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Venezuelan consumers fear inflation, dump cash after Chávez devalues bolivar
Venezuelans mobbed stores this week to buy imported electronic goods after the government's sharp devaluation of the currency heightened fears that prices would soon skyrocket.
President Hugo Chávez's decision, announced Friday, comes as Venezuela's sputtering economy grapples with energy and water shortages. Now in his 12th year in power, Chávez has the support of half of the country's 28 million people, polls show, but rising inflation would most hurt the lower classes that are the pillar of his movement.
The first devaluation of the bolivar since the introduction of currency controls in 2003 quickly spurred a shopping frenzy, as Venezuelans rushed out to buy televisions, computers and other goods that would hold their value.