Politics
Honduran minister stuns public after insisting Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba have 'high per capita income'
The Honduran politician also stated that "in Cuba no child sleeps on the street" and said he felt proud to be a radical man with leftist ideas
February 24, 2023 7:26am
Updated: February 24, 2023 7:27am
Honduran minister Lucky Medina said he admires the dictatorships of "Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba," and affirmed that he would like his country to be like the communist regimes, the local media reported on Tuesday.
"Are you in favor of us being like Venezuela?" asked a journalist from El Spectator to the Secretary of Natural Resources, who without hesitation stated: "with such strong governments, of course."
The Honduran official erroneously argued that his sentiment was based on his mistaken belief that, "the per capita income in Venezuela is four times higher than that of Honduras."
"You have to make decisions, with such strong governments, of course there are, like Nicaragua, like Cuba," continued the minister, reinforcing his admiration for these dictatorships.
Medina also said that "in Cuba no child sleeps on the street" and in turn
and he said he was proud to be a radical man with leftist ideas.
The minister of the socialist government of Honduras, Lucky Medina, assures that they yearn to be like Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
He assures that Venezuela's per capita income is 4 times higher than in Honduras.
In Venezuela the minimum wage per month is 6 dollars, in Honduras $316.
— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) February 22, 2023
But several economists came out to criticize Medina's words, telling him that more should have been reported before talking about the economic and social situation of these three countries.
"I heard somewhere that the GDP per capita (adjusted by PPP) of Venezuela is higher than that of HND. It is true for 2023 (I leave the data). But what I didn't hear is that since 2000.
Venezuela has seen its GDP per capita reduced by 59.4%, in 22 years they have become as poor as HND," said Wilfredo Díaz, a Honduran economist.
Roberto Lagos commented that the minister "should learn a little more and take into account that year-on-year inflation in Venezuela is 440%. Poverty is also 81.5%, extreme poverty 53.3% and child malnutrition of 65%. No, Mr. Minister, by no means is Venezuela a model of economic development. We have to leave this ideological narrative behind."
