Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (above) exercised new
emergency powers for the first time last week, signing decrees limiting
business profit margins and tightening regulation of imports.
He acted as part of a so-called "economic
war" against a crisis for which he blames the opposition
"bourgeoisie" and imperialism.
Under new powers granted to Maduro on Tuesday, the
two new laws aim to control prices and profits in the business sector and
closely monitor imports and exports and hard currency that comes in from oil
sales, Venezuela's main source of revenue.
Maduro's government says the business sector has
been chalking up profit margins of up to 1,000 percent on imported goods.
The center-right opposition has called a rally for
Saturday to protest the emergency powers granted to Maduro, the handpicked
successor of the late populist president Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela's economic woes are marked by inflation
running at 54 percent and shortages of basic goods, among other problems.
The opposition says the new powers are a tool
granted to the government for electoral gain ahead of municipal elections on
December 8.
These are seen as a test of popular sentiment toward
Maduro, who took power after narrowly winning an April election weeks after
Chavez died of cancer.
Venezuela, officially called the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America. Venezuela's
territory covers around 916,445 square kilometres with an estimated population
of approximately 29,100,000.
In case you did not know:
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement
in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were to become the Founder Members of
the Organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment