Your strong bolívars at work

Katy says: – I have the utmost respect for physical therapists. They are hard-working professionals who deserve to be compensated for their work just as much as the...

Katy says: – I have the utmost respect for physical therapists. They are hard-working professionals who deserve to be compensated for their work just as much as the next person.

But do we really need a Physical Therapy Act in Venezuela?

According to our useless National Assembly, we do!

See, this is a Revolution. Every profession needs a law, and our “wise” lawmakers are there to grant professionals the right to “freely exercise their profession.” Free, that is, except that the government sets wages, imports Cuban physios who unfairly compete with you and harrasses private health-care providers.

The Law conveniently says that Physical Therapists have to meet professional standards and guidelines set by academic institutions and competent administrative authorities. I wonder if they also included that, if they work for a government hospital, they have to don a red shirt and march whenever the fat man in the palace feels like it.

In a country with rampant inflation and corruption that knows no bound, where thousands of people die each year at the hands of crime – this is what our National Assembly chooses to discuss and (unanimously!) pass.

Next up on the Legislative agenda: a National Hairdressers and Manicurists Law. I’ve seen some awful haircuts on some of these lawmakers, and if there is a sector begging for regulation, that one’s it.