Sawt Falasteen - Venezuelan protesters call government wage hike a joke

Acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday hiked the monthly "comprehensive minimum income" from $190 to $240 -- a package comprised mostly of government bonuses that do not count toward retirement benefits or holiday pay.

Protesters chanted "a bonus is not a salary" as they marched through the center of Caracas, with dozens of riot police looking on. Smaller protests were reported in other parts of the country.

A family of five's basic food needs are estimated to cost about $700 a month in Venezuela.

Juraina Palacios, a 55-year-old teacher, said of Rodriguez: "What she did yesterday was an outrage."

"It's a joke, a trick," said union leader Franklin Velasquez, 61.

Rodriguez -- Nicolas Maduro's vice president before US forces captured him in a stunning raid in January -- is grappling with leading a country that has the world's largest proven oil reserves but an economy in shambles.

Announcing the new minimum wage package on Thursday, she said it was "the most significant increase in recent years" but acknowledged that it was still "not enough."

Demands for better working conditions are intensifying in a devastated economy that shows no signs of recovery following decades of chronic price hikes. In 2025, Venezuela recorded inflation of 475 percent, the highest in the world.

"Workers cannot continue to bear the burden of a crisis they did not cause," union leader Jose Patines said Friday.

Rodriguez has promised better days ahead thanks to reforms opening the oil and mining sector to investment.

Venezuela has signed agreements with various multinational oil companies, including Chevron, Eni, and Repsol, and on Thursday welcomed the first direct flight from the United States in seven years, the latest sign of thawing relations since Washington deposed Maduro.

P.AbuBaker--SF-PST