By the way, business that can manage it pay their main managers a supplement in dollar on the side, for them to see how they can exchange that. The problem of course is that business draw that from their reserves, and are currently unable to replenish these. In other words, it is merely a prolongation to the final demise of the middle class.
Of course, payrolls are not a problem for the regime. They just print cash and spread it around. But even among that cynical management, printing is not enough. Public employees are being laid off in droves but no one talks about that. Least the fired crowds as their severance check speediness is linked tot heir silence.
Meanwhile my credit cards, all of them, have increased my limits this past two weeks. I think that my debt could reach 200 million which is respectable by Venezuelan standards. My guess is that I am definitely a top 10% credit card wise, but not based on income, not at all. The only problem is that when you sum it up, well, it is nothing. On the right the calculation of black market rate for today's. My maximum debt is at DOLARTODAY 321 USD. But if like some military I had access to the official DIPRO I could charge 20 millions on my credit cards.
Ain't that crazy?
But in fact I would not even get 321$, there is a "commission" to pay for black market exchange between 10 and 15%. So my combined credit cards would only give me around 300. Barely enough to escape to Colombia and then...
So that is that for workers day celebration: they will go from very starving to somewhat less severely starving. For about a month. Maybe. With luck. But by then Maduro will have been reelected so who cares?
The country continues it's descent into the abyss and nobody seems to know how deep the abyss is.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I have to think you must at least be considering some sort of exit strategy whether it be Colombia (Medellin is certainly worth thinking about), Brazil, or elsewhere. It's like being trapped on the fifth floor of a burning building. At some point you have to figure out how to get the hell out of there while you still can. Best of luck to you both!
The pay increase will satisfy some, and others will see through the smokes screen the government is putting out. In the and it will be all the same. Starvation. A chicken in no ones pot!
ReplyDeleteThe price increase is nothing as just comes with printing more money and devaluing any increase. The only people happy with it will be the ones who already support Maduro, he will win no one over with the increase. Is just another false justification for why he won the election so people point at reasons like this and less at the fact that the outcome was an all out fraud. They have been doing this for years and opposition and reporters buy into it all the time.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you Daniel. As always, thank you for keeping us all informed.
ReplyDeleteJust another way to buy some more votes. Easier to get closer to the 10 Millions votes they want, without making too many dead Chinese or Cuban twins vote repeatedly. Expect a lot less bogus salary increases from now on. They'll just continue to blame every Kleptozuelan disaster on multiple outside evil forces, the newest one being Banesco and the evil banks. And many clueless "pueblo" people will believe it. Those who don't are probably enchufados, complicit and corrupt leeches themselves, anyway. Let'em all enjoy Cubazuela for many more decades to come. They'll continue to mutate, just like the Cuban zombies did.
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