Venezuela’s Currency Is So Devalued that Cops Are Demanding Bribes in Colombian Pesos

The cataclysmic devaluation of the bolivar in Venezuela and the brutal repression in the South American country now go hand in hand; state security agencies are increasingly demanding bribes in relatively strong Colombian pesos to release unjustly detained protesters. It is already public knowledge that the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) take advantage of opposition protests to arrest innocent young people, torture them, and then request bribes of between USD $500 and USD $1,000 to free them; however, in border states they are also increasingly charging such payments in Colombian pesos. More…