Freddy Bernal, governor of Venezuela's Táchira state. File photo.
During an interview with journalist Mary Pili Hernández on Unión Radio, governor of the state of Táchira and member of the National Directorate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Freddy Bernal reported that the Venezuelan government is working on proposing a sustainable salary increase. Bernal indicated that the PSUV is very aware of the problems placed on the Venezuelan people by the devaluation of the currency, and that the issue has been discussed at length within the party.
Bernal pointed out that “yesterday (Monday), we touched on the salary issue in the leadership of the PSUV… The minister of labor touched upon it, because there are indeed mobilizations of sectors of the working class, of the education sector. I cannot dismiss the reason for the protest, it is legitimate. We cannot deny a concrete reality”.
Bernal indicated that “the proposal for a salary increase that can be sustainable over time is being worked on with the economic cabinet and Vice President Delcy RodrĂguez.” Bernal warned that any solution must prevent a small increase, for example, from losing its value in a short time due to inflation or the devaluation of the currency.
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“We are very aware that what a doctor or an educator earns does not compensate one enough to live with dignity,” said Bernal. “We know that and it worries us.” Bernal could not provide details of the proposal, but noted that he has “not the slightest doubt that the president should already be making the calculations for an increase in wages and salaries, one that is sustainable over time.”
The interviewer asked why salary could not be calculated in petros, as is done with the cost of passports and other services provided by the state, allowing prices to be balanced with inflation. Bernal reiterated that the government “is seriously evaluating an increase that allows it to be sustainable over time, because we fully understand that the quality of life of the people was once again negatively impacted, and that the efforts made by President Nicolás Maduro months ago were diluted a few weeks ago. I am sure that there will be answers soon from the government to the working class.”
Bernal recalled that “Venezuela received $56 billion (per year) before the unilateral sanctions, and we fell abruptly to $700 million (per year). How did we survive? … With an incredible effort from President Maduro. Just this past year (2022) we hit $5.6 billion” [in annual revenue]. We have not even reached 10 percent of the national income.”
Bernal recalled that “barely a week ago, [the United States] authorized Chevron to sell oil, but the first penny for that oil has not yet arrived.”
Fight against extravagance and corruption
Mary Pili Hernández, after reiterating her admiration for Bernal as a revolutionary leader, asked him about the “extravagance” that can be seen flaunted by some public officials who drive around in SUVs or expensive pickup trucks and appear to be very wealthy. “They walk around with $1,500 shoes, with brand-name products, in a town that earns Bs. 130 minimum wage,” said Hernández. “Even if it is earned, they should be ashamed to wear that kind of thing. By doing such things, they trample on the name of Chávez.”
“Look, the government is run by human beings, it is not a group of angels that fell from heaven,” responded Bernal. “I have no doubt, and this has been demonstrated by President Maduro, who leads by example. Most of us try to lead by example… But I do not rule out what you say. And it is so much so, that the national leadership of the Party has disciplined leaders for this type of extravagance.”
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“The other day, Diosdado [Cabello] commented that he passed through Las Mercedes and saw three SUVs. He disembarked and asked ‘who is there?’ [They told him that it was] the vice minister such-and-such. Diosdado sent for him. This has happened with several leaders,” said Bernal.
“You cannot imagine the fight that President Nicolás Maduro has against this type of obscene practice,” said Bernal.
Mary Pili Hernández, who was minister of youth during the presidency of Hugo Chávez, wondered where these ostentatious people obtained their apparent riches, because her salary did not allow a minister to behave extravagantly or to get rich.
Bernal noted that in the last two years, some PSUV leaders of different levels were arrested and prosecuted for corruption and drug trafficking, including a mayor and some deputies. Bernal described himself as one of the most radical in this sense: “for me, everyone who makes improper use of the public treasury does not deserve to be a Chavista. For me, they are counterrevolutionaries who deserve to be in jail.”
He added that Diosdado Cabello also has very strong feelings in this regard. “Leaders are constantly being called and suspended for improper practices: ostentation, use of cars,” said Bernal. “And those who are investigated, if it is proven that, indeed, this comes from the misuse of public funds, go to jail. We do not announce this. I don’t know if one day it will have to be reported, but there is a battle is going on within the PSUV, and surely it will have to be fought until the end, to guarantee that Chávez’s legacy is not trampled on.”
“For me, one who makes use of public money for their personal benefit is not a Chavista. For me, they are a counterrevolutionary, and it is necessary to attack them with all the weight of the law,” he concluded.
Salary in context
The minimum wage in Venezuela, which in May 2012 was equivalent to roughly $290 USD per month, suffered a sharp drop in 2014 as the value of the bolivar fell. In subsequent years, due to a drop in world oil prices and oil production in Venezuela, and due to the subsequent imposition of illegal coercive economic measures—euphemistically referred to as “sanctions”—by the United States government and its allies, between 2018 and 2021, the minimum wage fell, relative to the value of the US dollar, to between $2 to $6 per month, one of the lowest in the country’s recent history.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has explained that as a result of the illegal sanctions, the country’s income fell from more than $56 billion USD a year to less than $700 million USD. In Venezuela, there are approximately three million public employees, and five million pensioners who receive a monthly pension equivalent to the minimum wage.
In March 2022, President Maduro decreed an increase in the minimum monthly salary to 130 bolivars (Venezuela’s local currency, or Bs.), equivalent at that time to $30 USD, to which he added a food bonus of Bs. 45, which was the first significant salary increase and represented a stabilization during this struggle against sanctions and hyperinflation.
The price of the US dollar, which in March 2022 was Bs. 4.30, remained relatively stable for several months; in the first days of August it was Bs 5.70. At the end of August, it experienced an upturn, reaching Bs. 7.80. Then, at the end of November and the beginning of December 2022, a new upward climb began, which placed the US dollar at Bs. 17.44 on the penultimate day of the year. On January 10, 2023, the price of the dollar published by the Central Bank was Bs. 18.78.
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Because the minimum wage in bolivars has not been increased since March, its value in dollars fell from $30 to $6.92 per month, a quarter of what it was worth, which has notably affected Venezuelan families in an economy whose prices are mostly dollarized.
As a result, last Monday, there were peaceful marches by teachers in various sectors of the country, called for by various trade unions demanding salary increases. “Economic conditions continue to be difficult,” President Maduro recalled Monday night in a televised event. “The conditions of the attack to suffocate our country are serious, and we have to recognize this; our people have to know the truth.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/FV/SL
