CARACAS, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Around three-fourths of Venezuelans now live in extreme poverty as the once-prosperous OPEC nation’s hyperinflationary economic collapse continued for a seventh straight year, according to a study published on Wednesday.
The 2020-2021 National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI), conducted by researchers at Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB), found that of the country’s 28 million residents, 76.6% live in extreme poverty, up from 67.7% last year.
The report attributed the rise to both the COVID-19 pandemic and chronic fuel shortages, which at least 20% of respondents said meant they could not put gasoline in their cars, a major obstacle to employment.
The ENCOVI study was created in 2014 to make up for the absence of official data, according to Pedro Luis Espana, a UCAB sociologist who contributed to the study.
Espana said that beyond the loss of purchasing power, the lack of employment has led to boredom, adding that Venezuela’s public sector pays poorly, as the country’s minimum wage hovers around $3 a month, and the country’s private sector is small.
“It is the absence of opportunities,” Espana said. “It is sitting in front of the door of the house, doing nothing, not because you do not want to do anything, but because there is nowhere to do it.”
Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the findings. President Nicolas Maduro’s government frequently blames U.S. sanctions for the country’s woes, but critics attribute the country’s crisis to his government’s economic mismanagement.
When measured solely by income levels, 94.5% of the population lives in poverty, a figure unmatched elsewhere in the region, the ENCOVI survey found.
The survey was conducted through questionnaires distributed to 14,000 households in 21 of the 23 states of the country between February and April.
Trending Stories Right Now on PVDN
- First came ‘Red Tide’, now a warning in Bahía de Banderas for ‘Green Tide’ After the presence for several months of red tide in the waters of Banderas Bay (Cabo Corrientes and Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and Banderas Bay, Nayarit), which has left thousands of dead fish on the beaches, researchers from the University of Guadalajara now detected green tide. María del Carmen Cortés Lara, Master of Science and researcher…
- Mexico’s weather service predicts five hurricane landfalls in the 2022 season Of the total number of cyclones that are expected to form in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans during 2022, it is estimated that around five could make landfall in Mexico, said the general director of the National Water Commission (Conagua), Germán Arturo Martínez Santoyo. According to the National Meteorological Service (SMN), between 14 and 19…
- Mexico’s supreme court rules the process of hunting down migrants in the country is unconstitutional The reviews carried out by the National Migration Institute ( INM ) at points other than international transit posts are unconstitutional, ruled the First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ( SCJN ) of Mexico. In a statement issued this Thursday, the Supreme Court of Mexico said that the immigration review…
- COVID-19 in Jalisco increases 37% in the last week after mask mandate is lifted Since the Government of Jalisco eliminated the mask mandate, COVID infections have increased by 37% in the State. After more than two years of the pandemic, on May 10 the use of face masks in public and private places became optional. The sanitary measure was only maintained in public transport and in hospitals. From that…
- Authorities have only reviewed 2 of the 15 cameras at hotel where Debanhi’s body was found Mario Escobar, Debanhi’s father, revealed that only the video recordings of two of the fifteen cameras that were found in the Nueva Castilla Motel during the last search have been analyzed. He reported that he made a request to review all the videos, through the Executive Commission for Victim Assistance. At a press conference, the…