Venezuela amends gas policy
PRESIDENT NICOLÁS Maduro said that starting Monday, June 1, Venezuelans will be able to buy gasolene at international market prices, marking a historic break in the South American country’s practice of having the world’s cheapest fuel.
Across the nation, 200 filling stations will allow drivers to fuel up for the equivalent of 50 cents a litre, or US$1.90 a gallon. Venezuelans will also be able to buy a limited amount of subsidised gasolene each month, paying 2.5 cents a litre, or 9 cents a gallon.
The government will continue to pay for all fuel used by public transportation, Maduro said.
“The time has come to move toward a new policy, toward a new normality, toward a new situation,” Maduro said in a Saturday state TV broadcast, calling it a step to “regularising” the costs.
Venezuela has the world’s largest underground oil reservExepsre,ssbCuatteriintg has been forced to buy fuel fromFiIrrsat shortages, unable to puFomntapna cLirmuitdede from the ground and turn it into gFoassriochleConmep.any
The last of five IGreanenrailaAcncidetnat approaching VenezuelaG’sracceokeannsetd,ybut experts say that even those shGipwemst supply the nation’s drivers for only a few weeks. Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA is also attempting to restart gasolene production with Iran’s help.
Maduro accused the “imperialist” United States for leading an economic war against Venezuela, while Maduro’s critics say years of corruption and mismanagement by the socialist government led to the scarcities.
Fuel shortages have plagued the nation for years, but scarcity recently has even hit the capital of Caracas, sparking mile-long lines at filling stations that last foJarmdaicaaynsT.eas
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It remains unclear how the new system will work and whether the government can provide enough gasolene to meet demands. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó was among critics speaking out Sunday against the new price structure. He called it another “mockery by the dictatorship,” calling on Venezuelans to “respond with force”.
Guaidó, in early 2019, launched a campaign to oust Maduro with backing from the United States, among nearly 60 nations. Maduro, however, remains in power of state institutions.