Fundamentalist Exchange Controls

February 18, 2003

As if there was any doubt to the nature of the exchange control system that will be imposed in Venezuela, the Head of the Exchange Control Office Colonel Hernadez Behrens held a press conference where Venezuelans were lectured repeatedly. Among other things, he announced that travelers would be given one thousand dollars per trip up to three times a year. In his own words, the Colonel said that in this maner people will travel for only reasonable periods of time of four or five days. No explanation was given why people could not go on a single long three a year, except that “in the previous controls whole families travelled to obtain more dollars (???)”. The explanation was followed by a lecture to Venezuelans who know “Holland, Paris, Miami and New York” to get to know their country and visit it. (I did not quite understand why he mentioned first Holland and then a bunch of cities!). He then added, in any case, we will not give out dollars for travelling until there is sufficient money for it……Maybe women should wear veils over their faces when they make requests in the exchange control office…..

This entry was posted on February 18, 2003 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Venezuela.

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