Maduro’s economic disaster turns into an animated Warner Bros “clown”

Hyperinflation in Venezuela is a joke. A bad joke for Venezuelans who daily suffer the most serious crisis in the history of the oil country, product of the economic disaster of Nicolás Maduro. The uncontrollable devaluation is so absurd that it is easier to explain it in a series of children’s cartoons than in an economic report of some multilateral organization.

It was like that Warner Bros He considered he could make the little ones laugh with a particular character and an alien and crazy reality for the naive spectators: Nicolás Maduro and hyperinflation in Venezuela.

The return of Animaniacs He arrived on the screens with a guest character dressed as a military man and with Maduro cartoon features. The tall man with a mustache and wearing a headband in the colors of the Venezuelan flag leads the “Super Money Game”, in which the accelerated and irrational loss of value of the Venezuelan bolivar is revealed.

Yakko, Wakko and Dot, the three protagonists of the series that returns to the screen after two decades, react in chapter 10 with amazement and rejection of the competition they see on television and decide to change the channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BBqEADxawU

A reality that goes beyond fiction

This time Amblin Television, Steven Spielberg’s production company responsible for the script, didn’t need to appeal to fiction. The Venezuelan currency continuously loses its value against the dollar to such an extent that the situation does not go unnoticed on American television, he reports. EFE.

With the scenario in these conditions, it is likely that “las payadas” as described by the director of Human Right Watch (HRW), José Miguel Vivanco, when Maduro worked for 15 years, will inspire more than one chapter and more than one program with a reality that surpasses fiction.

Unrestrained devaluation

“The bolivar lost 14.75% of its value against the dollar in a week, in which the US currency rose to 782,025.16 bolivars,” admitted the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) in a report reviewed by EFE.

“On Monday, the US currency was listed on the official market at 666,713.21 bolivars, a figure that, in contrast to this Friday, offers a sample of the high inflation that the South American country is experiencing”, analyzes the agency.

In the parallel market, where most of the buying and selling of foreign currency in the country takes place, the dollar was quoted this Friday at 855,478.39 bolivars, a value significantly higher than that reported by the Venezuelan issuer.

Neither strong nor sovereign

On Wednesday, the price of the dollar in the parallel market broke the barrier of 700,000 bolivars per unit of US currency for the first time, he revealed. EFE.

The devaluation of the Bolivar in two decades of the so-called “Bolivarian Revolution” was such that eight zeros had to be removed in two currency conversion processes.

In 2008 the bolívar lost three zeros and was renamed bolívar fuerte, while, in mid-2018, another five zeros were stolen with what was renamed the sovereign bolívar ”.

Spontaneous dollarization

Amidst the instability, Venezuela is going through a de facto or “spontaneous” dollarization process, whereby most of the products offered for sale are calculated in dollars. There is the option to pay in foreign currency or in bolivars. In the latter case, companies use the parallel market exchange and not the official one.

This type of payment has also spread to busy areas, shopping centers and public services. Those who want to pay in Bolivar must do so with debit cards, as the banknote with the highest denomination is 50,000, i.e. less than 10 cents.

“It is not difficult to see how the bolivar has depreciated by almost 100% against the dollar. In the last two years the exchange rate has increased by 4,140,709.75% »he highlights Manuel Sutherland, economist and director of the Center for Research and Training of Workers (CIFO) in Caracas, according to the magazine Nueva Sociedad.

For the specialist, “the disastrous result of the indicators cannot be attributed to the sanctions of Donald Trump or to the blockade. Countries like Cuba, North Korea or Iran, heavily sanctioned, do not even have 1% inflation “.