CARACAS.- Vladimir Padrino López, Minister of Defense of the Nicolás Maduro regime, is displayed on a bicycle valued at more than 14,000 dollars, while repudiating the “economic blockade”after the sanctions imposed by the United States on members of the chavista dome.
On May 25, the leader of Chavismo promoted a “great cycling background”called Battle of Carabobo 2024, with more than 1,000 “athletes”, including generals, admirals and officers, riding a bicycle from the American company Specialized Bicycle Componentshigh-end S-Works model, valued between $14,000 and $14,500.
“Tell me something Vladimir Padrino López, How do sanctions work? “I see you on a bicycle made in the USA that costs $14,500,” political analyst José Carrasquero expressed on social media through his X account.
Sanctions and “blockade”
In recent years, the Maduro regime has blamed the humanitarian emergency that Venezuela has faced since 2013 on the sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union (EU) on Chavista officials since 2016, for undermining democracy and committing human rights violations. .
Within the framework of the electoral campaign, the Chavista leadership has blamed various leaders of the Venezuelan opposition, including María Corina Machado, for the sanctions and, therefore, for the unprecedented crisis that has forced more than seven million of Venezuelans to flee the country, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
On March 25, 2023, the Venezuelan minister assured that Maduro “she is giving birth” to pay the salaries of teachers, whose minimum income is 130 bolivars (3.5 dollars) since March 2022.
“I imagine my commander in chief (Nicolás Maduro) giving birth as he is to pay salaries, giving birth to maintain the Armed Forces, pay the teachers, recover the schools, clinics and hospitals,” Padrino López expressed in that moment, justifying the paltry salary income in the “economic blockade.”
ostentation
Public workers, teachers, pensioners and retirees have been protesting permanently since 2022 for better salary income and pensions, which allow them to have a quality of life in a country in which basic food basket cost $554.26 for March 2024.
This, while various representatives of the regime, including Nicolás Maduro, show off socialist ostentation, with the opening of a luxury vehicle dealership, the use of brand-name clothing and high-value equipment. “How can you buy bicycles and vans and there is no attention for retired military personnel?”Carrasquero questioned.
In April, Maduro, a fierce critic of “capitalism,” aroused the indignation of Internet users by wearing a luxury watch from the Swiss brand Hublot Watch, valued at more than $44,000.
On the 30th anniversary of Hugo Chávez’s release from a Venezuelan prison outside Caracas, the clock King Gold from the Hublot Watch brandwith a striped structured black rubber strap, featuring an exclusive 18-karat gold alloy and valued at $44,900, took center stage.
The leaders of Chavismo, mostly from humble origins with income from the State, usually use luxury brand clothing, shoes, accessories and vehicles in the different public events in which they participate, while in Venezuela the crisis worsens in hospitals , schools and the homes of millions of Venezuelans, where More than half of the population lives in multidimensional povertyaccording to the 2023 Living Conditions Survey.
Source: With information from Tal Qué / La República / social networks
