Did you hear about the Venezuelan nationals who got busted trying to smuggle $5 million worth of gold bars into the US through a Fort Lauderdale airport?
True story.
The duo had 230 pounds of gold stuffed into the nose of a private Cessna jet. Customs officials discovered a hidden compartment when they noticed some loose rivets on the nose and decided to take a closer look.
José Niño was born in Venezuela and his family has experienced the impacts of socialism first hand. But was it “real socialism?”
On this episode of It’s Your Dime, José and host Mike Maharrey talk about it.
José had the good fortune of leaving Venezuela before it descended into chaos. After reading the tea leaves and realizing that the country was heading down the path of political turmoil, José’s parents brought his family to the US in search of better opportunities.
Venezuelans have turned to illegally mining gold just to survive.
The Pemon people are native to the region containing Canaima National Park. If you saw the movie Up, you’re familiar with this area. The 500 million-year-old pillars of erosion in the park inspired scenery in the movie. The park also contains world-famous Angel Falls. But with hyperinflation gripping the country and the bolivar virtually worthless, people in the area have turned to digging up football-size mines in search of fragments of gold.
I was on vacation last week, so there wasn’t any Fun on Friday. But I am back, and I have some really fantastic news for you – especially if you live in Venezuela. And even if you don’t reside in that South American hell-hole, you’ll want to keep reading because the ramifications here are huugggee!
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro fixed the country’s hyperinflation problem.
