The Cable

The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

At Least Lawmakers in Venezuela Can Agree It’s Wrong to Massacre Civilians

A small sliver of something good from a country in pecuniary and political crisis.

By , a global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews.
maduro
maduro

There’s finally some good news from Venezuela.

There’s finally some good news from Venezuela.

No, it’s not the economy. As Bloomberg notes, OPEC’s planned production cut, announced Wednesday, might give a short-term bump to Venezuelan coffers, but will hardly cure what ails it. And PdVSA, the state-owned oil and gas company, missed a bond payment last week.

And this week we learned that the Venezuelan bolívar lost 55 percent of its value in November alone. The government spent much of the summer and fall increasing the amount of currency in circulation by 130 percent compared to this time last year, but Venezuelans are still scrambling to exchange their currency for dollars, which in turn further weakens the bolívar. By the end of the year, inflation is expected to reach 720 percent. Weimar Republic-style, shopkeepers are reportedly now weighing banknotes instead of counting them, and hardly anyone is bothering to carry a wallet around — most aren’t big enough to hold enough of the near-worthless bills anyway.

And no, the good news isn’t in politics. Talks between the government of President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, organized by the Vatican and intended to quell the country’s violence, are faltering, and scads of arrested opposition members have not yet been freed.  

The good news is that, on Tuesday, all of Venezuela’s lawmakers managed to come together and agree to unanimously condemn the massacre of 12 civilians by soldiers. In October, a dozen farmers went missing after a violent operation — until their bodies were found in mass graves outside Barlovento. Eleven soldiers were arrested in connection with the events. (Whether this vote will translate into concrete action or a change in government behavior is, as a statement released by Amnesty International on Wednesday makes clear, still to be seen.)

This was only the second time since last year that Maduro’s coalition and his opposition have unanimously voted in favor of a piece of legislation. But it hardly foreshadows a new era of political harmony, or an exit from Venezuela’s dystopian meltdown: The other unanimous vote came in response to the Vatican’s call for the now-stalled talks.

Photo credit: PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images

Emily Tamkin is a global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews. Twitter: @emilyctamkin

Tag: Venezuela

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    Bangladesh Tilts Toward the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific
  2. 2
    Israel Is Somewhere It’s Never Been Before
  3. 3
    DoD’s Making a List—and Checking It Twice
  4. 4
    Russia’s War Has Wrecked Beijing’s Hopes of Keeping NATO Away
  5. 5
    Russians Flock to Bali to Avoid War as Locals Grumble
  6. 6
    Finland’s ‘NATO Option’ Set to Become Reality

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.

Trending

  1. DoD’s Making a List—and Checking It Twice
    Situation Report |
    Jack Detsch, Robbie Gramer

  2. Israel Is Somewhere It’s Never Been Before
    Analysis |
    Aaron David Miller, Daniel C. Kurtzer

  3. Russians Flock to Bali to Avoid War as Locals Grumble
    Argument |
    Joseph Rachman

  4. America’s Zero-Sum Economics Doesn’t Add Up
    Essay |
    Adam Posen

  5. Bangladesh Tilts Toward the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific
    South Asia Brief |
    Michael Kugelman
Latest

Israel Is Somewhere It’s Never Been Before

Iraq’s Story Isn’t Over

Bangladesh Tilts Toward the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific

DoD’s Making a List—and Checking It Twice

Finland’s ‘NATO Option’ Set to Become Reality
See All Stories