President of the AN denies the alleged hiring of economist Steve Hanke

Published at: 21/08/2026 03:30 PM

The National Assembly (AN) denied hiring economist Steve Hanke for advice related to the country's monetary policy, during the regular session this Thursday.

The President of the Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, described the version released by some international media as a falsehood that affects institutional credibility.

Rodríguez pointed out that in recent days, notes have circulated that attributed to the Legislature the alleged hiring of the so-called “money doctor”. “I have been reading to international media for two or three days that the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela had hired the so-called money doctor to help us fight hyperinflation, a man named Steve Hanke. The news is so crazy, so absurd, so childish and so silly, since the monetary sign of Venezuela and the processes of the Venezuelan economy belong to the National Executive and the Central Bank,” he said.

He indicated that he initially decided not to respond to the publication, but the Parliament's directive verified that some deputies had replicated the version. “If it is true that there are some deputies who, in keeping with that well-known phrase of Arturo Uslar Pietri —'what an old car'—, are out there talking straw, and among the straw they are talking about is that the National Assembly had hired this Mr. Steve Hanke, that is absolutely false.

Faced with this false information, he indicated that “the board of directors of the National Assembly is going to initiate an investigation, since that calls into question the honorability and credibility of a deputy who thinks of inventing such stupidity.”

The President of Parliament also questioned the approach of the media that disseminated the information. “(read the title of an article) Venezuela is sick with hyperinflation: a lie. That is false. Venezuela defeated hyperinflation a while ago. The note is loaded with poison and they use the National Assembly that is supposedly hiring this man, who is the father of the convertible system in Argentina that later collapsed like a house of cards and ended the economy of Argentina and the government of Carlos Menéndez. Also, who was an advisor to the dictator Suharto in Indonesia, he has a whole file and now it turns out that the Assembly is hiring him that is totally false.”

Rodríguez called on international media to recover the synderesis and verify the information before publishing it.

Mazo News Team