- President instead announced increase to monthly food stamps
- Protests demanding higher wages have increased this year
Andreina Itriago Acosta and Patricia Laya, Bloomberg News
CARACAS
EnergiesNet.com 05 02 2023
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro asked Venezuelans to “resist” as he skipped an increase of the minimum wage, announcing additional food stamps instead.
“Sooner or later we’ll get to the full recovery of wages, but right now, we have to resist, and resist strongly” Maduro said to a crowd gathered to commemorate the national workers’ holiday in downtown Caracas.
Maduro said he would increase Cestatickets, or a monthly allotment of food stamps, to $40 a month. The government last increased the minimum wage in March of last year to roughly 126 bolivars, the value of which has since weakened to approximately $5 from an initial $28. He also announced a one-time “war bonus” of $20.
Thousands of people marched through the main streets of Caracas on Monday, demanding fair wages and labor conditions during a national holiday celebrating workers. The demonstrations have emerged as a threat for Maduro as he reaches 10 years in office and a likely run at re-election in 2024.
While an easing of economic controls allowed for a recent economic resurgence in Venezuela after a seven-year-long contraction, accelerating inflation and rampant dysfunction in the nation’s oil industry — its main source of revenue — is threatening to push the nation into a new recession.
bloomberg.com 05 01 2023
