1. His cooperation with the IMF followed rather
quickly after his victory in the 1988
presidential election, during which he ran a
populist, anti-neoliberal campaign describing
the IMF as "a neutron bomb that killed people,
but left buildings standing" and said that World
Bank economists were "genocide workers in
the pay of economic totalitarianism".
Measures taken by Pérez included privatizing
state companies, tax reform, reducing customs
duties, and diminishing the role of the state in
the economy. He also took measures to
decentralize and modernize the Venezuelan
political system by instituting the direct
election of state governors (previously
appointed by the President). But the most
controversial part of this economic package
was the elimination of the gas subsidies, which
had long maintained domestic petrol prices far
beneath their international levels (and indeed
beneath the production costs of gasoline).
Upon the elimination of the subsidy, petrol
prices rose by as much 100%, and
subsequently, the costs of public
transportation rose by 30%.