Protests erupt in Venezuela as interim President Rodriguez defers wage hikes

Thousands of workers took to the streets of Caracas on Thursday, protesting the ongoing wage freeze and demanding clarity on a forthcoming salary adjustment announced by interim President Delcy Rodríguez.

Nearly 2,000 protesters, many decrying “starvation wages,” were met with tear gas and riot shields as security forces blocked their march toward the Miraflores Palace. The unrest follows four years of frozen wages in a country where the minimum monthly income has been eroded by hyperinflation.

Venezuela’s minimum wage currently stands at 130 bolivars, or roughly $0.27, though government subsidies can boost total monthly income to nearly $150. That remains far below the cost of a basic food basket for a family of five, estimated at about $645, leaving most citizens in extreme poverty.

The last official wage adjustment was decreed by former President Nicolas Maduro in 2022, when the base income was set at around $28.

Rodríguez, who assumed interim power following Maduro’s capture in a US military operation on January 3, faces intense domestic and international pressure. While governing under a US-monitored framework for oil sales, she has promised a “responsible increase” to be detailed on May 1.

“As long as Venezuela has sufficient resources to sustain wage increases and improve workers' incomes, we will continue down this path,” Rodríguez said Wednesday, declining to specify a figure.

Since taking office, the interim administration has moved quickly to overhaul the nation’s economic and legal framework. Rodríguez has pushed through oil reform, is drafting similar legislation for the mining sector to attract foreign investment, and has enacted an amnesty law that facilitated the release of hundreds of political prisoners. The government is also attempting to curb annual inflation, which still exceeds six hundred percent, while managing the severe economic contraction of the past decade.

For workers on the streets, however, policy reforms offer little relief without immediate action.