Like a tragic tele-novela, Venezuela is agony and more agony.
Frankly, it's painful to watch, specially since many of us have friends down there.
The latest episode is "el bolivar" or the national currency. It has turned into a worthless piece of paper after so much inflation and mismanagement:
"Venezuelan currency was trading at around 420 bolivars per dollar Friday afternoon, according to the site. That was down from 300 bolivars per dollar on May 14 and 173 at the start of the year.
Many black market dealers paused transactions until the rate stabilized, but some Venezuelans said they had changed money at the 400 bolivar rate Friday.
It's not immediately clear what triggered the latest bout of panic buying and selling. But for many Venezuelans, who have lost faith in their currency, the dollar is the best way to protect themselves from inflation, which last year hit 68 percent and which economists say has already soared past the triple-digit threshold this year.
A Barclay Capital Inc. report issued Friday pointed to government expansion of the money supply as an underlying cause for inflation. The bank projected the Bolivar could dip as low as 600 to the dollar this year."
Incredible. Some of us remember when it was 4.29 to the US dollar.
It is amazing how misguided socialism, combined with charlatans like Chavez and Maduro, can destroy a country and its people.
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