A writer of Ekşi Sözlük, who has been writing to a teacher woman living in Venezuela, which has the world’s highest inflation, for more than a year, shared the tragic situations that the woman told him.
over four years in Venezuela struggling with hyperinflationMore than three million Venezuelans have fled the country due to hunger, poor health care, power outages, food and medicine shortages, rising unemployment and crime rates. Others are unable to meet even their basic needs such as food.
8 out of 10 people eat less because there is not enough food in their home. your country the currency bolivar has almost no value left. The Central Bank no longer even feels the need to publish inflation statistics. A woman living in such an environment told her friend about the tragic events in Ekşi Sözlük.
The author’s entry under the heading “The fact that Turkey is sinking like Venezuela” and which we shared with his permission:
For over a year, I have been writing to a teacher woman living in the state of “Venezuela, Barinas”.
With the last hike, the woman’s Salary is $5. He was previously paid $2. The dollar can double in one night and return to its original form the next day.
There are many messages about how the salary is sufficient. Half of the population mainly works in Chile and other S. American countries. They send money to those left behind. The countryside produced their own food and bartered.
1 liter of gasoline costs 2 dollars, (most of the fuel comes from Iran). Even if you buy gas with money, you have to bribe the pumper, otherwise he will not give gas.
There are state stations that give free, but 1 week waiting in lineThey sleep in the car for a week. They pre-register with the state to buy gas.
- 1 car battery $80 (his car battery was dead, that’s why he said)
- 1 kilo of olives 4 dollars
- 1 chicken $3
- 1 medium pizza $2
- chocolate 2 dollars
Farmers do not produce because they cannot buy diesel and earn money. Although they are a temperate country with perpetual green zones, animal husbandry is almost non-existent.
They cannot leave their cars on the street at night.In the morning, only his skeleton remains. (I sent a photo of the street where I live, he was very surprised that the cars were on the street)
There are several different dollar rates in the country; different currencies are used in the bank, in the black market, and in the markets.
Even though it is forbidden, they are shopping with dollars. The Venezuelan bolivar has no value. They do not even count the money, they calculate it by weighing it on the scales.
When a staple food comes to the market, it is collected by the mafia and sold on the black market. Imagine buying sugar, rice, oil from the mafia.
The Russian corona vaccine (not Sputnik), which the state brought to the country last year, fell on the black market under the pretext that it was corrupt and was priced at $80. The state works with the mafia, public health is not a concern.
They can’t take their money and phones with them when they go out.
Electricity and natural gas are very cheap, 10 cents per month. The state meets the needs of the house. Don’t think of a luxury house, like a one-story shantytown.
Soldiers provide domestic security and all of them are corrupt. If they commit a crime, they are not punished at all. They work for Maduro. Those who show up either shot in the street or disappearing.
Everything from needle to thread is imported. There is no production because the economy is very bad.
Most of the doctors have left the country, The Cuban state provides medical assistance in exchange for oil. Most of the doctors are Cuban.
If you are lucky enough to have an operation, you have to buy whatever is necessary, from the doctor’s apron to gloves, serum, syringe. Hospitals are not given enough medical supplies. Private doctor examination fee is 50 dollars. The Red Cross doctor examination fee is $10.
Families abandon their children and flee the country, the children left behind form gangs among themselves and commit crimes.
They have very good tourism potentials, but because the country is not safe, not many tourists go. Spacious beaches overlooking the Caribbean sea and the Salto Angel waterfall, the highest waterfall in the world, are there.
Journalist Cüneyt Özdemir had gone to Venezuela to interview Maduro; In exchange for 1 chocolate, he bought 1 tank of gasoline. You can watch it on YouTube.
I hope we don’t get into this situation.