In our opinion:

In our opinion, yesterday's announcements by President Chavez' Economic team will not accomplish anything since they are aiming at the consequences of the exchange control regime and not the causes of it. At this point of the economic cycle, the most important reason for the devaluation of the Bolivar in the "Permuta" market is President's Chavez shift from a Nationalist Bolivarian to a Marxist Socialist. His constant "almost daily" attacks to the private sector have generated a great deal of anxiety and distrust among the investment community. To worsen matters even further, the members of Economic team can not find common ground resulting in policies that are highly inefficient: such as the interventions of the last few months by the Central Bank with the "Bono Cambiario."