The team of SuchWhich carried out a real-time data verification of Nicolás Maduro’s more than two-hour speech as part of his Memoria y Cuenta presentation, in which he made 20 statements that were questioned by the journalists of this medium, with which it was determined that only one can be considered true
The narrative on economic growth that Chavismo has promoted in recent years, but with special emphasis on 2022, was present in Nicolás Maduro’s annual speech to present his Report and Account before the National Assembly elected in 2020.
From the session chamber of the Legislative Palace, the leader of Chavismo addressed the country with a 2 hour and 30 minute speech, in which he ended up celebrating the “most important economic growth in the world”, the “victory against foreign interference”. and blaming US sanctions for the failings they couldn’t hide.
Faced with the battery of statements launched by the president over almost three hours, the team of SuchWhich He did a verification job with a total of 20 statements, of which only one received the go-ahead of veracity, although it barely succeeded.
Unlike other years, Maduro focused almost 100% on talking about the economy. His most important statement was the same one he has made in recent months: “Venezuela is the country with the highest economic growth in Latin America.”
This statement is half true, since 15% growth is, in effect, higher than any other country in the region, but the calculation base is very small due to the fall of the Venezuelan economy in the last decade, what is known as a “bounce”.
While the Venezuelan Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by $8,926 based on $59,513 million —according to data from the International Monetary Fund—, Colombia in this same period grew by $24,209 million on the $314,409 million of its GDP. Percentage-wise, Venezuela advanced more, but in nominal terms, Colombia grew more than Venezuela last year.
On the other hand, he was insistent when complaining about the sanctions applied by the United States and other members of the international community against the Venezuelan economy and especially the oil industry. According to the president, the country stopped losing $232,000 million for oil and some $642,000 million in total, due to the impossibility of investing in other areas.
Despite the fact that the sanctions do exist and have affected the economy to a greater or lesser extent, the fall in oil production and also in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had been taking place in a sustained manner long before the measures of the international community. Between 2013 and 2018—the last year without measures against the oil industry—Venezuelan GDP contracted by 60%. Therefore, SuchWhich questions the amount of money lost due to sanctions.
Perhaps one of the most openly false statements was to ensure that bank credit “has been recovering sustainably”, because in 2022 the bank reached its lowest level in terms of ability to lend money.
In addition, the few financing initiatives available are efforts of the non-banking private sector and are aimed at the sector of the population with better economic possibilities. Its market niche is the “Venezuela Premium”.
* Also read: Only for the “Venezuela Premium” is vehicle financing reactivated
When talking about productive growth, Maduro told some half-truths. He “he hit it” by ensuring that agricultural production increased considerably during 2022, but omitted the warnings that producers have made regarding not-so-positive expectations for 2023 if bank credit is not reactivated.
Regarding industrial production, he was once again right, but the figures he showed do not correspond to the 12% growth reported by industries, according to the results of the Industrial Situation Survey carried out by Conindustria.
This productive growth goes hand in hand with the improvement of the living conditions of Venezuelans. Maduro spoke of a greater protein consumption and the drop in the nutritional deficit. However, Venezuela continues to figure among the 27 countries with the highest population with malnutrition in the world.
The boss of Chavismo also dedicated a small space in his Memory and Account to talk about the “social achievements” and praised the “positive impact” of the Bricomiles, despite the fact that they only met 40% of the goal set for this year .
* Also read: The Bricomiles closed the first period with 01 on the ballot
Another of its important points, how could it be otherwise, was the dollar. Maduro made reference to the measures that are being taken to “stabilize the exchange market and stop inflation”, but during 2022 the official exchange rate published by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) increased 281% and left the minimum wage back to nothing. Not surprisingly, he didn’t comment on the going salary, which comes to just $6.5 a month along with a $2.3 food bonus.
The verification made to the Memory and Account by SuchWhich It is available in the following Twitter thread, in which Maduro’s statements were denied in real time:
#Now 5:12 p.m. | start the #AnnualMessage2023 of Nicolás Maduro before the National Assembly elected in 2020. We are prepared to verify in real time his speech during the 2022 Memory and Account. Follow this coverage through the hashtag #TalCualVerifies pic.twitter.com/03JrPzz1Am
– TalCual (@DiarioTalCual) January 12, 2023
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