News & Analysis.
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Our translation of an article from RIA Novosti is posted below, with commentary by Vince Dhimos.
The neat thing about following the Russian-language press is that you see things that could never appear in the Western media (and also a lot of things that don't appear in RT or Sputnik for that matter). Not because Western journos can’t see them, but because they’re not allowed to mention them. And so you have a phenomenon that is peculiar to Western journalism: constant denial of likely outcomes until they materialize seemingly out of nowhere. I remember well how the entire media-sphere mocked and derided Putin when he first entered the fray in Syria. They said he would be leaving soon with his tail between his legs. That he would get mired down and Syria would become his Vietnam. That he would be breaking his country’s bank. Then once it was clear that he had made some progress, they said, at various points, that he was about to throw Assad under the bus and look for a more suitable leader. They ignored his response to that, namely, that he is not supporting Assad but the Syrian people and that their choice of leader is up to them. He was supporting the idea of Westphalian sovereignty, an affront to their Dear Hegemon. QUOTE: Three years ago, the Western world was laughing at the intentions of Moscow to save the "dictator Assad." The lesson was learned, and now nobody feels like laughing at all, because the West can’t ignore a simple and very unpleasant question: what if the Russians succeed again? "What if they succeed again?" Russia comes to Venezuela’s rescue March 4, 2019 Irina Alksnis Venezuela is still at the centre of attention in the world political and media mainstream. But in recent days there has been a clear change in the information agenda relating to that country. Firstly, the usual mantra "the authoritarian regime is about to fall and the opposition will come to power, which will lead Venezuela to a bright democratic future," was replaced by frustrated confessions like "something went wrong." The article in the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung made the most noise in this sense, expressing the failure of Juan Guaidó as the leader of the protests and the country's "interim president.” The publication was not short on derogatory comments, calling him "helpless," for example. Secondly, in recent days, Caracas has become the source of a plethora of news from the economic and political-economic sphere, each of which is a small (or large) information bomb. Here are just some of them: - By decision of President Maduro, the branch of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA will be transferred from Lisbon to Moscow; - The authorities abolished external management in Banesco Banco Universal C.A, the largest privately owned bank in Venezuela (introduced in May 2018 after the detention of a group of bank managers suspected of illegal operations with national currency); - In Venezuela, the ban on currency exchange, which has been in effect for many years, has been virtually lifted. In Caracas, the Central Bank opened the first two exchange offices, announcing that soon the exchange points will take effect in other cities; - Vice-President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, said that the country has begun legal action to protect its property abroad. There is no end of work there: in the US, seven billion dollars worth of assets and interests of PDVSA are blocked. Venezuelan accounts are frozen in Europe, and the Bank of England has refused to release Venezuelan gold reserves in the amount of 1.2 billion dollars. Apparently, Caracas has seriously undertaken to correct the economic policy that brought Venezuela to the current deplorable state. And, obviously, the West does not have the slightest illusion about who is behind the changes. We recently wrote that the rescue of Venezuela has become a new challenge for Russia, which seems to want to do in the economic sphere for the Bolivarian Republic what it has done in the military-political field for Syria. Recent news clearly confirms this version. What can Moscow offer Caracas? At least three things immediately come to mind.
We are talking about exactly what the domestic left-wing economists and simply the opposition have been mercilessly lambasting the authorities for for many years now - maintaining the given levels of inflation, budget deficits and other macroeconomic and financial indicators. As you know, Venezuela has acted according to the prescriptions of ultraleft economists in recent years: turn on the printing press and distributing money to everyone, prohibit free circulation of currency and pour oil money into the social net, the country has a lot of good oil (it is only a mystery why Kremlin critics believe that in Russia similar measures will lead to a different result than in Venezuela). The recent steps of Caracas to liberalize currency regulation suggest that the authorities have listened to the recommendations of the Russian specialists from the Central Bank, the Treasury and the Ministry of Finance, whose "troops" landed in the country some time ago, according to the media.
In spite of everything, Moscow continues to work with western courts, arbitrations and other structures - and it knows how to do this. Overcoming the deliberate prejudice and in some cases outright fraud by these institutions, Russia has been able to win a lot of victories there - and continues to do so. This experience of hers is extremely valuable for Venezuela, which intends to fight to unlock its assets in the West. 3. Availability of alternative Western financial and economic instruments. Russia is increasingly creating its own systems in the financial and economic sphere, guaranteeing uninterrupted operation of the economy even in the event of radical hostile actions by the West. A national payment system has been launched; payments in national currencies are developing to bypass the dollar, and various processes in banking, IT, and many other areas are underway. The provision of this range of services to other countries will force this area within the country to grow faster. Plus, it will bring in new serious money from foreign customers. Not to mention the fact that in purely geopolitical terms this will sharply raise the status of Russia as a power, capable of providing not only military-political (Syria has already proved this), but also a financial and economic umbrella for its partners. Of course, there are quite a few who laugh at these "Napoleonic plans." But interestingly, serious people in the West are not laughing. The IMF said it was ready to help the Venezuelan authorities formulate a strategy to correct the economic situation, if requested. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas noted that Moscow promised help to the “dictator Maduro.” From this it follows logically that, in his eyes, it is Russia that is responsible for the fact that events in Venezuela are not developing according to the scenario written in the West. All these statements reveal anxiety rather than mockery. It must be assumed that for the IMF the progress in the economic policy of Venezuela is a direct challenge, since it is up to the foundation that the role of the saviour of perishing economies has so far been assigned to that world system. The emergence of a real alternative will be a severe blow to the reputation of the institute. As for the Western states, every day they are looking more and more ridiculous with their recognition of non-president Guaidó - and, if events continue to develop in the current direction, there seems to be no face-saving way out for them. Three years ago, the Western world was laughing at the intentions of Moscow to save the "dictator Assad." The lesson was learned, and now nobody feels like laughing at all, because the West can’t ignore a simple and very unpleasant question: what if the Russians succeed again? END TRANSLATION
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