President Nicolas Maduro is doubling down on his existing economic policies with the appointment of a young leftist hardliner to head the country's dilapidated economy, setting the stage for confrontation between the ruling socialist party and the newly powerful opposition.
Following a request from Venezuela, the Brazilian government has acted alongside Brazilian companies to guarantee supply of basic products during Venezuela's economic crisis, according to diplomatic sources. The request was made by President Nicolas Maduro in at least two meetings with President Dilma Rousseff, in December 2014 and the day after Rousseff began her second term, on January 2.
In a three-hour State of the Nation speech to the National Assembly on Wednesday night, president Nicolás Maduro acknowledged some of the economic realities facing Venezuela: the economy contracted by 2.8% in 2014 and inflation stood at 64%.
At least a dozen protesters arrested in Venezuela remained in jail and masked assailants burned a bus overnight amid scattered unrest over swelling lines for basic goods, activists said.
Venezuela confirmed on Tuesday it had entered a recession while inflation remained the highest in the Americas, but President Nicolas Maduro's populist government blamed political foes for the dismal data. According to the latest Central bank information, GDP contracted in each of the first three quarters: 4.8%, 4.9% and 2.3%, while twelve-month inflation reached 63.6% in November.
Human rights traded for other means of survival as shortages hit average people, says the 43-year-old Harvard graduate from his prison cell in a letter to the Wall Street Journal .
President Nicolás Maduro has sent clear messages to the Venezuelan central bank arguing that following the 'economic war' he declared on big business and hoarding with the mandatory cuts in prices, November should register 5% deflation and not inflation.
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched in Venezuela on Saturday to pressure President Nicolás Maduro’s government before December 8 local elections after their leader denounced the pre-dawn arrest of an aide.
Venezuela's consumer prices rose 5.1% in October, pushing the 12-month inflation rate to 54.3%, the highest mark since the late President Hugo Chávez took power in 1999. The news was released by the central bank on Thursday which also revealed that the scarcity index had reached its highest level since 2009.
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro appointed the third central bank president this year as Latin America’s biggest oil exporter seeks to rein in the fastest inflation among the world’s major economies.