El texto analiza la crisis actual en Venezuela y los esfuerzos de la población por recuperar la libertad y la democracia. La alguna vez próspera sociedad de Venezuela ahora está paralizada por una crisis humanitaria y una recesión económica debido a las políticas socialistas. La inflación alcanza un asombroso 189,8%, el PIB ha caído alrededor de un 75% entre 2014 y 2021 y más del 90% de la población vive en la pobreza, lo que ha provocado un éxodo masivo. El texto presenta las filosofías de Ayn Rand, que se centran en la meritocracia, el individualismo y el interés propio racional, como un camino potencial hacia la reconstrucción de Venezuela. Líderes como María Corina Machado, Corina Yoris y Edmundo González Urrutia son citados como modelos a seguir, siguiendo el ideal de Rand del “hombre superior”. Haciendo referencia a La rebelión de Atlas, el autor sugiere que la reconstrucción de Venezuela debe rechazar las disparidades socialistas y recompensar mérito, promoviendo la innovación y el emprendimiento. El texto concluye enfatizando la importancia de una hoja de ruta ‘objetiva’ para Venezuela, abogando por la reforma económica y educativa, la restauración de los derechos individuales y una adopción sólida de la ética del logro para la renovación nacional.Original por Dayana Cristina Duzoglou publicado en -> ElNacional

The impact of sanctions on Venezuelan economy and oil industry has been an ongoing debate. Some experts argue that sanctions have detrimental effects on the economy and living conditions. However, others suggest that sanctions had only a “partial” effect on the decrease in oil production. While some studies point out that sanctions are responsible for the humanitarian crisis. Contrasting views emerged, indicating that the humanitarian crisis predated the sanctions.  The precipitous decline in oil production after the January 2019 sanctions is attributed primarily to local problems, such as electric blackouts and mismanagement. Oil production increased again in 2022 through shady deals, an increase in illegal trade, and geopolitical changes by redirecting oil sales, legally or illegally, to countries such as China, Russia, and India. Some submitted that U.S. sanctions caused a sharp drop in Venezuelan public imports. Others disputed these conclusions. Even more, they argued that sanctions forced economic liberalization, aiding in economic growth from late 2021 to 2022. Ultimately, it’s agreed that Venezuela’s complex political economy and elements of corruption make it difficult to determine sanctions’ precise impact. Original Text-> CaracasChronicles

The Biden administration has reimposed tight oil sanctions on Venezuela, reverting previously eased restrictions that were in hopes of fostering democratic change. A U.S official indicated that any U.S. firms active in Venezuela have 45 days to conclude their operations. The U.S. had relaxed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil, gas, mining sectors in October, after the Maduro government agreed to collaborate with the opposition for a fair presidential election. However, Maduro is accused of undermining this agreement, with actions such as hindering his primary rival, ex-lawmaker Maria Corina Machado, from registering her candidacy; and arresting numerous government critics. This latest move from the U.S. bans U.S. enterprises from trading with state-run oil producer PDVSA without a specific U.S. Treasury Department license. The impact of these abrupt changes on Venezuela’s struggling oil and gas industry is uncertain, and it is unclear whether the tightened sanctions will force Maduro to provide fairer electoral conditions. The sanctions’ reinforcement does not directly affect Chevron, the last major U.S. oil driller in Venezuela, which increased shipments thanks to a license issued in 2022 amidst the potential impairment of global energy supplies by Russia’s Ukraine invasion. Find full Text by Joshua Goodman And Regina Garcia Cano in -> TheNationalPost

Note -> You have to read the “fine print” of the OFAC document, because although it suspends the GL (general license) it says that each company can request an SL (Special License) to operate in Venezuela, which “will be individually analyzed according to the security of the United States.” by Ricardo Ríos @riosdefrente in-> X

Uno de los grandes debates actuales es cómo tratar a los dictadores. Existen tensiones entre quienes exigen su salida incondicional y eventual enjuiciamiento, y aquellos dispuestos a aceptar concesiones terribles a cambio de establecer democracias. La urgencia de este asunto se ha vuelto imposible de ignorar, particularmente desde la invasión rusa contra Ucrania.

Hoy en día, 39 dictadores gobiernan en el mundo, sin contar a los ocho reyes, emires y sultanes que lo hacen unipersonalmente. Tres de estos dictadores poseen armas nucleares: Vladímir Putin, Xi Jinping, y Kim Jong-Un. Otros controlan países de gran peso geoestratégico, como Egipto, Cuba y Vietnam. Además, muchos de los países más pobres del mundo son gobernados por dictadores incompetentes y corruptos.

Salir de un dictador es más difícil que antes. El exilio ya no es una solución viable, como lo demuestra el arresto de Augusto Pinochet en 1998 y la muerte de Slobodan Milosevic en 2006 mientras esperaba su juicio. Estos casos han aumentado el costo para un dictador de entregar su poder, dificultando los intentos posteriores para removerlos.

Cuando la alternativa al poder absoluto es morir en la cárcel y perder el acceso a las fortunas acumuladas, no sorprende que los tiranos se aferren al poder. De los últimos cinco países en deshacerse de sus dictadores, solo uno ha tenido cierto éxito en transitar el camino a la democracia. En la mayoría de los casos, las protestas callejeras son derrotadas por la violencia y la represión.

El mundo ha perdido la capacidad de erradicar del poder a sus dictadores. Los dictadores hoy son derrocados con menos frecuencia que antes y, cuando se van, dejan un caos difícil de gobernar. El mundo debe volver a aprender el arte y la ciencia de salir de un dictador, o prepararse para que el tipo más común de gobierno en el mundo actual sea la dictadura o la anarquía. Por Moises Naim -> Texto Original -> El País

Russia and China have pledged to deepen their growing alliance and shared opposition to what they describe as the U.S.’s attempts to dominate the world order, with Moscow again seeking to boost trade with Beijing as it looks for new ways to bypass the Western sanctions imposed for its war on Ukraine. By Austin Ramzy. Full Text -> MicroSoftStar

So Biden policy today is exactly wrong. It will fail–to increase oil supplies noticeably, to keep oil prices down, and to get Venezuelans to go back home. It will succeed in making life easier for Nicolas Maduro and his regime, and it will show Venezuelans that the Biden administration is thinking only about our election and abandoning the policy of helping them regain their freedom. The day the Biden administration extends the general license is the day administration officials should just plain stop telling us how human rights is at the center of their foreign policy. Let’s hope that instead, White House and State Department officials realize that their policy of “incentivizing” better conduct by Maduro by lifting sanctions has failed completely. A policy of pressure on Maduro and solidarity with Venezuelan democrats, unlikely though it seems today, is still within reach. By Elliott Abrams. Full Text-> CouncilofForeignRelations

A los funcionarios estadounidenses les preocupa que volver a las sanciones de la era Trump que aceleraron la disminución de la producción petrolera de Venezuela aumentaría el precio del gas en los surtidores estadounidenses y provocaría una mayor migración desde Venezuela mientras el presidente Biden hace campaña para la reelección en noviembre. Restringir a las compañías petroleras occidentales restringiría el suministro global de energía y abriría el camino para la inversión china en Venezuela, dicen, Por Kejal Vyas, Patricia Garip andJuan Forero.  Texto Completo-> LaPatilla

China’s mounting influence in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has been the subject of study and consternation in U.S. policy circles for well over a decade. In this time, the multifaceted and ever-evolving contours of China’s engagement with the region have been traced and retraced continuously. An especially concerning area of research in this regard has been the possibility that Chinese economic, diplomatic, security, and political activities within the region could be contributing to the democratic backsliding witnessed in recent decades. Full Video -> CSIS

The Biden administration sent a message to the Nicolás Maduro regime Wednesday night with a reminder that Venezuela has until the middle of next month to comply with the free-elections commitments it made last year in Barbados if it does not want to see the reestablishment of oil sanctions. The statement came in response to the refusal by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, an entity tightly controlled by the regime, to close the registration for presidential candidates without allowing top opposition contender María Corina Machado or her proxy, university professor Corina Yoris, to run. “We remain united with the international community in calling upon Maduro to allow Venezuelans to participate in free and fair elections,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. “As we have made clear, actions that run counter to the spirit and letter of the Barbados Agreement will have consequences.” By Antonio Maria Delgado.Full Text -> MiamiHerald

An exodus of nearly 8 million Venezuelan migrants who have fled poverty and political turmoil is boosting the economies of other countries across South America, two studies published by leading international financial institutions have found. The foreign workforce will lift the economies of their main host nations in Latin America and the Caribbean by 0.10-0.25% on average each year from 2017 until 2030, according to the research. By Luke Taylor. Full Text -> TheGuardian