The National Assembly of Venezuela has immediately removed Antonio Ecarri from the presidency of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with the United States, after he met with the American economist Steve Hanke to address, as the deputy himself admitted last Friday, "a proposal to advance towards the formal dollarization of the Venezuelan economy."
The president of the Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, communicated Ecarri's dismissal in an official note released less than a day after the deputy's message became public, attributing to him "irresponsible actions" that, in his opinion, have violated the legal order of the country.
Rodríguez maintains that Ecarri has infringed the article of the Constitution that enshrines the bolívar as the only monetary unit of Venezuela and attributes to the Central Bank the competence, "exclusively and mandatorily," to exercise monetary policies.
At the same time, the Assembly has initiated an "investigation process" in order to "establish the faults committed by the aforementioned deputy and determine the responsibilities and sanctions that apply according to what is provided in our operating regulations."
"I will not allow a friendship group to be used to clumsily and spurious undermine the constitutional and legal foundations of our Republic," Rodríguez emphasized as he closed his statement.
Ecarri, for his part, defended in his message that the "dollarization" of Venezuela was an essential way to rescue the battered national economy. "A stable currency," the parliamentarian explained, "would allow to curb inflation and close the exchange rate gap that destroys the purchasing power of Venezuelans."
The deputy also added that he had the "constitutional disposition" required to promote "the necessary legislative initiative and control functions" in this matter.