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[Debconf-team] Political Outlook: Venezuela



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This is a political analysis written by people in the DC8 .ve Team, and
discussed in the Debian Venezuela mailing list. It addresses common
questions made by foreigners visiting our Country or willing to do that.
We truly believe that our current political condition, whether it fits
our political ideas or not, does not affect our ability to host a
Debconf event. It was discussed (in spanish) in Debian Venezuela mailing
list [1].

1. Migration: There are no plans to impose restrictions on the free
transit of international visitors at short term. Venezuela has always
been a very attractive country for tourism and it's actually one of the
Latin American countries with the less restrictions on taxes and visas.
Baggage checks in airports and bus stations are normal and should be
expected, as well as checks to particular vehicles in road and sea
transport. Underage people can't travel inside the Country without
parental permission (in order to avoid parent kidnapping). Therefore,
underage international visitors will need a special permit in order to
travel inside Venezuela. There are embassy or consulate representations
of most European and Asian countries, as well as the USA, and they will
give financial, political and legal aid to their citizens if needed.
Those consular relationships should still exist in 2008.

2. Economy: prices will be high but still accessible for most foreign
visitors. Our current exchange control will probably be extended and
paying with debit and credit cards from other countries should be
possible (as it is now). In the worst case, it might be mandatory to pay
cash and people should be able to exchange any amount of money into
Venezuelan Bolivares. The actual dollar exchange rate is set at 2150 VEB
per USD. In case the government lifts the exchange control, the rate
could go up to 4500 VEB. That's bad for Venezuelans but good for
foreigners, who are able to get "more VEB for their USD".

3. Connectivity: a State company will hold about 70% of the market share
on commercial Internet. Besides this company, we've asked other ISPs to
help us like CVG Telecom, Movistar and Savvis.

4. Abstract: let's study the worst case scenario: <apocalyptic>Venezuela
becomes a second Cuba. All companies now belong to the State or are
mixed companies. The exchange control is kept, and the inflation is
controlled. Most countries maintain their diplomatic representations.
Even if all of that happens, we'll still be in better economic and
technological conditions than Cuba, and even considering that, Cuba is
still visited by thousands of foreigners from several first world
countries and everyone leaves Cuba alive.</apocalyptic>

[1] http://solve.net.ve/pipermail/debian-ve/2007-January/001557.html
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