CARACAS, Venezuela — While U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of military intervention against alleged drug trafficking targets in Venezuela dominated international headlines, the palpable reality on the streets of Caracas told a different story. At a popular shopping mall, unprecedented Black Friday discounts failed to attract crowds, revealing a nation gripped by economic catastrophe rather than geopolitical fears.
Window displays promoting 30% discounts and shoes priced at $20 stood largely ignored. Even the newly opened H&M store remained virtually empty throughout the morning. Venezuelans interviewed consistently pointed to the country’s suffocating economic collapse as the primary reason for the subdued shopping activity, contrasting sharply with post-pandemic years when enthusiastic shoppers formed lines outside stores.
Physician Luisa Torrealba articulated the national sentiment outside an appliance store: “The country’s economy is based on day-to-day survival. What do I do to survive today and live tomorrow? We don’t have the luxury of stopping because there’s going to be a war, because there’s a psychological war going on.”
The economic numbers paint a devastating picture. The International Monetary Fund reported Venezuela’s annual inflation rate reached 270% last month. Families require more than $500 monthly for basic necessities, while the minimum wage remains frozen at 130 bolivars ($0.52) since 2022—well below the UN’s extreme poverty threshold of $2.15 per day. Most public sector workers survive on approximately $160 monthly, with private sector employees averaging $237 according to the independent Venezuelan Observatory of Finances.
This economic reality has reshaped consumer behavior. Marian García, 26, arrived expecting crowds at a shoe store offering $20 boots normally priced at $60-80. Instead, she found herself first in line. “It’s difficult to indulge in luxuries,” she noted. “Due to the current economic situation, people are cutting back and only spending on essentials.”
Yarbelis Revilla, working three jobs and self-identifying as a master bargain hunter, surveyed multiple stores but found few truly compelling deals. She explained that shoe shopping might seem like “vanity” amid crisis, but emphasized her focus on present needs rather than an uncertain future, referencing biblical teachings against worrying about tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has intensified pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s government, doubling rewards for information leading to his arrest on narcoterrorism charges to $50 million. The ongoing U.S. military operation has already resulted in 80 fatalities from strikes against vessels in international waters, some allegedly departing from Venezuelan territory.
Maduro and his allies maintain that the military operation aims to force regime change, but for most Venezuelans, immediate economic survival takes precedence over geopolitical tensions that have become background noise to daily struggles.
