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Pension hike not enough for Venezuelans to afford basic food

Roberto Carpio, 67, holds up an animal bone to symbolize that his monthly pension of about $30 dollars does not pay him enough to eat, during a protest demanding better pay for workers, pensioners and retirees in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, April 6, 2022, as police block protesters from reaching the vice president's office. Pensioners have protested dozens of times across the country, and at the protests in the capital, some could be seen wearing broken shoes and worn clothes. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) FILE - An elderly man sits on a plane made of cement at a park near a soup kitchen as he waits to pick up his free lunch in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 11, 2022. Venezuela has just over five million pensioners, according to official figures, but annual inflation which reached 686.4% last year has eaten up their pensions. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) Maybel Sequera has coffee after eating a donated lunch from a soup kitchen with her husband at home in the low-income neighborhood of La Vega in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, April 7, 2022. Sequera has been diagnosed with two types of cancer this year, including a type of skin cancer that required an operation on her face. To pay for medical supplies, she sold two of her three sewing machines, which she used to mend neighbors' clothes in exchange for money. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) FILE - Zenobia Ansualve, 88, eats lunch at home where she lives alone in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 18, 2021. Ansualve said she lives on her government pension, renting a room as well as donations because she cannot make ends meet, and gets help with grocery shopping and cooking meals. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) FILE - Architect Rudiar Almeida, 76, closes the gate to his home in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 10, 2021. Almeida said his monthly pension is equal to $2 dollars and it is not enough to buy food. He lives alone in what was his parents' home but does not have the money to maintain it. His only son emigrated to Colombia two years ago and has not heard from him since. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) Elderly married couple Maybel Sequera and Juan Gonzalez eat lunch at home in the low-income neighborhood of La Vega in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, April 7, 2022. Their lunch was a gift from a nonprofit organization, as the seamstress and retired driver cannot afford to feed themselves on their monthly pensions and have to rely on donations for food, medicines and clothing. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) FILE - A bookshelf sits against a wall covered in mold in the home of 76-year-old architect Rudiar Almeida in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 10, 2021. Almeida sais his monthly pension is equal to $2 dollars and it is not enough to buy food. He lives alone in what was his parents' home but does not have the money to maintain it. His only son emigrated to Colombia two years ago and has not heard from him since. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) FILE - Seniors click their canes to say goodbye after getting their donated meals from a soup kitchen in La Vega neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 11, 2022. Venezuela has just over five million pensioners, according to official figures, but annual inflation which reached 686.4% last year has eaten up their pensions. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) Juan Gonzales waits for one plate of donated food for him to share with his wife Maybel Sequera at the soup kitchen "Alimenta La Solidaridad" in the low-income neighborhood of La Vega in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. The elderly couple worked for years as a seamstress and driver to build their two houses and raise their four children, but now they rely on donations for food, medicines and clothing. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Maybel Sequera divides a donated plate of noodles and beans to share with her husband at their home in the low-income neighborhood of La Vega in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Their lunch was a gift from a nonprofit organization, as the seamstress and retired driver cannot afford to feed themselves on their monthly pensions and have to rely on donations for food, medicines and clothing. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Two spoons lay inside a container after elderly retiree Maybel Sequera divided a donated plate of noodles and beans to share with her husband at their home in the low-income neighborhood of La Vega in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Their meager lunch was a gift from a nonprofit organization, as the seamstress and retired driver cannot afford to feed themselves on their monthly pensions and have to rely on donations for food, medicines and clothing. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) FILE - Seniors hold donated meals from a soup kitchen in La Vega neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 11, 2022. Venezuela has just over five million pensioners, according to official figures, but annual inflation which reached 686.4% last year has eaten up their pensions. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) FILE - Seniors cross a park toward a soup kitchen for a free meal offered twice a week in the La Vega neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 11, 2022. The monthly pensions of retirees increased from roughly $2 dollars to about $30 in March, an amount insufficient to pay basic goods, whose cost is estimated in February at $365, according to the Venezuelan Finance Observatory, an organization specializing in economic studies. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) FILE - Carlos Blanco, 84, a retired ambulance supervisor, holds a sign that announces his monthly pension payment of $1.50 dollars during a protest asking for an increase in payments amid world record-breaking inflation in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Venezuela has just over five million pensioners, according to official figures, but annual inflation which reached 686.4% last year has eaten up their pensions. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) Maybel Sequera folds clothing that a client left her to repair in her living room in the low income neighborhood La Vega in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, April 7, 2022. Sequera and her husband worked for years as a seamstress and driver to build their two houses and raise their four children, but now they rely on donations for food, medicines and clothing. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Maybel Sequera opens a lunch container of rice, salad and one fried egg to share with her husband Juan Gonzalez who brought it home from a soup kitchen in the low income neighborhood La Vega in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, April 7, 2022. Their lunch was a gift from a nonprofit organization, as the seamstress and retired driver cannot afford to feed themselves on their monthly pensions and have to rely on donations for food, medicines and clothing. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)