The National Assembly announced today that the inflation rate in the country between May 2017 and May 2018 was a staggering 24,571%, bringing the figure into the realm of mathematical nonsense.
Jose Guerra, a deputy and economist with the legislature’s Finance Committee, said that the inflation rate for the month of May alone was 110.1%, making this the the first time that the rate has shot about the symbolic 100% mark.
Guerra also said that on average, the inflation rate ticked up 2.4% per day during the month of May. This makes Venezuela’s daily inflation higher than the annual inflation of many countries, including Chile, Spain, the United States, and El Salvador.
Gallup Poll Shows Venezuelans Feel Least Safe
Gallup’s 2018 Global and Law and Order report, released today, shows that Venezuelans feel the least safe in their country out of 142 nations polled.
The poll found that 42% of Venezuelans reported having either property or money stolen from them over the past year, which is up from 38% last year.
Gallup calculated the country rankings based on the following questions:
- In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force?
- Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
- Within the last 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member?
- Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?
Venezuela scored the lowest out of all nations surveyed, meaning that people living there feel less safe than anyone else anywhere in the world.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Joshua Holt Speaks in Televised Interview
Joshua Holt, the United States citizen who spent two years in Venezuelan prison over allegations that he was a spy, appeared in a televised interview on the Today show last June 5.
In the interview, Holt briefly describes some of the conditions under which he was held while in custody in Venezuela. Holt explains that his first jail cell was “no bigger than what a twin bed would be”, and that the guards placed plastic over the door, severely restricting airflow into the cell. Holt said that the cell was not equipped with a bathroom so he had to urinate and defecate either into plastic bottles or newspapers, and that he could feel cockroaches crawling all over his body at night.
Holt also said that his wife, Támara Caleño, who was arrested alongside him, was tortured in order to coerce her into signing documents implicating her husband in crimes that he did not commit. Caleño did not sign the documents.
Below, the interview with Holt, his wife and his family:
Questions/comments? E-mail me: invenezuelablog@gmail.com
In Venezuela 