Venezuela hit by new nationwide powercut for more than three days

[Sithara007]

Venezuela is perfect example of where the economy is in serve pressure and their local fiat currency has lost its value completely. Also you can find that almost everyone in Venezuela has invested in bitcoins and the rate of bitcoin in Venezuela is far more than the normal rate else where.

I don't think that is true. Venezuela still amounts to less than 1% of the exchange volumes and I really doubt whether the people there can actually afford purchasing Bitcoins. As far as I have heard, the US Dollar banknotes remains as the primary method of wealth storage (although the government is going all out to stop this practice).

[Artemis3]

No, Venezuela was broken by socialist policies: Pegging the USD to an arbitrary value "to stop inflation", which was in effect a subsidy favoring imported goods and hurting local production; massive intervention by the state seizing investments, property and production or fixing prices by decree made most of the private sector bankrupt, and what the State owned or seized from bankrupt companies, was left to rot as well. Expenditure... insane money waste, often lost in corruption (ie. Odebrecht), disguised as social programs when oil prices were high. Now that they are low, they kept the same or even increased the expenditure, since they were in red unable pay wages they ordered the Central bank to add zeroes to the State accounts (because printing actual banknotes is too expensive) and we were forced into a cashless nation overnight due to their own induced inflation.

By the time the US started "sanctions" in say, 2017; 95% of the harm was already done. In theory, these "sanctions" are aimed to give the final blow that would topple the de-facto gov, but the regime seems completely oblivious to them and the (bad) situation remains unchanged (its getting worse with or without sanctions).

Venezuela is perfect example of where the economy is in serve pressure and their local fiat currency has lost its value completely. Also you can find that almost everyone in Venezuela has invested in bitcoins and the rate of bitcoin in Venezuela is far more than the normal rate else where.

I don't think that is true. Venezuela still amounts to less than 1% of the exchange volumes and I really doubt whether the people there can actually afford purchasing Bitcoins. As far as I have heard, the US Dollar banknotes remains as the primary method of wealth storage (although the government is going all out to stop this practice).

The amount of USD money circulating is rather limited, and this is also making inflation in USD prices as well. Imported goods are starting to be much more expensive than abroad, which makes it tricky for most people who earn under 5 USD a month.

Bitcoin is ideal to escape inflation, but as correctly pointed few people can afford them. There is a group of wealthy people often abroad trading with them as this is one of the only ways to safely move capital from and to the country with draconian controls.

[Adriano2010]

So many problems for this country, i hope soon some of problems will be resolved and people can have jobs on their country well paid, but who know what will happen.

[Kimonoe]

Venezuela is perfect example of where the economy is in serve pressure and their local fiat currency has lost its value completely. Also you can find that almost everyone in Venezuela has invested in bitcoins and the rate of bitcoin in Venezuela is far more than the normal rate else where.

I don't think that is true. Venezuela still amounts to less than 1% of the exchange volumes and I really doubt whether the people there can actually afford purchasing Bitcoins. As far as I have heard, the US Dollar banknotes remains as the primary method of wealth storage (although the government is going all out to stop this practice).

I think you are right too, when the economy is destroyed, of course many are having difficulty eating, let alone investing in bitcoin, so there are many news exodus in that country. of course it becomes an obstacle if the state authorizes crypto and the electricity goes out within a few days

[raven7886]

In fact this is nothing new, we have seen crisis like the one that is striking Venezuela many times before which is what makes this even sadder, economist all over the world have warned that something like this was going to happen eventually to Venezuela and the leaders did not listen to them and now all the population of the country is paying the price for decisions that they did not took themselves.

The things we need to even be looking at now is if there is a way cryptocurrency can contribute toreviving their economy again or assist them in getting out of this dilemma as quick as possible, not the one OP is bothered about the effect of their crisis on cryptocurrency.

If majority of these people had invested in cryptocurrency long time ago when Bitcoin was first introduced, these would have been a saving grace for them, even if they have power supply issue, some of the holdlers would have traveled to other countries to access their wallet and get some bitcoin that would help them settle down in another country, this is also more reason why government too needs to embrace crypto, imagine they have lots of bitcoin saved in a wallet, would it not have been the best time for it to salvage their situation?

[Netnox]

It looks like the situation has improved a little. But constant blackouts remain a concern for the majority of the people.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article229026649.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/venezuelans-struggle-find-water-aftermath-blackouts-190404065537683.html

The news indicates that the power supply has been restored, but it is being heavily rationed.

[Naida_BR]

It looks like the situation has improved a little. But constant blackouts remain a concern for the majority of the people.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article229026649.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/venezuelans-struggle-find-water-aftermath-blackouts-190404065537683.html

The news indicates that the power supply has been restored, but it is being heavily rationed.

Venezuela cannot stand this situation for a long time.
It has been years that they suffer but citizens would be on the verge of collapse. And also we should not forget that other organizations can thrive under these conditions that may cause significant problems and anarchy to the country.
I can't find a way that can help Venezuela find its way to growth.

[bitgolden]

Well, we can conclude that it will have any negative effect on global cryptocurrency economics, it’s just Venezuela, not America, not China, not India. We have to first consider the ratio of cryptocurrency Holder in this country to other countries, what is their total market capital input in cryptocurrency.

For the little I know, I don’t think they have much input in this, the only people I see having serious challenge through this power breakdown are if we have miners in their country, this could affect the miners as they will not be able to get access to electricity to be able to mine coin for their own personal interest.

[Artemis3]

It looks like the situation has improved a little. But constant blackouts remain a concern for the majority of the people.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article229026649.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/venezuelans-struggle-find-water-aftermath-blackouts-190404065537683.html

The news indicates that the power supply has been restored, but it is being heavily rationed.

Venezuela cannot stand this situation for a long time.
It has been years that they suffer but citizens would be on the verge of collapse. And also we should not forget that other organizations can thrive under these conditions that may cause significant problems and anarchy to the country.
I can't find a way that can help Venezuela find its way to growth.

Jobs, what our economy needs is jobs, and for that the economy must be opened, so investors can come and open business. To open the economy the socialists must fall. Without opening the economy any source of income must be in a foreign currency to be able to survive hyperinflation, obviously something they can't seize like crypto works.

Since nobody wants to kick the socialists out (and the few who tried failed, were killed, etc.) people flee the country in desperation. How can you live with 5 USD a month when the price of imported food is higher than in the US, and local production disappeared?

While Caracas was supposed to be spared from the blackouts, yesterday we had another one for several hours... And each time this happens the water stops for at least 4 days or more, which is what prompted demonstrations and lootings last time.

Also the internet service is garbage, it comes and goes at random, sometimes minutes, sometimes hours or days, and many people never get it again.

[Naida_BR]

It looks like the situation has improved a little. But constant blackouts remain a concern for the majority of the people.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article229026649.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/venezuelans-struggle-find-water-aftermath-blackouts-190404065537683.html

The news indicates that the power supply has been restored, but it is being heavily rationed.

Venezuela cannot stand this situation for a long time.
It has been years that they suffer but citizens would be on the verge of collapse. And also we should not forget that other organizations can thrive under these conditions that may cause significant problems and anarchy to the country.
I can't find a way that can help Venezuela find its way to growth.

Jobs, what our economy needs is jobs, and for that the economy must be opened, so investors can come and open business. To open the economy the socialists must fall. Without opening the economy any source of income must be in a foreign currency to be able to survive hyperinflation, obviously something they can't seize like crypto works.

Since nobody wants to kick the socialists out (and the few who tried failed, were killed, etc.) people flee the country in desperation. How can you live with 5 USD a month when the price of imported food is higher than in the US, and local production disappeared?

While Caracas was supposed to be spared from the blackouts, yesterday we had another one for several hours... And each time this happens the water stops for at least 4 days or more, which is what prompted demonstrations and lootings last time.

Also the internet service is garbage, it comes and goes at random, sometimes minutes, sometimes hours or days, and many people never get it again.

It is very sad to hear that this is the situation right now there.
These conditions are very strict to live at.
Investments will come only if political stability will be in place and if so happens, then jobs will follow decreasing the unemployment rate. 5 USD a month is unacceptable, you can't live a day without this amount of money in some countries and I can feel how hard it is to do so if you have to spend a month with $5.

[South Park]

In fact this is nothing new, we have seen crisis like the one that is striking Venezuela many times before which is what makes this even sadder, economist all over the world have warned that something like this was going to happen eventually to Venezuela and the leaders did not listen to them and now all the population of the country is paying the price for decisions that they did not took themselves.

The things we need to even be looking at now is if there is a way cryptocurrency can contribute toreviving their economy again or assist them in getting out of this dilemma as quick as possible, not the one OP is bothered about the effect of their crisis on cryptocurrency.

If majority of these people had invested in cryptocurrency long time ago when Bitcoin was first introduced, these would have been a saving grace for them, even if they have power supply issue, some of the holdlers would have traveled to other countries to access their wallet and get some bitcoin that would help them settle down in another country, this is also more reason why government too needs to embrace crypto, imagine they have lots of bitcoin saved in a wallet, would it not have been the best time for it to salvage their situation?

The state of the economy in Venezuela is so poor that what is needed is for the current government to fall and a new non-corrupt capitalist government that has the best interests of the people of Venezuela comes after it, that is the only solution to the problems of Venezuela, bitcoin could help a few people but when the money that is printed by the government has no value how are you going to get bitcoin? Now if a person was able to get bitcoin before all of this happened then he could flee the country but that is not a solution for all of those that had not the foresight to do that.

[Artemis3]

In fact this is nothing new, we have seen crisis like the one that is striking Venezuela many times before which is what makes this even sadder, economist all over the world have warned that something like this was going to happen eventually to Venezuela and the leaders did not listen to them and now all the population of the country is paying the price for decisions that they did not took themselves.

The things we need to even be looking at now is if there is a way cryptocurrency can contribute toreviving their economy again or assist them in getting out of this dilemma as quick as possible, not the one OP is bothered about the effect of their crisis on cryptocurrency.

If majority of these people had invested in cryptocurrency long time ago when Bitcoin was first introduced, these would have been a saving grace for them, even if they have power supply issue, some of the holdlers would have traveled to other countries to access their wallet and get some bitcoin that would help them settle down in another country, this is also more reason why government too needs to embrace crypto, imagine they have lots of bitcoin saved in a wallet, would it not have been the best time for it to salvage their situation?

The state of the economy in Venezuela is so poor that what is needed is for the current government to fall and a new non-corrupt capitalist government that has the best interests of the people of Venezuela comes after it, that is the only solution to the problems of Venezuela, bitcoin could help a few people but when the money that is printed by the government has no value how are you going to get bitcoin? Now if a person was able to get bitcoin before all of this happened then he could flee the country but that is not a solution for all of those that had not the foresight to do that.

This is why we need jobs, to start rolling the aforementioned wheel. It all involves a free market, and rule of law investors can rely in. If Venezuela were to open its market and end crime (and corruption), it suddenly becomes seriously attractive as we have the lowest wage on the planet. Of course, that will bring a lot of low paid job offers that will start competing among themselves (Supply and Demand), and this is what ultimately will start rise up wages, not that stupid socialist "everything solved by decree" mentality that only bankrupts business and scares everyone away.

Unfortunately in 2009~10 everything seemed ok, people were content with their income and quality of life to bother stop and think the future would become so dark (literally). We are now paying the price... Offer jobs online is one of the things you can do to help. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

Sending money is useless. While a good intention, it most likely goes to waste, unless properly audited by International NGOs for social aid etc (nearly impossible with the current de-facto gov.)

[STT]

An explanation of why the military continues to back a failed government is an expanding drugs trade, upto 50bn a year is being exported north via small plane from excess production walked over the columbia border.
Not a surprising development for a failed country but a terrible failure when they have so many legitimate resources

https://us.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/04/10/venezuela-drug-routes-nick-paton-walsh-lon-orig.cnn/video/playlists/around-the-world/

Corruption in Venezuela has created a cocaine super-highway to the US
Cocaine trafficking from Venezuela to the United States is soaring, even as the country collapses. And the US and other regional officials say it's Venezuela's own military and political elite who are facilitating the passage of drugs in and out of the country on hundreds of tiny, unmarked planes.

[Netnox]

^^^^

I don't understand this. Is it that easy to get coke on a small plane and fly all the way to Southern United States? If I am not wrong, around 3,000 km of sea lies between Venezuela and the US. How can the planes go all the way without being detected?

[Artemis3]

I don't understand this. Is it that easy to get coke on a small plane and fly all the way to Southern United States? If I am not wrong, around 3,000 km of sea lies between Venezuela and the US. How can the planes go all the way without being detected?

And that's probably just a side dish, the military are making millions with contraband gasoline to neighbor countries to bother with drugs. But of course that is tightly controlled and perhaps is leaving some people out of that pie who then resort to drug trafficking.

Another more recent source of trafficking is precious metals. They are supposed to be handled exclusively by the State, and yet Venezuelan Gold and Coltan keeps showing abroad. Few days ago an abandoned container full of Coltan from Venezuela was found in a warehouse at some port in Italy i think. Oh, Coltan is a bit radioactive and it was unlabeled which infringed EU laws and only because of that we learned about it...

The corruption levels of this country cannot be expressed with words anymore, if not at the top, its one of the top 5 more corrupt places on Earth.


As for how drugs enter the US and EU, use your imagination. The cartels might take it to central America or the Caribbean islands first, then use small planes, boats, even submarines. Do remember the nephews from Nicolás Maduro were captured doing just that in Haiti planning to use a plane from State oil PDVSA to smuggle 1,700 pounds (800kg) of cocaine into the US.

Responding to the arrest, Cilia Flores accused the DEA of “kidnapping” her nephews as part of a plan to undermine the socialist government

Uh huh, everything is just an imperialist lie™ to remove a couple of nobodies from, nowhere as they didn't had any positions within the gov...

[STT]

I dont think the fuel is working out for them anymore.   They exported a ton to Cuba recently because thats a political ally and to Russia also.    The country has a problem because it cant drill oil properly, efficiently and also a chemical process to refine the heavy sour oil type is not so easily done.
  They failed in industry to juggle costs of refinement despite the worlds largest oil reserves, its like a Greek tragedy its such a familiar failure and so is this turn to drugs trade and a criminal economy has developed due to normal capitalism being banned.

^^^^

I don't understand this. Is it that easy to get coke on a small plane and fly all the way to Southern United States? If I am not wrong, around 3,000 km of sea lies between Venezuela and the US. How can the planes go all the way without being detected?

Military radar is required to pick up objects close to surface, this is really extreme and not normally used outside warfare afaik.    Also the smugglers are deliberately using the smallest possible airplanes, this makes it extremely hard to track.   I suppose they are also irregular in their patterns of movement, the problem then is the cost of surveillance over what is quite a large area and the payoff to smuggle means it will go ahead even if the occasional plane is tracked and stopped perhaps.    This is why you will always hear of smugglers sentenced to spend every year of their life until old grey and just years from death before any chance of release, the rewards are so massive the discouragement required is also very large

[marcelocoin]

I live near venezuela, and always see bad news coming from this country, that suffers and that we do not have a correction in the crisis, I hope soon it will end, people die and suffer!

[Artemis3]

I dont think the fuel is working out for them anymore.   They exported a ton to Cuba recently because thats a political ally and to Russia also.    The country has a problem because it cant drill oil properly, efficiently and also a chemical process to refine the heavy sour oil type is not so easily done.
  They failed in industry to juggle costs of refinement despite the worlds largest oil reserves, its like a Greek tragedy its such a familiar failure and so is this turn to drugs trade and a criminal economy has developed due to normal capitalism being banned.

Oh i don't think you understand how the fuel business work, and its not about Cuba, that was on a different level. Gasoline trafficking lets them transform 100USD into 40000USD by crossing the border, that's only 1 cistern truck. This has been going on for decades, getting more lucrative by the minute (they LOVE hyperinflation).

Because of the ridiculous subsidy, gasoline is essentially free. A decade ago it was estimated 2/3rds of gasoline production was smuggled out of the country. That was when we still actually produced our own gasoline... Instead of importing now that we let our State owned refineries rot.

[Xampeuu]

I live near venezuela, and always see bad news coming from this country, that suffers and that we do not have a correction in the crisis, I hope soon it will end, people die and suffer!

very sad to hear your story, even though I don't know exactly, but we can imagine that if the electricity goes down for a few days, it will certainly make it difficult for crypto transactions, and it means that their economy stops

[Artemis3]

I live near venezuela, and always see bad news coming from this country, that suffers and that we do not have a correction in the crisis, I hope soon it will end, people die and suffer!

very sad to hear your story, even though I don't know exactly, but we can imagine that if the electricity goes down for a few days, it will certainly make it difficult for crypto transactions, and it means that their economy stops

More importantly the water stops, and it takes at least 4 days to recover the water to the city once power comes back...

Guess what the "socialist" gov did for Easter? "To reduce the electric rationing in the country side, the water system for the city won't be electrified during these holidays". Indeed yesterday the whole city went dry (again). We shall see if it takes another demonstration (with the usual deaths caused by the gov goons shooting at them) in front of the presidential palace to make them wake up...

In "socialism", only the vast majority of the people suffers, not the elite in power. Ironic, given their rhetoric, but that is always the result from an ideology based on coercion and "class struggle" rather than freedom and peaceful development.