Caracas, January 2 (RHC)-- During an interview in Caracas, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro assessed the year 2019 and made a socio-political and economic prediction for 2020.

"We had to regulate public spending and prioritize every single dollar available to buy medicine, food, and vital supplies," Maduro said.  "The economy started to self-regulate. Private sector dollars began to be used to import a good part of the goods that used to be purchased outside using the dollars that came from the sale of state oil.​​​​​"

The Venezuelan president also highlighted the importance acquired by the collective resistance that citizens displayed during 2019 to face the U.S. arbitrary economic, financial and trade blockade.  "We are working and playing the game of economic stability and growth." 

"I am a man of dialogue.  I believe that the affairs of the U.S., its rulers, and elites, should be handled with diplomacy, politics and a great dialogue capacity," the Bolivarian leader said.  "Whenever and wherever -- I am ready to talk with the Trump administration," he added.

Maduro reiterated that Venezuela will not give up on social programs despite the U.S. economic bullying against the Bolivarian Revolution -- pointing out that 76% of the nation's 2020 budget will be earmarked for social investment.

About the integration of Petro into the Venezuelan economy, Maduro ratified that the use of such cryptocurrency will be strengthened shortly.  "We are going to sell oil [in Petros] and we already have cryptocurrency-denominated contracts signed for the sale of steel, iron, and aluminum as well as for part of our gold production," he said.

In another part of the interview, Nicolas Maduro said that he has always been willing to engage in dialogue with the U.S., no matter who the ruler is and that he has done it on some occasion, some of which have been publicly known.​​​​​​​

He also reaffirmed the country's democratic character, remarking that all political groups have the right conditions to participate in the next parliamentary elections.

"All the political opposition forces, its bases, and its regional leaders are ready to participate in the National Assembly elections," he said.

Regarding the country's stability, the Bolivarian president stressed the importance of economic planning.  "We have a real project, a country project, which has the legitimacy and support of the real people."