A Million People Are Jailed at China's Gulags. I Managed to Escape. Here's What Really Goes on Inside

Rape, torture and human experiments. Sayragul Sauytbay offers firsthand testimony from a Xinjiang 'reeducation' camp

By David Stavrou (Stockholm)

STOCKHOLM – Twenty prisoners live in one small room. They are handcuffed, their heads shaved, every move is monitored by ceiling cameras. A bucket in the corner of the room is their toilet. The daily routine begins at 6 A.M. They are learning Chinese, memorizing propaganda songs and confessing to invented sins. They range in age from teenagers to elderly. Their meals are meager: cloudy soup and a slice of bread.

Torture – metal nails, fingernails pulled out, electric shocks – takes place in the “black room.” Punishment is a constant. The prisoners are forced to take pills and get injections. It’s for disease prevention, the staff tell them, but in reality they are the human subjects of medical experiments. Many of the inmates suffer from cognitive decline. Some of the men become sterile. Women are routinely raped.

Such is life in China’s reeducation camps, as reported in rare testimony provided by Sayragul Sauytbay (pronounced: Say-ra-gul Saut-bay, as in “bye”), a teacher who escaped from China and was granted asylum in Sweden. Few prisoners have succeeded in getting out of the camps and telling their story. Sauytbay’s testimony is even more extraordinary, because during her incarceration she was compelled to be a teacher in the camp. China wants to market its camps to the world as places of educational programs and vocational retraining, but Sauytbay is one of the few people who can offer credible, firsthand testimony about what really goes on in the camps.

Please go to Haaretz.com for the complete article.

Failed State Made in the USA: Ex-President of Honduras and Coup Victim Zelaya Tells All

I have complained many times about how US corporations have raped Central Americans and many South Americans of their natural resources. And instead of making them wealthy, they are made poorer. Anyone who attempts to change the situation for the betterment of the people is liable to be removed by any means, often being replaced by autocrats completely devoid of conscience. 

I thought I was referring to well in the past, but, it appears that it is still going on in the 21st century. In fact, we can easily blame much of the current migrant crisis on America's southern border on America's political and financial interference in Central America. 

If the USA is going to be the moral leader of the world, it first has to present itself a moral.

Zelaya at a protest against the US-backed Hernandez government © Reuters / Jorge Cabrera

President Jose Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was deposed from power in a military coup after joining a progressive alliance of Latin American leaders and he has “absolutely no doubts” the US was behind his ouster, he tells RT America.

“The US warned me: If you sign the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA), you’re going to have problems with the US. I signed it, and six months later, I had problems,” Zelaya told RT America’s Rick Sanchez.

They kicked me out.

Washington “wave[s] their flags of human rights abroad, but they only apply those concepts to those they consider to be adversaries,” Zelaya says, pointing to his record of poverty reduction and economic growth – “I had the best indicators of human development in Honduran history!”

Because of the company he kept – working with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, and other progressive US bogeymen to further Honduras’ economic development – the US “had an allergic reaction” and moved to take him out, he says.

“I didn’t have problems with the US,” Zelaya insists. “They simply didn’t accept the competition, because these transnational companies live off monopoly, they live off concessions. When you give them competition in the free market, they stop being capitalist. They become retrograde, authoritarian, and they play coups, wars, invasions.”

Zelaya was removed from power in 2009, deposed by heavily armed soldiers who came to his home while he was in his pajamas, in a coup Hillary Clinton’s State Department refused to call a coup.

Honduras has been sinking into chaos ever since. His progressive reforms such as building schools, adopting a pension system for the elderly and raising the minimum wage have been rolled back, and homicide rates had soared 50 percent by 2011. Trade unionists, journalists, judges, human rights and environmental activists have been targeted for extrajudicial killings.

His efforts to return to power have also been thwarted, once again by the US, he says. After his party won the 2017 election with nearly three quarters of the votes counted, it was the US ambassador who appeared with 5,000 boxes of ballots to declare another candidate the winner. Even the pro-US Organization of American States called for a new round of elections. Instead, the government suspended the constitution and imposed 10 days of martial law, after which the US recognized the rigged results.

“And with that, they impose a dictatorship in Honduras… that’s what we’re protesting against.”

Zelaya says the US sees Honduras “not as a colony or a province. They see us as an empty landscape where they invest and where they impose their rules.”

He does not blame only the Americans for the suffering of Honduras, however.

The Hondurans are guilty, the ones that bow down and kiss the boots of the US, the US military, or kiss up to the capitalist chiefs of Wall Street.

Two Years Later, Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng is Still Missing

And Beijing wonders why Hong Kong is making such a stink

Gao Zhisheng's book

(Photo: ChinaAid)

ChinaAid

(Yulin, Shaanxi—Aug. 14, 2019) It has been two years since the brother of the prominent Chinese human rights lawyer and Noble Prize nominee Gao Zhisheng arrived at the attorney’s apartment in Shaanxi province for a visit on Aug. 13, 2017, only to discover him gone. 

For 23 days, his supporters assumed him kidnapped by authorities, much like he had been several times before. In reality, however, the officials were searching relentlessly, finally crossing the border into the neighboring Shanxi province and finding him with two sympathizers, Shao Zhongguo and Li Fawang, who had smuggled him out of his home in order to free him from the watchful eyes of the authorities. He had lived under the surveillance for three years, following his 2014 release from prison.

Human Rights Activist Slowly, Torturously Destroyed by Chinese Government - Aug 2014

Upon discovery, Gao immediately vanished into police custody, and Shao and Li were criminally detained.

Since then, the outside world has heard little information about Gao. Sometime after his disappearance, Beijing officials claimed they had him in secret custody within the Chinese capital, but no one has been able to verify their claim. Likewise, Gao’s family does not know where he is being held, and he has not been allowed to consult with lawyers.

Chinese law dictates that it is illegal for prisoners to be held for more than six months without a charge, and Gao has now been held for four times that amount, constituting a severe violation of rule of law.

Gao’s previous arrests and disappearances all stem from his human rights work, and he describes the horror he faced in his piece “Dark Night, Dark Hood, and Kidnapping by Dark Mafia.”

During the three years Gao lived in his apartment, he secretly penned Unwavering Convictions, a book which describes atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party. ChinaAid smuggled the book out of China and published it with the Carolina Academic Press and the American Bar Association. The book, which has been translated into English, can be purchased at the above link.

Because of the mounting pressure against their family, Gao’s wife and children fled to the United States in 2009.

This is why Hong Kong is fighting so hard to refuse China the right to try Hong Kong criminal cases on mainland China. There is no respect of their own laws, legal decisions are more often political, and innocent people just disappear for years. I fear for Hong Kong as I believe China is in crouch mode, ready to spring at the first opportunity. Escalating violence will provide that opportunity. 

Military Intervention in Venezuela ‘On the Table,’ Says OAS Secretary General

Is it time to overthrow another elected government in the name of democracy?

Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro waves to people during his visit to the Colombia-Venezuela border at the Simon Bolivar international bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, September 14, 2018. © Carlos Eduardo Ramirez / Reuters

The head of the Organization of American States (OAS), accused by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of being a “CIA agent,” says military intervention against Caracas should not be ruled out as a response to the ongoing crisis.

OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro has hinted that the bloc may consider taking military action in Venezuela if it runs out of diplomatic options in its bid to alleviate the plight of people in the crisis-stricken country.

“With regards to a military intervention aimed at overthrowing the regime of Nicolas Maduro, I think we should not exclude any option,” Almagro said on Friday.

Venezuelans have been fleeing to neighboring countries in droves due to shortages of food and water, as well as soaring inflation and unemployment at home.

Almagro was wrapping up his three-day trip to Colombia, which has been heavily impacted by the inward movement of refugees from Venezuela. Some 3,000 Venezuelans are estimated to be crossing into the country every day. Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Chile have also been sharing the refugee burden, with Brazil deploying troops to the border to restore order in the borderline state of Roraima after fierce clashes erupted between locals and migrants.

Almagro has frequently traded verbal blows with Maduro. Speaking in the Colombian border city of Cucuta on Friday, the OAS chief called the Venezuelan leader a “dictator” and Cucuta “the city that best exemplifies the lies of Venezuela’s dictatorship.”

The comments come shortly after an explosive report in the New York Times, which claimed that the administration of US President Donald Trump has long conspired with a group of Venezuelan officers to depose Maduro. The clandestine negotiations, which involved US officials engaging with a military commander on their own sanctions list, reportedly kicked off in autumn 2017 and continued throughout last year.

According to the NYT, US officials eventually decided not to endorse the plotters, who had asked their US handlers to provide them with material supplies, including encrypted radios.

When confronted with the report, the White House did not outright deny that it had been engaged in secret talks with mutinous officers. “The United States government hears daily from the concerns of Venezuelans from all walks of life – be they members of the ruling party, the security services, elements of civil society or from among the millions of citizens forced by the regime to flee abroad,” the White House National Security Council (NSC) said in a statement.

Almagro and Maduro have been embroiled in a long-running war of words, exchanging insults and calling each other “traitors.” Back in 2016, Maduro accused Almagro of being a “CIA agent” and of turning the OAS into a US pawn. The OAS chief then fired back, denying that he was with the CIA and accusing Maduro of slander. “And your lie, even if it repeated a thousand times, will never be true,” he wrote at the time.

The US has been pushing for the suspension of Venezuela from the OAS, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging members to kickstart the procedure so it “would send a powerful signal to the [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro regime.”

At the organization’s 48th assembly in June, Washington failed to secure enough votes needed for the proposed suspension, which was celebrated as a victory by Caracas.

Venezuela, however, wants to leave the bloc on its own terms. Back in 2017, it formally started a withdrawal procedure and will cease to be a member by 2019.

Does that mean that the OAS will have to invade Venezuela before they cease membership in the organization? Or do they think they will have the right to afterward?

To Understand Venezuela's Future, Look to the Bond Market, Not Politics and Protests

U.S. and Caribbean courts allow companies owed money by

Venezuela's indebted state to seize oil abroad

Chris Arsenault · CBC News 

A Venezuelan demonstrator stands in front of a fire, following clashes between police and anti-government

demonstrators in Caracas on July 30, 2017. The size and frequency of anti-government protests has

dropped in the past year, but opposition forces remain divided. (Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press)

Despite some of the world's worst inflation and an economic crisis so severe that 2.3 million people have fled the country in the past four years, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro isn't currently facing major street protests and his political opposition remains fractured.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but shortages of food, medicine and electricity continue to ravage the country. The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation could reach one million per cent by year's end.

These conditions should be ripe for political unrest. 

But the demonstrations, which last year brought hundreds of thousands into the streets, have largely fizzled, and the socialist government's political opposition has weakened in the past year.

Political change over the next 18 months is unlikely as Maduro's United Socialist Party tightens its grip on the economy, the courts and the press, said Raul Gallegos, a Bogota-based associate director with Control Risks, a security analysis firm.

Rather than young activists protesting in public squares, some analysts believe the most likely force to spur serious political change in Venezuela comes from spreadsheet-wielding bond traders and well-heeled sovereign debt lawyers as they move to seize state-owned energy assets to recoup money owed.

Venezuela's government maintains it will pay all of its debts and is working to reform its economy by cutting fuel subsidies and changing how its currency is managed — all aimed at fighting what it calls an "economic war" being waged against the country by the U.S., neighbouring Colombia and domestic business owners. 

Uniquely vulnerable to asset seizures

Analysts, however, don't believe the government's economic measures will work and foresee creditors launching additional court action over outstanding debt.

"We are going to see the dam break," said Duke University law professor Mitu Gulati, who specializes in international arbitration and bankruptcy. "It's astounding how bad things are for a country that is so rich … this has to crash soon."

Venezuela owes about $65 billion US in outstanding bonds, according to Caracas Capital, a financial advisory firm based in the country's capital. That's in addition to other debts owed by the government and state companies — an estimated total of about $150 billion US.

Holders of that debt include some of the biggest names in U.S. finance, such as BlackRock, T. Rowe Price, Northern Trust and the U.K.-based Ashmore Group, Reuters reported in April. Venezuela also owes tens of billions of dollars to Russia and China, after borrowing heavily from the two countries in recent years, largely through oil-for-loan deals. 

Omar Mujica, a car mechanic, and other Venezuelans walk toward Lima, along the shoulder of the

Pan-American Highway, after crossing the border from Ecuador into Peru in August. The UN

estimates 2.3 million Venezuelans — about seven percent of the country's population — have fled

since 2014 as the country plummets into an economic crisis worse than the Great Depression.

(Martin Mejia/Associated Press)

With oil accounting for about 98 per cent of Venezuela's export earnings, the country is uniquely vulnerable to a debt default, Gulati said. That would allow creditors to seize oil shipments or refining infrastructure in the U.S. and the Caribbean, where much of Venezuela's oil is stored and refined before being sold on international markets.

These seizures are already starting to happen and are expected to intensify through September, Gulati added.

Court showdowns 

In August, a judge in the U.S. state of Delaware authorized the seizure of assets owned by Citgo, an affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company, to satisfy debts owed by Venezuela to Canadian mining company Crystallex.

Venezuelan-linked assets in the U.S. could be worth as much as $10 billion US, Gulati​ said.

The U.S. court action followed a similar move in Curacao, a small Dutch Caribbean island, where more than 15 per cent of Venezuela's crude exports were stored and refined before being sold to international customers.

Venezuelan oil production has crashed to a 50-year low, depriving the government of cash to pay its

debts and to import food, medicine and other necessities. (Fernando Llano/Associated Press)

In May, ConocoPhillips, a U.S. oil producer whose assets were expropriated by Venezuela's government in 2007, won an international arbitration action against Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA. This allowed Conoco to start seizing Venezuelan oil in Curacao and other Dutch Caribbean islands in a bid to recoup $2 billion US.

"These oil seizures are a fundamental challenge to the government … it's a huge deal for them," said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, who specializes in Venezuela.

"If [Venezuela's] defaults and different economic commitments get to a point where their facilities abroad get confiscated, that will make oil sales difficult."

Even in default, Venezuela should still be able to sell some oil by loading it directly onto customer-owned ships at domestic ports to avoid seizures, Smilde added, although this would significantly reduce the government's already sputtering revenue stream.

China is the largest holder of Venezuelan government debt; the world's most populous country has lent the oil producer about $62 billion US over the past decade, according to the Washington-based think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

With Venezuela unable to pony up the cash to pay, China has been receiving interest payments in the form of oil. This arrangement didn't stop at least one major Chinese oil company, Sinopec, from launching a lawsuit against Venezuela's PDVSA in a U.S. court last December for not fulfilling a contract. (It has since been settled.)

U.S. legal leverage

Following the May arbitration decision that led to asset seizures in the Caribbean, Venezuela agreed to pay Conoco $2 billion US over 4½ years in a settlement, and Conoco has suspended its confiscation campaign. 

The case, however, has made other companies owed money by Venezuela take notice, Gulati said. Lawyers across the U.S. are busy preparing claims against Venezuela on behalf of creditors, he said, fearing they will end up at the back of the line for getting paid if they don't move quickly.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have blamed the U.S., Colombia

and domestic business owners for sabotaging Venezuela's economy. Maduro recently announced

what he says is a plan to tame hyperinflation, which included cutting five zeros from the country's

currency. (Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press)

Despite frosty relations between Washington and Caracas, the U.S. remains the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude, purchasing more than 30 per cent of its total exports, according to recent data from Bloomberg. This gives U.S. companies and other creditors significant leverage to sue Venezuela in domestic courts.

"Once litigation starts, it's going to make it infinitely harder for the [Venezuelan] government to do anything," Gulati said.

Domestic production decline

These moves to seize the country's assets are intensifying as Venezuela's oil production — the lifeblood of its economy and government treasury — hits a 50-year low, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. 

Mismanagement of oil facilities and an exodus of skilled workers have been blamed for the collapse in production.

Venezuela has long been dependent on imports. But inflation, a lack of foreign currency, chronic insecurity

and other problems have virtually destroyed the country's industrial base. (Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press)

Long dependent on imports for food, medicine and industrial equipment, reduced oil production and mismanagement of the country's currency, means the state — which sets prices for basic goods and controls most of the economy — has cut back on buying necessities for domestic consumers.

In essence, Smilde said, bond investors in New York or Moscow are profiting from Venezuela's oil wealth that should be spent on food and medicine for average people.

Government blames 'economic war'

The government, for its part, contends Venezuela's problems are the result of sanctions imposed by the U.S., Canada, and the European Union and an "economic war" waged by domestic business elites. The country's economic problems have been compounded by speculation, the hoarding of basic products and sabotage targeting oil facilities, the government has said.

It has offered new measures, including pegging the country's inflation-ravaged currency, the bolivar, to a new cryptocurrency, the petro, which is allegedly backed by the country's untapped oil reserves.  

"We are moving from speculative capitalism — chaotic and criminal — toward an equilibrium economy," Maduro tweeted recently. "We will recover the course of sustained and sustainable growth, to give our people supreme happiness."

According to Venezuelan authorities, U.S. sanctions — long imposed in response to human rights violations and corruption — make it more difficult for the government to negotiate its debt load or restructure its payments to creditors.

'When the money runs out…'

Meanwhile, the exodus of Venezuelans continues as many see no hope of living a decent life in their home country. The UN's migration agency has warned that the human flood is building toward a "crisis moment" comparable to the migrant-crossings in the Mediterranean Sea.

Anti-government protesters work together to aim a giant slingshot at security forces in the capital of Caracas

in this May 2017 file photo. (Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press)

As the country's debts mount, oil production falls and pressure builds, analysts expect a bare-knuckle legal brawl through the end of 2018 between creditors over who gets what's left of Venezuela's once-prized assets. Venezuelan government debt is trading at less than 30 cents on the U.S. dollar, meaning investors believe a full-blown default is likely.

"We are going to see an active and conflictive disorderly default as it advances," said Gallegos, the risk consultant. "Bondholders can [then] seize assets owned by the Venezuelan government or any product owned by the Venezuelan government sitting in storage overseas.

"When money runs out, the government threatens people within its folds — including bureaucrats and the military."

'A Crisis Moment': Tracing the Origins of Venezuela's Spiraling Economy and its Human Toll

Here's how the country with the world's largest oil reserves

ended up in the midst of a refugee crisis

CBC News

A little girl lies on the ground at a camp in Cucuta, Colombia, near the border with Venezuela. Many of the Venezuelan children whose families have fled their home land are suffering from malnutrition or parasites. (Fernando Vergara/Associated Press)

Since 2014, the UN's International Organization for Migration estimates that 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled their country, desperate to escape economic and political turmoil, hunger and violence.

Here's a look at how the crisis has unfolded:

A Venezuelan migrant breastfeeds her baby at a centre on Peru's border with Ecuador on August 24, 2018. (Douglas Juarez/Reuters)

Venezuela was once one of the richest countries in Latin America, taking in thousands of refugees in the latter half of the 20th century. But there was economic inequality. The country was run by the wealthy, and the poor suffered.

Hugo Chavez was elected in 1998 on a pledge to change that. At the time, Venezuela's greatest commodity, oil, was selling for about $10 US a barrel. By the time he died in 2013, it was $100 US. The government provided better housing, healthcare, and education for the working classes — but it also fixed prices for some food products and other goods and set-up a complex system of currency controls. 

Chavez's socialism left the government in deep debt. And in 2014, the price of oil started to drop, eventually going as low as $26 US a barrel. Today, it hovers around $70 US, but the uptick in oil prices hasn't been enough to save the country from further economic turmoil.

Then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, attends a ceremony for his re-election in 2012, with the man he would name as his vice president and eventual successor, Nicolas Maduro. (Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press)

Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, has been accused of mismanaging the oil sector. Oil production has fallen and the country has been unable to pay its debts. The economy has gone into free fall, leaving the government unable to pay for imports like food and medicine. 

Hospitals are overcrowded and short on supplies.

American sanctions contribute to these woes, but socialism is the main contributing factor, and possibly corruption and incompetence, as well.

The crisis has lead to a 30 per cent increase in child mortality, according to the most recent official sources. (Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)

Supermarket shelves are almost bare. Domestic farm production has dropped and the government can't afford to import enough food for its people. 

People shop at a near-empty supermarket in Venezuela's capital, Caracas. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Because of complex currency and price controls, the available food is often sold on the black market at prices average people cannot afford. 

In some cases, spoiled meat is being sold to consumers. But some Venezuelans buy it because it is all they can afford. 

A customer smells a piece of spoiled meat at a market in Maracaibo, Venezuela. It makes some sick, but at bargain prices, it's the only way many people can afford beef. (Fernando Llano/Associated Press)

In an attempt to deal with shortages and other economic problems, the government has continued to print money, causing hyperinflation which destroys purchasing power for many Venezuelans. According to a recent study by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, the annual inflation rate reached 83,000 per cent in July.

The International Monetary Fund says inflation could hit one million per cent by the end of the year.

A kilogram of tomatoes is pictured next to 5,000,000 bolivars, its price and the equivalent of about $1,

at a mini-market this month in Caracas. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Neighbouring countries, Colombia and Brazil, have seen thousands of Venezuelans pour over their borders seeking respite from the conditions at home. According to Colombia's immigration agency, that country alone has received nearly 900,000 asylum seekers in the past 18 months. Between 700 and 800 Venezuelans are arriving in Brazil every day. 

Nurses shout anti-government slogans during an August protest demanding higher wages amid spiralling inflation.

(Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press)

Those with greater resources are escaping to Spain, the United States, and Canada. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, there has been a spike in refugee protection claims from Venezuela in the past five years, from 31 applications in 2013 to 1,240 in 2017. There have been 588 applications so far this year.

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have crossed into Cucuta, Colombia across the Simon Bolivar International Bridge. Some work in Colombia illegally, while others come daily to buy food and return to Venezuela. (Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

Peru, Chile, Argentina, Panama, and Ecuador are also popular destinations for Venezuelan migrants. 

With Ecuador and Peru tightening their entry requirements, officials in Bogota worry that Venezuelans fleeing

the economic and political crisis could become stranded in Colombia. (Schneyder Mendoz/AFP/Getty Images)

Maduro's government blames the problems on an "economic war" waged by business owners, Colombia and the U.S. It blames "hoarding" by speculators for food shortages and has urged the population to rally to the defence of the state.

In mid-August, Maduro announced measures aimed at combating hyperinflation, including a plan to chop five zeros off the country's currency. The government is also raising the monthly minimum wage by more than 3,500 per cent. 

But part of what fuelled the economic crisis in the first place was inflation due to a heavily indebted government printing money ad nauseam. Critics worry the new measures will not be enough to fix the economy and some say the changes could actually exacerbate the economic crisis. 

On foot, by bus, or on the backs of trucks, migrant families slog for days along the Pan-American highway

through Colombia and Ecuador, in this case with the goal of reaching Peru. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)

Two Venezuelan men wait to get food and shelter in front of the Migration Center in Cucuta, Colombia.

(Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan Begins Era as Sultan by Appointing Son-in-Law Finance Minister

Freshly re-installed as President of Turkey complete with new powers - there will be no looking back for Erdogan. He has removed most people and weakened most institutions that might inhibit his growing power, and is surrounding himself with family and friends who encourage him in his quest to become Caliph.

Turkey’s markets panic as Erdogan appoints

son-in-law as finance minister

Istanbul, Turkey © Murad Sezer / Reuters

Investors in Turkey were not impressed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to appoint his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as finance minister on Monday.

Borsa Istanbul 100 Index was down 2.78 percent at 5pm local time (14:00 GMT) on Tuesday.  The Turkish lira dropped three percent on the news, but rebounded slightly on Tuesday. The lira is down 17 percent this year.

Investors are worried that, with the appointment of Albayrak and dismissal of some top finance ministers, there will be no-one left to temper Erdogan’s economic views.

“Albayrak will have to move very quickly to reassure financial markets – and will need to send a signal that he will listen,” said Timothy Ash, senior emerging markets sovereign strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, in a Twitter post.

After the election victory, Erdogan removed Mehmet Simsek, previous deputy prime minister and a former Merrill Lynch banker, as well as former Finance Minister Naci Agbal. Erdogan has been often criticized by investors for weakening the power of the central bank and interfering in its decisions.

Erdogan has weakened the power of many government institutions and assumed that power onto himself. Turkey is becoming more autocratic by the day and Erdogan is an intense Muslim. How long before he begins to increase the power of Islam in Turkey? Probably not long!

Turkey has been one of very few Muslim countries where Christians are safe, but Turkey has had a secular government for the past one hundred years. Erdogan has been working for more than a decade to replace secular-minded politicians and military leaders with strong Muslims. I fear Turkey will not be a safe place for Christians much longer.

The appointment of Erdogan’s son-in-law “will worry a number of investors and some of the markets, because they didn’t much enjoy dealing with Albayrak when he was the energy minister,” Peter Westmacott, who served as former British ambassador to Turkey from 2002 to 2006 told CNBC.

US, Canada, Latin American Group of Countries Won't Recognize Venezuelan Election

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Venezuelan Elections

Voter turnout was under 50% as mainstream opposition boycotted the election

Thomson Reuters

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores wave to supporters on Sunday in Caracas after the National Electoral Council said he was re-elected in a vote marred by opposition boycott. (Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press)

Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro faced international condemnation on Monday after his re-election in a vote foes denounced as a farce that cemented autocracy in the crisis-stricken oil-producing nation.

Maduro, 55, hailed his win in Sunday's vote as a victory against "imperialism," but his main rival alleged irregularities and refused to recognize the result.

In a blistering statement, the 14-nation "Lima Group" of countries in the Americas from Canada to Brazil, said Monday it did not recognize the legitimacy of the vote and would be downgrading diplomatic relations.

The group deplored Venezuela's "grave humanitarian situation" behind a migrant exodus and promised to help co-ordinate with international financial bodies to crack down on corruption and block loans to the government.

In a statement on Monday, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland called the election "illegitimate and anti-democratic."

"The Maduro regime has once again failed its people by restricting Venezuelans' rights and liberty and by preventing the free participation of opposition parties," she said.

"Canada rejects the Venezuelan electoral process and its results as not representing the democratic will of Venezuela's citizens."

Venezuela's mainstream opposition boycotted the election, given that two of its most popular leaders were barred from running; authorities had banned the coalition and its various parties from using their names, and the election board is run by Maduro loyalists. Turnout was under 50 per cent.

Thousands of Maduro supporters, many wearing red berets, hugged and danced outside the Miraflores presidential palace, showered in confetti in the yellow, blue and red colours of the Venezuelan national flag.

"The revolution is here to stay!" a jubilant Maduro told the crowd, promising to prioritize economic recovery after five years of recession in the OPEC nation of 30 million people.

"Let's go, Nico!" his supporters chanted until after midnight during party scenes in downtown Caracas.

"We mustn't cave to any empire, or go running to the International Monetary Fund as Argentina did. The opposition must leave us alone to govern," said government supporter Ingrid Sequera, 51. She wore a T-shirt with a logo featuring the eyes of Maduro's socialist predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.

Senior U.S. State Department officials declared Sunday's vote a "sham" and repeated threats to impose sanctions on Venezuela's all-important oil sector, which is already reeling from falling output, a brain-drain and creaking infrastructure.

Spain, which has led European Union criticism of Maduro, also weighed in.

"Venezuela's electoral process has not respected the most basic democratic standards. Spain and its European partners will study appropriate measures and continue to work to alleviate Venezuelans' suffering," tweeted Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

However, regional leftist allies of Venezuela, from Cuba to Bolivia, sent their congratulations. China and Russia, which have both poured money into Venezuela in recent years, were also unlikely to join in the international condemnation.

'Tragic cycle' for Venezuela 

The election board said Maduro won 5.8 million votes, versus 1.8 million for his chief challenger Henri Falcon, a former governor who broke with the opposition boycott to stand.

Turnout was 46 per cent, the election board said, way down from the 80 per cent at the last presidential vote in 2013. Suggesting turnout was even lower, an electoral board source told Reuters 32.3 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots by 6 p.m. local time as most polls shut.

The government used ample state resources during the campaign and state workers were pressured to vote.

'Red spots' near polling stations

Falcon called for a new vote, complaining about the government's placing of nearly 13,000 pro-government stands called "red spots" close to polling stations nationwide.

Mainly poor Venezuelans lined up to scan state-issued "fatherland cards" at red tents after voting, in hope of receiving a "prize" promised by Maduro. The "fatherland cards" are required to receive benefits including food boxes and money transfers.

Some anti-government activists said the opposition coalition should have fielded a candidate regardless of how uneven the playing field might be. But the opposition coalition, which has been divided for most of the duration of the "Chavismo" movement founded by Chavez after he took office in 1999, appeared united after the vote and said its boycott strategy had paid off.

"I implore Venezuelans not to become demoralized, today Maduro is weaker than ever before. We're in the final phase of a tragic cycle for our country. The fraud has been exposed and today the world will reject it," tweeted opposition leader Julio Borges.

It was not yet clear what strategy the opposition would now adopt, but major protests seem unlikely given widespread disillusionment and fatigue. Caracas was calm and many of its streets were empty on Monday morning.

Protesters did, however, barricade some streets in the southern city of Puerto Ordaz, drawing teargas from National Guard soldiers, witnesses said.

Economic pressures

Maduro, who faces a colossal task turning around Venezuela's moribund economy, has offered no specifics on changes to two decades of state-led policies. The bolivar currency is down 99 per cent over the past year and inflation is at an annual 14,000 per cent, according to the National Assembly.

Furthermore, Venezuela's multiple creditors are considering accelerating claims on unpaid foreign debt, while oil major ConocoPhillips has been taking aggressive action in recent weeks against state oil company PDVSA, as part of its claim for compensation over a 2007 nationalization of its assets in Venezuela.

Though increasingly shunned in the West, Maduro can at least count on the support of China and Russia, which have provided billions of dollars' funding in recent years.

Maduro, still proclaiming 'the revolution', feeds off the American attempts to discredit and destroy the far-left government in Venezuela. It appears the American strategy is working against its purpose. If the US was to leave Venezuela alone, perhaps Maduro would be seen as the corrupt dictator he is rather than the skinny kid who stands up to the big bully.

IMF: Venezuela Inflation Will Increase 13,000% This Year

By Allen Cone 

UPI -- Venezuela's inflation will soar 13,000 percent this year, though other Latin American countries have much better economic prospects, the International Monetary Fund said in a revised forecast Thursday.

The increase -- 130 times greater than last year -- is more than five times the inflation previously projected by IMF.

Of course, this means the Bolivar is rapidly becoming worthless. In 2008, Venezuela issued new Bolivars - Bolivares Fuertes which was worth 1000 of the original Bolivars. Rampant inflation made it necessary, and will probably make it necessary again.

Last year, price increases were 2,400 percent -- the biggest in the world.

The IMF wrote in the report that the rise is "fueled by monetary financing of large fiscal deficits and the loss of confidence in the nation's currency."

President Nicolas Maduro's government has attempted to control inflation by refusing to loosen foreign-exchange controls and price caps that have increased the short supply of all sorts of products, including food to medicine.

Also, Venezuela's real gross domestic product is projected to fall by about 15 percent for a cumulative GDP decline of almost 50 percent since 2013. The growth forecast for 2019 is a 15 percent decline and 6 percent drop in 2019.

"This trend is the result of significant micro-level distortions and macroeconomic imbalances compounded by the collapse in oil exports -- initially from the sharp fall in oil prices in mid-2014 and, more recently, from the collapse in domestic oil production," the IMF said in the report.

The United States last month sanctioned Venezuela government and military officials accused of having associations with corruption and repression. The Treasury Department said "corruption and repression" has continued to grow under Maduro's regime.

The IMF revised its projections of other nations in Latin America with the GDP predicted to increase 1.9 percent in 2018 and 2.6 in 2019 after it was 1.3 percent last year.

Other Latin Americans in Central America and parts of the Caribbean will benefit from stronger U.S. growth, the report said. And South America's economy has increased due to the end of recessions in Brazil and Argentina, as well as higher prices for the raw materials to export, according to the report.

"Recent trends in the world economy and financial markets are good news for Latin America," Alejandro Werner, head of the IMF's Western Hemisphere department wrote in the report. "Global growth and trade are on an upswing, and we expect the momentum to continue in 2018. Stronger commodity prices have also helped the region rebound."

The IMF specifically was high on Ecuador after coming off its recession because of higher oil prices and greater acceptance to financial markets. IMF boosted its 2018 GDP outlook to 2.2 percent from 0.6 percent.

And the IMF cited Chile's growth prospects because of continued improvement in copper prices and business sentiment -- 2.2 percent in 2018.

Mexico's GDP is predict to grow 2.3 percent in 2018 and 3.0 percent in 2019 on the strength of higher growth in the United States, now pegged higher at 2.7 percent in 2018 and 2.5 percent in 2019.

Desperate Venezuela Tried to Buy Medicine with Diamonds, Gold

Venezuelan currency is bordering on worthless and it's just

getting worse as the economy appears to be in full collapse

By Sara Shayanian 

A group of people walk in front of a liquor store that was looted in Caracas, Venezuela.

Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA

UPI -- Venezuela's struggles to front $5 billion in debt to pharmaceutical companies have gotten so dire the government tried to swap diamonds and other precious items for medical supplies.

The cash-strapped country proposed an exchange of diamonds, gold and coltan, a rare metal used to make cellphones, for medicines from foreign suppliers to combat a shortage of medical items in the nation's hospitals.

According to the Wall Street Journal, it's not clear the the pharmaceutical companies accepted the deal, but they told government officials they didn't have rules saying whether they could fill non-monetary purchases.

Nevertheless, the proposed exchange illustrates the struggle of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro to pay for goods as the country's economy collapses.

Venezuela, which has the largest known oil reserves in the world, is running out of money due to years of negligence and corruption that have resulted in $141 billion in debt to international bondholders and creditors.

The Venezuelan Bolivar weakened over 97 percent in relation to the U.S. dollar and inflation in the country has increased to 4,115 percent.

Bartering has become commonplace in Venezuela, especially in transactions between Venezuelans trying to acquire sought-after staple items.

Caracas store

"Money was created so that we could avoid having to barter for basics," Omar Zambrano, a Caracas-based economist, said. "But we've fallen so far that we're now going back in time."

According to Caracas-based economic consultant Orlando Ochoa, using commodities to settle debts to pharmaceutical companies is extremely rare.

"It feels like a bluff," Ochoa said. "It's as if they want to show off their assets to give the illusion that there's still an intention of paying even though they can't pay."

Economists are warning that the economic situation could get worse, as hyperinflation may pass 30,000 percent in 2018.

"Those who are now predicting that Venezuela will close 2018 with an inflation rate of 5,000 don't really understand what is happening," Francisco Ibarra, head of the Econometrica company, told the Miami Herald. "We could hit that 5,000 mark already in February."

Venezuelan Government in Debt Default

This would be cause for a responsible government to resign, but

the power hungry Maduro will see it as a need for more power.

The people are hungry and in need of medications and the

lunatic responsible for it is concerned about himself.

By Danielle Haynes 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) and Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami (L)

attend a ceremony near the Supreme Tribunal of Justice in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 15.

Standard & Poor's said the country is officially in default after it failed to make a debt payment.

File Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA

UPI -- Venezuela and its state-run oil company, PDVSA, are in default after falling behind on debt payments, multiple credit agencies declared.

Standard & Poor's Global Ratings, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings declared the South American country in default all within a period of 24 hours, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

S&P said Venezuela failed to make $200 million in payments on its foreign debt.

S&P defined Venezuela as being in "selective default," when a country fails to make a debt payment when it's due. The $200 million payment was due Sunday. The country also is overdue on about $420 million in bond payments but a 30-day grace payment has not yet expired on that amount.

Venezuela owes an estimated $140 billion in external debt.

Caracas officials met with investors Tuesday in an attempt to renegotiate the country's debt, BBC News reported. Investors said, though, the government of President Nicholas Maduro did not make any proposal on how to restructure its debt.

Vice President Tareck El Aissami read a statement during the meeting blaming U.S.-imposed sanctions on Venezuela. In July, the U.S. Treasury specifically named El Aissami and a dozen other current and former officials in sanctions for allegedly being involved in Maduro's violent suppression of protests, corruption and currency manipulation.

US sanctions on Venezuela do not prohibit the export of their oil but are focussed on access to capital markets like bonds making it difficult for Maduro to keep floating checks.