Venezuela's New Taxi Drivers: Moonlighting Soldiers

San Cristobal, Venezuela, Jan 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Jan, 2021 ) :In crisis-hit Venezuela, even soldiers are struggling to make ends meet on meager salaries rendered practically worthless by the highest inflation in the world and have taken to moonlighting -- as taxi drivers.

Some have taken to sneaking out of their barracks to pick up customers needing a lift -- a job that can earn them 60 times their monthly salary with just one trip.

"I'm a father and given the situation in the country, my salary is worth nothing," a 39-year-old sergeant told AFP under the condition of anonymity.

"I do my taxi journeys and I earn much more than in my other job -- that's why I do it," he added.

The sergeant can earn more than $500 for driving passengers from San Cristobal on the border with Colombia to the capital Caracas, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the northeast.

His monthly wage as a soldier -- nine million bolivars -- is worth just eight Dollars.

However, regular taxi drivers are furious and say members of the armed forces have an unfair advantage: their uniform.

"They don't get stopped at police checkpoints" where drivers are often asked for a bribe, and "they don't have problems getting fuel," complained Eusebio Correa, a 57-year-old career taxi driver.

"The military that should be providing security are now chauffeurs in uniform."