Caracas, Apr 24 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday criticized his main rival in next month’s election, Henri Falcon, for his plan to dollarize the nation’s economy in an attempt to stop hyperinflation.
“Candidate Henri Falcon does not know what he is saying,” Maduro said in response to a question about the dollarization proposal, adding, “That program was written for him in New York by a gentleman named Francisco Rodriguez, a puppet of international banks. Unfortunately, (Falcon) has a person who gives him very bad advice at his side.”
Authorship of Falcon’s economic proposals – including the dollarization of the economy, which would end the more than 10 years of currency controls – is attributed to Rodriguez, who heads Falcon’s team of advisers.
“The proposal to dollarize and do away with the Venezuelan currency is unconstitutional,” Maduro said. “The Constitution very clearly states that Venezuela’s currency is the bolivar.”
Falcon’s team of advisors on Monday confirmed their resolve to dollarize the Venezuelan economy should he win the May 20 presidential election, adding that the decision is part of a “macroeconomic stabilization plan whose main anchor is dollarization.”
Rodriguez said that the measure is “guaranteed to stop hyperinflation, … (given that) the government cannot print dollars.”