„Colombia: Venezuelans make handbags out of worthless banknotes“
„Ruptly
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Venezuelan craftsmen were seen using their Venezuelan Bolivar banknotes in imaginative ways, using them for materials for making handcrafts such as handbags and other accessories in Cucuta on Friday, due to hyperinflation rendering the currency nearly worthless.
Richard is one of the craftsmen, who is among over 500 000 people who have left the economic and social instability in his home country, and now works making craftwork with bank notes in the Colombian border town.
„I do the craft with these notes, because in Venezuela I cannot do anything with them, I cannot even buy flour with this money. I cannot buy anything, so I use them to make handcrafts,“ he explained.
The worsening political and economic crisis in Venezuela is increasing the number of people who flee the country. In 2017, Colombia received around 550.000 people from Venezuela and could double by July 2018, according to official statistics.
SOT, Richard, Craftsman (Spanish): „I do the craft with these notes, because in Venezuela I cannot do anything with them, I cannot even buy flour with this money. I cannot buy anything, so I use them to make handcrafts.“
SOT, Richard, Craftsman (Spanish): „I fold the note like this one, I fold it and after I fold it I start building a strap like this one and when I finish the straps I sew it with nylon so that everything is attached and it doesn’t come undone.“
SOT, Colombian citizen (Spanish): „Here we have received the Venezuelans with the biggest affection; we also expect reciprocity from them towards us. We receive loads of people every day, since the situation there is not good. People don’t migrate because they want to, people migrate for need.““