The new Vice-President Jorge Rodriguez started his tenure in his new position with the same cynical attitude as when he was the President of the Electoral Board. After the 19% plunge in the Caraca Stock Market, he told the press:
"There was no "desplome" (sharp fall or plunge) of anything, the Stock Market is more solid than ever, the economy is more solid than ever..."
Well, if the trading of the stock of Electricidad de Caracas had no been halted yesterday after the first 20% drop, I am sure the index would have fallen even more than 19%. Moreover, the nationalization of CANTV and Electricidad de Caracas represents a severe blow to the exchange, since two of the most important stocks in the country will no longer trade, shrinking the size of the stock market capitalization to a puny US$ 5.5 billion from an already small US$ 8.2 billion.
I guess that much like the reality of what is happening in the country, the strategy is that if Government officials say something a sufficient number of times, it magically becomes the truth (1992 coup, conspirancies, plots to kill Chavez and the like). In that spirit, the the devil ratifies that the stock market did not drop yesterday and the parallel exchange rate did not reach Bs. 4,000 to the dollar for the first time in history.
Oh! I forgot, there is no inflation in double digits either.
7:40:19 PM 
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