But Georgia said Mr Chavez's announcement was made under Russian pressure and would not provide the "puppet regimes" in the enclaves with legitimacy.

"Russia has been trying for a year to provide these puppet regimes with legitimacy. These attempts have been in vain," Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Nalbandov said.

"It should be clear to the Russian side that such actions won't add legitimacy to these puppet regimes."

Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Temur Yakobashvili also dismissed the announcement, saying it will have little impact.

"I do not think it will have any important political consequences," he said.

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"People come here for entertainment or maybe to win money," he says. "It has nothing to do with drugs. In any case, one business leader like me is not responsible for the whole trend.

"But, gambling is a good income for the state - so that's probably why the government wants to encourage it."

He has a point. Just as Georgia is liberalising its gambling laws, others in the region are tightening them.

Azerbaijan banned gambling in 1998. Armenia has also announced that it intends to restrict gaming to three regions. Earlier this year, Russia confined casinos to far-flung parts of the country.

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Some people see losing one's pants as entertainment... see toon at top...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a series of key energy deals with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a visit to the capital, Caracas.

Mr Chavez said Russia had agreed to help Venezuela with a nuclear power plant and on building a space industry.

However, the Venezuelan leader, a long-time adversary of Washington, insisted that "we are not building an alliance against the United States".

Bolivian President Evo Morales was also invited to meet Mr Putin in Caracas.

'Important day'

The BBC's Will Grant in Caracas says Mr Putin is perhaps Venezuela's most important visitor since US President Bill Clinton in 1999.

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See toon at top...

AN CASIMIRO, Venezuela — Kenyerber Aquino Merchán was 17 months old when he starved to death.

His father left before dawn to bring him home from the hospital morgue. He carried Kenyerber’s skeletal frame into the kitchen and handed it to a mortuary worker who makes house calls for Venezuelan families with no money for funerals.

Kenyerber’s spine and rib cage protruded as the embalming chemicals were injected. 

Read more:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/17/world/americas/venezuela-children-starving.html

At this stage, this a a tragic story that seems to be repeated. Could the same story about dying kids be told about the USA? I don't know, but I would guess so and some of the tragedies in the USA are still very strong and sad, including mass shootings. 

Here the economy of Venezuela has been dependent of the USA, a powerful country that did not mind creating (or maintaining) this kind of tragedies by doing embargoes and other commercial tricks because Venezuela had democratically gone to the left, in trying to lift the poor people out of the mud, which the rich class, supported by the USA, was happy to let be muddy. The same story has been repeated in other countries that went with a more equitable style of government. In this social experiment, greed had to be limited and profiteers restrained. This is anathema to the USA. Either way, the USA has similar poverty problems, possibly not on the same scale, but having placed sanctions on Venezuela the US are not "going to help". 

Come in the Russians thus:

Caracas has awarded licenses to Russian oil giant Rosneft for the development of two offshore gas fields, according to Rosneft, cited by Reuters.

The deal was signed between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, in Caracas.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/business/201712181060084718-caracas-gives-moscow...

Come in the USA:

The United States is ready to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela if President Nicolas Maduro accepts delivery, US State Department spokesperson said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a press release on Friday that the United States is prepared to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela amid its economic crisis if President Nicolas Maduro accepts delivery.

"The United States maintains a stockpile of emergency relief supplies in the region and stands ready to provide emergency food assistance, including food and nutrition commodities or assistance, to affected populations," Nauert said. "These provisions could be made available immediately, if only the government of Venezuela would accept international humanitarian assistance."

Nauert said economic sanctions on Venezuela do not exclude US citizens from providing food, medicine, and other aid.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/world/201712161060045663-us-venezuela-aid-maduro/

Here there could be a small print, that is not made public. Come in self-help to bypass US stupidity...

The Venezuelan Finance Ministry has announced its plans to establish its own cryptocurrency system to carry out financial transactions and search for new financing options.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that the country will set up a cryptocurrency system called El Petro in order to overcome the financial blockade, according to the Venezuelan Finance Ministry.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/latam/201712041059662290-venezuela-establish-cry...

All this could be a red rag to a bully, in the style of Iraq and Libya. But on this one the Russian Rosneft deal might prevent an "invasion" or a punitive "revolution" fomented by extreme right thugs paid for by the USA, alla Ukraine... The Russian deal might bring prosperity to Venezuela, but the USA will do anything they can to sabotage this deal...

We shall see. Read from top.