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Cyreenik Says

June 2019 issues

The Mystery of Maduro continues on

The Mystery of Maduro is what he, and his followers who keep him in charge, feel they are accomplishing as they run Venezuela's economy and society into the ground. What are the noble deeds they see themselves as accomplishing that make supporting this dramatic decline in material prosperity worthwhile?

These supporters have gotten quite desperate. (or innovative, depending on your point of view) They are now selling off the country's gold reserves. This 18 Jun 19 WSJ article, How 7.4 Tons of Venezuela’s Gold Landed in Africa—and Vanished by Gabriele Steinhauser and Nicholas Bariyo, talks about the government shipping gold out of the country to pay for things that are currently sanctioned.

From the article, "The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is selling off his country’s gold reserves. Some of it has passed through a secretive operation in East Africa, a gambit that evades U.S. sanctions.

On two early-March flights, at least 7.4 tons of gold with a market value over $300 million moved from Venezuela to a refinery in Uganda, say officials in Venezuela and Uganda, a foreign diplomat and Venezuelan opposition lawmakers, who have concluded Mr. Maduro’s government exported the ingots."

Again, the big question is what is making this sacrifice worthwhile? What is the benefit the followers are seeing? This decline has been going on for almost twenty years now, so this benefit must feel big, important, and enduring.

EU parliament elections: dream changing is happening all across Europe

The EU parliament elections this month show that dream changing is happening all over Europe. Lots of new parties and lots of small existing parties gained lots of seats while the two biggest established parties declined dramatically. This 1 Jun 19 Economist article, Centrist liberals gained the most power in the EU Parliament, shows the election results.

This is a strong indicator that dream changing is in progress all across Europe, and that is a strong indicator that big surprises will be springing up throughout the rest of the year, and some will be scary ones.

 

 

-- The End --

 

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