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Venezuela shuts Colombia border to fight currency smuggling
Source: Associated Press
Venezuela shuts Colombia border to fight currency smuggling
By JORGE RUEDA
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro on Monday ordered the closure of Venezuela's border with Colombia for 72 hours in a crackdown on what he says are "mafias" smuggling hard-to-find cash that is destabilizing the socialist economy.
The move comes as Maduro is trying to get a grip on Venezuela's galloping inflation, which has choked business and made bolivar notes among the hardest items to find in the already shortage-plagued oil-based economy.
"This is an attack against Venezuela, so this is a necessary, unavoidable measure," Maduro said in announcing the border closure in a televised address alongside top economic aides. "It's the first of a series of decisions that we're going to be taking to defend our bolivar, our economy and our people."
The border shutdown coincides with Maduro's decision to withdraw from circulation the 100-bolivar note, which is currently the country's largest-denominated bill but worth only about 3 U.S. cents at the widely used black market rate. The government says it will start replacing the 100-bolivar note with larger bills.
Venezuelans on Monday rushed to spend their 100-bolivar notes before a Wednesday deadline for the bill to be taken out of circulation. An estimated one-third of Venezuelans have no bank account and keep their savings in the soon-to-be-worthless bills.
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By JORGE RUEDA
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro on Monday ordered the closure of Venezuela's border with Colombia for 72 hours in a crackdown on what he says are "mafias" smuggling hard-to-find cash that is destabilizing the socialist economy.
The move comes as Maduro is trying to get a grip on Venezuela's galloping inflation, which has choked business and made bolivar notes among the hardest items to find in the already shortage-plagued oil-based economy.
"This is an attack against Venezuela, so this is a necessary, unavoidable measure," Maduro said in announcing the border closure in a televised address alongside top economic aides. "It's the first of a series of decisions that we're going to be taking to defend our bolivar, our economy and our people."
The border shutdown coincides with Maduro's decision to withdraw from circulation the 100-bolivar note, which is currently the country's largest-denominated bill but worth only about 3 U.S. cents at the widely used black market rate. The government says it will start replacing the 100-bolivar note with larger bills.
Venezuelans on Monday rushed to spend their 100-bolivar notes before a Wednesday deadline for the bill to be taken out of circulation. An estimated one-third of Venezuelans have no bank account and keep their savings in the soon-to-be-worthless bills.
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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9ee0702b6ef3456aa873551f6a3e96a1/venezuela-shuts-colombia-border-fight-currency-smuggling
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