I work for a company that does business in Venezuela. Companies that go through Cadivi have a hard time paying us, the government just doesn't want to let money out of the country. Doing business with any Venezuelan company unless it's government owned is an absolute pain. Those that are government owned, from what I have seen, don't have to go through Cadivi. The strange thing is, some companies have minimal problems with Cadivi and require a lot less paperwork, while others have a terrible time getting any USD to us. I'm guessing some of them are greasing the wheels a little more than others.
You are not far from the truth. Those companies owned by government officials and their friends get to buy dollars via Cadivi at the official rate of Bs.6.3 per dollar, while everyone else is stuck buying at the black market rate of Bs.50 per dollar.
You can imagine how lucrative that is. It's basically a money printer. Buy at Bs.6.30, sell at Bs.50 then repeat...
But the government tries to blame the inflation and corruption on some venezuelan tourist that takes their $2500 yearly allowance and finds a way to convert that to cash.
