The Global Intelligence Files,
files released so far...
2537
The Global Intelligence Files

### Index pages

List of Releases

### by Date of Document

unspecified
2001
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

### by Date of Release

2001-03-13
2010-03-10
2011-03-05
2011-03-15
2012-01-29
2012-02-27
2012-02-28
2012-02-29
2012-03-01
2012-03-02
2012-03-03
2012-03-04
2012-03-05
2012-03-06
2012-03-07
2012-03-08
2012-03-09
2012-03-10
2012-03-11
2012-03-12
2012-03-13
2012-03-14
2012-03-15
2012-03-16
2012-03-17
2012-03-19
2012-03-20
2012-03-23
2012-03-25
2012-03-26
2012-03-27
2012-04-01
2012-04-02
2012-04-24
2012-04-26
2012-04-30
2012-05-10
2012-06-18
2012-06-20
2012-07-01
2012-07-24
2012-07-28
2012-07-29
2012-07-30
2012-07-31
2012-08-01
2012-08-02
2012-08-05
2012-08-06
2012-08-07
2012-08-08
2012-08-09
2012-08-10
2012-08-11
2012-08-12
2012-08-13
2012-08-14
2012-08-15
2012-08-16
2012-08-17
2012-08-18
2012-08-19
2012-08-20
2012-08-21
2012-08-22
2012-08-23
2012-08-24
2012-08-25
2012-08-26
2012-08-27
2012-08-29
2012-08-30
2012-08-31
2012-09-01
2012-09-02
2012-09-03
2012-09-04
2012-09-05

### Our Partners

ABC Color - Paraguay
Al Akhbar - Lebanon
Al Masry Al Youm - Egypt
Asia Sentinel - Hong Kong
Bivol - Bulgaria
Carta Capital - Brazil
CIPER - Chile
Dawn Media - Pakistan
L'Espresso - Italy
La Repubblica - Italy
La Jornada - Mexico
La Nacion - Costa Rica
Malaysia Today - Malaysia
McClatchy - United States
Nawaat - Tunisia
NDR/ARD - Germany
Owni - France
Pagina 12 - Argentina
Philip Dorling - Fairfax media contributor - Australia
Plaza Publica - Guatemala
Publica - Brazil
Publico.es - Spain
Rolling Stone - United States
Russian Reporter - Russia
Ta Nea - Greece
Taraf - Turkey
The Hindu - India
The Yes Men - Bhopal Activists
Sunday Star-Times - New Zealand

### Community resources

Supporters Support Wikileaks Follow us on Twitter Twitter this Follow us on Facebook

courage is contagious

# The Global Intelligence Files

On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.

## Venezuela's Government Grasps Greater Economic Control

Released on 2012-04-30 00:00 GMT

Email-ID | 761478
Date | 2011-12-05 13:49:47
From | noreply@stratfor.com
To | allstratfor@stratfor.com
List-Name | global@stratfor.com

Stratfor logo
Venezuela's Government Grasps Greater Economic Control
December 5, 2011 | 1219 GMT
Venezuela's Government Grasps Greater Economic Control
JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images
A Venezuelan soldier monitors French-owned supermarket Exito in Caracas
after Venezuela nationalized the chain in 2010
Summary
Venezuela officially unveiled the Law of Costs and Prices, legislation
meant to regulate the price of basic goods, on Nov. 23. The law
established the National Superintendency of Costs and Prices, which will
use a process that is not entirely clear to establish a new price
structure designed to address Venezuela's inflation problem. The law
gives Caracas more power to threaten companies with fines, seizures and
expropriations, and is an attempt to gain control over larger portions
of Venezuela's economy.
Analysis
Related Links
* Special Report: Venezuela's Unsustainable Economic Paradigm
* Venezuela: The Message Behind a Nationalization Threat
* Venezuela: Food Prices to Increase
* Venezuela: Government Expands Business Nationalization Powers
* Venezuela: Higher Food Prices, Less Stability for Chavez
The Venezuelan government Nov. 23 officially unveiled a law designed to
regulate the price of basic goods: the Law of Costs and Prices. The law,
which has been highly anticipated since its announcement in August,
created the National Superintendency of Costs and Prices (Sundecop),
which has begun implementing a new price structure designed to address
Venezuela's 25-30 percent annual inflation and its challenges with food
shortages. Sundecop will set a band of prices for each product, and
companies found violating price restrictions will face punishments
ranging from fines to expropriation. As STRATFOR has previously
discussed, the law is likely to worsen shortages and inflation in
Venezuela and to create more opportunities for corruption. It is
becoming clear that the law is key to the government's efforts to place
greater swaths of Venezuela's economy under state control.
The first phase of implementation involves a state audit of companies'
accounting procedures, meant to establish a maximum sale price for food,
hygiene and cleaning products, and is expected to take 90 days. Sundecop
will set the prices of these goods Dec. 15 through a process that is not
entirely clear. The companies will have until Jan. 15 to implement the
pricing. Meanwhile, the government has frozen the prices of 19 products,
including fruit juice, disposable diapers and soap. Starting in January,
Sundecop will begin auditing a wider range of products, including
pharmaceuticals.
Sundecop's head, National Superintendent of Costs Karlin Granadillo, was
appointed by President Hugo Chavez and reports to him directly. Chavez
clearly intends to heavily influence the superintendency. On the day the
new law was implemented, Chavez made a statement to the press explicitly
singling out products from a number of foreign companies - including
Pepsi Cola, Heinz Foods, Nestle, Manpa, Alimentos Polar, Coca Cola,
Biopapel, Agrofruit, Unilever Andina, Johnson & Johnson, Knorr and Glaxo
SmithKline - and warning the companies against corruption.
The Law of Costs and Prices was enacted to address inflation, which the
Venezuelan government is blaming on so-called "speculators" - a loosely
defined term that can apply to individuals and organizations that
actively attempt to create shortages in order to drive up prices, as
well as to companies that happen to have reserves of basic goods they
have not yet shipped to local markets. The broad interpretation of the
term "speculators" and the government's proclivity for expropriation
mean that the government will most likely use the law to seize control
of the production and distribution of basic goods.
In fact, immediately following the implementation of the law, the
Venezuelan National Guard seized 210 metric tons of powdered milk after
an inspection of the facilities of Italian firm Parmalat, which Caracas
had accused of hoarding. Parmalat contested the seizure, alleging that
the Venezuelan Ministry for Food and the Agricultural Supply and
Services Corporation had already designated the milk for distribution,
but Chavez rejected Parmalat's claim and threatened to expropriate the
firm. Parmalat backed down almost immediately, releasing a public
statement apologizing personally to the president, saying, "We regret
the discomfort created by our statement ... and offer our sincere
apologies to you and the government you lead." Milk has become a
strategic good in Venezuela amid persistent and worsening shortages and
25-30 percent inflation on basic goods. Milk is not the only product
deemed strategic, however, and Parmalat is not the only company that has
been affected by state seizures. Chavez said the Venezuelan National
Guard has seized smaller but still notable amounts of rice, cornmeal,
vegetable oil, sugar and coffee under the auspices of Sundecop's new
rules.
One of the uncertainties surrounding the Law of Costs and Prices is that
Article 16 of the law states that Sundecop's price regulations do not
necessarily cancel existing price regulations. This means there will be
multiple price control mechanisms at work, with inconsistent reporting
requirements and compliance mechanisms. According to Venezuelan Central
Bank Director Armando Leon, there are approximately 500,000 existing
price regulations; Sundecop's efforts will raise that number to 1.5
million. Unless the price regimes are rationalized with one another,
these parallel systems are likely to lead to greater confusion for
businesses, more irregularities, and more government action against
private producers and retailers.
The law is a clear attempt by the government to secure greater control
over the already highly government-influenced basic-goods market. Having
failed in earlier attempts to control goods distribution through
subsidiaries of [IMG] Venezuelan state owned oil company Petroleos de
Venezuela, the government is using the direct threats of expropriation
and force to control distribution. Increased seizures of basic goods by
government authorities can be expected as the law is implemented, and
affected companies may go out of business.
Give us your thoughts Read comments on
on this report other reports
For Publication Reader Comments
Not For Publication
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
(c) Copyright 2011 Stratfor. All rights reserved.