“Only” four days after the BCV foreign exchange began operating, the Central Bank published, not the regulations, but the “guidelines” for its operation.
What does this mean? A regulation fixes things and how they can be done, a guideline is a suggestion, an orientation. But I doubt you can ask to buy one dollar more than the “guidelines” sugeest.
It’s just revolutionary flexiblity, it may come in handy at some point (For them)
So, without much furrther ado, here is the final version of the “guidelines”:
-It only applies to Venezuelan companies or Venezuelan citizens, not to residents or foreign companies that operate here through a subsidiary for example.
-Companies will be able to buy up to US$50,000 per day and no more than US$ 350,000 a month (cash value, not bond value), as long as: i) you are not in Lists 1 and 2 or ii) if you are in Lisst 1 and 2, that you have not received any money from CADIVI for the last 90 days and iii) To buy capital equipment.
-Individuals will be able to ask for US$ 1,000 a month and up to $ 6,000 a year in order to send to family members abroad.
-Individuals will be able to buy US$ 5,000 a year for: i) Studies abroad, ii) Travel abroad and iii) To pay for goods required to provide professional services.
-Up to $10,00 for special cases of health, cultural and sports nature.
That’s it, on your marks, set, go…place your order, soon…
The Devil's Excrement 
June 17, 2010 at 1:44 pm
menos mal… they remembered the foreigners…
What remains absurd is the yearly $5,000 limit.
June 16, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I Agree with Roy , More time to test Chavez Theories ? let me tell you something Bill , in The US or basically any country , no more than 5 Years a President stays as a President of that nation. Chavez has been on the Presidency for more than 11 Years and all this time is when Venezuela has received more income $ / Oil sales (with sometimes a barrel of oil at 152$ each) with a total of more than 900 Billion $ !!!! so All i can say is that he is a DICTATOR who had the opportunity all these years of making a real change but he and all his Crew have done is simply rob our nation. Not to mention that in Venezuela he literary controls all the Institutions (the Power Factors and basically the LAW) so , HE had the opportunity to make a Great country out of Venezuela But they are too busy making themselves rich with “our Money”. Also i’d like to add that basically all South America this year is going to have an general increase of its economy and “PIB” of almost 7 % in some cases , being Venezuela the only country on this hemisphere to close with a negative figure. It is Embarrassing for me and all Venezuelans.
“However, his claim that Chavez is somehow different from Castro and we should just give him more time to prove his theories reminded me of a quote from Albert Einstein that says, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
June 16, 2010 at 9:15 am
This thread is a bore.Everybody is similar to everybody and can be compared as everybody is also different from everybody and can be contrasted.
The real matters at hand are not being confronted which reminds of why Chavez got where he got.
June 16, 2010 at 8:36 am
Bill is a paid PSF or a Chavista Shill (to coin a phrase). As such, he should probably just be ignored, for reasons well stated above by others.
However, his claim that Chavez is somehow different from Castro and we should just give him more time to prove his theories reminded me of a quote from Albert Einstein that says, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
June 16, 2010 at 8:06 am
Concerened says: “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.”
To me that’s the problem. Based on the number of people that support the regime, there’re a lot of individuals that “may not be able to tell the difference”.
The question is: How do you open their eyes? Because if we can’t, we will be stuck in this nightmare for a long time
June 16, 2010 at 6:20 am
Bill CHOOSES to because he is paid to march along blindly, beating his drum.
There has been too much air time to his distorted views of Castro and Lincoln. I will follow the good advice: Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
June 16, 2010 at 5:43 am
Bill, you CHOOSE to not see the similarities between Chavez and Castro.
How much time each has had their boots on someone’s neck is irrelevant.
How you can FAIL to see the similarities is beyond me.
Chavez’ policies are bound to fail because they deny intellect and facts and place blind adherence as the ideal to achieve for.
Even their publicly stated motives are a sham.
Wise up.
June 16, 2010 at 5:37 am
Avert your eyes, I must intervene this thread.
Ayn Rand, Hitler and Lincoln, Stalinism and Mao. LOLcats and BibleThumping Faux News, Commie Pinkos and Steel Don’t Burnt, Capitalist Pigs in the GOM, All Your Bases.
There it’s done.
June 15, 2010 at 9:35 pm
There is never any end to the people who want to fight the U.S. Civil War all over again. But you can count me out. It happened 150 years ago and all of the original participants are long dead.
June 15, 2010 at 9:22 pm
When the thread goes to US history, it becomes entertaining if not informing.
June 15, 2010 at 9:11 pm
To concerned Says: As horrible as it sounds, some people actually think that John Wilkes Booth is an American hero.
To m_astera Says: I fail to see the comparison of Castro to Chavez. Castro has been in power for almost fifty years. Chavez has been in power for only short time in terms of history and you can’t compare that to Castro. Chavez still has time to prove that his policies will work. Lincoln also violated every tenet of the American Constitution. If you traveled back in time to 1865 you could have said the same thing about Lincoln.
June 15, 2010 at 8:50 pm
“Look at where the US is today!”
:p
Look at where Cuba is today!!!!
Bill, might I suggest that you put a little time into reading some real Venezuelan history of the past eleven years? The fat boy and his cronies pissed away and stole around a trillion dollars in bonus oil money, wrecked industry and agriculture, turned Venezuela into a narco state, violated every tenet of their own constitution, and the country not only has nothing to show for that money but is in worse shape than when they came to power, in all ways.
I’m too polite to say that your ignorance is showing, so let’s just call it naivete’.
June 15, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Bill,
If you really want to test your theory, it will be necessary for chavez to suffer the same fate as Lincoln…Now I am starting to come around to your way of thinking.
June 15, 2010 at 7:58 pm
The American Civil War was not fought because of slavery. Please put away your high school history book and do some actual reading. If you think hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives to end slavery, you are severely misguided. Lincoln couldn’t have cared less about the slaves. Lincoln was a benevolent dictator that wanted to strengthen the Federal government and force the Southern states to stay in the Union. I apologize for bringing up American history. I only brought up Lincoln because of the many Americans that post here. Lincoln was a dictator and very tyrannical at times, but America ended up better because of this. Look at where the US is today! It all started with Lincoln. It’s possible that what seems tyrannical from Chavez right now, may end being good in the long run, just like in the US. I find what Chavez is doing in Venezuela as history in the making and very interesting.
June 15, 2010 at 6:58 pm
The Confederacy wasn’t defending slavery? Then who was putting a gun to their head to make them continue? I know who was putting a gun to their head to make them stop.
If they had abolished slavery, the Brits would have broken the U.S. Navy blockade and the South might have won. But the South didn’t abolish slavery because that was the purpose of the Confederacy.
At least m_astera has the sense to be ashamed of his ancestors and what they did.
June 15, 2010 at 6:24 pm
concerned-
They probably sent already spoiled food to Haiti, as there was plenty on the docks.
*****
As for the US states having the right to secede, the Constitution of 1789 was a voluntary association of sovereign states. There is nothing in the US Constitution that forbids secession from that voluntary association. If there had been it would never have been ratified. As a side note, the US Civil War had little or nothing to do with slavery, despite what may have been taught in government schools.
June 15, 2010 at 2:32 pm
From Veneconomy:
“Dominican Republic authorities returned a ship with over 60 containers with food Venezuela sent to Haiti as part of that country’s earthquake relief as they were spoiled. Yesterday, the ship (Atlas Marina’s Santa Paula) was not allowed to dock either at Dianca or Ucamar in Puerto Cabello following “orders from higher authorities.”
It is an embarrassing day when Haiti relief aid is returned because it is spoiled…I guess they will dump it at sea
June 15, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Bill, there is no rights to secede, Lincoln’s hand was forced. Comparing Chavez to Lincoln is absurd.
June 15, 2010 at 10:03 am
Actually I.C. a few in the Expat community are doing just that, $300.00 at the official rate equals just over the basic wage now. We must be creative to avoid what Roy was saying above.
How can the Government bark at that since they own their homes and have little expenses here? We all know that it takes much more then that to sustain their lifestyle but if one is careful about giving out their Cedula/Passport number who is the wiser?
June 15, 2010 at 8:54 am
Actually you are not “forced” to do this illegally. You can make a bank transfer to a Venezuelan bank or deliver US$ cash and receive your BsF. at the rate of BsF.4,3 to US$1.
I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind that would do that however that is an option.
June 15, 2010 at 8:49 am
Roy,
I understand what you say but to be honest I disagree.NOBODY is forced to be a criminal.The fact is that in this world we have to learn to live by our wits and make the necessary sacrifices in order NOT to be part of the problem.If everybody did this there would be no Chavez.
I make and made many a sacrifice in my life that has included living in abject poverty in order to do the right thing.
It is not the illegal part of it that is so wrong( legal does no always mean moral)..rather it is the fact that by stooping to furtive acts, it comprises us albeit on a purely emotional level into a system that keeps Chavez in power.
And that includes ex patriots.
I have a friend who basically lives in Merida because her trust fund goes a lot farther there than in the US…..I figure if that motive forms a good part of her decision, then she shouldn’t complain when the shit hits the fan.
June 15, 2010 at 7:31 am
For all those expats in Venezuela who need Bs. to live, and whom now have no legal mechanism buy them, it should occur to you that this is intentional. You will now be forced to buy them on the “black market” and thus engage in “speculation”. In other words, you will be forced to become a “criminal”.
This is exactly what the Cubazuela wants. Because you will be a criminal, the government can then justify expropriating (stealing) your property and deporting you, or short of that, they can use it as a threat to extort more money from you, or at least make you shut your mouth.
In the system Chavez envisions, everyone must depend on him, for everything. Expats are a sizable fraction of the population, and until now, he has very little leverage over them. This will give him exactly the tool he needs to make this segment of the population submit or flee.
June 15, 2010 at 6:26 am
How can Chavez condemn millions to poverty, that were already poor? Lincoln did condemn millions to poverty. Lincoln’s hand was not forced. the states had a constitutional right to secede. Lincoln went to war to strengthen the federal government and for the greater good.
June 15, 2010 at 6:03 am
Bill Seward,
You are so full of it!!! No wonder people call it Seward’s Folly!!!
June 15, 2010 at 6:02 am
Bill, you are sooooooo funny. The only problem is, your choice of topic to make fun of.
I mean, seriously. Do you have any idea of the consequences of Chavez’s actions? Any at all?
Allow me to clue you in. His actions are condemning millions of people to poorer lives.
Lincoln’s situation was drastically different. For starters, the South initiated secession. So Lincoln’s hand was forced.
Now, you might say that the overwhelming poverty in Venezuela has ‘forced’ Chavez’s hand, and I couldn’t argue with that. However, he is choosing roads that we know, that EVERYONE KNOWS, are dead ends.
For God’s sake, Cuba is his model. Or have you been asleep all this time?
And what is so appealing about Cuba? It certainly isn’t the elimination of poverty. No, it’s the Castro brothers ability to maintain political power for 50 years.
Now where in the world has that been a successful model for anything? (Other than for the perpetrators, naturally.)
If your comments were tongue-in-cheek, my apologies, I totally missed it.
June 15, 2010 at 5:44 am
Maybe Chavez needs to do the things he does to save the country. Remember the United States had Lincoln, who is considered one of the greatest presidents in US history. Lincoln also had to do some things that could be considered by some as not so Constitutional or Democratic in order to make the US the great country it is today. Lincoln suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus, ignored the Constitution, imprisoned thousands of political dissenters in the North, shut down hundreds of opposition news papers, killed over 600,000 people, burned major cities to the ground and it’s said he stopped slavery. Now the United States has a strong Federal Government and a wonderful President thanks to Lincoln. Maybe one day Chavez will have his bust on a mountain in Venezuela and a huge memorial. I only say these things so that you know everything will turn out fine and that Chavez only has the best of intentions.
June 15, 2010 at 5:28 am
island canuck:
this is so sad…
You think there will be a solution soon? I would even risk on the street…but I need a transfer (not cash).
June 15, 2010 at 4:54 am
lollodev
On the street. 🙂
June 15, 2010 at 4:51 am
what are residents (non Venezuelan citizens) supposed to do to buy dollars?
I guess the only way is to apply through CADIVI? Is there any other way?
June 14, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I think there will be widespread shortages of many items, essentials and non-essentials. I dont think the Government understands how the swap market “oiled” the engine of the Venezuelan economy. Companies say they have between a month or two of inventory, well, we should start seeing that draw-down soon. Any Venezuelan with Bs. should buy TV’s, cars, any tangible thing you can buy, they will be worth much more in a few months. This will be ugly.
June 14, 2010 at 7:59 pm
MO,
What about the economic big picture? They had a 3-week gap between the two exchange systems. There wasn’t a lot that moved the first week of the new system and we don’t know how much of what is moving under the new system is going to vital imports. I would assume that they did not do all this because they intended to move more real imports to the CADIVI system.
So, assuming that we don’t have a big sale of BCV reserves before the election, how serious do you think the import shortages could be?
June 14, 2010 at 5:39 pm
What it is not recon forting is the comments of the Banks Association President, that says this is an isolated intervention and not have to do nothing with the whole bank system.
And the “Casas de Bolsa”, and others banks intervened before?, How many times the Banks Association President did say that?.
OK, BF maybe the bank was in trouble, but the timing still is political.
June 14, 2010 at 5:14 pm
The problem is Globovision do not broadcast World Cup’s soccer games.
Timing is everything… to plot lies.
June 14, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Dalmady:
You used to be a focused analyst.. Why are you so blunt and not specific in this comment?
BF is not certainly a “pure bank” business. In fact, your appreciated blog colleague and scam-master, the very Bernard, listed in some old posts
the actual figures hiding inside BF financial reports
However, I cannot agree about this timely scheduled bank seizure. In the latest 10 days GLOBIVISION was broacasting shots and more shots about this shxt state businesses named PDVAL and BARIVEN… and all the putrefact corruption surrounding them..
Well.. just a few days later the government issued an imprisonement order for the president of Globovision and now they seize a bank that belongs to Mr Mezerhane, a Globovision major shareholder.. Good timing!!
BTW.. Half the country is looking soccer games…
June 14, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Banco Federal was a trainwreck waiting to happen. Can’t blame Chavez for that one. BF should have been “intervenido” over a decade ago.
June 14, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Gustavo: yes, it’s getting ugly soon. And every failed, pathetic attempt the government takes only speeds up the process.
June 14, 2010 at 3:26 pm
It is true , but actually i want to Buy dollars !!! , i will be leaving this country to study abroad , and well actually start living there. So yep it is a situation that is really complicated because every Bs that you have earned by working all these years … well every day they are worth less and less =( but what can you do. Its a Regime.
June 14, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Sorry, i mean to fred, not gustavo obviously. sorry 😛
June 14, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Gustavo:
I’m in the same situation as you are. But dont worry. Almost everyone.. even the ones in red shirts will want to buy your dollars 🙂
But my recommendation would be to sell to someone you know.. or a friends friend etc. to minimize the risk of getting robbed or tricked.
the black market is almost at 10bsf / dollar now according to dollar.nu .. And I’m guessing it’s gonna go up even more after reading that the new system is just another CADIVI or sorts.
I’m in luck. Because I have to pay for a friends plane ticket when i get down there which was payed in bsf when it was around ~6bsf/dollar. So it’s a damn bargain to me, because this person wants (for some odd reason) to be payed in bsf 😉
June 14, 2010 at 2:55 pm
I don’t think they need to. We need to remember what happened to RCTV the last Private channel they closed Twice. The last time they did it by “changing” the rules of TV broadcast as an “international” company in order to operate on Cable TV , but at the last minute , and all the government said was that even though the “rules” were being published at that time , the channel was operating for months without following those rules. So … they simply closed that channel and all cable operating companies just blocked that channel because of course were afraid the Regime would go against them and their companies.
June 14, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I bet that the regime are trying to confiscate Globovision’s shares via courts.
What do you think?
June 14, 2010 at 2:44 pm
http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/159567/
This is absurd , even though he was asked on February to fire A Ravell from Globovision he claims that he said is was impossible , but they fired him anyways because of the pressure from Chavez. What’s next ?, this is worse than CUBA !!!!, Maybe the intervention of one o two more private Banks to have more than 50% of participation on the market to implement new “taxes” dedicated for his missions and his “welfare” actions to continue the manipulation of the more needed (and unfortunately ignorant) people of our country and of course doing it this time literary with our money….
June 14, 2010 at 2:33 pm
The president of the Federal Bank (Banco Federal) is Director of Globovision and partial owner.
Well, this answer my question before, the next victim during World Cup is him, Nelson Mezerhane, and Globovision (another time). Another punch.
How many punch will receive Globovision during the World Cup?.
100% political motives.
June 14, 2010 at 2:16 pm
According to El Universal they are allowing everyone until 3 PM to be served at the tellers.
http://www.eluniversal.com/2010/06/14/eco_ava_ordenan-intervencion_14A4020011.shtml
June 14, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Banco federal is out….. chavez vendetta is running free…
June 14, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Be very careful sending any info to anyone you don’t know.
It’s a very strange time right now in Venezuela
June 14, 2010 at 1:26 pm
That is good to know Fred. I am in the same process but to mode to Miami in order to start an MBA on august and of course will be moving with my wife and w’d like to change our Bs to Dollars before we go. We already sold hour apartment and cars and we are only waiting for the person’s credit to be approved for the final payment of our apt. which is approximatively in a month. Now about your specific case. There Is a Way to change currency once you arrive to Venezuela , at the airport the Oficial companies that change currency receive dollar , but at the “official Rate” which is only 4,3 Bs per DOllar !!! , it is crazy, i know. Also you might want to avoid the “people” that once you leave the baggage claim at the airport jump like “flyes” asking you if you want to change dollars to Bs , because That is ILLEGAL , and on the news paper once in a while tell stories about fake Bs that have come out of those transactions. What i recommend to you is to first Open an Account here in Venezuela in order for you to “make the transaction easier” , once you have a person that you know his address , name , company that he works for or preferably company that he owns , negotiate a rate based on the Black Market ( you can find good info in pages that are still open like : http://lalechugaestaasi.blogspot.com/ , http://www.dolarchavez.com/ ) because as you might have heard once the Stock / currency exchange companies that participated on the market and that you used to buy dollars from were intervened president chavez ordered the closure of the web pages that told us the “real” value of the DOllar non-official. and then , Once you see that you have the Bs on your account wich you could see on-line , at that time you proceed to transfer the DOllars to his/hers account. That would be the safest way to do it. Now about the “illegal” matter of this transaction , all you have to do is ask this person that once he deposits this money to to the account , to declare that it is a payment of “honoraries” from a service provided by you. And all you have to do then is to “make” a proforma invoince with you personal data in it (that for a little as 150 bs you can make them do here in venezuela , and on line with all the SENIAT legal involvements) and if someday SUDEBAN gives you a citation (which they never do) you have your backup for you operation. That is basically what i have done for many years here in venezuela and well tons of venezuelans because it is absurd the processes as we read on this blog to buy dollars that we need so desperately , I really hope all this information is helpful , have a nice day and Best Regards.
June 14, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Dear Gustavo, it is a really difficult process indeed. To not take over the board of MO, can you send me an email at moraimag @ yahoo dot com and we can talk more extensively about what Fred is mentioning…
June 14, 2010 at 1:07 pm
That’s correct Gustavo. I do need to buy bolivars, and being the good citizen that I am, I wanted to do it legally (I wouldn’t survive in jail very long).
The thing is, I’ve been in the process of moving back to Venezuela for the last couple of years (looking for excuses left and right not to do it) and I have finally make the decision that I’ll do it. However, in order to do that I need to sell my house here (US) first, and that’s proven to be more difficult than I expected.
Thanks………….
June 14, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Dear Fred, I misunderstood i tough you wanted to sell your dollars into Bs (which is what i have) , i want to buy Dollars so if that is the case just tell me how many Bs would you like for each dollar you would sell me, thanks a lot and best regards.
June 14, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Fred,
As near as I can tell, there is none. I think it is assumed no one would be idiotic enough to buy Bs. at those rates, so it is simply assumed that you will break the law and buy Bs. outside of the system.
I mean, you don’t REALLY want to buy Bs. at 5.4, now do you? If you DO, then please let me know. 🙂
June 14, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Dear Fred , if you want to buy Bolivars i can sell them to you but the real issue here is how many Bs per Dollar would you be willing to pay because as you might have heard well we are in need to buy dollars including myself but the “black market” rate is on a roller coaster movement right now
June 14, 2010 at 12:30 pm
What’s the procedure to buy bolivars? Yes, I said bolivars 😦
June 14, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Well that stinks.
Foreigners who have lived here for years & years can’t touch the golden pot.
Shit.
Guess I’ll just have to reapply to CADIVI.
June 14, 2010 at 12:10 pm
This is insane:
Companies will be able to buy up to US$50,000 per day and no more than US$ 350,000 a month (cash value, not bond value), as long as: i) you are not in Lists 1 and 2 or ii) if you are in Lisst 1 and 2, that you have not received any money from CADIVI for the last 90 days and iii) To buy capital equipment
I got a Cadivi payment a few weeks ago: say 20K US$ out of more than 200 KUS$ outstanding bills . Furthermore, I have some 4-5 bills that were imported WITHOUT Cadivi.
Now.. I cannot get bonds to pay neither old cadivis, old not-cadivis or new not-cadivis. This is insane!!! They are protecting luxury good (out of List 1 and 2) imports and grey market importers (those not authorized in CADIVI). The real winners here are grey marketers and smugglers.
Who is checking that this bond-dollars will be used for REAL IMPORTS???
June 14, 2010 at 11:56 am
Thanks, from the people that live out-side.
🙂