Venezuelans race to spend before devaluation

Venezuela will devalue its currency against the U.S. dollar from Wednesday on the orders of President Hugo Chavez, who is convalescing in Cuba following cancer surgery in December.

Rolando Morales left the store with gear to set up in his new gym.

“I was thinking of buying them next month, but with the devaluation I bought what I could right now. If I had found a television set and a refrigerator I would have bought them too. They probably sold out on Friday,” he said.

Saisbel Pena was checking out the price of a vacuum cleaner at the Abasto Bicentenario, a government-owned chain store.

“I was going to look at the prices and see if I have enough to buy several things. It helps to protect yourself,” said Pena, a 31-year-old attorney.

“I want to buy things before the prices go up,” added Ricardo Vasquez, who had already bought a printer and was looking for a computer monitor for his dentist's office.

He said he feared that prices “might rise between 30 and 40 percent.”

The local currency, the bolivar, will fall from 4.3 to the dollar to 6.3 at the official exchange rate. The move was announced on Friday by Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani.

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