Dollar drop in oil costs Venezuela US$ 700M

Venezuelan oil, the lifeblood of the leftist revolution entrusted to Maduro by the late Hugo Chávez, was worth US$97 a barrel then. Now it’s middling around US$70, and with every dollar it dips, Venezuela’s export-dependent, popularity-challenged government loses US$700 million a year.With the money pot shrinking, Maduro’s approval rating has slumped to 30 percent, according to recent surveys, down from 55 percent in April 2013. The supermarket scarcities and unchecked crime that fuelled the protests earlier this year are as bad as ever. Loath to adopt austerity measures that would hit his softening support base, Maduro has been borrowing money from Wall Street at usurious rates, with the country’s plunging benchmark bonds hitting a six-year low last week. All of this has left friends and enemies alike wondering how long the government can go on until something snaps, especially if oil prices slip further. Venezuela’s desperate attempts to get fellow OPEC states to cut production have failed to sway the mighty Saudis.More…