Venezuelan government announces investment to restore Caracas metro system

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Thursday evening the approval of special funds for restoring the entire underground transportation system of the Caracas metro, the most important in the country’s capital.

Maduro said it is time to allocate significant funds to this transportation system, which in the past was considered one of the best metro systems in the world and has deteriorated due to economic sanctions against the country.

The president announced that he had earmarked US$150 million to restore the transit system, of which US$16 million is specifically earmarked for investment in the rails.

“It is the workers who maintain this service despite the sanctions, the financial persecution, the ban on buying spare parts abroad, despite the blockade and the freezing of bank accounts, I thank the workers,” Maduro said.

The head of state instructed his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to deal directly with the situation of the Caracas Metro and provide all the necessary resources so that the 48 stations of the four lines that make up the system operate at the highest level.

In a televised address, the president highlighted the role of workers who, in recent years, with the help of reverse engineering processes and a lot of creativity, have gradually managed to circumvent the restrictions imposed by the sanctions that prevent Venezuela from acquiring essential parts to operate the metro.

Maduro also directed the strategic commander of the Bolivarian Armed Forces, Domingo Hernández Lárez, to provide the Caracas Metro with the Armed Forces’ engineers to speed up work to fully restore the underground.

In addition, the president announced the creation of a National Investment Fund for Transportation to take care of the country’s various transportation systems.