Viernes Negro

Following the oil price crisis, the Herrera Campins government declared bankruptcy to the international banking community and then enacted currency restrictions.

[2] The policies centred on the establishment of an exchange-rate regime, imposing a restriction on the movement of currencies, and were strongly objected to by the then-president of the Central Bank of Venezuela, Leopoldo Díaz Bruzual.

[4] The currency controls devalued Venezuelan purchasing power by 75% in a matter of hours;[5] banks did not open on Viernes Negro, and even the Central Bank did not have many reserves of foreign currencies, causing the government to devalue the bolívar by 100%.

[2] Controversy occurred when it was revealed that corporations were told of the restrictions in advance and began stockpiling US dollars.

[2] Since then, Viernes Negro represents a milestone; the day that changed Venezuela's economic history.