Venezuela's Opposition appeared close to disintegration this week after a key leader ditched the main coalition opposed to President Nicolas Maduro, bolstering the socialist leader ahead of elections due next year.
Four newly-elected opposition governors in Venezuela have agreed to be sworn in by the constituent assembly, defying their coalition's official position. The Roundtable for Democracy (MUD) had said none of its candidates would kneel before the pro-government assembly, which it regards as illegitimate.
One week before Venezuela faces a critical debt payment, the distressed country is already late on a series of smaller bills. The nation's state-owned oil giant, Petroleos de Venezuela, SA, has two major bond payments totaling about US$2 billion coming due in the next two weeks.
Canada will impose targeted sanctions against 40 Venezuelan senior officials, including President Nicolás Maduro, to punish them for “anti-democratic behavior,” the foreign ministry announced. Canada’s move, which followed a similar decision by the United States, came after months of protests against Maduro’s government in which at least 130 people have been killed.
Chile’s central bank said it had revoked a reciprocal credit line with its Venezuelan counterpart, citing what it called Venezuela’s failure to pay back its debts. In a statement, Chile’s central bank said it had notified Venezuela’s central bank and that the line would be cancelled within 10 days.
Brazilian officials plan to visit Venezuela next week to prevent Caracas from defaulting on contracts worth as much as US$5 billion after falling in arrears on a payment due to infrastructure contractors this month, newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported on Thursday.
Venezuela published the price of its oil and fuel in Chinese currency on Friday in what it called an effort to free the socialist-run country from the “tyranny of the dollar,” echoing a plan recently announced by President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela temporarily suspended the sale of U.S. dollars through its Dicom auction system, following an announcement last week that it was moving away from the greenback in response to U.S. sanctions. The United States in August prohibited dealings in new debt from Venezuela and state oil company PDVSA in response to the creation of a new legislative super-body that critics call the consolidation of a dictatorship.
Venezuela's monthly inflation rate jumped to 33.8% in August, with food price rises reaching hyperinflationary levels above 50%, the opposition-controlled National Assembly said on Thursday.
Spain is pushing for the European Union to adopt restrictive measures against members of the Venezuelan government as a way of encouraging a return to constitutional order in the crisis-hit country, the Spanish foreign ministry said on Tuesday.