Amid economic crisis, Venezuela's president tells women to have 6 kids each for 'the good of the country'

Nicolás Maduro.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro outraged women's rights advocates and opposition leaders when he announced during a televised event that women must "give birth" for "the good of the country."

Venezuela is experiencing high inflation and shortages of food, medicine, and other necessities, but that didn't stop Maduro from declaring on Tuesday night, "Every woman is to have six children! Every one!" He made his remarks while discussing the government's new women's health care plan, but Maduro has not released any concrete details about it, and a Venezuelan health expert told The Guardian the plan might not even exist.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.