The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, speaking Wednesday afternoon about the prices of the boxes delivered by the Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP), rejected the idea that the price of the products—delivered to more than seven million households every month—is almost “free.”
“A subsidy of 99% or more. Sometimes this is distorted, because the subsidy cannot be that large—sometimes it lags behind us, so we set prices for a month and we leave it there for six months, and the box of food becomes almost free, and there shouldn’t be anything given for free,” the Venezuelan president stressed.
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President Maduro urged that his government must be aware that things can’t be given away for free. that they always have a cost, and that all subsidized items must be constantly monitored, and have their prices updated accordingly.
“Things have a cost: the work, the effort, and a price. But not the prices triggered by economic warfare, the black market prices they impose—especially when December approaches or when an election approaches,” he said. “The Guarimberismo of prices, the economic Guarimberismo (meaning the use of dollar devaluation and hyperinflation for political purpose).”
Maduro’s statements happened during a televised working meeting focused on the production of CLAPs, where he stressed that this is the most appropriate way for the food to reach families correctly through the State’s social plans .
Featured image: File photo.
Translation: OT/JRE/SL
