- The National Center for Foreign Commerce (Spanish: Centro Nacional de Comercio Exterior, CENCOEX), formerly the Commission for the Administration of Currency Exchange (Comisión de Administración de Divisas CADIVI), is the Venezuelan government body which administers legal currency exchange in Venezuela. In 1983, a similar agency called "Differential Change Regime" (Régimen de Cambio Diferencial(RECADI)) was established to manage a system of differential exchange rates and capital controls, and disbanded in 1989 when the differential exchange rate system was abolished. RECADI saw widespread corruption, and became a substantial scandal in 1989 when five former ministers were arrested, although the charges were later dropped. Exchange controls under CADIVI were adopted on 5 February 2003 in an attempt to limit capital flight.
Caracas (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈɾakas]; locally [kaˈɾaːka]), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital, the center of the Greater Caracas Area, and the largest city of Venezuela.Strictly speaking, the center of the city is still "Catedral", located near Bolívar Square, even though it is assumed that it is Plaza Venezuela, located in Los Caobos neighborhood and extends along the Boulevard of Sabana Grande to the east[6]. Chacaíto area, Luis Brión Square and El Rosal neighborhood are also considered the geographic center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas[7][8], commonly called "Greater Caracas". The political-administrative division of Caracas has not yet been updated, but the project has been discussed several times.
- army
- 而自政變以來一直效忠總統的委國軍隊，首次有軍官倒戈。駐美武官席爾瓦上校（Jose Luis Silva）公開支持瓜伊多，要求軍隊不要向國民開火。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190128/00180_010.html
company
- Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, Spanish pronunciation: [peðeˈβesa]) (Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oiland natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil, as well as exploration and production of natural gas. Since its founding on 1 January 1976 with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA has dominated the oil industry of Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
- Under the presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez, whose economic plan, "La Gran Venezuela", called for the nationalization of the oil industry, Venezuela officially nationalized its oil industry on 1 January 1976 at the site of Zumaque oilwell 1 (Mene Grande). This was the birth of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). All foreign oil companies that once did business in Venezuela were replaced by Venezuelan companies. Each of the former concessionaires was simply substituted by a new 'national' oil company, which maintained the structures and functions of its multi-national corporation (MNC)-predecessor.
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-conocophillips-pdvsa/conocophillips-and-venezuelas-pdvsa-reach-2-billion-settlement-idUSKCN1L517X U.S. producer ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and Venezuela’s PDVSA have reached a payment agreement over a $2 billion arbitration, the companies said on Monday, suspending a dispute that blocked the state-run company from exporting oil from most of its key Caribbean facilities.
- Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA and French company Maurel & Prom signed a 400-million-U.S. dollar agreement to increase production of crude in the western state of Zulia, said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday.http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-01/08/c_137728261.htm
- Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] has signed a deal with little-known U.S. energy firm Erepla, partly owned by a prominent Florida Republican, to help increase the socialist-run country’s plummeting crude oil output, the company said. Erepla Services LLC, with an undisclosed stake held by Republican Harry Sargeant III and which Delaware state records show was only registered in November, said it plans to invest up to $500 million to increase production at three Venezuelan oil fields in exchange for a portion of the crude produced.Sargeant and Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., known as PDVSA have clashed in the past. Between 2006 and 2008, PDVSA was awarded $52 million after a company partly owned by Sargeant was accused of not paying for several crude shipments in 2002 and 2003, court records show.The new arrangement faces significant hurdles, including obtaining an exemption from Trump administration sanctions that block U.S. companies from providing financing to the government of President Nicolas Maduro or Venezuelan state firms.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil/venezuelas-pdvsa-in-oil-deal-with-firm-part-owned-by-florida-republican-idUSKCN1P11EM
- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered state oil company PDVSA’s office in Lisbon to be relocated to Moscow, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Friday, a move she said was designed to help safeguard her country’s assets.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-russia-pdvsa/venezuela-to-move-state-oil-firm-pdvsa-office-from-lisbon-to-moscow-idUSKCN1QI4BM
- usa
- Petroquímica de Venezuela, S.A
- Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo) is a United States-based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products.[3] Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, it is majority-owned by PDVSA, a state-owned company of the Venezuelan government.The company traces its heritage back to the early 1900s and oil entrepreneur Henry Latham Doherty.[4] After quickly climbing the ladder of success in the manufactured gas and electric utility world, Doherty in 1910 created Cities Service Company to supply gas and electricity to small public utilities. He began by acquiring gas-producing properties in the mid-continent and southwest.Fifty percent of Citgo was sold to Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) in 1986, which acquired the remainder in 1990, resulting in the current ownership structure.
- U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp is formally cutting ties with its parent, state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA, to meet U.S. sanctions imposed on the OPEC country, two people close to the decision told Reuters on Tuesday.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-citgo/citgo-formally-cuts-ties-with-venezuela-based-parent-company-sources-idUSKCN1QF2IG
- Citgo Petroleum Corp, the U.S. arm of Venezuela’s state-run oil firm PDVSA, is moving towards appointing a new chief executive, with candidate names including former executives from PDVSA and other companies soon to be submitted to the board.In February, former CEO Asdrubal Chavez and several other Citgo executives close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were ousted amid a battle for control of the subsidiary.https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-citgo-ceo-exclusive/exclusive-citgos-search-for-ceo-progresses-includes-former-pdvsa-execs-sources-idUKKCN1T72D7
- colombia
- Monomeros Colombo Venezolanos S.A. manufactures fertilizers, animal feeds, and industrial products. The company provides granulated fertilizers, mixed fertilizers, ammonium sulphate, and potassium nitrate; and additives for animal feeding. It also offers nitric acid, sulfuric acid, sodium sulfate, gypsum, sodium, carbonate, sulfur, caustic soda, phosphoric acid, ammonia, methanol, ammoniacal water for manufacturing companies in Colombia and internationally. The company was founded in 1967 and is based in Barranquilla, Colombia. As of April 11, 2007, Monomeros Colombo Venezolanos S.A. operates as a subsidiary of Petroquímica de Venezuela, S.A.https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=5720749
- https://www.ft.com/content/8bf65822-83f3-11e9-b592-5fe435b57a3b
Having seized financial control of US oil refiner Citgo in a bid to starve Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro of funding, opposition leader Juan Guaidó has turned his attention to another state-controlled foreign asset — this time in Colombia. In recent weeks, Mr Guaidó has installed a new board at Monómeros, a fertiliser company that operates in Colombia but is owned by the Venezuelan state. Just as with Citgo, he wants to ensure that the company’s profits go to what he regards as his legitimate administration and not to Mr Maduro’s. The dispute over Monómeros is the latest in the tug of war over Venezuela’s finances. With the backing of the US, Mr Guaidó has declared himself the country’s interim president, describing Mr Maduro’s leadership as illegitimate. His parallel administration, he says, is entitled to the proceeds of Venezuela’s state-owned assets. He has already named an ad hoc board of directors at Citgo and its parent company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). More recently he has done the same at Monómeros and its parent company Petroquímica de Venezuela SA (Pequiven). The Guaidó administration has also taken steps to pay the holders of PDVSA bonds in a bid to ensure Citgo remains in its hands. The battle over Monómeros takes place at a time when Venezuela’s relationship with Colombia is worsening. Mr Maduro accuses Bogotá of plotting coups to topple him. The Colombians describe the Venezuelan leader as a dictator who is destabilising the region and has to go. The countries broke off diplomatic relations in February. Caught in the crossfire is Monómeros, Colombia’s biggest producer of fertiliser and a company that exports throughout Central America and the Caribbean. Once a Colombian state-owned company, it has been 100 per cent owned by the Venezuelan state since 2005.
Trade and investment environment
- foreign companies
- http://www.economist.com/news/business/21707257-companies-age-chavismo-stay-or-go
- https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/08/americas/venezuela-blackout-power-intl/index.html Most of Venezuela still had no power Friday evening, more than 20 hours after a massive outage left over 70% of the country without electricity. The blackout stopped mass transit in the capital of Caracas, shuttering businesses and gas stations. State broadcaster VTV reported that some power had been restored but provided no specific numbers or locations. Authorities quickly blamed the blackout on anti-government saboteurs. Speaking on VTV, Electricity Minister Luis Motta Dominguez called the blackout an "electricity war" and act of sabotage. Blackouts have become a daily occurrence across Venezuela as the economic crisis has worsened, but one of this magnitude is rare. Rampant inflation and food scarcity have gripped the country under embattled President Nicolas Maduro, and thousands have fled to neighboring countries as shortages, political turmoil and crime rates have soared. Reuters reported local media as saying this outage affected the capital, Caracas, as well as at least 15 of the country's 23 states.
People
- Simón Bolívar (IPA: [siˈmon boˈliβar]), in fullSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830), was a Venezuelanmilitary and political leader who played a leading role in the establishment ofVenezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,Peru and Panama as sovereign states, independent of Spanish rule.
- Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez (Spanish: [ɡwaiˈðo]; born 28 July 1983)[2] is a Venezuelan engineer and politician serving as the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela since 5 January 2019. A member of the socialist Popular Will party, he also serves as a federal deputy representing the state of Vargas. One of eight children, Guaidó was raised in a middle-class home by his parents who were an airline pilot and a teacher.[14] One grandfather was a sergeant of the Venezuelan National Guard while another grandfather was a captain in the Venezuelan Navy.Guaidó later earned his professional license as an industrial engineer after graduating from the Andrés Bello Catholic University in 2007. Guaidó also did postgraduate studies at George Washington University in the United States and at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración.
politics
- US President Donald Trump has said he recognises Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president. The announcement came minutes after the 35-year-old declared himself acting leader in Caracas on Wednesday. A number of South American countries, including Brazil, Colombia and Peru, have also recognised Mr Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46980913
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21621845-venezuelas-financing-programme-leaves-many-caribbean-countries-vulnerable-single-point
forex control
- http://pdf.wenweipo.com/2015/02/11/a24-0211.pdf 國際油價急挫，令依賴石油出口的委內 瑞拉經濟雪上加霜。當地政府昨日宣布改 革外匯制度，將放寬外匯管制，容許本幣 玻利瓦爾大幅貶值。
- 委内瑞拉总统马杜罗（Nicolas Maduro）当地时间9月7日宣布，将在国际支付中使用人民币、欧元、日圆、俄罗斯卢布等组成的一揽子货币，替代美元作为国际结算货币，藉此摆脱对美元的依赖。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20170910/PDF/a6_screen.pdf
digital currency
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/19/venezuelas-new-bitcoin-n-ingenious-plan-or-worthless-cryptocurrency Is Venezuela’s new cryptocurrency an ingenious plan to evade U.S. sanctions? Or will it turn out to be a South American shitcoin? That is the question facing Venezuela as it prepares for the pre-sale of its new bitcoin-like digital currency called the petro. The launch on Tuesday comes amid a deep economic crisis and a crackdown on democratic freedoms that have left President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist government politically isolated and cut off from most international financing. Maduro claims that each petro token will be backed by one barrel of the oil-rich nation’s petroleum, and claims that about 100 million petro tokens worth some $6bn will be issued. Cash crunch: how Venezuela inadvertently became a cashless economy
The petro is designed to raise hard currency and to function as a payment method for foreign suppliers now that most transactions have been stymied by financial sanctions imposed by Washington last year.
Oil
- http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0cc530b6-9b2f-11e4-882d-00144feabdc0.html All are monuments to the glory days when Venezuela’s socialist leader Hugo Chávez was still alive, oil prices were high, and revolutionary Caracas, which sits on the largest energy reserves in the world, could afford to send 200,000 barrels per day of subsidised oil to 13 countries, including Cuba, in return for their political support and sometimes repayment with goods in kind — like black beans. Today, however, with oil prices having halved in six months, Venezuela’s economy in a tailspin and protests rising at home over food shortages, Caracas is having to rethink the Petrocaribe subsidised oil arrangement in order to finance dwindling imports, rebuild foreign reserves and avoid a bond default.
- http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b871c0dc-a241-11e4-aba2-00144feab7de.html Bondholders, worried about default, were unconvinced. Alarmed by Mr Maduro’s seeming failure to win support from China or fellow Opec countries such as Saudi Arabia, they immediately marked down Venezuelan debt. At almost 29 per cent, its benchmark 2027 bond now yields three times more than comparable Russian debt.
Goods shortage
- Venezuelans get creative amid shortages http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2014-11/21/content_18951441.htm
- http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/aaa13660-795e-11e4-a57d-00144feabdc0.html Lines of frustrated shoppers have replaced socialist rallies and posters of Hugo Chávez as among the most ubiquitous images of the South American nation. Analysts believe the situation will worsen after Opec last week resisted Venezuela’s campaign for a cut in output to boost the price of oil, which accounts for 96 per cent of Venezuelan export revenues.
- http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30614025 A Venezuelan ice cream shop, popular with tourists for its record-breaking range of flavours, has temporarily closed because of a shortage of milk.
- http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21640395-government-offers-no-solutions-mounting-economic-crisis-empty-shelves-and-rhetoric
- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-04/the-755-condom-is-the-latest-indignity-in-venezuela
Hyperinflation
- http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21659764-government-prints-money-hyperinflation-looms-crackers-caracas
Next zimbabwe?
- http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21695934-venezuela-today-looks-zimbabwe-15-years-ago-spot-difference Might Venezuela go the way of Zimbabwe? They are culturally very different, but the political parallels are ominous. Both countries have suffered under charismatic revolutionary leaders. Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. Hugo Chávez ran Venezuela from 1998 until his death in 2013. His handpicked successor, Nicolás Maduro, continues his policies, though with none of Chávez’s—or Mr Mugabe’s—political adroitness. Mr Mugabe seized big commercial farms without compensation, wrecking Zimbabwe’s largest industry. Chávez expropriated businesses on a whim, sometimes on live television. He sacked 20,000 workers from the state oil firm, PDVSA, and replaced them with 100,000 often incompetent loyalists, some of whom were set to work stitching revolutionary T-shirts. Mr Mugabe lost a referendum in 2000 but rigged the subsequent election to keep the (more popular) opposition out of power. The chavistas lost a parliamentary election in December but have used their control of the presidency and supreme court to neuter the (more popular) opposition. Mr Mugabe recruited a ragtag militia of “war veterans” to intimidate his opponents. Chávez recruited gangs from the slums, known as colectivos, to terrorise his. On March 5th gangsters on motorbikes rode around the (opposition-controlled) National Assembly and sprayed pro-government slogans such as “Chávez vive” on its walls. Police stood and watched. Yet the key similarity between the two regimes is not their thuggishness but their economic ineptitude. Both believe that market forces can be bossed around like soldiers on parade. In both cases, the results are similar: shortages, inflation and tumbling living standards. Mr Mugabe, who like the chavistas professes great concern for the poor, fixed the prices of several staple goods in the early 2000s to make them “affordable”. They promptly vanished from the shelves. The subsidies that are supposed to make price controls work have often been stolen in both countries. Suppliers, rather than giving goods away at the official price, prefer to sell them on the black market.
USA
- http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1727082/venezuela-limit-us-diplomats-presence-require-visas-americans http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2015-03/02/content_19689117.htm Venezuela will shrink the size of the US embassy staff, limit the activities of US diplomats andrequire US citizens to apply for visas. Speaking before a crowd that rallied to protest imperialism, President Nicolas Maduro said onSaturday that gringo meddling had forced him to adopt the series of restrictive measures, whichinclude requiring US diplomats to seek approval from the Foreign Ministry for meetings theyconduct here. Maduro said he was imposing the new tourist visa requirement for national security reasons,saying that in recent days, authorities had detained several US citizens, including a pilot, who healleged were involved in espionage.
- http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38991083 CNN's Spanish language service has begun broadcasting on YouTube after the Venezuelan government pulled it from the country's cable channels. CNN said Venezuelans would now be able to access its information without charge on the internet. Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) accused CNN of "defaming and distorting the truth". The accusation came after CNN broadcast a report on alleged passport fraud at the Venezuelan embassy in Iraq.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/world/americas/trump-administration-sanctions-venezuela.html The Trump administration is considering imposing sanctions on additional Venezuelan officials, one of several options under discussion as a rebuke to President Nicolás Maduro’s government and his efforts to consolidate authority.
- http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44218956 Venezuela has expelled the senior US representative in the country amid an international backlash against Nicolás Maduro's re-election as president. Mr Maduro announced the expulsion of charge d'affaires Todd Robinson as his victory in Sunday's vote was being proclaimed officially. He accused Mr Robinson of conspiring against his socialist government.
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/04/donald-trump-suggested-us-could-invade-venezuela-official-claims/ President Donald Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela threatening regional security, why can't the US just simply invade the troubled country?
- Maduro said he had begun negotiations to set up within 30 days an Interests Section in Caracas to maintain a minimum level of diplomatic contact, similar to the arrangement the US had with Cuba until their 2015 rapprochement. https://www.france24.com/en/20190127-venezuela-maduro-elections-usa-ultimatum-europe-guaido- venezuelans in usa
- 美國多地有不少委內瑞拉僑民聚居，對於祖國政局劇變，他們心情複雜。佛羅里達州邁阿密周三有數千人聚集，聲援宣誓成看守總統的瓜伊多。現居佛州南部的委國前軍官科利納表示，自己未婚又沒有子女，且身無長物；表示當委國有新總統，在條件許可下會立即返國，又稱那天或許很快到來。惟他指部分朋友擔心總統馬杜羅倒台，會影響庇護申請的成功率。早於一九九九年移居佛州的委國女子波萊奧稱，對自己身處佛州樂土感內疚，但強調心繫祖國。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190126/00180_003.html
- 美國副總統彭斯周一抵達哥倫比亞首都波哥大，與自封委內瑞拉看守總統的瓜伊多及利馬集團成員國會面，商討將委國總統馬杜羅逼下台的策略。美國財長姆紐欽同日以阻截人道物資入境為由，制裁四名委內瑞拉官員。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/finance/20190227/00202_036.html
Canada
- Venezuela has expelled the Brazilian ambassador to Caracas, Ruy Pereira, and Canadian charge d'affaires Craib Kowalik. The move was announced by the head of Venezuela's powerful Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodriguez. Ms Rodriguez accused Brazil of violating the rule of law and Canada of interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs. Both countries have strongly criticised the move. The decision to expel Ambassador Pereira may have been triggered by Brazil's recent complaint that President Nicolás Maduro was "constantly harassing the opposition".Canada imposed sanctions on senior Venezuelan officials a few months ago.http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42469225
latin america
- Latin America’s leading nations are growing increasingly impatient with the region’s inability to find any solution to the crisis in Venezuela, or even to come up with a strongly-worded condemnation of what is happening in Caracas. A meeting of leaders from across the Americas on Monday left the Mexicans, Brazilians, Argentines and others exasperated. They had hoped that the Organization of American States (OAS), which groups 35 nations from both north and south, would agree a resolution criticising Nicolás Maduro’s plans to set up an assembly to rewrite the constitution and cement his grip on power.https://www.ft.com/content/c86e6c84-55d0-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f
cuba
- https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3009569/fidel-castros-part-shaping-chinas-economic-link-venezuela It started with a one-on-one meeting with then Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana in November 2004. The meeting went on for four hours, during which time Chen Yuan, then governor of the China Development Bank (CDB), presented a photo album about his father Chen Yun – a senior Chinese Communist Party official – to Castro, who had ruled Cuba since 1976. Castro started recalling his visits to China and meetings with Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong and China’s first premier, Zhou Enlai. The amicable meeting with Castro came at a time when the CDB, one of China’s policy banks, was looking to expand its overseas business after the burden of bad loans was reduced significantly under the leadership of Chen, who had previously served as deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) for a decade before running the CDB from 1998 to 2013. At one point, Chen asked Castro where the CDB should start its business in Latin America. Castro mentioned Hugo Chavez, who ruled Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. This opened a new chapter in the relationship and paved the way for China’s decade-long financial support for Venezuela’s economy and growing investment in Latin America. Since 2005, two Chinese policy banks – the CDB and the China ExIm Bank – have provided at least US$140 billion in loans to Latin American countries, with Venezuela being the largest recipient of more than US$67 billion, followed by Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina, according to the China-Latin America Finance Database compiled by the US think tank Inter-American Dialogue.
Brazil
- see bull point on expeling diplomats above (under canada)
russia
- https://www.ft.com/content/6bfca592-89b0-11e7-8bb1-5ba57d47eff7 As the US gradually tightens financial restrictions on Venezuela’s increasingly authoritarian government, Russia is eyeing an opportunity to extend its influence in Latin America and establish a geopolitical foothold in Washington’s back yard. Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, said last week he expected to travel to Russia soon. Neither the Kremlin nor the Russian foreign ministry would confirm an imminent visit, but Mr Maduro’s intended trip shows how his regime now sees Moscow as Venezuela’s lender of last resort. While other creditors have pulled back as Venezuela’s financial and political crisis worsens, Moscow has apparently piled in to secure oil assets with long-term value. State-owned oil company Rosneft extended $1bn in additional credit to Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) earlier this year in the form of prepayments for oil supplies, bringing total lending to its Venezuelan counterpart to $6.5bn.
- 當地政局仍然不明朗之際，兩架俄羅斯客機飛抵首都加拉加斯，反對派指控政府運走二十噸黃金儲備。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190201/00180_023.html
uk
- In 1895 the Venezuelan crisis with the United States erupted. A border dispute between the colony of British Guiana and Venezuela caused a major Anglo-American crisis when the United Statesintervened to take Venezuela's side. Propaganda sponsored by Venezuela convinced American public opinion that the British were infringing on Venezuelan territory. The United States demanded an explanation and Salisbury refused. The crisis escalated when President Grover Cleveland, citing the Monroe Doctrine, issued an ultimatum in late 1895. Salisbury's cabinet convinced him he had to go to arbitration. Both sides calmed down and the issue was quickly resolved through arbitration which largely upheld the British position on the legal boundary line. Salisbury remained angry but a consensus was reached in London, led by Lord Landsdowne, to seek much friendlier relations with the United States. By standing with a Latin American nation against the encroachment of the British, the US improved relations with the Latin Americans, and the cordial manner of the procedure improved American diplomatic relations with Britain.
- https://www.ft.com/content/4ffb02b4-226e-11e9-8ce6-5db4543da632 The leader of Venezuela’s opposition has written to Theresa May and Bank of England governor Mark Carney urging them not to send $1.2bn from any sale of Venezuelan gold reserves to “the illegitimate and kleptocratic regime” of President Nicolás Maduro.
- envoy vanessa neumann ft 6jun19
germany
- Venezuela was the poorest province in the spanish empire. So poor, that Charles V gave us away to it’s creditors, the german bankers of the Welser family. The Welsers spent a few years in Venezuela trying to find El Dorado, or at least some gold and silver, but found so very little of it, that they gave up, and returned us to Spain. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-the-former-Spanish-colonies-in-America-not-seem-to-like-Spain-Is-it-because-of-what-happened-when-they-got-their-freedom
- Venezuela has given the German ambassador to the country 48 hours to leave, accusing him of meddling in internal affairs. Daniel Kriener was among the diplomats who helped opposition leader Juan Guaidó return to Venezuela on Monday. Germany, which recognises Mr Guaidó as interim president, says the decision will only escalate tensions. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47474317
iran
- 伊朗外交部代表團周一抵達委內瑞拉首都加拉加斯，準備與馬杜羅政府商討開通直飛航班，並由伊朗馬漢航空負責。有白宮官員認為，兩國開通直航純粹是出於政治動機。美國財政部早年宣布制裁馬漢航空，理由是它支援伊朗革命衞隊旗下的「聖城」和黎巴嫩真主黨。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190411/00180_010.html
China
- leaders visit
- 國家主席習近平周五與訪華的委內瑞拉總統馬杜羅進行會面，兩國元首會談後，雙方共同見證兩國政府關於共同推進「一帶一路」建設的諒解備忘錄等雙邊合作文件的簽署。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20180915/00178_012.html
- http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015-01/08/content_19267843.htm President Xi Jinping voiced his resolve to back Venezuela, whose economy is reeling from tumbling oil prices, when he met with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday in Beijing.Both countries should take better advantage of the China-Venezuela High-Level Mixed Committee and financing systems, allowing funds to target energy, mining, agriculture and industry sectors, Xi said.
- http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-12/05/content_19028948.htm Beijing dismissed media speculation that Venezuela would give China a famous resort island to defray debt incurred by falling oil prices, calling the reports "groundless". The steep fall in global oil prices - nearly 40 percent since mid-June - led to increased speculation that Venezuela, a major oil exporter, would have difficulty servicing its debt.
- http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2014-12/26/content_19176118.htm Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd is planning to increase investments in emerging markets like Venezuela, as the heavy machinery maker seeks ways to sustain growth amid tough market conditions at home. The company said on Thursday that its auto unit has bagged a $200 million supply order for heavy machinery, including crawler cranes and excavators, in Venezuela. It said it has received half of the advance payment from Corpovex, the South American country's national trading company.
- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/85ae672e-96e6-11e4-922f-00144feabdc0.html Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced $20bn worth of investment from China. But left unsaid was whether he got what he came for: a financing lifeline from his largest creditor.
- satellite
- oil
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20171010/00178_011.html長征二號火箭周一中午在酒泉衞星發射中心升空，將委內瑞拉的遙感衞星二號（VRSS-2）送入預定軌道。該枚衞星名為「蘇克雷」衞星，主要用於土地資源普查、環境保護，以及災害監測上，是委國擁有的第二枚遙感衞星，亦是中委合作發射的第三枚衞星。
- oil
- http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2000107/china-state-run-firm-help-boost-venezuela-oil-exports
- sinopec case
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sinopec-pdvsa-lawsuit/chinas-sinopec-sues-venezuela-in-sign-of-fraying-relations-idUSKBN1E100S Sinopec USA, a subsidiary of Chinese oil and gas conglomerate Sinopec, has sued Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA in a U.S. court, claiming it never received full payment for an order of steel rebar.
- wine and spirits
- http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2017-03/21/content_28627394.htm
Frankie Zou will represent China in Ron Diplomatico's third annual global competition for rum-based cocktails. A key aim of the competition, which is held in alternate years, is to take top bartenders to Venezuela to experience the distillery, says Patrizia Damiani, Ron Diplomatico's marketing manager. That's why the semifinals, not the finals, will be in Venezuela, so that all 40 nations and regions in the competition can see the culture of the company's rum-making up close.
- arts
- Arts group perform in shenzhen http://www.hkcd.com.hk/pdf/201603/0321/HZ16321CHBB.pdf
- Chinese diplomats in Caracas are working day and night to help Beijing determine how best to deal with Juan Guaido, the self-declared leader of Venezuela who may not favour continuing the oil-for-loans deals that have underpinned China’s relations with the South American country for years. China’s envoys in the Venezuelan capital frequently hold late-night conference calls with officials back in Beijing as they try to set a strategy for getting along with Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela’s acting president in January after incumbent President Nicolas Maduro won an election marked by low turnout and allegations of irregularities. The carrot, he said, was reassuring China it would continue to have a place in Venezuela’s energy economy under an opposition-led government. The stick was the not-so-subtle warning that Guaido and a future opposition government would review all deals Beijing had made with Chavez and Maduro, including Chinese loans-for-oil arrangements.China has invested over US$50 billion in Venezuela through oil-for-loan agreements over the past decade, securing energy supplies for its economy while bolstering an anti-US ally in Latin America.But China created the conditions for a big headache in 2016, when it eased the payment terms for the cash-strapped Opec member on nearly US$20 billion in oil-for-loan deals, under which Venezuela had sent shipments of crude oil and fuel to pay off debt, having to make interest-only payments.The move helped Maduro’s socialist government weather a collapse in Venezuela’s economy, which slid into hyperinflation and a painful recession on the heels of a downturn in oil prices.https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2187031/caught-middle-venezuelas-power-struggle-worried-china-weighs
- http://pdf.wenweipo.com/2015/09/05/a23-0905.pdf 日前在北京舉行的中國-委內瑞拉高級混合委員會第十四次會議閉幕式上。兗礦集團總經理李偉參加閉幕式並代表中方與委內瑞拉石油礦業部簽署黃金礦業合作框架協議。根據協議，委內瑞拉國家礦業公司將與中國兗礦集團、山東黃金集團聯合開發委內瑞拉黃金礦業。協議表示，鑒於中國與委內瑞拉業已存在良好關係，雙方希望在各自優勢領域建立共同合作機制，旨在推動和強化委內瑞拉黃金礦業領域發展，雙方有意在各自國家法律框架範圍內擴大中國和委內瑞拉之間的貿易、礦業、金融以及其他領域的交往。據悉，此前雙方已共同完成了對於委內瑞拉玻利瓦爾洲三個黃金區塊的現場技術調查和社會責任方案，並按照該結論共同制定了《委內瑞拉黃金礦業合作建議方案》。該方案分為兩個階段平行推進，自簽字之日起有效期三年。
- http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20161222/PDF/a18_screen.pdf 據中新社報道：連日來 ，委內瑞拉多地發生哄搶商舖事件，數十 家華僑華人商舖遭受波及，受損嚴重。
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20170507/00180_022.html委內瑞拉連月來的反政府示威持續，其中巴倫西亞市多個地區有不法之徒乘機搶掠，當地華人商舖亦受到波及，合共六十間食品、日用百貨、五金配件的店舖遭到洗劫，暫未有中國公民傷亡報告。中國國家旅遊局發出旅遊警示，提醒欲前往或身在當地的中國旅客注意安全。http://pdf.wenweipo.com/2017/05/06/a19-0506.pdf
hong kong
- http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/supplement/food/art/20170205/19916990委內瑞拉總廚學中菜
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