The new failure of radical socialism in Venezuela is exposed when one looks at the number of people who seek to leave the country. Many people have run desperately away from the regime imposed by Chvez and continued by Nicols Maduro.
One example of those who are fleeing their Venezuelan homes is a student I met in Spain named Willians. I first met Willians toward the end of 2011. He arrived late to the Austrian Economics Course we were attending at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, in Madrid. Having graduated from the Universidad de Carabobo in Venezuela, he was delayed in his arrival due to the amount of paperwork he had to do in order to get the necessary euros at the official exchange rate. Despite his efforts, the government – which heavily regulates currency exchanges – did not approve his request, and he had to cover all of his expenses at the black market foreign exchange rate.
He paid for that with his own savings and with the help of his sister.
In 2011, the official rate for the dollar was 4.3 bolvares, while it could be bought on the black market for around 9, more than twice the official price.
This post was published at Ludwig von Mises Institute on June 24, 2016.
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