The president has reversed a decision to remove the bank note, worth about $0.03, from circulation before the new year. Venezuela's opposition has described his economic strategy as "utterly stupid and destructive."
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Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Friday announced the 100-bolivar note will remain in use until January 2 after pulling the bank note prompted protests and looting across the country.
Maduro said the decision to extend the use of Venezuela's most widely used note came after a "sabotage" campaign from unnamed enemies abroad blocked the arrival of new higher-valued note.
"One plane, contracted and paid for by Venezuela, was told in flight to change direction and go to another country," he said, speaking from the presidential palace. "There's another which was not given flyover permission."
The president's decision on Thursday to pull the 100-bolivar note - worth approximately $0.03 (0.03 euros) - caused chaos across the country, sparking social unrest in at least six cities on Friday.
According to an opposition lawmaker, up to three people were killed during the protests and looting. Authorities arrested at least 32 people in connection with the unrest.
Opposition leader Julio Borges criticized Maduro's decision to pull the bank note, saying it caused needless further suffering for Venezuelans already dealing with an economic recession in a country with the world's highest inflation rate.
"We have a government utterly stupid and destructive in economic managements, whose only goal is to keep power at whatever price," said Borges.
The government also extended the closure of its border with Brazil and Colombia to block "mafias" that hoard Venezuela's currency. However, critics mocked the idea that criminal organizations would keep their wealth in the world's fastest-devaluing currency.
ls/kl (AP, Reuters)
Have a look on this picture gallery from May 29 of this year.
Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble
Lufthansa has canceled service to Caracas as Venezuela's economic turmoil worsens. The country is one of the world's largest oil producers, but plunging prices have brought inflation to 180 percent in the past year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EFE/M. Gutiérrez
Hyperinflation bites into economy
Hyperinflation has made doing business in Venezuela untenable for many domestic and foreign firms. With the currency dropping, the government has made it difficult to convert bolivars into US dollars.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Ismar
Food shortages
Food shortages have become pervasive, spurred on by hyperinflation. Empty store shelves have become all too common across Venezuela.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Barreto
Queuing up to buy food
Food shortages mean that people have to wait in line to buy essential food items at select locations. Here people line up outside a supermarket in the poor neighborhood of Lidice, in Caracas.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Gathering signatures
Opposition leaders launched a petition drive to collect signatures for a recall referendum. They needed 200,000 signatures, or 1 percent of the electorate, but they got 1.8 million voters to sign.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Green light for petition
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles shows journalists that the National Election Council has given permission for the referendum to go ahead. But President Nicolas Maduro's government is trying to delay the vote.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Pushing for referendum
Protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the referendum go forward.
Image: Reuters/M. Bello
Students protest
Students have also taken to the streets to demonstrate. They are protesting both the overall economic stagnation and also the government's efforts to delay the referendum.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Severe drought
A devastating drought has exacerbated Venezuela's problems. What was once a vast reservoir, held back by a hydroelectric dam, is now little more than a series of mud puddles.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Drought wreaks havoc
The country depends on the Guri Dam - one of the world's largest - for a significant portion of its electricity. While the reservoir is turning to desert, citizens endure daily black outs, and government offices open just two days a week to save electricity.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Health care suffers
Oliver Sanchez, 8, holds a sign that reads "I want to heal, peace, health" during a protest against the shortage of medicines in Caracas. Oliver has Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the medicine he needs is no longer available.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Cubillos
Maduro under fire
Venezuela's economic dip is largely the result of oil prices that have plunged more than 50 percent in the past two years. But a severe drought is crimping electricity supplies, and focusing people's ire on Maduro.