Hey Bear, I didn't miss this article that you posted, I found it fascinating, and wanted to delve into it further. The Venuzuelan government run media is in fact blaming their shortages on the U.S. and in particular the CIA:
http://www.diarioeltiempo.com.ve/ On Sat, Sep 28, 2013 at 8:42 AM, Bear Bear <[email protected]> wrote: > Maybe this is why the socialists are so opposed to the Oil Sands and the > XB Keystone pipeline. > They would rather their U.S. dollars go to prop up this corrupt and > incompetent regime. > > > Venezuela food shortages: 'No one can explain why a rich country has no > food' > > Toilet paper, rice and coffee have long been missing from stores, as > Venezuelan president blames CIA plot for chronic shortages > [image: Venezuelans queue for food] > Venezuelans queue for food at a state-run market in Caracas. Photograph: > Reuters > > It's the rainy season in > Venezuela<http://www.theguardian.com/world/venezuela>and Pedro Rodríguez has > had to battle upturned manhole lids, flooded > avenues and infernal traffic jams in his quest for sugar, oil and milk in > Caracas. > > His daily battle to find food is not new, but it's getting worse. "There > is something about finally having enough to make ends meet and being unable > to buy what I need because it's gone missing. It leaves me feeling > indignant," says Rodríguez, a 55-year-old removal man who makes an average > of £500 a month. "I haven't lost hope that things will get better, but > sometimes the end seems nowhere in sight." > > Venezuelans have faced shortages before, so rehashing old strategies such > as substituting rice for manioc or going to informal street vendors who > re-sell oil, milk or flour at a higher price, comes easy. For many here, > finding food is not the problem – it is the lengths one has to go to that > are hard to reconcile. > > In Avenida Victoria, a low-income sector of Caracas, Zeneida Caballero > complains about waiting in endless queues for a sack of low-quality rice. > "It fills me with rage to have to spend the one free day I have wasting my > time for a bag of rice," she says. "I end up paying more at the re-sellers. > In the end, all these price controls proved useless." > > In 2008, when there was another serious wave of food > scarcity<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/14/venezuela.international>, > most people blamed shop owners for hoarding food as a mechanism to exert > pressure on the government's price controls, a measure that former > president Hugo Chávez adopted as part of his self-styled socialist > revolution. > > This time, however, food shortages have gone on for almost a > year<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22526622>and certain items > long gone from the shelves are hitting a particular nerve > with Venezuelans. Toilet > paper<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/23/venezuela-toilet-paper-shortage>, > rice, coffee, and cornflour, used to make > arepas<http://venezuelanfoodanddrinks.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/recipe-how-to-make-arepas.html>, > Venezuela's national dish, have become emblematic of more than just an > economic crisis. > > "We used to produce rice and we had excellent coffee; now we produce > nothing. With the situation here people abandoned the fields," says Jesús > López, in reference to government-seized land that sits idle. "Empty > shelves and no one to explain why a rich country has no food. It's > unacceptable," adds the 90-year-old farmer from San Cristóbal, on the > western state of Táchira, bordering Colombia. > > For Asdrubal Oliveros, an economist at > Ecoanalítica<http://www.ecoanalitica.com/>, > one of the country's leading consulting firms, this recent bout of food > shortages is the result of a series of elements coming to a head. From an > over-reliance on imports to price controls and, quite simply, a lack of > funds, food shortages in Venezuela have not only peaked but they have > lasted longer than ever. > > "Other than oil, we produce close to nothing, and even oil production has > decreased. There is a lack of hard currency, and, in a country that imports > everything, this becomes more evident with food scarcity," says Oliveros. > > For Oliveros, an additional cause for the shortage of basic food staples > is the decrease in agricultural production resulting from seized companies > and land expropriations. "More than 3m hectares were expropriated during > 2004-2010. That and overvalued exchange rate destroyed agriculture. It's > cheaper to import than it is to produce. That's a perverse model that kills > off any productivity," he says. > > Venezuela's central bank, which has been publishing a scarcity index since > 2009, puts this year's figure at an average of 20%, which, according to > economists in the country, is similar to countries undergoing civil strife > or war-like conditions. > > But despite the severe scarcity Venezuelans are not going hungry. The Food > and Agriculture Organisation has said that the Latin American nation more > than halved malnutrition indices to less than 5% since Chávez came to > power. It gives partial credit to the government-run network of food > distribution chains known as Mercal <http://www.mercal.gob.ve/>, which > delivers subsidised food in shops across the country. And yet food has gone > missing, and queues outside food shops often wrap around the block. > > According to President Nicolás > Maduro<http://www.theguardian.com/world/nicolas-maduro>, > the food shortages are being artificially induced by the opposition. He > claims they form part of wider plan concocted by the CIA to destabilise his > government, sabotage the oil industry and trigger power > cuts<http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2013/sep/04/venezuela> > . > > In response, Maduro announced the creation of a state council that would > inspect private companies to ensure they were not deliberately slowing > distribution or decreasing production. The oil-rich country will also > import almost £600m-worth of food from neighbouring Colombia to ensure > stores are well-stocked. > > Back in Catia, a low-income area in eastern Caracas, Rodríguez leaves the > store almost empty-handed. He has found sugar but not a brand he > recognises. He will buy oil from an informal seller for three times the > regular price and forgo milk – again. "Part of me leaves the shop gleaming > like I've hit the jackpot," he says. "As if finding food was a matter of > luck." > > > -- > *Bear > http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/GNUZ/ > * > https://www.facebook.com/thatbearguy > @thatbearguy > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
