The political opposition organizations which include the Democratic Confederal Bureau (MUD), issued an official statement about the devaluation of the bolivar, as they believe it will generate more inflation, more corruption, more imports of goods and fewer quality jobs. In a document accessed by Correo del Caroní, the bureau called the "exchange rate adjustment", the name it prefers to give the measure, "the result of a bad economic policy that has led to the destruction of national productivity and caused the deterioration of the productivity of workers and enterprises. For the political organizations that signed the report, the devaluation corresponds to short-term measures that have nothing to do with the welfare of Venezuelans, and whose sole purpose is for the government to have more financial resources for the campaign.

Fernando Morgado, president of Consecomercio lamented the devaluation of the bolivar which he said would bring further impoverishment, especially in the neediest sectors of the country. "Our currency has been devalued to 2.70 and 4.30, Consecomercio regrets this very much and insists that this is the result of bad policies so and we cannot conceive of a devaluation if it is not combined with other decisions such as correcting public spending and making a total change to the economic cabinet", said Morgado. "This we say in the face of repeated demonstrations that this country after 10 years has been received one of the largest amounts of foreign exchange but we nevertheless have a devaluation that will impoverish us all but particularly those with less income," he said Morgado.

The secretary general of Democratic Action, Henry Ramos Allup, accused the minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramirez of negotiating with parallel market dollars. "They're going to modify the Law against Illegal Exchange so that Venezuela's central bank can maintain the balance of parallel dollars. Wonderful news President Chavez, but will you punish those who traffic in the black market?", he asked, adding that PDVSA's "has the privilege of exchanging US dollars" to speculate and play the upside. "You allowed Ramirez, violating the law, to traffic in dollars (...) Of course not going to punish him because he manages the cashier (...) Rafael Ramirez knows a lot. If he goes, then the government goes as well," he said. "If you, Mr. President, want to know where corruption comes from, look in your own house," he advised. In the coming days, he said, he will present "evidence" of despotism in government.

The Venezuelan government announced it has removed visa requirements for Iranian nationals wishing to visit the Latin American nation, yesterday. The announcement followed an agreement signed in March 2009, between the presidents of the two countries.

Venezuela is now the third Latin American country that lifts visa requirements for Iranian visitors after Nicaragua and Ecuador enacted similar measures last year.

Iran and progressive Latin American countries have expanded mutual ties in economic, political and cultural fields. However, Iran's cooperation with Latin American countries has become a major concern for Washington, which regards South America like its own backyard and a region to wield influence at will.

The US government labeled Iran and certain Latin American nations the countries that sponsor terrorism and for this reason it has introduced a self-inflicting measure to screen all visitors from those countries. Of course, one has to start with the fact that the US has lost almost all of its former attractions as a tourist destination following the Sep. 11 events. Also given the current level of violence across the United States, only the very adventurous visitors may wish to take the chance to visit the North American nation, at their own peril.

Venezuela as one of the world's largest oil and gas producers and also an important member of the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) has in recent years pulled out of US sphere of influence. Venezuela is now an active constituent of the Latin American economic and political organization (ALBA) that seeks to counter US' hegemony in the region.

"If a good part of imports were bought at 2.15 and now will be priced at 4.30, it is inevitable that inflation will double," said Maza Zavala, and for that reason he estimates that prices this year will be between 50 and 60% higher than last year. He based his analysis on two fundamental facts: a fall in purchasing power of between 30 and 40% for Venezuelans - which will reduce consumption - and increased demand for parallel market dollars. "If with a floor of 2.15 bolivars to the dollar the alternate market reached values three times higher, the rise will be much greater with a floor of 4.30 bolivars to the dollar," he said. For products in stock, he believes people are trying to buy everything they can and that means depletion of inventories that will need to be replenished. "The problem is that without knowing what the replacement cost will be, prices will surely rise."

Original report accessible (in Spanish) here.