Maduro raises minimum wage, salaries for public employees Oil, foreign ministers leave on tour of oil producers Saturday President Nicolas Maduro raised Venezuela’s minimum wage 50 percent and announced that his oil and foreign ministers will visit producer countries to lobby for price increases ahead of an informal OPEC meeting next month. The wage increase becomes effective Sept. 1, Maduro said, and applies to all workers earning minimum wages and all public employees, members of the armed forces and pensioners. He also increased the amount of food vouchers, while adding that he could order a further wage increase by year-end if necessary. “This is a world record, an increase of 93 percent to protect those who need protecting,” Maduro said on state television, citing the government’s estimate for how much it raised the minimum wage this year. This was the third wage increase in 2016. With his approval ratings […]