Venezuela declares a 2-day workweek because of dire energy shortages

[Little Tich]

Source: Washington Post

In a desperate attempt to save electricity, drought-stricken Venezuela has introduced a new concept to the workplace calendar: the five-day weekend.

President Nicolás Maduro will furlough the country's public employees — who account for a third of the labor force — for the bulk of the week, so they can sit through rolling blackouts at home rather than in the office.

“The public sector will work Monday and Tuesday, while we go through these critical and extreme weeks," he said on his regular presidential broadcast.

This assumes that Venezuela's rainy season will comply with that timetable to rescue the country's crippled hydroelectric plants.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/04/27/venezuela-declares-a-2-day-workweek-because-of-dire-energy-shortages/

[EX500rider]

1. What happens when you don't invest in infrastructure but spend all your $ buying votes.

[Kelvin Mace]

2. It is also what happens when the world ignores climate change

[Warpy]

5. ....and is coming out of an epic El Nino

[anigbrowl]

8. droughts are not such an unusual weather event there

any government worth its salt should have a contingency plan. I gather this is the worst drought since 1969, which is not so long ago that you would never expect a repeat. Seems like the sort of thing to keep in mind when developing your hydroelectric infrastructure.

[EX500rider]

9. Not to mention the neighboring countries seem to be keeping the lights on.

[Kelvin Mace]

10. Droughts are getting more frequent and more severe.

But yes, a contingency plan would be helpful. If only we had some kind of energy technology that that made use of lots of sunlight.

[anigbrowl]

11. You've kind of missed the point

The government in Venezuela is so incompetent that it isn't prepared to deal with relatively minor challenges like maintaining a reliable supply of power in the face of predictable variations in weather. If the last huge drought there was hundreds of years ago I'd be more sympathetic.

[Kelvin Mace]

12. No, I got your point

which is why I said:

"But yes, a contingency plan would be helpful."

And then reinforced your point by noting that using solar power would have helped their situation, which is, I believe, an example of contingency planning.

[anigbrowl]

13. I don't think the problem is the lack of an ecological alternative

Venezuela, you may recall, is an oil-producing country and the Chavez/Maduro government has bought the public favor for years with massive fuel subsidies, thereby contributing to the global warming problem by encouraging wasteful use of fossil fuels (and epic levels of fuel smuggling to neighboring countries). Climate change isn't the issue here, fiscal incompetence is.

[Kelvin Mace]

14. I don't know how many ways I can agree with you about their lack of competence

by failing to have a proper contingency plan.

[virgogal]

3. I'm astonished that 1/3 of the labor force are public employees.

Astonishing----to me,at least.

[msanthrope]

41. It's how you buy revolution. nt

[HeartoftheMidwest]

4. A little off topic, but:

" a new concept to the workplace calendar: the five-day weekend. "

CAN WE HAZ!?!?!?!??????!

[Warpy]

6. Sure, if you can figure out how to live on a 2 day paycheck.

Damned few people are able to live very well on those.

[HeartoftheMidwest]

7. Bah.

You had to harsh my buzz.



I prefer a five day paycheck with a five day weekend. Too many are working a six day workweek with a 2 day paycheck.

[Bad Dog]

15. That's what happens when people elect a president the Americans don't like.

They tried doing the same to Cuba.

[Throd]

16. Foreign countries can't fuck up their economies on their own?

Nope, there is an evil Yanqui behind every tree.

[Bad Dog]

17. There is in Latin America.

Have you forgotten Dubya's abortive coup?

[Throd]

18. Maduro owns this one.

[Bad Dog]

23. Funny how that only appears to be the consensus inside America.

[DetlefK]

26. Hi, European here.

You will find that the european press does not blame the US for the failed socialist policies of Chavez, for the dropping oil-prices, for the rampant criminality in Venezuela, for burdening a national economy with a multi-currency-system, for Venezuela's drought, for Maduro taking losses in the last election...

[Bad Dog]

29. Clearly we don't read the same papers.

[COLGATE4]

57. Clearly. "Venezuela Reports" is not considered

a legitimate news source.

[NickB79]

19. What, did the CIA use HAARP to keep the rains away from Venezuela?

Wait, wait, forget I said that, because I know some loon will be on here shortly to assert just that

[warrprayer]

20. you apparently must not know much

about the CIA's history in South America.

[Throd]

22. The best way the CIA could sabotage Venezuela would be to keep Maduro in power.

[Bad Dog]

25. America's carbon footprint is extremely high.

So there is some culpability.

[DetlefK]

27. Your carbon footprint is too high. It's your fault. Your's personally.

Why do you hate Venezuela?

[Bad Dog]

30. I don't hate Venezuela.

I'm not the one talking the country down. America's carbon footprint has nothing to do with Britain.

[EX500rider]

21. The US somehow forced Venz. to not maintain and upgrade their electrical infrastructure..?

How exactly?

[Bad Dog]

24. A mixture of trade embargoes and threats.

Just like they did to Cuba and Nicaragua.

[DetlefK]

28. And why was Venezuela unable to maintain it's infrastructure with parts made in South-America?

I feel really inclined to demand proof for your accusations.

[Bad Dog]

31. Demand away.

Ever since Chavez was elected the Americans have been trying to undermine the Socialist government.


I suppose next you'll be wondering why Cuba still drives round in 1950s cars, seeing as how it had nothing to do with America.

[DetlefK]

32. Ok.

1. Please cite some european media (blogs don't count) that blames the US for Venezuela's economic problems.

2. Please cite some evidence that is was US-meddling that kept Venezuela from maintaining its infrastructure.

[Bad Dog]

33. Why don't you cite something that proves America's stance has nothing to do with Venezuela's decline

RABAT, Malta — Having tried, and failed, to hamper Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution during Hugo Chavez’s presidency, the United States has intensified its attempts to permanently disrupt the socialist process now headed by Nicolas Maduro.

Funding Venezuela’s opposition and oligarchy — the same tactic the U.S. used to bring down Salvador Allende’s socialist government in Chile — prompted a strong statement from Maduro earlier this month: “As President, I will not permit that Venezuela suffers as Chile did in 1973.”

On Feb. 12, Venezuela’s Telesur reported that the government had thwarted a coup plot involving both civilians and members of the military. As the plot became public knowledge, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez issued a series of tweets pledging the Bolivarian National Armed Forces’ (FANB) loyalty to Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution.
Since the riots against Maduro’s government started on Feb. 12, 2014, the U.S. has taken great pains to portray the socialist government as infringing upon human rights and attempting to strangle the Venezuelan opposition’s allegedly peaceful protests.

While Maduro has accused Vice President Joe Biden of attempting to instigate the coup, Biden’s office issued a diplomatic response reiterating allegations of human rights violations perpetrated by Maduro’s government: “President Maduro’s accusations are patently false and are clearly part of an effort to distract from the concerning situation in Venezuela, which includes repeated violations of freedom of speech, assembly, and due process.”
A key point of U.S. interference was a sanctions bills targeting government leaders who were allegedly involved in oppressing the opposition.

The allegedly “peaceful opposition” was responsible for blocking main roads and communities, preventing trucks from reaching the barrios with needed supplies. Chavista activists were threatened and in some cases shot by the opposition for cleaning up the streets after the violent protest. Additionally, opposition supporters have attacked journalists and employed various forms of psychological and physical violence against civilians and personnel, including 162 attacks on Cuban doctors in Venezuela.

The Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 was passed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 8. Rhetoric employed throughout the bill reflects U.S. hegemony and interference — particularly its reference to working “with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU) to ensure the peaceful resolution of the situation in Venezuela and the cessation of violence against anti-government protesters.” It also calls for supporting “the development of democratic political processes and independent civil society in Venezuela,” yet blatantly ignores the existence of both frameworks in the country.

The sanctions clearly target “any person, including a current or former government of Venezuela official or a person acting on behalf of such government” who has allegedly participated in various forms of violence, including the restriction of freedom of expression of the opposition.

The notion of sanctions against government officials had been rejected by the Venezuelan Group of the Latin American Parliament, which deemed such action “a violation of sovereignty.” The group’s president, Angel Rodriguez, insisted that sanctions constituted a false campaign to discredit Maduro and insinuate that the Venezuelan government is violating its citizens’ human rights. The U.S., according to Rodriguez, is seeking to destabilize Venezuela “and retain control over what once it considered its own back yard.”
As reported by Telesur, Venezuelan President of the National Assembly Diosdado Cabello asserted that Venezuelan government authorities identified “a list of individuals from the United States Embassy in Caracas who provided visas to individuals involved in the attempt.” The visas would provide those involved in planning the coup with political asylum in case the coup failed.

Expanding upon U.S. involvement in the planned coup, Maduro declared that the Venezuelan opposition, including “the four-time losing candidate,” Henrique Capriles Radonski, had knowledge of the plans.

The coup was to take place on Feb. 12. According to Telesur, the transition program in which opposition leaders Leopoldo Lopez, Maria Corina Machado and Antonio Ledezma were involved, outlined plans that included “the privatization of oil, deregulation of the economy and agreements with the International Monetary Fund.”

Privatizing Venezuelan oil would have been a direct threat to Hugo Chavez’s Petrocaribe program, established in 2005. The agreement, initially signed by 14 Caribbean countries, allows its members to purchase oil at low interest rates. Nineteen countries now benefit from the agreement — members pay 60 percent of the purchase price up-front and the remaining 40 percent over a period of 25 years.

Under this agreement, countries have the option of providing services rather than issuing payments. One example would be the agreement between Cuba and Venezuela: In return for oil, Cuba offers health and education services to the country, thus providing Venezuela with needed medical staff and training for doctors. Medical access in Venezuela prior to Chavez’s Bolivarian Revolution was a privilege for reserved for the elite, but Cuban health care aid in return for oil has facilitated the provision of medical services for the entire population.

The U.S. has interpreted the anti-government protests and economic crisis as a sign that Chavez’s Petrocaribe program would deteriorate rapidly. During the Caribbean Energy Summit hosted by Biden last month, eliminating dependence on the Venezuelan oil program was a priority, although there was no indication from Maduro that the program would be stopped. On the contrary, Maduro declared Petrocaribe “a guarantee of peace, stability, mutual benefit, shared development and fair commerce shared by the entire Caribbean.”

On Monday, Maduro stated that he would not abide by U.S. interference and conspiracy in Venezuela. U.S. policy toward Venezuela, he said, “is directed by irresponsible imperialist forces that are leading the United States into a dead end.”

Since 1998, when Chavez became president of Venezuela, the U.S. has supported the Venezuelan oligarchy in attempts to overturn the Bolivarian Revolution, in the same way it aided the Chilean opposition in engineering social turmoil as a prelude to the coup that ended Allende’s presidency. A 2006 cable released by WikiLeaks revealed that a few of the U.S.’s intentions in 2004 were: “1) Strengthening Democratic Institutions, 2) Penetrating Chavez’ Political Base, 3) Dividing Chavismo, 4) Protecting Vital US business, and 5) Isolating Chavez internationally.”

http://www.mintpressnews.com/details-on-an-alleged-us-backed-coup-in-venezuela-come-to-light/202549/

[DetlefK]

34. Wording.

In the article, it's always "alleged" human-rights abuses by the Maduro-government. But it's never "alleged" violence by the opposition. Why the difference in wording?

The article gives numerous examples for the violence of the opposition, yet gives no examples what actions of the Maduro-government supposedly constitute human-rights abuses. Why does the article treat the accusation against the opposition in detail but the accusation against the Maduro-government just in a superficial way?



http://www.mintpressnews.com/eu-nominates-violent-us-backed-venezuelan-opposition-for-human-rights-prize/210718/
The EU nominated the venezuelan opposition and Edward Snowden for a humanitarian award that celebrates fight for human rights. Why would the EU do that?

This article also elaborates in detail and without benefit-of-the-doubt on the accusations against the opposition while not mentioning at all what's-what with human rights in Venezuela. Why is the opposition nominated at all? In what ways has it done something for human rights in Venezuela? The article doesn't mention that at all and instead a three-paragraph-story becomes a multi-page anti-opposition rant that has nothing to do with the headline.







Details.

What doesn't get said can be as telling as what does get said.

And the one-sided coverage of the topic can only be taken as the author/editor trying to inject their personal political views into the reporting.


----------------------------------------------------------------

It would be next to impossible to prove a negative. But I'll be generous and even let you pick what kind of argument I would use.

Do you want me to present evidence how Saudi-Arabia's oil-policy has crashed the oil-price, massively crippling Venezuela's oil-revenue?

Do you want me to present evidence how Venezuela's multi-currency-system prevents domestic business from exporting their goods and from importing foreign goods?

[Bad Dog]

36. I don't want you to do anything.

It's clear America can do no wrong in your eyes.

[DetlefK]

37. Dude. As much as you like your black&white world-view, it's entirely unrealistic.

The world isn't divided into good and evil. There is no evil empire or shadowy cabal to fight and, accordingly, you are no noble and heroic rebel fighting for the forces of light. That's not how the world works.

Good things happen.
Bad things happen.
Sometimes somebody is responsible.
Sometimes nobody is responsible.

I am entirely free to criticize and to defend the US on case-by-case basis, depending on what kind of evidence on that particular case is available to me.

The US did horrible imperialistic shit during the Cold War.
The US helped end the yugoslavian genocides in the 1990s.
The US invaded the Iraq for imperialist reasons.
The US supported the 2002 coup-attempt against Chavez.
The US joined a military campaign that took out the libyan dictator who had promised to massacre his enemies.
The US made new diplomatic overtures to Cuba and Iran, thawing decades-long hostility.

I am free to have a nuanced opinion on the US. And so are you.

[Bad Dog]

39. My black and white view?

That's rich.

[COLGATE4]

59. Because the burden of proof is on the person

making the allegation. Maduro is desperately looking for somebody, anybody to blame for his regimes' own total incompetence.

[hack89]

38. What trade embargo? We are their number one trading partner by a large margin. nt.

[Bad Dog]

40. There you go.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1431911

[msanthrope]

42. That's not a trade embargo....that's sanctions against 7 human rights abusers. They don't

get to keep their skimmed wads of cash in our financial systems. Boo hoo.

[Bad Dog]

43. Call it what you want.

But for all the talk of Democrats moving to the left and Sanders embracing Democratic Socialism when you come across genuine Socialism you attack it.

[msanthrope]

44. I fucking love that we interdict the skimmed cash of human rights abusers. Tell ya' what...

you want to tell me which one of the 7 human rights abusers deserves to use our banks? Explain to me how true Socialists in Venezuela need our banks?

[Bad Dog]

45. It's not the Socialists who are ripping off the people.

That's why the poor keep voting them in.

You really need to ask why a country would need to access banks. It's what makes trade possible.

[msanthrope]

47. No....Venezuela is not embargoed...7 people are. Human rights abusers. Tell us which one was

falsely accused.

[Bad Dog]

48. Funny how Americans only worry about human rights abusers when they're not American.

You've got Dick Cheney, Dubya, Guatanamo Bay. A presidential hopeful running on a ticket to bring back torture and a society where disturbed individuals can shoot up schools and cinemas pretty much at will, with absolutely no public will to make it harder for them.

When you do something about your own human rights abusers you might have some credibility.

[msanthrope]

51. So no one gets punished 'til Cheney gets punished? you are invoking Cheney

to defend the embargoed? Awesome.

[Bad Dog]

54. No just pointing out how hollow an American's protests about human rights abuses sound.

If you didn't do so many yourselves you might be taken seriously.

[msanthrope]

55. I am sure the country you come from is pure. nt

[COLGATE4]

60. The poor keep voting them in???? Did you somehow

fail to notice 1) the recent Parliamentary elections where Maduro's supporters went down to large losses and 2) the petition calling for Maduro to step down which has now gathered more than 600,000 signatures?

[hack89]

46. That is not a trade embargo.

The US sanctioned a handful of government officials.

[Bad Dog]

49. How about this?

The U.S. also opposed and lobbied against numerous Venezuelan arms purchases made under Chávez, including a purchase of some 100,000 rifles from Russia, which Donald Rumsfeld implied would be passed on to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the purchase of aircraft from Brazil. The U.S. has also warned Israel to not carry through on a deal to upgrade Venezuela's aging fleet of F-16s, and has similarly pressured Spain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%E2%80%93Venezuela_relations

And that's only what we're allowed to know.

[hack89]

50. Yet we are their largest trading partner.

guess who has been the number one buyer of their oil for decades?

[Marksman_91]

63. I swear, Chavistas and their supporters live in their own fantasty set apart from reality itself.

Either that, or they don't know how to read the fine print.

There is no embargo against Venezuela. Those sanctions were aimed only at a handful of government officials involved in human rights violations. Nothing at all to do with trade to the country or its economy.

But please, do keep this up. All it does is keep showing just how utterly detached Chavistas and their supporters are from reality.

Oh, and FYI, I was born and raised in Venezuela

[COLGATE4]

58. There is no trade embargo with Venezuela.

The US is Venezuela's largest trading partner. Christ, at least get some facts before spouting this shit.

[EX500rider]

64. That's pure nonsense.

There was and is no trade embargo.
In fact the US is Venz. biggest trading partner for both exports and imports.

There were/are sanctions against several individuals in the Venz. government but that had squat to do with their electrical grid.

We threatened them to not upgrade and improve the electrical infrastructure? lol, good one, any links for that?

[snooper2]

52. YEAH My first Maduro supporter caught open in the wild in like 2 weeks!

[Dr. Strange]

53. Coming up next:

How Robert Mugabe, righteous savior of Zimbabwe, is being hampered by Obama and the evil west.

[COLGATE4]

61. Excellent!

[COLGATE4]

56. Yep. The Americans sent the 'incompetence virus' to Venezuela

where it promptly infected the entire Chavista government. It's all our fault.

[EX500rider]

65. Don't forget the "cancer gun" we aimed at Chavez from space!

[COLGATE4]

66. That's what Eva Golinger thinks. nt

[GliderGuider]

35. Climate change breaks the weakest governments and nations first.

It's not rocket science.

[hunter]

62. I suspect Canada is a stronger nation than the U.S.A.

I imagine a lot of Canadians will be lecturing idiot U.S. Americans about their corrupt and useless government when our time comes.

Especially if we elect Trump.

Yep, I can see Mexico and Canada paying for walls to keep us out.

[COLGATE4]

67. AND - they're going to make us pay for it, too. nt

[EX500rider]

68. Since Chavez was in power Venz. has blown over 100 billion dollars of oil money..

....maybe should have spent some to keep the lights on.