“I have unfortunately been in and out of Venezuela for over 12 years, and it is a country that only gets worse and, in my opinion, has no chance in hell of ever getting better,” writes a reader.
“You have to understand the Venezuelan people who have grown up being fed a diet of propaganda (over 30-some years) telling them to be proud that they have one of the world’s largest oil deposits. It has made them ignorant, lazy, arrogant and very selfish (yeah, I know not very politically correct, but, unfortunately, the sad truth). “The Venezuelans by nature never have invested and never will invest in their own country. Miami banks are full of rich Venezuelans who keep accounts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars earning 3-4%. I have personally seen Venezuelans park $100,000 in checking accounts earning 1-2%!
“Most readers do not realize that Venezuela has a currency control in place, so even if you cash dollars upon arrival in an official change office, if you don’t spend all your crap money while you’re there, you have toilet paper to use when you leave. “The reason for the currency control (which other administrations had off and on before Chavez), is partially to punish the rich, whom he wants to force an exodus on from his socialist paradise. The other reason is that he and his cronies can make major money by keeping the bolivar overvalued at the official rate and sell these official dollars at 2,000 bolivares to friends while everyone else pays 4,000. It takes no imagination to see how a car dealer who can buy dollars for half the price of his competition can make money and will support Chavez! “Think about it…does Venezuela have a shortage of dollars exporting all that oil? Of course not!
“I don’t blame Chavez for what he's doing. I blame the spoilt Venezuelans who were stupid enough to elect a former coup d’etat leader who said he was reformed and pro democracy. They did this believing his lies about improving life quality.”
“You have to understand the Venezuelan people who have grown up being fed a diet of propaganda (over 30-some years) telling them to be proud that they have one of the world’s largest oil deposits. It has made them ignorant, lazy, arrogant and very selfish (yeah, I know not very politically correct, but, unfortunately, the sad truth). “The Venezuelans by nature never have invested and never will invest in their own country. Miami banks are full of rich Venezuelans who keep accounts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars earning 3-4%. I have personally seen Venezuelans park $100,000 in checking accounts earning 1-2%!
“Most readers do not realize that Venezuela has a currency control in place, so even if you cash dollars upon arrival in an official change office, if you don’t spend all your crap money while you’re there, you have toilet paper to use when you leave. “The reason for the currency control (which other administrations had off and on before Chavez), is partially to punish the rich, whom he wants to force an exodus on from his socialist paradise. The other reason is that he and his cronies can make major money by keeping the bolivar overvalued at the official rate and sell these official dollars at 2,000 bolivares to friends while everyone else pays 4,000. It takes no imagination to see how a car dealer who can buy dollars for half the price of his competition can make money and will support Chavez! “Think about it…does Venezuela have a shortage of dollars exporting all that oil? Of course not!
“I don’t blame Chavez for what he's doing. I blame the spoilt Venezuelans who were stupid enough to elect a former coup d’etat leader who said he was reformed and pro democracy. They did this believing his lies about improving life quality.”
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