Venezuelan Pensioners Take to the Streets to Demand Payment

Hundreds of pensioners lined up outside banks and even blocked main roads in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Sep. 1 to demand monthly benefits in this South American country suffering from hyperinflation.

The retirees and others living on pensions arrived at banks in the early hours on Sep. 1 carrying umbrellas and small chairs in anticipation of the long lines that quickly formed.

Others took to the streets to demand payments, blockading downtown roads and forcing traffic to turn around.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro previously announced that state pensions would be increased as part of a package of economic measures that included a currency devaluation and tax reform.

4.3 million Venezuelan pensioners are set to receive 1,800 Bolivars per month (30 U.S. dollars at the official rate or 21 dollars at the parallel rate). The government said the new payments would start on Sep. 1 with two other instalments to come over the following week.

Venezuela’s vice president for economic matters, Tareck El Aissami, in a speech broadcast on state television on Sep. 1 sought to assure pensioners that payments had been made.