The minimum wage in Venezuela reached one dollar per month this Friday, according to the exchange rate of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), an amount that is complemented by government bonuses of up to 160 dollars, paid at the daily rate of the issuing agency to public employees and without affecting the calculation of labor benefits.
The dollar, according to the official BCV rate, stood at 131.12 bolivars this Friday.
The phrase "Finally, they did it..." resonates with bitter sarcasm in Venezuela, where the minimum wage and pension have collapsed to a figure that officially equals one U.S. dollar.
This situation is more than a simple statistic; it is a reflection of a human drama that deepens day by day.
For more than three years, the minimum wage has remained frozen at 130 bolivars. What at one time represented a value of around 30 dollars, today, due to constant devaluation, barely reaches one dollar.
The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in its article 91, guarantees the right to a decent wage, which must be sufficient to cover the basic needs of the worker and their family. However, the current reality completely contradicts this principle.
The minimum wage has become a symbolic figure, a hunger payment that condemns millions of Venezuelans to extreme poverty and a desperate search for alternatives to survive.
In a country where the cost of living is measured in dollars, having such a low official income is, as is well mentioned, a mockery of the right to a decent life.
