Venezuela & The Dollar: A Reluctant Embrace

As inflation soars, shops in Venezuela are demanding dollars or an inflated black market equivalent in bolivars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal feature. The result shuts out many Venezuelans from purchases because of government currency controls. WSJ writes: The result has “helped exacerbate class divisions between those who hold only bolivars and those with access to dollars, undermining former President Hugo Chávez’s so-called Bolivarian Revolution, the social movement embraced by his successor, President Nicolás Maduro, which aims to equitably distribute wealth.” More…