Free houses and cash awards to Olympic athletes? Who says that's too good to be true?
Apparently, should that apply to relatively well-off countries, then suffice to say that the athletes are getting the right push they deserve for their efforts. But in Venezuela - a country that direly needs to sort its priority, awarding copious amounts of cash and housing to Olympians may sound too much.
Nonetheless, as long as national pride is concerned, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro couldn't care less about promising his country's 87-strong Olympic contingent with cash and houses free of charge upon arriving home from the Rio Olympics, as reported by the National Post.
Socialist Venezuela under Maduro has openly heralded the principles of the likes of its late former President Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro, both of which regarded Olympic success as a supporting factor for their respective policies. Not to mention, the current President - known to sport tracksuits in national flag colors, treats the success of his Olympians as a welcome break from his country's economic malaise.
Venezuela continues its economic slide, with a near-10% contraction earmarked by a worsening inflation rate of 482% - currently the world's largest, adding further blight to the country's daily scene of furious mobs and queues of hungry people amid heavy food and necessities rationing. Despite a 50% increase in minimum wage, several Venezuelan households still struggle to afford, much less procure, food and necessities. Notwithstanding that, Maduro emphasized his plan to increase his spending for the more-than 1,000 Olympic aspirants in the country by 50% in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Needless to say, Venezuela's impressive take-home of three Olympic medals from Rio proved to be a welcome respite for Maduro, who continues to deny failure of leadership in spite of the country's woes. Ex-sports minister and fencing Olympian Alejandra Benitez just proved as much, what with her relentless tributes for Maduro in the form of pro-government videos recorded in Rio.
