In just one year, 1,795,884 Venezuelans plunged into poverty
RAQUEL BARREIRO C. 
EL UNIVERSAL
May 31, 2014 

According to the National Statistics Institute, 32.1% of the population lives below the poverty line

The National Statistics Institute has published figures mirroring the hardships Venezuelans face on a daily basis: as their earnings vanish, a growing number of people lack resources to cover their most pressing needs.

 As reported by the National Statistics Institute, 1,795,884 Venezuelans plunged into poverty over a one-year span.

 The institute's latest report on poverty, measured on the basis of income, shows that 25.4% of Venezuelans lacked the income to access the basic food basket during the second half of 2012. By the end of the same period in 2013, that number had grown to 32.1%.

 Paying for basic food items and essential services, such as health, education and transportation, is impossible for 9,174,142 Venezuelans simply because they do not earn nearly enough.

Households hit hard

 The number of families having to face the harsh reality of poverty rose by 6.1% over a one-year period.

 According to the National Statistics Institute, 21.2% of households were immersed in poverty during the second half of 2012 while only a year later that number had risen to 27.3%.

 Those numbers translate into a total of 1,899,590 Venezuelan families not having enough money to meet their basic priorities: food, clothing, health, transportation and education.

Promises, promises

 "By 2019, Venezuela will reach zero percent poverty nationwide," claimed President Nicolas Maduro as he inaugurated the National Missions System last August.

 Nevertheless, results published by the National Statistics Institute prove the exact opposite is taking place.

 Those figures show that any significant ground gained in the fight against poverty in 2012 was lost last year, and the main reason behind that shift in direction is constant price hikes.

 In 2012, the government managed to reach one of the lowest national inflation rates in recent years (20.1%), a situation that evidently made the loss of purchasing power less severe than in previous years, evidenced by 6.2% less poverty than in 2011.

 Yet any progress was short lived, and those results ultimately regressed as the economy had to endure an inflation rate of 56.2% last year, thus weakening family's income. Figures published by the Central Bank of Venezuela indicate that, for the lowest level of poverty of the population, inflation reached 59% in 2013.

 The outlook for 2014 looks rather grim. Companies await government-approved price adjustments so that they may offset rising costs; the transportation sector eagerly waits for the second phase of fare increases; while the government has announced possible changes to power rates and has not dismissed discussing an increase in petrol prices.

 Think tanks like Ecoanalitica estimate year-end inflation at 75%.

Translated by Félix Rojas Alva

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