“We have been condemned to extreme poverty”
Víctor Fuenmayor, former mayor of Ciudad Bolívar and retired university professor, lamented this Friday the precarious situation that teachers face in the country, referring to to the University Professor’s Day commemorated on December 5.
«In Venezuela, a tenured professor with a postgraduate, doctorate and postdoctoral degree, who should receive the best salarybarely earns 27 dollars a month. “We are the poorest teachers in Latin America,” he stated in an interview on the radio program Social Thermometer.
According to Fuenmayor, Venezuela occupies last place in the regional ranking of salaries for university professors, even below Cuba, where a full professor earns $29 a month. «At the time, we were a refuge for teachers of Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, but now we have become university professors in extreme poverty.”.
He specified that the salary range in Venezuelan universities ranges between 5 and 15 dollars per month, depending on the scale, also criticizing the use of the term “minimum vital income”, which he described as a euphemism for the government to evade the right to a living wage.
Fuenmayor denounced that the budget deficit of universities reach 99%which, in his opinion, reflects a deliberate policy of suffocation.
«Universities have been brought to their knees. This prevents the development of teaching, administrative and research activities.«.
In his speech, he also reflected on the flight of young talents: «A young professional earns the same as the minimum wage of a butcher. “A country will not grow if its youth do not have opportunities.”
Despite this panorama, Fuenmayor called not to lose hope. «We must continue betting on the recovery of Venezuela, regardless of who is in the government. Universities will always be spaces of protest and critical thinking.
The interview was carried out in the Social Thermometer program, hosted by Pablo Zambrano, executive secretary of FETRASALUD, and broadcast by Radio Fe y Alegría 1390 AM.
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