The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced its projection that Venezuela will reach a million annual inflation rate this year, ask if it is because that country has the most inept government on Earth or if it is following a deliberate policy to encourage the mass migration of government critics.
Probably it started as the first, but I am beginning to think that the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has decided that it is a good political strategy to allow the economy to collapse and lead millions of disaffected people to emigrate.
After all, Cuba, the closest ally of Venezuela and the country where Maduro regularly travels for advice and moral support, did just that five decades ago, and his dictatorship is still in power. Call it political cleansing, if you want. It is estimated that more than 4 million Venezuelans, about 10 percent of the population.
The new IMF estimates published on July 23, the country's economic growth will be reduced by 18 percent this year, and will have decreased by 50 percent in the last four years. That is likely to continue to drive a large number of Venezuelans to emigrate abroad, says the IMF.
Think it does not sound so crazy the idea!