The question was whether those not engaged in legitimate trade were taking advantage of special, restricted access to China's official foreign-exchange market set up for those who need yuan to buy mainland goods.
The government has abolished jail terms for those caught dealing in foreign currency, offered extra incentives for private investment and brought the officialexchange rate closer to the black-market one.
Now, dollars sell on the black market at three times the officialexchange rate and Maduro has had to devalue Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, twice this year.
With hyperinflation, a gap of around 10:1 has opened up between the officialexchange rate operated by the bank and the true rate reflected in the black market.
This action targets those people that have been using credit cards as a way to purchase at the official rate rather than the black market rate, in effect creating a dual credit card exchange regime.
Venezuela's government has stopped issuing import permits, nor is it providing dollars at the officialexchange rate for imports from Colombia (a dollar costs almost three times more on the parallel market).