Smuggling is part of an articulated plan

In an interview for Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Iliana Medina, leader of the pro-government party Patria Para Todos (PPT), declared that she is convinced that the smuggling of products from Venezuela to Colombia is part of a political plan to “dismantle” the revolution.

“The opposition has said that the economic system has failed, and that it needs to be changed. (…) On the other hand we have smuggling, which is the expression of a very strongly articulated web of diverse sectors linked to the economy, (…) but it becomes a plan to dismantle the whole revolutionary vision of rights that Chávez promoted with such strength,” said Medina.

The interviewer pressured her by suggesting the possibility that smuggling could be the result of certain economic conditions. Medina responded that a “plan of this nature” does in fact need those economic conditions, however to discover the plan it is necessary to look into the opinions of the opposition criticizing the recent measures taken by the government to control smuggling.