As we walked, he pointed out a stall selling orange juice for 500 bolivars a glass.

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The new exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars to 1 dollar goes into effect Wednesday.

CNN: With Chavez away for months, big changes roil Venezuela

Previously, he explained, students in higher education had to pay about 1 million bolivars a month to go to a private university.

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Visiting Caracas ahead of the 2006 election, I met a friend who had recently graduated from a newly established public university which charged its students just 300 bolivars a term, at the time the equivalent of about 15 cents.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS