Entry of Venezuela into Mercosur hits employment

The national coordinator of opposition party Primero Justicia, Julio Borges, explained on Sunday that considering the current conditions of the national economy, the entry of Venezuela into the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) will "ravage the few formal jobs left in the country, turning all of us into street vendors."

In his view, while the rest of Mercosur member countries will "receive 30 million consumers," we, Venezuelans, will "become the street vendors of Brazilian and Argentinean products, and to top it all, they will rely on the energy resources of our country."  

Plunge

As Borges pointed it out, over the last 14 years "the President (Hugo Chávez) has ordered the seizure of enterprises and taken actions resulting in the closure of 200,000 national industries. Consequently, more than 1 million jobs from the industrial and agriculture sectors have been cut." Borges also stressed that "nothing is produced in the country," and "unfortunately, oil is the only thing we can sell to Mercosur member countries."

A change for growth

"The reactivation of the national economy and, indeed, the generation of new quality jobs will only be possible by electing a new president, an individual willing to support new proposals such as a law to boost domestic production (Ley de Impulso de la Producción Nacional), aimed at bolstering production and encouraging entrepreneurs to produce more and better Made-in-Venezuela products," Borges highlighted.

Borges, also a member of the Parliament, insisted on stressing the need for "generating quality jobs in our country, our land, rather than in other countries as the president has done it by giving away our resources."

Translated by Jhean Cabrera