AP sources: Guaido allies to pay selves $5K in Venezuela budget with $100 bonus for health care work
JOSHUA GOODMAN
The Associated Press
APR 23, 2020 5:19 PM
MIAMI — Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela quietly agreed to pay themselves $5,000 a month when they approved special $100 bonuses for doctors and nurses battling the coronavirus — a large payout for a nation where most workers are scraping by on a few dollars a month, according to people involved in the process.
The payout, which has not been previously reported, was contained in legislation passed last week by the National Assembly setting up an $80 million “Liberation Fund” made up of Venezuelan assets seized by the Trump administration as part of its sanctions campaign to remove socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.
The legislation was touted as a hallmark achievement for Juan Guaido, the 36-year-old congressional leader recognized as Venezuela’s rightful president by the U.S. and nearly 60 other nations, but who has struggled to exert real power. For this first time since invoking the constitution to proclaim himself as acting president, he would have access to some of the billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets frozen abroad.
But the details have been shrouded in secrecy. The text of the new measure — which implements a general law passed in February creating the fund — hasn’t been made public.
More:
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2020/04/23/Venezuela-lawmakers-Juan-Guaido-Nicolas-Maduro-health-care-workers-coronavirus/stories/202004230152
