In 2013, Maduroโs first year in office, the government released a Christmas carol praising the Socialist utopia’s dictator. Last year, Maduro debuted a โsocialist Barbieโ that almost bankrupted stores forced to sell it after the government forced the price down to a tenth of its value. And this year, as AFP reports, “Christmas is dead, there is not enough money,” according to one resident, noting there wasย no Christmas decor anywhere and people didย not have enough money to buy presents. Some couldn’tย even afford the basic goods needed to put together a traditional feast of roast pork and assorted sides.
ย Theย governmentโs take on Christmas celebrations has been significantly more muted this year than in 2014. As Breitbart reports,
Last year, Maduro debuted a โsocialist Barbieโ that almost bankrupted stores forced to sell it after the government forced the price down to a tenth of its value.Barbie was the latest in a series of goods โ eggs, milk, flour, vegetable oil โ to suffer a similar fate. Fixed price controls forced the government toย issue ration cards for basic goods in 2014. That year, Maduro also used his time on television to condemn the anti-socialist opposition for being โgrinchesโ trying to โsteal Christmasโ from the people by condemning said price controls and demanding an end to the violent oppression of dissidents.
In 2013, Maduroโs first year in office, the government released a Christmas carol praising Maduro titledย โKnock Knockโ Who Is It? People Of Peace, Lower Those Prices, Nicolรกs Is Here.โ
Maduro has been significantlyย less prominent in holiday celebrations this year following the overwhelming defeat of the Venezuelan United Socialist Party (PSUV) in the December 6 legislative elections.
โThis year, Christmas is dead, there is not enough money,โ Elise Belisario, a resident of the Caracas suburb Petare, tells Agence France-Presse (AFP). She notes there is no Christmas decor anywhere and people do not have enough money to buy presents. Some cannot even afford the basic goods needed to put together a traditional feast of roast pork and assorted sides.ยThe websiteย El Colombiano estimates that a full Christmas dinner costs between 2,000 and 3,000 bolรญvares, which is the equivalent of about one third of a monthly minimum wage. ย Individual basic food items can rack that price up significantly if especially scarce in any particular neighborhood. For example, a woman selling eggs on the black market in Caracas tells AFP a box of 30 eggs costs 1,300 bolรญvars alone. ย It is difficult to estimate how much these prices would translate to in dollars because the government insists on setting the value of its currency at a fixed rate most believe is intended to mask the nationโs hyperinflation problem, and is significantly higher than the real value of the bolรญvar on the black market.ยThe Venezuelan website Dolar Today, which tracks the price of the bolรญvar on the black market, claims one American dollar is worthย 841 bolรญvars today. This would make Venezuelaโs minimum wage about $11 a month. ย In addition to food items, non-necessary goods have seen a massive spike in prices. El Colombianoย estimates the price of a Christmas tree to be up to 33,000 bolรญvars. A toy doll costs around 15,000 bolรญvars. โYou either eat or you dress your children,โ ย Lucรญa Gonzรกlez, a vendor in Caracas, tells the publication.
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Socialist utopia… where everyone is equally pissed off…
This article appeared at ZeroHedge at: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-26/christmas-dead-hyperinflated-venezuelans-face-holiday-without-lights-food-hope
