All in a day's work: May Day musings
It doesn't pay to work in Venezuela. After working as a cardiologist for five years, Yolanda Abreu got a severance pay of 156,584.29 bolivars, which is about 0.20 dollars on the black market - barely enough to buy a cup of coffee.
Like her, millions of Venezuelans have seen their salaries decimated due to rampant hyperinflation, which is expected to drive prices up by 13,000 percent this year, International Monetary Fund figures show. The crisis has led to low wages, shortage of basic food, medicine and cash. The decline has been partially attributed by to Hugo Chávez's attempt to turn Venezuela into a socialist paradise; policies that his successor Nicolás Maduro has continued.
