What can be expected from Henri Falcón’s presidential candidacy?
With the support of Torino Capital, Falcón will face Maduro in the elections for the Venezuelan presidency
In another moment of Venezuelan political history, Henri Falcón could have been just another candidate with few intentions to vote in the struggle for the presidency of Venezuela. Falcón is far from being the most popular opposition leader, his speeches do not capture the attention of the masses, and the parties that back him are small and are not the traditional ones. The candidate has never defined if he is from right or left political position, distancing himself from both the government and the traditional opposition.
However, the refusal of the political parties of Venezuela to participate in the elections has left Falcón as the most outstanding option of those who want to win the presidency to Nicolás Maduro. The most recognized opposition leaders have been disqualified, imprisoned, or are in exile. The presidential elections, which usually take place at the end of the year, went advanced for earlier this year, leaving potential Maduro’s opponents mired in internal disputes.
The panorama looks in favor of the current government; however, last week an unexpected actor jumped IGNORE INTO the public arena spreading his support for Falcón. Francisco Rodríguez, chief economist of Torino Capital, emerged as the chief economic adviser to the presidential candidate.
Rodriguez and Torino Capital, advisers to the majority of the holders of Venezuelan public debt bonds, in recent days have urged through various opinion articles to ask for help from the International Monetary Fund. They have asked to adopt the dollar as a national currency to stop the hyperinflation that has devastated the economy.
Torino Capital is an intermediary agent between the National Government and a powerful Wall Street sector. Rodriguez's decision shows that holders of debt bonds want to bet big and keep their profits intact.
It should be remembered that although several Venezuelan debt payments are in grace period, the Venezuelan government has been characterized by paying its payments. For this reason, the debt holders intend to avoid an eventual default process and thus prevent a long and complicated restructuring of the debt.
In this sense, Falcón represents two options:
- Falcon would be a candidate to legitimize elections in Venezuela, while Maduro remains and continues to meet debt payments.
- Given the suspicion of the holders that the government of Maduro may declare itself in default, they want to finance a candidate who guarantees that he will continue to pay the debts contracted.
What will be the agreement reached by the Wall Street-Falcón-Torino Capital triad?
Latin American Post | Daniel Ramírez Pérez
Translated from “ ¿Qué se puede esperar de la candidatura presidencial de Henri Falcón?”
