Goldman Sachs’ Role In The Venezuelan Political Crisis

An anti-government demonstrator walks past two National Guard soldiers’ motorcycles that were set on fire by protesters when the soldiers ran from their bikes after falling during clashes with protesters in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Protesters have flooded the streets of Venezuela for months, demanding new elections and faulting President Nicolas Maduro’s leadership for the country’s triple-digit inflation, surging crime rates, and dire shortages of food and medicine.
An anti-government demonstrator walks past two National Guard soldiers' motorcycles that were set on fire by protesters when the soldiers ran from their bikes after falling during clashes with protesters in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Protesters have flooded the streets of Venezuela for months, demanding new elections and faulting President Nicolas Maduro's leadership for the country's triple-digit inflation, surging crime rates, and dire shortages of food and medicine. Ariana Cubillos / AP Photo
An anti-government demonstrator walks past two National Guard soldiers’ motorcycles that were set on fire by protesters when the soldiers ran from their bikes after falling during clashes with protesters in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Protesters have flooded the streets of Venezuela for months, demanding new elections and faulting President Nicolas Maduro’s leadership for the country’s triple-digit inflation, surging crime rates, and dire shortages of food and medicine.
An anti-government demonstrator walks past two National Guard soldiers' motorcycles that were set on fire by protesters when the soldiers ran from their bikes after falling during clashes with protesters in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Protesters have flooded the streets of Venezuela for months, demanding new elections and faulting President Nicolas Maduro's leadership for the country's triple-digit inflation, surging crime rates, and dire shortages of food and medicine. Ariana Cubillos / AP Photo

Goldman Sachs’ Role In The Venezuelan Political Crisis

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Goldman Sachs has found itself at the center of Venezuela’s political crisis.

The bank tried to keep secret its purchase of $2.8 billion worth of bonds from PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company. The pennies-on-the-dollar acquisition resulted in a fierce response from open government and human rights advocates. They accuse President Nicolas Maduro’s government of using the funds to purchase weapons for deadly crackdowns on his political opposition.

We talk about the unrest and the failure of regional powers to mediate peace with David Smilde, senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). He’s curator of WOLA’s Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights blog and co-authored the edited volume, Venezuela’s Bolivarian Democracy: Participation, Politics and Culture under Chávez.