsidizing smugglers. Not to mention that it will destroy any non-oil industry that you have.
Chavez exactly knew we shouldn't be contingent upon oil revenues very much, because it is too fluctuating. And he exactly knew we had to diversify domestic industries into miscellaneous fields as well. It should take time especially for a country which had been under a mono industrial imperialism for centuries to do so.
But, he knew we had to undergo it, at any rate.
First of all, you can't develop anything really good when living in dismal cardboard houses hungry, as Confucius says, “Basic clothing, food and housing are prerequisite premise for decent education."
So, Chavez started to build houses. And then he invested huge mount of money for education. That’s no wonder his excellent decision.
Prior to that, Chavez convened a Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution. People throughout the country participated in drafting it, and that Constitution was put to a vote by referendum, and it was approved. People created their own Constitution by themselves, which is very important. Because, first of all, it formalized the rights of Afro Venezuelans for the first time in history, who had been invisible. And then they created the best electoral system in the world as Chavez oversaw it. Actually, they have established one of the most democratic countries in the world.
What elements have been trying to undermine it?
You can name that.
Dutch disease?
Probably, they may have some as well as any other nation has to some extent. So, it seems pretty nonsense to me that you cited “dutch disease” for the origins of Venezuela’s crisis.
Why would the 'Dutch Disease' be a problem during the Chavas period. It certainly was a problem pre Chavas, Since Chavas introduced Exchange rate controls?(Never a good idea to fix exchange rates) .
Was it because they fixed the exchange rate too low, so as to keep the price of imported goods low ?
The consequences of that would be counterproductive to their other policy of diversification and stimulation in the Venezuelan economy.
The "Dutch Disease " had set in years before Chavas and it would have been difficult to ween the Venezuelan off cheap imports.
Moreover, there was additional resistance from the elites that controlled the import business.
To achieve diversification , Chavas needed to have weaken the exchange rate , artificially if necessary, if that was not achieved on the open market.
You can't stimulate the economy at the same time you're nationalizing industries. That is not stimulation, that's just government spending. So what is the solution? Maduro must either step down or die. The problem is that whoever has the guns, has the power, and the military are still benefitting from the current regime, and as long as they are earning their salaries there is little motive to change, unless of course their conscience would move them to have compassion on their failing nation, which unfortunately rarely happens. Since when and where has force of conscience overcome the lure of the dollar?
Excellent synopsis Greg. The Venezuelans made their economy cry now the US want to make it scream.
Thank you TRNN!
The information is very good BUT It was read too bloody fast - was the reader in a competition to finish in less than 12 minutes??? There was not time to make sense of the information - It should have been read as if someone is giving a lecture with enough pauses for people to think and make sense. Please do it again m o r e s s l o w l y .
Greg Wilpert, The typical South American story!
Nope...the other South American countries aren't being attack by terrorists in Washington n gangsters in Miami Florida.
@@dejuanrobert, Nope! All South America is nationalist, colonialist gangsters, Cabezas de Vaca. They flood North America with drugs, namely cocaine, since the early 70s. And as Trump said, "it is a disgrace"!
In general, I wish TRNN would spend 30 seconds more refuting the allegations before it moves on to the substance. Because as it is, you seem to let them stand.
Too much information too fast - speed talking is always a bad idea. Wilpert could have started with a supposition that the crisis had internal causes and then outline through the history that was presented that the steps taken by Chavez and Maduro caused the downturn that is now exacerbated by the Obama and Trump sanctions. There needs to be a followup episode on why the sanctions were imposed, to what purpose.
THE REAL PROBLEM OF VENEZUELA. Before CHAVEZ and MADURO, the absence of predictibility in the context of one issue to social problems, failed to address the essence of diversifications. What should have been an alarm by unpredictability, became a downfall for Venezuela's economy and socialism utopia. Enjoying a fast progression of their economy due to abondance of fuel, THE PEOPLES asserted that socialism was the only issue to progressive development. Contrary to commun sense, they forgot the influences of private interests, in an utopian regime. If I have to be rich, the peoples have to be poors and, they are. Unless a drastic switch to divertifications, wich will be a slow process, the venezualians attempt to refuse democratic ways, will maintain them in the most abject poverty. Hear the calls of Brazil, USA and, others, of course, they won't do it for free !, but, they represent your best alternative for a fast transformation toward diversification. In that chapter, Venezuela has a lot to offer but, don't put yourself under the mirages of communism, the alternate of socialism, two (2) utopias, with no other issue than poverty for tTHE PEOPLES. God bless you. Gerry
Wealthiest. Countries n the world until U.S. sanctions!!
I would die without air conditioning. Thank the heavens I’m American.
#Trump2020 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
#KochProblem
They need to get the oil pumping and selling globally again
Davon Simmonds they are. The oil being sold in US, the profit isn’t being given back to them. That is theft, besides the economic warfare of sanctions.
They have to find new markets for the oil and also try to diversify their economy or else the U.S. will keep us the chaos.
Davon Simmonds yeah they are investing in cryptocurrency & have even pre sold to China for example and their foreign affair minister Jorge Arreaza is currently reaffirming bonds with countries around the world that support Maduro gov. (which is the majority, the non US controlled ones or non heavily influenced ones)
Oh you like Puerto Rico after the Maria
What is Real Reason to Economy crisis?
What about nationalizing the oil industry?
Ok first of all, you arent an economist. Second, your analysis is subjective, not objective. third, very simplified description, not comprehensive and intended just for propaganda. Conclusion: lot of omission of data and lies.
Thanks a lot. But can you tell us what Venezuela can do to came out of this economic crisis? If it is even possible. What idias do you have? Rely on China and Russia and hold on? Maybe wait fo another "pink tide"? Regional allies are badly needed. Neighboring Right-wing governments will drive crazy their citetezens with their neoliberal reforms but propoganda is crazy as well. I hope Argentina and Brazil could vote out their right wing-governments. Next "pink tide" should turn "red" and they should establish Union of Socialist States of Latin America. Only that way socialist project could be viable there.
Air conditioning...definite indicator of societal well being
Sanction Stricken
socialism
What about Puerto Rico Trump...?
The sustainable development of Venezuela can only be possible in tandem with the rest of the world, like in the other success stories... In the case of oil, gas, and petrochemicals, skills must be developed internationally so workers can commute around the world, we must stop thinking us/them!
In this aspect Saudi Arabia did well, because SaudiAramco has a connection to the US in Texas and California, and they have workers from all over the world, trained in English, the language is key, and at the same time the most difficult hurdle, which is a cultural hurdle not a technical hurdle, in English we overcome any hurdle, with nationalism hardly!
You're assuming that USA is the only country with people who've technical experience in oil production. I'm sure Russia would disagree.
@@dejuanrobert, I did not say that, it is not that simple, English is the standard, you can work in the IS, but it sucks. Ask an engineer.
All the engineers around the world work together already, we spend a lot of energy, in keeping it national, and international under the table, with translations, it is a huge inefficiency.
As you know... the Koch old man really helped refineries and petrochemical complexes to be built in Russia, in the early 20s. Also the Huntsman and others did so recently in China.
Currently, Russia, China or India appear to be more open to this engineering culture in English and they deploy all over. The Latin is still very nationalist, and it was, and has been, the root cause of all evil.
@@antoniocalhau4711 I didn't say anything about language...but you're right about the English language being used world wide to communicate in new n old technology.
As for "the root cause of all evil" is were you enter into a different parallel universes. Do you wish to explain it More by what you meant?
@@dejuanrobert, Yes. Everyday, for some years to this part, people complain about people retiring, and new people do not have the experience, and is not enough in number to take over the legacy systems, that by the way grew in complexity, and we all need to support us, refineries, mines, hospitals, power structures, and much more. The military, in the USA, got their budget, now we have to move to the civilian society. We can not think we need 10 engineers, let's make 10 engineers, we must have redundancy by a large margin of safety, this is human resources. So in this context, we need people from all over, with the same set of skills, so they can move beyond the national agenda, and that is not what is happening, because the cost of college soared, and some classic degrees closed because people think they can live of computers only, or psychology, or whatever, that does not have math, chemistry, "petro" prefix, or tech "prefix, and that appears to be the problem in the horizon. So if Venezuela, had prepared people, say in the USA, like Saudi Arabia does, they would be able to have enough for them, and to the world, and all countries ought to be doing the same! This is the parallel universe! WE have to move on beyond the national stuff, like China did and very well, or India!?... They want to be like Cuba, now if the Russians or the Chinese, do not tell them what is going on, we will all be here hanging high and dry!?...
THIS VIDEO IS WRONG!.
I cannot believe that this video did not blame the Venezuelan government for anything. Many years ago Hugo Chavez and Maduro nationalised every company, farmers, agriculture, infrastructure, everything that produced in the past were nationalised by them, and since Chavez and Maduro did that everything started going really bad, but there is not mention about it.
For a start, it's not true that every company was nationalised, a bit of research would tell you that. Secondly, there was plenty of criticism in the video of both regimes regarding, for example, the rather cavalier way they had of not putting savings into a national emergency fund, plus the over long period of controlling the fixed exchange rate. Maybe we watched a different video.
What is historically unquestionable is that the US has interfered in the democratic affairs of other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. They didn't like Chile's freely elected Allende, so they orchestrated a coup. They funded the contras in Nicaragua against the Sandanista Junta, yet happily allowed right wing dictators like Pinochet to murder many people who expressed opposition. There are plenty of other examples if you care to investigate.
take care of your country trump u have begiers in America
delusional
First here!
the real news in what world?