With a galloping inflation estimated to reach about 700 percent for the rest of 2016, Venezuela has been hit by a growing humanitarian crises in the latest years. The country, which was once a prosperous petroleum producer, has lost its barrel value over the last two years from being valued at $100 USD per barrel to the lowest of lows at $40.6 USD. Because the country is greatly dependent of its oil exports, the economy of the South American country has been tremendously affected.
As the inflation exponentially grows, many lower and middle class Venezuelans have lost their purchasing power. The country’s economy produces far less than what is demanded, causing the price level of all goods to rise due to scarcity of resources.
In other words, items get more expensive by the hour while the average Venezuelan’s wages remain stagnant for months, making it impossible to catch up with the inflationary pressures. Venezuela’s currency, the Bolivar, is so destroyed, that the largest bill, the 100-bolivar, is equivalent to 0.05 of a dollar: 5 cents.
Because parents find themselves in such a, let’s say, “sticky” situation, with a minimum wage of about 15,051.15 Venezuelan Bolivars per month, approximately $13.49 USD, children are the most affected by this situation.
Over the past few months, students from public and private schools have been affected by the energy shortages that the government has imposed in an effort to decrease energy consumption in the country. These shortages have created a rough patch in the students’ paths as, in many cases, school days had to be shortened or cancelled because the schools did not have electricity to teach the children. However, this is not the only problem the youth of Venezuela is facing behind classroom doors.
Many Venezuelan children are unable to concentrate as the little consumption of protein they obtain deteriorates their learning capacities. Others have fainted in the middle of class, result of the alarming malnourishment of their bodies, raising red flags among educators and families. To put it simply, these children go to school without a hint of food in their stomachs because their parents simply have no money to feed them.
This “belt-tightening” has caused about 10 percent of low and middle-class families to cut at least one meal a day. If they have breakfast, they won’t eat lunch. If they eat lunch, they won’t have dinner. In many cases, parents will be forced to omit eating to give the little food they have to their children. Some parents, under the somber shadow of desperation, have turned to digging in the trash in the hopes of finding food to feed their families.
Maria, 27, and a mother of three declared in a report from Daily Mail, she goes to the trash pile whenever she can afford the bus fare. She added, “I get more here than I would on minimum wage. Our money has become worthless.”
Even as the sky-high inflation has pushed millions into abject poverty. President Maduro and his team won’t accept there is a humanitarian crisis, denying all forms of international aid as it would confirm their economic strategies and political system are flawed, to say the least. In Venezuela, public reputation is more valued than the well-being of the people, costing the lives of millions.
