There is a paradox in Chavismo. On the one hand they plan on extremely complex and absurd laws, like the “Bill for Just Prices”, but on the other, they can not even hold the first of the “weekly” Sicad auctions for US$ 220 million.
And indeed, fourteen days ago Minister of Energy and Oil and Vice-President for Economic Affars Rafael Ramirez held a press conference (above) and with a straight face told us about a “planned” foreign exchange budget and “new and improved” and weekly Sicad auctions in the amount of US$ 220 million.
And a paralyzed country was eagerly awaiting for this auction for many reasons. For one, everyone was wondering whether the Sicad rate would slide down or not and by how much. But more importantly, after fourteen days (really all of 2014), people just wanted the “weekly” Sicad auctions to become regular, because only certain economic groups were included in the first auction. The sooner we could get over the first one, the sooner we could find out who would be included in the second or third auction.
But it was not to be. Today, the Venezuelan Central Bank suspended Sicad auction number 16, due to “anomalies” and “lack of compliance with norms”.
Thus, a simple “auction” (it is not an auction, it is an even much simpler sale of dollars) is cancelled by the same Government that just created a Superintendency to calculate and establish the “just” price for every goddamn single good and service in the whole country.
But somehow, the same Government can not even organize the SIXTEENTH Sicad auction, where the only “novelty” is that the amount to be sold is twice as much as the previous fifteen ones.
It is the Paradox of Chavismo, they have not been able to run anything properly in fifteen years (twenty for that matter, their coup failed) but they keep coming up with ever complex bills and structures to regulate the economy.
But they can not even run the simplest things. Go figure!
The Devil's Excrement 