Venezuelans buy gas with cigarettes to 戦う/戦い インフレーション

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - 運転者s in 社会主義者 Venezuela have long enjoyed the world's cheapest ガソリン, with 燃料 so ひどく 補助金を支給するd that a 十分な 戦車/タンク these days costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny. But the economy is in such shambles that drivers are now 支払う/賃金ing for fill-ups with a little food, a candy 妨げる/法廷,弁護士業 or just a cigarette.

物々交換するing at the pump has taken off as 超インフレ makes Venezuela's paper 通貨, the bolivar, hard to find and (判決などを)下すs some denominations all but worthless, so that nobody will 受託する them.

Without cash in their wallets, drivers often 手渡す gas 駅/配置する attendants a 捕らえる、獲得する of rice, cooking oil or whatever is within reach.

"You can 支払う/賃金 with a cigarette," said Orlando Molina, filling up his subcompact Ford Ka in Caracas. "Heck, it's no secret to anyone that it goes for nothing."

Gas is so dirt-cheap that 駅/配置する attendants don't even know the price. Emptyhanded drivers get waved through, 支払う/賃金ing nothing at all.

This 物々交換する system, while perhaps the envy of cash-strapped drivers outside the country, is just another symptom of bedlam in Venezuela.

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas station attendant Leowaldo Sanchez poses with food items he was paid with by motorists: a bottle of cooking oil, a kilogram if rice and a package of corn flour, as he works at the pump in San Antonio de los Altos on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. Bartering at the pump has taken off as hyperinflation makes Venezuela's paper currency, the bolivar, hard to find and renders some denominations all but worthless, so that nobody will accept them. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas 駅/配置する attendant Leowaldo Sanchez 提起する/ポーズをとるs with food items he was paid with by 運転者s: a 瓶/封じ込める of cooking oil, a キログラム if rice and a 一括 of corn flour, as he 作品 at the pump in San Antonio de los Altos on the 郊外s of Caracas, Venezuela. 物々交換するing at the pump has taken off as 超インフレ makes Venezuela's paper 通貨, the bolivar, hard to find and (判決などを)下すs some denominations all but worthless, so that nobody will 受託する them. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

The South American nation of 概略で 30 million people is gripped by a 深くするing political and 経済的な 危機. People live with a nagging feeling that anything from violent street 抗議するs to a 大規模な 力/強力にする 失敗 could throw their lives into 大混乱 at any moment.

More than 4 million Venezuelans have fled the country in 最近の years, escaping low 給料, broken hospitals, failing basic services and 欠如(する) of 安全.

The International 通貨の 基金 says インフレーション is 推定する/予想するd to 攻撃する,衝突する a staggering?200,000% this year. Venezuela dropped five 無s from its 通貨 last year in a futile 試みる/企てる to keep up with インフレーション. 急に上がるing prices quickly devoured the new denominations.

The smallest 法案 in 循環/発行部数, 50 bolivars, is 価値(がある) about 4半期/4分の1 of a U.S. penny. City buses and even banks don't 受託する it, arguing it would take such a 厚い wad of 法案s to 支払う/賃金 for even the most modest items that it wouldn't be 価値(がある) the trouble. The largest 法案, 50,000 bolivars, equals $2.50.

Venezuela, which sits 頂上に the world's largest oil reserves, was once rich. But the economy has fallen into 廃虚 because of what critics say has been two 10年間s of 汚職 and mismanagement under 社会主義者 支配する.

大統領 Nicol?s Maduro's 持つ/拘留する on 力/強力にする is under challenge from 対立 政治家,政治屋 Juan Guaid?, who has the 支援 of the 部隊d 明言する/公表するs and more than 50 other countries that 競う Maduro's re-選挙 in 2018 was crooked.

ガソリン prices are a deadly serious 事柄 in Venezuela. 概略で 300 people died in 1989 during 暴動s that 爆発するd after the country's 大統領,/社長 at the time ordered a modest rise in 燃料 prices.

まっただ中に the 経済的な 衝突,墜落, Maduro has not 大幅に raised gas prices, a 戦略 that was probably 増強するd after violent 抗議するs recently 軍隊d the 大統領,/社長 of Ecuador to 支援する off 計画(する)s to end 燃料 補助金s there.

Maduro has 定評のある that the 明言する/公表する-run oil company, PDVSA, loses billions of dollars a year because of the discrepancy between the price of ガソリン and the costs of 生産/産物.

At the most, a 戦車/タンク of Venezuelan ガソリン has 歴史的に cost the 同等(の) of a few U.S. pennies. Because of インフレーション and 平価切下げ of the 通貨, that has 急落(する),激減(する)d even その上の.

Caracas 居住(者) Maria Perez filled up one day recently, 手渡すing the attendant the 同等(の) of one penny, the smallest 法案 she had. Most drivers would 喜んで 支払う/賃金 the true price of gas if the 政府 would use the proceeds to 投資する in services, she said.

"Our roads are unbearable," she said while running errands on her day off with her mother in the 乗客 seat. "There are 抱擁する 穴を開けるs - 噴火口,クレーターs - that not only 損失 our cars but also put our own lives at 危険."

ガソリン in Venezuela's 資本/首都 of Caracas, the seat of 力/強力にする and largest 全住民 中心, has so far been 免疫の from the 不足s and mile-long lines that 疫病/悩ます other parts of the country and can leave drivers waiting for days to reach the pump. 公式の/役人s 非難する the 不足s on U.S. 許可/制裁s against PDVSA.

Service 駅/配置する attendant Orlando Godoy stacked the food and drinks he received from drivers on 最高の,を越す of the pumps - a 捕らえる、獲得する of cooking flour, cooking oil, a 瓶/封じ込める of mango juice. He earns 最小限 行う, which 量s to a few dollars a month, so the food helps 料金d his family.

"A lot of people show up 説 they don't have cash to 支払う/賃金," he said. "The idea is to help people because Venezuelans are going through a rough 状況/情勢."

___

Associated 圧力(をかける) writer Jorge Rueda and videographers Ricardo 修道女s and Clbyburn Saint John 与える/捧げるd to this 報告(する)/憶測.

In this Oct. 13, 2019 photo, a gas attendant fills up plastic bottles with gasoline for a customer at a gas station in Chivacoa, Venezuela. Gas is so dirt-cheap that station attendants don't even know the price, and empty handed drivers get waved through, paying nothing at all. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 13, 2019 photo, a gas attendant fills up plastic 瓶/封じ込めるs with ガソリン for a 顧客 at a gas 駅/配置する in Chivacoa, Venezuela. Gas is so dirt-cheap that 駅/配置する attendants don't even know the price, and empty 手渡すd drivers get waved through, 支払う/賃金ing nothing at all. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, motorist Carlos Ortega waits as his car is filled up with gasoline by an attendant, who he paid in cash instead of bartering, at a gas station in San Antonio de los Altos on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. Motorists in socialist Venezuela have long enjoyed the world's cheapest gasoline, with fuel so heavily subsidized that a full tank these days costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, 運転者 Carlos Ortega waits as his car is filled up with ガソリン by an attendant, who he paid in cash instead of 物々交換するing, at a gas 駅/配置する in San Antonio de los Altos on the 郊外s of Caracas, Venezuela. 運転者s in 社会主義者 Venezuela have long enjoyed the world's cheapest ガソリン, with 燃料 so ひどく 補助金を支給するd that a 十分な 戦車/タンク these days costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas station attendant Leowaldo Sanchez takes a cigarette as payment from a motorist as he fills the tank in San Antonio de los Altos on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. This barter system, while perhaps the envy of cash-strapped drivers outside the country, is just another symptom of bedlam in Venezuela where a full tank these days costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas 駅/配置する attendant Leowaldo Sanchez takes a cigarette as 支払い(額) from a 運転者 as he fills the 戦車/タンク in San Antonio de los Altos on the 郊外s of Caracas, Venezuela. This 物々交換する system, while perhaps the envy of cash-strapped drivers outside the country, is just anoth er symptom of bedlam in Venezuela where a 十分な 戦車/タンク these days costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas attendant Orlando Godoy counts his Bolivars bills in San Antonio de los Altos on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela, a country where a full tank these days costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny. The smallest bill in circulation, 50 bolivars, is worth about quarter of a U.S. penny, and the largest bill, 50,000 bolivars, equals $2.50 dollars. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas attendant Orlando Godoy counts his Bolivars 法案s in San Antonio de los Altos on the 郊外s of Caracas, Venezuela, a country where a 十分な 戦車/タンク these days costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny. The smallest 法案 in 循環/発行部数, 50 bolivars, is 価値(がある) about 4半期/4分の1 of a U.S. penny, and the largest 法案, 50,000 bolivars, equals $2.50 dollars. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas station attendant Orlando Godoy takes a package of corn flour as payment after filling a motorist's tank, which costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny, in San Antonio de los Altos on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. The economy is in such shambles that drivers are now paying for fill-ups with a little food, a candy bar or just a cigarette.  (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, gas 駅/配置する attendant Orlando Godoy takes a 一括 of corn flour as 支払い(額) after filling a 運転者's 戦車/タンク, which costs a tiny fraction of a U.S. penny, in San Antonio de los Altos on the 郊外s of Caracas, Venezuela. The economy is in such shambles that drivers are now 支払う/賃金ing for fill-ups with a little food, a candy 妨げる/法廷,弁護士業 or just a cigarette. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, a gas station attendant fills a truck's tank in San Antonio de los Altos on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. Amid the economic crash, President Nicolas Maduro has not substantially raised gas prices, a strategy that was probably reinforced after violent protests recently forced the president of Ecuador to back off plans to end fuel subsidies there. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this Oct. 8, 2019 photo, a gas 駅/配置する attendant fills a トラックで運ぶ's 戦車/タンク in San Antonio de los Altos on the 郊外s of Caracas, Venezuela. まっただ中に the 経済的な 衝突,墜落, 大統領 Nicolas Maduro has not 大幅に raised gas prices, a 戦略 that was probably 増強するd after violent 抗議するs recently 軍隊d the 大統領,/社長 of Ecuador to 支援する off 計画(する)s to end 燃料 補助金s there. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Sorry we are not 現在/一般に 受託するing comments on this article.