Economic Problems Facing Venezuela

Michael Lebowitz, Canadian economist who has written extensively on Latin America talks to Newsclick on the economic problems facing Venezuela and the recent protests in the country. He says these protests have been orchestrated by the Right forces which want to get rid of the Maduro government. They are happening in rich neighbourhoods; the poor are not participating in them. Saying these protests would not go very far and would fizzle out, Lebowitz points out that there is an underlying serious economic problem that did not originate with Maduro and which has been building for quite a while, of an over-valued currency. Leibowitz says the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement is an international assault on the people and it can be countered only by an international response.