The HOPE Project
In September 2018, HOPE employee and registered nurse Teresa Narvaez traveled to Colombia and Ecuador to prepare for the reaction of the HOPE Project to the Venezuelan crisis.
The project HOPE is coordinating with the Eramo Meoz hospital, a large hospital in Cucuta, Colombia, to provide a tremendous amount of support for Colombian doctors while investigating additional humanitarian aid opportunities.
Large hospitals and health care facilities near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, one of the most active border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia, are overwhelmed by the rapid influx of Venezuelans and refugees in need of health care.
Oil Became the Primary Source of Income for Venezuela
Unfortunately, as oil became the primary source of income for Venezuela, other industries suffered, the government borrowed a lot to cover the extensive social programmes that it could not afford, and the Venezuelan people became increasingly dependent on the government for food, water, and medicines.
There are ways to help Venezuela by a donation to finance Project HOPE‘s humanitarian aid efforts, such as the 2018 Venezuelan Crisis.
The plan was so successful, coupled with a few geopolitical events between Iran and the USA and China and the USA, and Libya, Nigeria, and the unintentional manufacturing interruptions, OPEC conspired to increase production in mid – 2018.
While the Venezuelan economy and oil production and exports are falling, they will never collapse, as China and Russia, both of them, who have to pay more than 30 bn or loan debt, will never let the Venezuelan economy collapse due to economic and geopolitical reasons.
Besides, China wants to maintain long-term links with Venezuela, if for no other reason than the enormous oil reserves in Venezuela and the continuing demand for various oil partners.
Venezuela’s money is “Worthless”
Venezuela has admitted that their money has become virtually worthless and it is time to start again.
Venezuela is not the first country to respond to inflation beyond control with a currency change.
To ease the inflation spiral of Venezuela – and Turkey – it will have to go to the source, which is overspending by the government funded by more money.
Venezuela urgently needs financial aid, but Nicolas Maduro’s regime has few international allies.
Venezuela’s National Cryptocurrency
After the worst economic crisis in Venezuela, the country’s currency Bolivar had devalued around 103,000 people for the US Dollar due to the incredible increase in inflation.
Instead, Venezuela seeks to take advantage of a national cryptocurrency, which is primarily supported by the world’s largest oil reserve.
However, the Venezuelan Government hopes that the cryptocurrency will explode to raise funds to finance the growing public debt quickly.
While the Venezuelan government is currently funding directly from the pdv’s proceeds, it would be financed directly by the people by a 50 % tax on the individual fund’s assets.
Ideally, oil and gas would have a smaller footprint in a much more diversified Venezuelan economy.
Venezuelan People are moving to the USA and other countries
Venezuelans have flooded the United States as their homeland faces a severe economic and political crisis.
When Venezuela flourished more, middle – class immigrants could legally become employees for multinational oil companies under visas who were given to experts in their fields or become legal investors.
Tomas Paez, a sociologist at the Central University of Venezuela, who studies the country’s migration patterns, said that few people in the country have 100 dollars for a tourist visa application, not to mention 600 dollars for a flight ticket when even a teacher who is fully satisfied with inflation.
Can Project HOPE help?
Project HOPE is on the ground in Colombia to support the country’s health care system.
Four Project HOPE physicians have treated 179 traumatized patients after the end of the violence at the border in February, the force that has led to the destruction of aid packages for the vulnerable Venezuelans.
Project HOPE is well positioned to provide solutions and is actively working in Colombia’s border cities to support the health needs of Venezuelans displaced.
The deterioration of the economic and political conditions in Venezuela over the past four years has led to severe food and drug shortages and the development of the local health care system.
When Chavez first gained power in Venezuela, the state oil company produced about 3. 4 million barrels a day.
As national income plummeted, Chavez and Maduro approached the central bank to push more money away, leaving a gap in their annual budget.
Hanke has been following the Venezuelan economy for the last five years, creating a daily estimate of national inflation.
Petro Cryptocurrency
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro announced last December the so-called “petro” at the height of Bitcoin’s madness, which made Venezuela the world’s first country to officially launch cryptocurrency.
Maduro peddled petro as a “great response” to what he sees as ( or says ) the significant problems of the country: the hegemony of the greenback, American sanctions, merciless capitalist pigs lined up on its borders, etc.
