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Sociologist Inexplicably Charged With Saving Venezuela’s Economy Fired After One Month

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JP Carroll National Security & Foreign Affairs Reporter
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Venezuelan Sociologist Luis Salas has been fired after just one month on the job as the country’s Economy Minister.

The Venezuelan economy is currently spiraling out of control due to low oil prices. Oil exporting giants Russia and Saudi Arabia arrived at an agreement Tuesday to halt increasing in oil production on the condition that similarly large oil producers would do likewise, according to USA Today.

So far, Kuwait, Qatar and Venezuela have all agreed to the terms of the deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Nevertheless, oil prices continued to fall since markets are still not confident that enough has been done to stabilize global energy markets.

Venezuela has been in a fragile state since the death of President Hugo Chavez in March 2013. In February 2014, mass protests erupted which led to the incarceration of US-educated opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

A coalition of opposition political parties defeated the ruling Socialist party Dec. 6 and gained control of the country’s national legislature, the National Assembly. The defeat led to the first split government rule in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999.

The opposition-led National Assembly denied Socialist President Nicolas Maduro the right to have extraordinary powers to dictate economic policy beyond that which is constitutionally permitted of the presidency for 60 days. After having been denied his request by the National Assembly, the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled in favor of  President Maduro on Feb. 11.

The economic situation in Venezuela is so dire that Boeing 747s are flying into the country with loads of the country’s increasingly worthless currency due to sky high inflation. The International Monetary Fund projects that inflation will reach 720 percent in 2016.

Lately, electricity has been rationed in the oil rich OPEC member country. The government has mandated that for three months time, 250 shopping centers nationwide that stores get their power off the grid from 1 to 3pm and 7 to 9pm according to Agence France-Presse. The DCNF reported that on Feb. 7, Venezuela actually had to import oil from the U.S. in spite of being a leading OPEC member.

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