Chavismo removes deputy and halts push to adopt the US dollar in Venezuela

Antonio Ecarri, a deputy from the Alianza del Lápiz party, was removed from the presidency of the Venezuela-United States Parliamentary Friendship Group after he announced plans to consult U.S. economist Steve Hanke on a full dollarisation of the Venezuelan economy. National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez publicly rejected the notion, labeling it “false, absurd and outrageous,” and opened an inquiry into Ecarri for allegedly damaging the legislature’s credibility.

Hanke, a Johns Hopkins professor who has advised other nations on similar reforms, has prepared a draft bill that would preserve the Venezuelan Central Bank’s administrative duties while eliminating its monetary policy discretion. The proposal has quickly gained traction on social media, reflecting public frustration with inflation rates that exceed 500% annually, but it faces opposition from economists such as José Guerra, Rodrigo Cabezas, and Omar Zambrano, who argue that dollarisation would strip Venezuela of essential policy tools and could stifle non-extractive sectors.

Since 2018, the government has allowed a de-facto dollar economy, but recent attempts to curb dollar use have not improved growth or inflation. Ecarri maintains that the country already operates with the dollar in practice and that formal adoption would attract U.S. investment in energy and infrastructure while curbing capital flight.