Venezuela, the United States, and Obama

Recently I was asked if I thought the Obama administration was involved to any significant degree in encouraging civil unrest in Venezuela. My answer begins with a question of its own: do bears shit in…

US Agents Incite Civil War in Venezuela

Leopoldo López, the leader of radical opposition Popular Will (El Movimiento Voluntad Popular), has taken a decision to hand himself over to government forces. What has made him do so? Upon getting the news the…

These Photos Being Shared From Venezuela Are FAKE

There have been some powerful images coming out of Venezuela over the past week. Massive anti-government demonstrations have clogged the streets of major cities, and clashes between law enforcement and protesters have resulted in injury and even…

China’s EFFORTS CAN HELP MAINTAIN STABILITY in the Latin American Region

China Has Good Reason to Help Stabilize Latin American Economies In the last week or so much of the international business press has been focused on the problems of financial stability in developing countries, some of whom have recently become more vulnerable to capital outflows. The main cause is that investors are trying to get the jump on possible moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve to allow U.S. interest rates to rise, which will draw capital from developing countries and cause their borrowing costs to rise. Argentina has gotten some of this attention, as it allowed the peso to fall by 15 percent in one day and increased some access for Argentines to dollars on the official market. Venezuela is not so much affected by these market developments, but is always negatively portrayed in the international media, and more so in the last year since its exchange rate system problems have caused its inflation to rise to an annual rate of 56 percent over the past year.