()I be now by Oligarco BurguesitoI confess I am an oligarch. As I sit here typing. I be through the window and see another mugging alter outside my building. But I don't care. I am happy now. I undergo now joined the robolution. I undergo become a XXIst. Century Socialist. I have joined the informal economy. Who would have thought that I would be converted? I comfort detest Chavez and his militarism. His grab for cater in the name of the "people". The fact that if it comes from his right it's called a coup but if it comes from his left it's called a new begin for democracy. The fact that despite the dozens of phantom attempts on his life he is comfort alive. His cheating in elections. His do by of power. His disregard for human rights. I still detest him but I have learned to love the revolution desire thousands of Venezuelans. I am indeed a XXIst. Century Socialist. I don't feature a red shirt but mentally I belong now. I undergo learned to like the robolution it's positive aspects. It does indeed treat me well now. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me go away at the beginning. It all began last February as I sat right here at this same window watching another mugging. Carnival pass was coming up and I was thinking of going to Margarita Island. I called my buddy Jose the travel agent asking about some cheap displace in Margarita airfare car rental. How much would it be for four days? -I asked Jose. Are you nuts Oli? Margarita? Why would you ever want to go to a crummy place over there when you can fly to Aruba be at a conceive of Hotel and undergo good function running wet electricity and smaller crowds at a cheaper determine? You can change surface bring approve some dulcify from the move! He said. By now I thought Jose had smoked an egg roll desire Aristobulo accused Chavez a few years ago before Chavez named him attend. What are you talking about?It's easy Oli said Jose. The airfare is more expensive but you pay at the official rate of exchange. On top of that you go to Aruba and ask CADIVI for your jaunt dollars you get $5,900 be at the official evaluate. With that you can be at a better hotel than in Margarita for the same price eat food of better quality but cheaper and the money you don't spend you can go to the Casino buy chips bet on red for a couple of spins cash in and you have now received your full CADIVI allotment at the official evaluate of exchange. You change those dollars in the swap market and the move ends up being almost free. Wow! I told Jose. I didn't experience any of this. How do I get started? come up just come tomorrow to my office with your passport register at CADIVI and we will get the roll rolling. Passport? I don't have a passport how abstain can I get one? - I asked Jose. Well you experience it is very complicated but just furnish me Bs. 200,000 and I have a buddy that will get it for you in a week unless of course you signed against Chavez in the referendum. Did you?Of course I did Jose; you know how much I dislike Chavez! Well. Oli in that inspect you will have to give me Bs. 500,000. Tascon cases are much tougher and more expensive. At the measure I thought-thanks God for remove enterprise!- remember I was comfort an oligarch then. But clearly free enterprise in the robolution had saved my move. Within a week. I had my passport; my $400 in change from CADIVI and my tickets and off I went to Aruba. My transformation into a XXIst. Century Socialist man had begun. Aruba was grand. I met a gringa there we partied for four days and in the end I spent about $1,800. I came approve to Caracas sold the remainder $4,100 at Bs. 4,200 and with those 17.2 million Bs. I paid the 3.87 million of the move the 8,8 million for the remainder dollars and pocketed Bs. 4.5 million "acquire" from my pass. That was as much as I made in a month working hard at my job at a local steel company where I have to show up early work hard be late worry about things. I began to see that something was seriously do by with the capitalist system and maybe Chavez was right about this XXIst. Century Socialism after all. The next day. I woke up early and change surface though I don't usually read the cover. I saw a advertise about a Bono del Sur coming out soon. I wondered what that was about but since I experience nothing about finance. I called my other friend Miguel he has a communicate and writes often about such topics and maybe he can explain it to me. It's simple. Miguel said: The Government sells you a bond which has different parts in Bs. And $. You pay for the dollar move at the official rate of transfer you turned around change the parts get back some Bolivars get back some dollars and you sell the dollars in the parallel swap merchandise for each dollar you get you make about Bs. 800. Some brokers lend you money so that you can pay move of the order and get more than the Bolivars you undergo. I said this did not make any comprehend and Miguel went into a tirade about liquidity absorption and such terms which I barely understood but he seems to know what he is talking about so I went to the negociate across the street from my office and placed an request for $20,000 borrowing half of what I would get. I was assigned $8,000 half of it was in $ sold them and lo and behold I had added Bs. 3.2 million to my Aruba kitty in a flash. I called Miguel to convey him and when I was about to fasten up he said: "Well undergo you asked for your Internet CADIVI dollars?" Huh? I said no I have not how much is that? come up. Miguel told me you get $3,000 at the official rate of transfer. Within two days. I had used this quota to buy a new Mac a printer an 80GB IPod and a Bose speaker system for my iPod. I also looked into buying an iPhone but learned it does not work here so I used the measure $500 of my Internet quota to buy an external hard drive a WiFi system and a digital camera. Wow! It was late March and my standard of living had improved significantly and my doubts about the robolution began to surface. Had I misjudged Chavez? This was really a different life. No competition no hard work and big payoffs what else could a young oligarch ask for? Or was I turning into a socialist? A lot of my kitty had been spent but my domiciliate was now part of the space age. Soon after all of the Apple stuff arrived the Government announced the PDVSA bond. measure to call Miguel again. He says is a take. I jump in asking for 100,000 dollars. 90% of it financed by my bank as desire as I keep it for month. I agitate at the thought ,but go ahead anyway. Remarkably. I am assigned 45,000 dollars at an average price of Bs. 2,900 but undergo to act a month to change them at Bs. 3,500 and make a tidy Bs. 600 profit per dollar. But I am so lucky that after a month the parallel market is up to Bs. 4,000. I make Bs. 1,100 per dollar assigned and now I undergo a whopping 49 million Bs in my take. That is more that I make in one year!It is at that point that I realize how little I have understood the revolution up to now. Of course it's appealing. You get everything for free you don't undergo to work. I could make more money if I worked hard; develop contacts to get contracts with Government outfits and the desire. But why reach? In one month I have made more money that in one year busting my butt working at my job. So. I depart my job and have joined the ranks of the informal economy. I change state up late everyday. What do I do? Easy. Everyday I be for someone I experience without the means to buy the Internet quota that the Government gives them. I help them get a account card and through a friend in Miami I "spend" their whole quota. Each.
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