Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is betting that an unexpected six-day holiday starting today will help defuse two weeks of demonstrations that have left 14 people dead.
Maduro this week expanded the annual Carnival festivities by decreeing today and tomorrow national holidays, in addition to previously scheduled days off on March 3-4. Antonio Iskandar, an eye doctor in western Caracas who has taken part in protests, said that while Maduro’s strategy may offer the government a respite, it won’t keep people off the streets.
“Six days of holidays is a very tempting opportunity for people to see their families,” Iskandar, 25, said in a telephone interview. “This is our best chance and we can’t stop now. We aren’t leaving the streets until Maduro is out.”
Maduro has argued that his government is gaining support as daily demonstrations begin to alienate voters. The 51-year-old president heard from both critics and supporters at a four and a half hour long “peace conference” in Caracas yesterday that the main political opposition group decided to skip.
“Our country is not well, Mr. President,” Jorge Roig, head of the country’s main federation of business chambers, said as Maduro said at a desk with the word “peace” spelled out by flowers in front of him. “We have economic indicators that show us with one of the highest inflation rates in the world, with enormous shortages.”
Other participants at the event included billionaire beverage magnate Lorenzo Mendoza, who Maduro praised for suggesting the government create a commission to analyze the country’s economic situation.
Industry Attacks
Mendoza, the chief executive officer of Empresas Polar SA, has faced criticism from Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, both of whom said he was partly to blame for shortages of goods in a country with the world’s biggest oil reserves. On the company’s Twitter page, Polar said it was willing to undertake actions to “contribute to national production and the well-being of the Venezuelan people.”
“Shortages are the result of attacks against industry, expropriations, freezing of prices and now restrictions on currency purchases,” the company, which produces everything from beer to corn flour and has a joint venture with PepsiCo Inc., said.
In rejecting yesterday’s talks, the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable said in a statement that any negotiation must be based on an agenda agreed upon in advance and the participation of a third party.
Opposition Governor Henrique Capriles, who lost to Maduro in elections to succeed Chavez last year, has called on the Catholic Church to serve as a mediator and insisted the government release jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who was detained last week after the government accused him of inciting violence.
Democratic Guarantees
“Will barricades, will burning, will more deaths help improve the economic situation,” Maduro said yesterday. “Why do we have to live through this in Venezuela where there’s a democracy with all the guarantees for the people?”
While the extended vacation weekend may send thousands of Venezuelans to the country’s Caribbean beaches, Maduro will still need to offer concessions to extend any lull in the violence beyond the holidays, said Carlos Romero, a political analyst at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas.
“It isn’t a magical solution,” Romero said in a phone interview. “It might reduce the number and characteristics of the protests, but that won’t mean Venezuela’s wounds are healed.”
Regulated Market
Maduro declared the holidays this week to commemorate 25 years since the so-called Caracazo riots, when the armed forces killed hundreds after opening fire during protests against then-President Carlos Andres Perez’s austerity measures.
Amid the discontent, Maduro has taken steps to address a dollar shortage that has crimped imports, causing shortages of everything from chicken and cooking oil to medicine and paper.
Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc both changed their recommendations on Venezuelan bonds to overweight after the government published rules Feb. 24 allowing companies and individuals a new way to buy dollars in a regulated market.
Previously, the central bank was the sole supplier of greenbacks and as foreign reserves fell, less foreign currency was made available to pay for imports.
Venezuela’s benchmark dollar bonds due in 2027 fell 0.30 cents on the dollar to 69.83 cents yesterday, ending a five-day rally.
Stoked Resentment
The government also made moves to address complaints about police repression by arresting eight officers from the intelligence police, known as Sebin, over the murder of two people during protests on Feb. 12.
Those deaths stoked protester resentment. Demonstrators have barricaded streets in cities across the country, leading to confrontations with National Guard troops and pro-government forces.
Jhonathan Abreu, an information technology officer at the Labor Ministry’s office in Tachira state, where the protests originated, said demonstrations have intensified each day.
“Here in Tachira we know that if the protests stop, Maduro will stay, and all our sacrifice will be in vain,” Abreu said. “People here prefer to pass one year without Carnival than five more years of dictatorship. We can’t stop now.”
Source : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-26/maduro-bets-6-day-holiday-will-diffuse-venezuela-protests.html
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is betting that an unexpected six-day holiday starting today will help defuse two weeks of demonstrations that have left 14 people dead.
Maduro this week expanded the annual Carnival festivities by decreeing today and tomorrow national holidays, in addition to previously scheduled days off on March 3-4. Antonio Iskandar, an eye doctor in western Caracas who has taken part in protests, said that while Maduro’s strategy may offer the government a respite, it won’t keep people off the streets.
“Six days of holidays is a very tempting opportunity for people to see their families,” Iskandar, 25, said in a telephone interview. “This is our best chance and we can’t stop now. We aren’t leaving the streets until Maduro is out.”
Maduro has argued that his government is gaining support as daily demonstrations begin to alienate voters. The 51-year-old president heard from both critics and supporters at a four and a half hour long “peace conference” in Caracas yesterday that the main political opposition group decided to skip.
“Our country is not well, Mr. President,” Jorge Roig, head of the country’s main federation of business chambers, said as Maduro said at a desk with the word “peace” spelled out by flowers in front of him. “We have economic indicators that show us with one of the highest inflation rates in the world, with enormous shortages.”
Other participants at the event included billionaire beverage magnate Lorenzo Mendoza, who Maduro praised for suggesting the government create a commission to analyze the country’s economic situation.
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