Mac Margolis, Columnist

Venezuela's Breathtaking Air Tax

In Venezuela's Maiquetia Airport, every breath will cost you.

July 18, 2014 at 1:01 PM UTC

Mac Margolis is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin and South America. He is the author of “The Last New World: The Conquest of the Amazon Frontier.”

For Venezuela's best air, it pays to fly.

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For Venezuelans fed up with life under 21st-century socialism, checking in at Maiquetia International Airport in Caracas is a breath of fresh air. That's exactly what the gatekeepers of the Bolivarian Republic had in mind when they dreamed up the latest levy on the wallets of companeros on the wing.

On July 1, the government of President Nicolas Maduro started collecting a fresh-air tax on airline passengers at the country's biggest airport. The charge -- about $20 -- is (please inhale) for breathing the air at Maiquetia's departure terminal, where the ventilation system apparently has been enhanced with refreshing dollops of ozone. Minister of Water and Air Transport Major General Hebert Garcia Plaza heralded the innovation as a Latin American first, claiming that the ozone-laced air will keep travelers safe by killing airborne germs and stale air.