Venezuela launched a "free" foreign exchange platform on Tuesday that will likely devalue the bolivar in efforts to bolster state coffers amid tumbling oil revenue, although it risks causing a spike in already soaring inflation. The change amounts to an easing of 12-year-old currency controls and marks a small step toward a market economy as the state-led model created by late socialist leader Hugo Chavez struggles with shortages, swelling grocery lines and recession. However, the changes by President Nicolas Maduro's government do not eliminate the unwieldy three-tiered exchange structure seen by investors as the ... (full story)