By AFP
December 31, 2025
The Venezuelan bolivar is losing value on the US dollar as tensions mount between the two countries - Copyright AFP/File Federico PARRA
Venezuela, currently in the throes of an escalating crisis with the United States, closed the books Wednesday on a complicated year for its economy, with the official cost of buying a US dollar up 479 percent in the last 12 months.
The gap between the official and black market rate is mounting as well, nearing 100 percent in an economy that has become increasingly dollarized as a way to tackle hyperinflation.
Even though President Nicolas Maduro projected economic growth of nearly nine percent in 2025, the oil-rich South American country has seen a sharp decline, with inflation soaring and hard currency in short supply.
US President Donald Trump has piled the pressure on Maduro, stiffening sanctions and ordering the seizure of “sanctioned oil vessels” sailing to and from Venezuela.
Venezuela’s central bank on Wednesday set the official rate at 301.37 bolivars to the US dollar, a rate in effect until January 2. That marks a 479.25 percent increase from the rate of 52.02 bolivars to the dollar posted in early 2025.
On the black market, where prices are determined by crypto exchange platforms, one US dollar is going for nearly 560 bolivars — at least an 85 percent difference with the official rate.
Economists say that 80 percent of Venezuela’s currency exchanges are carried out on such platforms.
Inflation could ultimately pass the astronomical rate of 500 percent in 2025, according to estimates from private firms. Official data has not been published since October 2024.
Venezuela has been under a US oil embargo since 2019 and exports the vast majority of its output on the black market at a sharp discount.
Search Launched for Four Survivors After U.S. Strike on Three Drug Boats
On Tuesday, U.S. Southern Command launched strikes to destroy three drug-smuggling boats in one engagement, killing three suspected traffickers and - in a departure from other recent attacks - leaving four alive for potential rescue.
In a statement Wednesday, Southern Command said that the three boats were operating in international waters along known smuggling routes. The three targets had previously engaged in a boat-to-boat transfer of suspected narcotics, and all three were operating together in a formation.
One boat was destroyed in an airstrike, killing three people on board. The operators of the other two boats jumped over the side into the water and swam away before follow-up strikes hit their vessels, Southern Command said. This left four survivors overboard.
Rather than conduct another follow-up strike, Southern Command notified the U.S. Coast Guard of a search-and-rescue situation at the scene. The command did not specify whether any survivors had been rescued as of Wednesday.
Video of the strikes shows the use of cannonfire on at least one instance, signaling the presence of a U.S. Air Force AC-130J gunship, which has been seen deployed in Southern Command and has been used in some previous interdictions.
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