Venezuela hits new low as inflation rises again, Pence calls the situation a threat to national security
The inflation rate in Venezuela has exploded over the last year as the socialist nation deals with extreme levels of poverty and food shortages. Now a new report suggests that the inflation rate could increase ten-fold in the coming months.
According to The Week, five million Venezuelan Bolivars is equivalent to $1.45 in United States dollars, which is approximately the same amount that a minimum-wage worker earns in an entire month in Venezuela.
To illustrate Venezuela’s rampant inflation, Bloomberg has tracked the price of a cup of coffee since December 2016 on its Cafe Con Leche index. One dose of caffeine cost 450 bolivars when the index launched two years ago, but 43,378 percent inflation in the last year has led to today’s astronomical price.
Incredibly bleak moment milestone for Venezuela. The cost of one cup of coffee just hit 1 million Bolivars. https://t.co/Fbv2NqnAFlpic.twitter.com/LvziiWUynI— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) June 28, 2018
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Got that inflation rate: 43.378%
Bloomberg continues, noting that “…one million bolivars is really nothing. When converted into dollars, it comes to a mere 29 cents” and “…if you examine a snapshot of the past three months and project that pace out to a full year, it paints an even grimmer picture: inflation of 482,153 percent.”
Yes, that’s correct: 482,153%
US Vice President Mike Pence told reporters Thursday, and “the US will not stand idly by while Venezuela collapses.”
The Vice President made the remarks in a joint address with Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno in Quito.
“It is remarkable to think that, once one of the most vibrant countries and economies in the Western hemisphere, Venezuela is now essentially a failed state and the Venezuelan people are suffering,” said Pence.
The United States will work closely with Ecuador and other “freedom-loving countries” in the region to confront “the ongoing collapse of Venezuela into dictatorship, deprivation and despair” that has resulted in a mass exodus of over 2 million people and has empowered drug cartels and human trafficking, he said.
Pence urged Ecuador and allies across the globe “to take steps to further isolate” the Maduro regime so that the Venezuelan people can “reclaim their birth right of freedom.”
During his speech in Quito after meeting with Moreno, Pence also said the United States and Ecuador are “at the beginning of a new chapter” of their relationship and praised Moreno for taking “bold action” to grow the economy and for being “a champion of the rule of law.”
