With an inflation rate of 682%, Venezuelans work three or more jobs yet can hardly afford food. ‘Everything is so expensive’

At the White House, President Donald Trump vows that the U.S. will pour billions of dollars into the country’s infrastructure, revive the economy and eventually bring a new era of prosperity to the Latin American nation.

Here at a large – scale street market in the capital, however, utility worker Ana Calderón simply hopes she can afford the ingredients to make a pot of soup.

“Food is extremely expensive,” says Calderón, pointing out the rapidly rising prices. Celery is now selling for twice as much as it did just a few weeks ago, and a kilogram (2 pounds) of meat costs more than $10, which is 25 times the country’s monthly minimum wage. “Everything is so costly.”

Venezuelans who are processing the news about the United States’ plans are hearing grand promises of future economic strength while they are living through the current crippling economic situation.

“They are aware that the outlook has changed significantly, but they haven’t seen the change on the ground yet. What they are witnessing is repression and a great deal of confusion,” says Luisa Palacios, a Venezuelan – born economist and former oil executive who is a research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. “People are hopeful and expect things to change, but that doesn’t mean things will change right away.”

Any hope regarding the possibility of U.S. involvement improving Venezuela’s economy is accompanied by the harsh reality most people here live. People usually take on two, three or more jobs just to survive, yet their cupboards and refrigerators are almost empty. Children go to bed early to avoid the pain of hunger; parents have to choose between filling a prescription and buying groceries. It is estimated that eight out of ten people live in poverty.

This situation has led millions to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Those who stay are concentrated in Venezuela’s cities, including its capital, Caracas. The street market in the Catia neighborhood was once so crowded that shoppers bumped into each other and had to avoid oncoming traffic. But as prices have risen in recent days, locals have increasingly stayed away from the market stalls, turning the chaos into a relative quiet.

Neila Roa, carrying her 5 – month – old baby, sells packs of cigarettes to passersby. She has to monitor the daily fluctuations in the currency to adjust the price.

“There is inflation, more inflation and devaluation,” Roa says. “It’s out of control.”

Roa couldn’t believe the news of Maduro’s capture. Now, she wonders what will happen next. She thinks it would take “a miracle” to fix Venezuela’s economy.

“What we don’t know is whether the change will be for the better or for the worse,” she says. “We are in a state of uncertainty. We have to see how beneficial it can be and how much it can improve our lives.”

Trump has stated that the U.S. will distribute some of the proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil back to its people. But so far, this commitment mainly seems to focus on America’s interests in extracting more oil from Venezuela, selling more U.S. – made goods to the country and fixing the electricity grid.

The White House is hosting a meeting on Friday with U.S. oil company executives to discuss Venezuela. The Trump administration has been pressuring Venezuela to open its large but struggling oil industry more widely to American investment and expertise. In an interview with The New York Times, Trump admitted that reviving the country’s oil industry would take years.

“It will take some time to develop the oil industry,” he said.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and the country’s economy relies on them.

Maduro’s predecessor, the passionate Hugo Chávez, who was elected in 1998, expanded social services, such as housing and education, thanks to the country’s oil boom. Between 1999 and 2011, as crude prices soared, it generated revenues estimated at about $981 billion. However, corruption, a decline in oil production and economic policies led to a crisis that became apparent in 2012.

Chávez appointed Maduro as his successor before dying of cancer in 2013. The country’s political, social and economic crisis, combined with the sharp decline in oil production and prices, characterized Maduro’s entire presidency. Millions were pushed into poverty. The middle class almost disappeared. And more than 7.7 million people left their homeland.

Albert Williams, an economist at Southeastern University, says that restoring the energy sector to its prime would have a significant spill – over effect in a country where oil is the dominant industry, triggering the opening of restaurants, stores and other businesses. What is unknown, he says, is whether such a revitalization will happen, how long it will take and how the government established by Maduro will adapt to the change in power.

“That’s the million – dollar question,” Williams says. “But if you improve the oil industry, you improve the country.”

The International Monetary Fund estimates that Venezuela’s inflation rate is a staggering 682%, the highest among the countries for which it has data. This has made the cost of food beyond what many can afford.

Many public – sector workers survive on approximately $160 per month, while the average private – sector employee earned about $237 last year. Venezuela’s monthly minimum wage of 130 bolivars, or $0.40, has not increased since 2022, which is well below the United Nations’ measure of extreme poverty of $2.15 a day.

The currency crisis led Maduro to take actions in April.

Usha Haley, a Wichita State University economist who studies emerging markets, says that for those who are suffering the most, there is no immediate sign of change.

“In the short term, most Venezuelans probably won’t feel any economic relief,” she says. “A single oil sale won’t solve the country’s rampant inflation and currency collapse. Jobs, prices and exchange rates probably won’t change quickly.”

In a country that has experienced as much turmoil as Venezuela in recent years, locals are used to doing what they need to do to get through the day. So much so that many say the same thing

“Resolver,” they say in Spanish, which means “figure it out.” It’s a shorthand for the makeshift nature of life here, where every transaction, from getting on a bus to buying a child’s medicine, requires a careful calculation.

Here at the market, the smell of fish, fresh onions and car exhaust mix. Calderon, as she makes her way through, faces newly sky – high prices. She says “the difference is huge” because the country’s official currency has rapidly depreciated against the unofficial one, the U.S. dollar.

Unable to afford all the ingredients for her soup, she left with a bunch of celery but no meat.