Tap for gasoline at a gas station. Photo: File photo.
An adjustment to the price of diesel fuel for the industrial sector was made official in Venezuela after being published in the government gazette. The new price is equivalent to 32 US cents per liter. In addition, Article 2 of the resolution states that the government may evaluate the use of different prices for sectors considered to be a priority.
The new price is a necessary adjustment after the US restricted, under illegal sanctions, exports of diesel to Venezuela in 2021, while President Maduro’s administration retained a subsidized price equivalent to slightly less than half a cent per liter in US dollars (or $0.015 USD per gallon) according to Global Petrol Prices. In other words, until today, Venezuelans paid a price equivalent to 1.5 US cents per gallon of diesel fuel.
Many analysts speculate that the government of Venezuela will take similar measures in the coming weeks to adjust the price of subsidized gasoline that is also at the same price as the now-extinct diesel price.
The notice in the Official Gazette comes after the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) notified its clients and fuel distributors on July 6 of the adjustment of the price of diesel for transportation in the industrial sector.
At that time, PDVSA’s Vice President of Commerce and Supply Juan Carlos Díaz Socorro announced, through a press release, that the adjustment will not apply to the health sector, since the subsidy will continue to be maintained.
He also clarified that the adjustment in the price of diesel will not apply to the public passenger transportation sector, which will continue to receive the subsidy using the Patria System.
Cattle industry asks for diesel
The cattle workers’ association addressed a public letter to President Nicolás Maduro a few days ago to expedite the sale of subsidized diesel in the country’s agricultural states after diesel shortages occurred in recent weeks.
“Our productive activity is associated with climatic conditions and biological cycles that cannot be modified, so it must be understood that the supply of diesel oil and other inputs must be sufficient and timely,” reads the letter signed by Armando Chacín, who is the president of Fedenaga, Venezuela’s cattle workers’ federation.
Fedenaga added that it is willing to jointly plan a diesel supply schedule that can meet the needs of the rural sector. In addition, ranchers warned that “planting plans and food prices” will be affected by the new price of diesel in the country.
Inefficient productive sector
Manufacturers in Venezuela accustomed to state subsidies for decades have been claiming in recent months that the government should reduce the taxes they pay and raise import duties to protect them from international competition, while claiming, ironically, that free market capitalism and deregulation would be beneficial for the economy.
While paying very low salaries to their workers, along with fuel and public services that are almost free, producers in Venezuela run daily campaigns using local media to portray themselves as the victims and ask for protection from the government. At the same time, surely they are aware that the government does not have one-tenth of the income it received six years ago, due to the illegal sanction regime by the US and its allies, and that the workers are the most deeply affected by the economic crisis.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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