ZCZC
BCN-06
US-VENEZUELA-ECONOMY
US says poised to pump dollars into Venezuela after Maduro
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The US is prepared to pump dollars
into Venezuela to fortify its economy if President Nicolas Maduro leaves, the
top White House economic advisor said Wednesday, as American senators
introduced legislation to authorize $400 million in humanitarian aid.
Larry Kudlow told reporters that Washington is already working with banks
and the International Monetary Fund on a rebuilding plan to revitalize the
country’s crushed economy and said that, when the time comes, “we will be
moving as fast as we can.”
“We call it Day Two,” he said at a briefing arranged by The Christian
Science Monitor newspaper.
“It would be a rescue plan, it would be a restructuring plan, it would be
a plan to put cash into the country.”
Venezuela’s oil economy has crumbled under a collapse of crude exports and
international sanctions against Maduro, whom Washington and its allies view
as illegitimate.
The United States has been pressuring for Maduro to step down or be
overthrown, but he has clung to power with the support of Venezuela’s
military.
“The timeline is to get rid of Maduro. I have no idea when that is going
to be,” said Kudlow.
Once Maduro leaves, economic assistance would be immediate, beginning with
pushing the US currency in to reignite economic activity, moving it via
“banks, iPhones, apps,” said Kudlow, who is director of the National Economic
Council.
“The cash will not be bolivares, it will be dollars, at least at the
beginning,” he said.
“There is no demand for bolivares. Dollars are the answer.”
MORE/HR/0948
ZCZC
BCN-07
US-VENEZUELA-ECONOMY 2 LAST WASHINGTON
– More aid for Venezuela –
On Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of US senators introduced legislation
to authorize $400 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuela.
The funds are part of a package of measures aimed at re-establishing
democracy and supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Since 2017, Washington has allocated more than $195 million for
humanitarian aid for Latin American nations that are taking in Venezuelan
migrants and refugees. In January, the US Agency for International
Development said that it could kick in an additional $20 million.
The bipartisan senate initiative, known as the “Venezuela Emergency
Relief, Democracy Assistance, and Development Act” — acronym VERDAD, or
truth in Spanish — was proposed by New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez and
Florida Republican Marco Rubio.
More than 50 countries including the United States support Guaido, the
head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly legislature, as
Venezuela’s interim president. Russia and China back Maduro.
Malnutrition and disease are on the rise as living conditions plummet in
Venezuela, which is spiraling ever deeper into economic chaos during the
protracted political crisis.
BSS/AFP/HR/0950