Alex Adrianson highlights for the Heritage Foundation’s “Insider Online” blog the latest evidence of Venezuela’s disappointing dissent into banana republic status.
On Thursday, a Venezuelan court sentenced opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to nearly 14 years in prison. He was convicted of inciting violence during a political protest against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. The Human Rights Foundation reports that Lopez’s trial was a farce. …
… Could it be that the Maduro government is worried Lopez would win the next election because people are tired of the government’s economic policies? In August, Venezuelan pollsters found that only 19.2 percent would vote for the ruling Socialist Party, while 42.2 percent would vote for the opposition. A further 17.5 percent did not know who they would vote for or declined to answer. [Voice of America, August 13]
The reason for the unrest, reports Business Insider, is that the government has spent so much money that it had to wreck the currency in order to stay afloat. That has made everyone much poorer:
Crashing oil prices have left Venezuela, which gets 95% of its export income from oil, in a precarious situation. Declining state revenues have restricted imports, and the resultant shortages, exacerbated by hoarding and rampant smuggling, have aroused popular ire.
Unrelenting inflation has also staggered the economy. The rate reportedly reached 69% in December 2014, and estimates for annual inflation this year range between 150% and 250%.
It has left many in the country hoping for new bills with larger denominations, just to have pocket change.
