Venezuela Expels More Diplomats as Barter Proliferates

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November 10, 2019

Venezuela has ordered the expulsion of El Salvador's diplomats, a day after El Salvador President Nayib Bukele expelled Venezuela's diplomatic representatives, bringing to 55 the number of countries that have rejected the embattled presidency of Nicolas Maduro.

Bukele further said that he and his government would accept a diplomatic mission from Venezuela's opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who appointed himself interim president earlier this year after the country's top legislative body deemed Maduro's 2018 re-election unofficial. Maduro succeeded longtime leader Hugo Chavez as president in 2012 and was elected again six years later.

Meanwhile, in the cities and towns, Venezuelans struggled to buy staples such as a food and gasoline. In fact, many motorists reported having to resort to barter, trading food for gasoline, because of a steep drop in the value and even the availability of the bolivar, the national currency. The country has been for many months in the throes of a deep depression, made worse an array of economic sanctions placed on Maduro's government by the United States and other countries. Prices have skyrocketed, wages have plummeted, and the supply of electricity has been spotty at best and nonexistent at worst. According to the International Monetary Fund, inflation in Venezuela this year will reach 200,000 percent. A recent economic report put the national debt at twice the level of the nation's gross domestic product.

Earlier this year, the political standoff between Maduro and Guaido and their supporters resulted in the blocking of delivery of humanitarian aid by government forces and even the burning of the trucks carrying that aid. A large part of the population also suffered through a weeklong electrical power blackout in March.

In a related development, the Venezuelan government agreed to free up money to pay Argentina to finish two oil tankers to be used by the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The company has been a target of international sanctions. Production of the tankers had stalled in recent months.

The country's population is about 30 million. That is 4 million fewer than a few years ago, as the decade-long depression has led to widespread emigration.

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Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2023
David White

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2024
David White