Venezuela's opposition lawmakers have reportedly paid themselves $5,000 from a payout meant for the nation's doctors and nurses engaged in battle with the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the Associated Press.
The legislation, passed by the National Assembly and envisaging the so-called Liberation Fund, was supposed to be an achievement for Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed president, Juan Guaido. However, no accurate details of the new measure have been revealed, with Guaido only saying 17 percent of the announced $80 million would be reportedly spent on "defence and strengthening of the national legislative power and the social protection of its members". No further explanation or elaboration has followed.
The compensation that two lawmakers and three Guaido aides allegedly assigned for themselves is characterized as a 'stipend' that would cover unpaid legislative work they have done since 2015, when President Nicholas Maduro cut funding to the legislature. They also noted that payments of $1,000 a month, spread out over five years of legislative sessions, is "far less than what lawmakers earn across other parts of Latin America".
This comes amid Guaido promoting three $100 monthly bonuses to an estimated 60,000 nurses and doctors who are in the fight against COVID-19, just after the legislation passed.
"The dictatorship has billions of our dollars sequestered but we, with less than 0.01% of what they have, can do a lot more", Guaido said, announcing his plan.
Economist Francisco Rodriguez, formerly with the nation's National Assembly, told AP that, despite welcoming good salaries for legislative workers, he would prefer it if the government would first begin with Venezuelans who are suffering the most from the country's economic collapse.
"It's deeply disturbing that legislators would be willing to approve a generous compensation package for themselves without having yet found the time to discuss how they can use the funds at their disposal to help Venezuelans now living on the verge of starvation," said Rodriguez.
Currently, there are 298 confirmed coronavirus cases in Venezuela with 10 fatalities, according to data collated by the Johns Hopkins University.
The political situation in Venezuela derailed in January 2019 after Guaido proclaimed himself interim president. Several countries, including the US, endorsed him as Venezuela's leader and urged the incumbent president, Maduro, to step down.
Besides, the Trump administration recently imposed sanctions on the country, blocking $7 billion in assets belonging to Venezuela's national oil and gas company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and its subsidiaries.
Maduro, backed by Russia, China and other countries, slammed the sanctions as efforts to destroy the sovereignty of Venezuela and seize its fossil fuel assets, said to be the largest in the world. The embattled Maduro has characterized Guaido as a "US puppet", and accused the White House of orchestrating a coup in the country.
