New CIA Director Leon Panetta warned in a press conference yesterday that Venezuela could become destabilized by pressures of the global economic crisis. Authorities in Caracas have reacted with hostility to this week's human rights report from the U.S. State Dept., with Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro describing the report as "plagued with lies."In business news, the Venezuelan government has frozen the assets and accounts of board members of Stanford Bank, while energy deals were signed with both Bolivia and China. Despite plummeting oil prices, which account for 94% of Venezuela's income, the authorities say they are confident that the economy will remain stable in 2009. Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said Venezuela is predicting "stability this year even with the disruptions." In energy, bonds issued by PDVSA have fallen to their lowest value in history.
The state party PSUV is sending a delegation to Colombia to meet with the opposition party Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA), which is one of the main leftist parties in opposition to President Alvaro Uribe. During the slow news week of Carnival, many Venezuelan headlines feature officials boasting of reduced traffic deaths (a frequent problem during the holiday season), but one paper points out that the murder rate is showing no signs of slowing down.
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