[ENG-ESP] Un día de protestas 🗣 // A day of protests 🗣

I think we all know about the current situation in Venezuela, which has been going on for several years and has gone through different stages; that is to say, we went through shortages of food, personal products, automotive parts, medicines, blackouts and, as if that were not enough, the Covid-19. So let's say that these things were overcome, but then there were other circumstances.

A pesar de ahora podemos ver supermercados llenos de alimentos tanto nacionales como importados, diversas tiendas de repuestos e innumerables farmacias; empezó otro inconveniente y fue el poder adquisitivo, ya el problema no era la escasez, ahora es que el venezolano no contaba con el dinero suficiente para poder comprar todo lo que necesitaba para vivir. Entonces ocurrió una dolarización forzada y es que todo el mundo comenzó a vender en dólares o al cambio (quiere decir en bolívares al precio actual del dólar) y esto digamos le dio un respiro a la economía del país.

Sin embargo, existe una población muy desprotegida que sigue viviendo el problema de no contar con el poder adquisitivo necesario para cubrir sus necesidades más básicas, y dicha población es los jubilados, pensionados y empleados públicos. Son personas cuyo salario mínimo es 130,00 bs que al día de hoy es aproximadamente 13$, y con eso el gobierno pretende que un pensionado pueda alimentarse y comer durante todo un mes.

Despite the fact that we can now see supermarkets full of both national and imported foodstuffs, various spare parts shops and innumerable pharmacies, another problem began and that was purchasing power, the problem was no longer shortages, now it was that Venezuelans did not have enough money to buy everything they needed to live. So a forced dollarisation took place and everyone began to sell in dollars or at the exchange rate (i.e. in bolivars at the current price of the dollar) and this gave the country's economy some breathing space.

However, there is a very unprotected population that continues to experience the problem of not having the purchasing power necessary to cover their most basic needs, and that population is the retirees, pensioners and public employees. These are people whose minimum wage is 130.00 bs, which today is approximately 13$, and with that the government pretends that a pensioner can feed and eat for a whole month.

The other case of public employees is that of doctors and teachers, who, although their salary is not the minimum wage, but is based on a scale, are not enough to live on. For example, a secondary school teacher with a full load and postgraduate studies earns $40.50 a month plus a $5.00 food voucher. Although this is a little more, the reality is that it is not a fair salary for those who have in their hands the task of educating the future of the country.

Although they have made attempts to improve, the truth is that inflation always underlies these adjustments, which is why the union has taken the decision to take to the streets again to demand the discussion of a new collective contract, with adjustments based on the dollar and increases every six months. So this struggle began with an assembly on Tuesday 22 November 2022 in the vicinity of the Education Zone of Lara State by the teachers' union and later with a march in a major avenue of the city, in order to raise our voice and that everyone hears us that "Without education there is no country".

And many people tell me "get out of there" or "quit that job", but now I ask them, do the young people who are still in the country and who do not have the resources to pay for private education not have the right to a quality education? I could be fully in a public school or even in Hive, but the truth is that there is something called "Vocation" and that is a virtue that most teachers have at the moment, because the truth is that we are not working for money, because we almost always have to take out of our pockets to buy materials, which in reality is the responsibility of the state.

That is why I decided to write this article, for those people who are still in the country and have their children in schools, support the teachers in their struggle, because they are fighting for the future of your children, do not get upset when you see them with banners in the streets, do not verbally attack them because they close a street, remember that they are professionals who were prepared in a university for five years to provide your child with a quality education.