Venezuela Starts Selling Gasoline at International Prices
HAVANA TIMES – Venezuela on Monday began implementing a new fuel sale system that puts a limit on state subsidies and allows motorists to only buy 120 liters of gasoline a month at subsidized prices, reported dpa news.
Up to that amount, the fuel is supposed to cost the equivalent of 2 US cents. Beyond 120 liters, the fuel is set at an internationally compatible price of 50 cents per liter.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday announced that 200 petrol stations would sell the gasoline.
The South American country’s oil reserves are among the world’s biggest, but poor maintenance, corruption and mismanagement have made production plummet.
The new system did not work well in practice, with many of the petrol stations closed and others having technical problems, local media reported.
Some petrol stations refused to sell more than 20 or 30 liters of gasoline at the subsidized price, while others ran out of fuel, according to daily El Nacional.
Venezuela is currently importing oil from Iran, which has warned the United States against launching attacks on the country’s oil tankers as they pass through the Caribbean Sea on their way to Venezuela.
The undeniable reality that a country with the largest known oil reserves in the world has to import oil is evidence enough that Socialism has failed. Like Cuba, who was once the world’s sugar export leader yet must import sugar today to meet its consumption needs, Venezuela is a failed dictatorship. History will not be kind to Maduro for his moribund leadership.
“Progressive” management at its best.