Venezuela’s embattled president pledged to strengthen safety net programs and he rejected devaluing the currency during a long-delayed speech addressing the socialist country’s deteriorating economy.
President Nicolas Maduro had promised several times in the past month to make announcements regarding the South American country’s worsening shortages of basic goods and its deepening recession, and many people had expected him to drastically change the price and currency controls that economists say contribute to crippling 60 percent inflation.
