Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro began an official visit to Haiti on 25 June, marking the first time that a Venezuelan leader has visited the country since the late president Hugo Chávez went in 2007. In a joint press briefing on 26 June Haiti’s President Michel Martelly thanked Maduro, Venezuela and the Venezuelan people for their support of Haiti, particularly through Petrocaribe, Venezuela’s discount oil scheme for the Caribbean and Central America that now has 18 beneficiaries. "The Venezuelan aid is crucial for Haiti. [...] I must say loud and clear that 94% of public investment in Haiti, is financed by…

Devaluation, stagflation, a toilet roll crisis, food rationing - no wonder President Nicolás Maduro prefers to dwell on conspiracies, real or imagined, in the face of the dour economic scenario he has inherited. And with global oil prices plateauing, his options are limited. It is probably no coincidence that many of the ‘Bolivarian’ countries, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua, have gone cap in hand to China since the death in March of former president Hugo Chávez (1999-2013). Amidst all the noise in early June about ‘war planes’ and foreign paramilitaries (see box below), the Maduro government almost managed…