Caracas — How to kickstart the recovery of the Venezuelan economy is the most sought-after objective among the opposition pre-candidates for the presidency, who in the race for the primary election have announced their proposals and, in some cases, garnered international support.
María Corina Machado, the favorite in the polls but politically disqualified by the Comptroller General’s Office, and Roberto Enríquez, president of Copei, one of the parties with the longest trajectory in the country, have been the only candidates who have unveiled their team of economic advisors.
Economist Steve Hanke, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, was announced by Enríquez’s team as his main advisor. Hanke has shown his expertise in hyperinflation and currency policy, and accompanies Enriquez’s proposal to close the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) and implement a monetary board to balance the printing of local money and foreign currency.
Machado’s team is made up of economists Sary Levy, Rafael de la Cruz, Gustavo García, Carlos Blanco, Henkel García and Hugo Bravo. They have unified a proposal called “expansive stabilization”, with which they address the possibility of restructuring Venezuelan debt and privatizing some institutions such as the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
Machado plans to travel on July 18 to present her plan at an event with bondholders in New York.
According to Bloomberg News, the opposition politician will seek an “amicable agreement with bondholders” that includes the restructuring of Venezuela’s $60 billion in defaulted bonds. The plan includes a debt swap for ownership or stakes in state-owned companies that would be privatized under her government.
From the two-time former presidential candidate, Henrique Capriles Radonski, who has not formalized a team or series of policy proposals, some possible approaches have been suggested, from, among others, the former deputy of his party Primero Justicia and economist José Guerra in an article that points to Capriles’ economic vision.
In the article, Guerra considers it necessary to establish alliances between the public and private sectors for the electricity, water and transportation sectors, with direct transfers to families as social emergency measures, but for which no amounts have been fixed yet.
The former candidate for the governorship of Barinas, Freddy Superlano, who despite his disqualification replaced Juan Guaidó in the candidacy proposed by Voluntad Popular, recently announced the formalization of his proposal, called #Plan2024.
Superlano has insisted, like the rest of the candidates to represent the opposition in the 2024 elections, on economic stabilization, supported by an agro-industrial recovery, a federal and decentralized state as well as a separation of powers, absent during the last 20 years under the ‘Chavismo’ movement begun by former president Hugo Chávez, a regime inherited by current President Nicolás Maduro. Superlano has also proposed payouts to families, for up to $100 to poor and low-income households.
Carlos Prosperi, the candidate for Acción Democrática, another of the oldest parties in Venezuela, has also insisted on a plan to diversify the economy, including a fund for pensioners and a proposal to modernize schools and hospitals.
He has mentioned proposals such as the elimination of taxes, among them the tax on large financial transactions, and the strengthening of national production. He has also highlighted the need for a salary increase and the incorporation to the Swift system to access world banking.
His team is made up of engineer Gelvis Sequera, economist Armando Jaén, doctor Dianela Parra, professor Irma Rojas de Silva and lawyer Manuel Rojas Pérez.
In the government plan of César Almeida, an entrepreneur and agricultural producer, reference has been made to the implementation of a national proposal for extensive crop sowing and the strengthening of the banking system.
The candidate for the Popular Political Unity 89 organization has insisted on increasing oil production, although without specifying his exact plan, and has also expressed his agreement with the proposal to develop a negotiation process to allow the return of expropriated companies.
The rest of the 14 aspiring candidates to represent the opposition in the 2024 elections leave voters awaiting their proposals and economic plans for the country, which is suffering yer-on-year inflation of 537.7%, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Finance, a drop in oil production to 700,000 barrels per day and a foreign debt that needs to be restructured.
The primary election seeking to unify an opposition candidate to face Maduro in the presidential elections of 2024 is expected to be held on October 22, without the assistance of the National Electoral Council and with the participation of Venezuelans abroad who have updated their data with the Venezuelan Electoral Registry.
