Venezuela’s Socialist Disaster is Being Financed by Goldman Sachs

Nothing to see here. Just another failed attempt at socialism. The opposition forces are finally figuring it all out too. The government is in control, not the people, and Julio Borges is blaming Goldman Sachs for financing the all-but-failed democratic socialist nation.

The president of Venezuela’s opposition-run Congress on Monday accused Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs of “aiding and abetting the country’s dictatorial regime” following a report that it had bought $2.8 billion in bonds from the cash-strapped tyrannical country. The Wall Street Journal on Sunday said Goldman paid 31 cents on the dollar for bonds issued by state oil company PDVSA that mature in 2022, or around $865 million, citing five people familiar with the transaction.

Known as the world’s worst oil company, for being completely run by the tyrannical government in Venezuela, PDVSA is the socialist nation’s government. The oil company’s exports account for 93% of the country’s exports.  And socialist opposition forces are now blaming the Wall Street bank, Goldman Sachs, for propping up the regime by buying the bonds. Julio Borges, President of the National Assembly and Deputy of the Venezuelan coalition of opposition parties wrote a letter to Goldman Sachs president,  Lloyd Blankfein, and calmly stated to him that his financial contributions are propping up the “brutal regime” that’s killing its own people through starvation and violent clashes.

“Goldman Sachs’ financial lifeline to the regime will serve to strengthen the brutal repression unleashed against the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans peacefully protesting for political change in the country. Given the unconstitutional nature of Nicolas Maduro’s administration, its unwillingness to hold democratic elections and its systematic violation of human rights, I am dismayed that Goldman Sachs decided to enter this transaction.”

The letter adds that Congress will open an investigation into the transaction and that he will recommend “to any future democratic government of Venezuela not to recognize or pay these bonds.”

A Goldman Sachs spokesman said the bank declined to comment and Venezuela’s Information Ministry, which fields queries on behalf of the Finance Ministry, did not respond to requests for comments either. Imagine that. A socialist regime and a Wall Street bank tight-lipped and in bed together.

The bonds were not sold directly by Venezuela’s central bank but rather through an intermediary, three finance industry sources (including one from Goldman) told Reuters on Monday. “The intermediaries are in Europe,” said the source at Goldman.

With Venezuela’s inefficient state-led economic model struggling under lower oil prices, Maduro’s unpopular government has become ever more dependent on financial deals or asset sales to bring in coveted foreign exchange. Venezuela’s international reserves rose by $749 million on Thursday and Friday, reaching around $10.86 billion. That is still down around 50 percent in the last three years.

Follow the money because it will always lead you to the truth. Goldman Sachs is a long-time ally of socialists regimes and the politicians (like Hillary Clinton) who prop them up. The more government control a nation exerts on its people, the easier it is for the wealthy corporations and banks to rule the government. Socialism is failure incarnate. Most would rather be exposed to the few failures of capitalism than to the few successes of socialism.