Venezuelans Throng Grocery Stores Under Military Protection

[Suzanimal]

Shoppers thronged grocery stores across Caracas today as deepening shortages led the government to put Venezuela’s food distribution under military protection.

Long lines, some stretching for blocks, formed outside grocery stores in the South American country’s capital as residents search for scarce basic items such as detergent and chicken.

“I’ve visited six stores already today looking for detergent -- I can’t find it anywhere,” said Lisbeth Elsa, a 27-year-old janitor, waiting in line outside a supermarket in eastern Caracas. “We’re wearing our dirty clothes again because we can’t find it. At this point I’ll buy whatever I can find.”

A dearth of foreign currency exacerbated by collapsing oil prices has led to shortages of imports from toilet paper to car batteries, and helped push annual inflation to 64 percent in November. The lines will persist as long as price controls remain in place, Luis Vicente Leon, director of Caracas-based polling firm Datanalisis, said today in a telephone interview.

Government officials met with representatives from supermarket chains today to guarantee supplies, state news agency AVN reported. Interior Minister Carmen Melendez said yesterday that security forces would be sent to food stores and distribution centers to protect shoppers.


Photographer: Noris Soto/Bloomberg
Empty shelves sit in a supermarket in the La Boyera part of eastern Caracas on Jan. 9, 2015.
‘Into Desperation’

“Don’t fall into desperation -- we have the capacity and products for everyone, with calmness and patience. The stores are full,” she said on state television.

President Nicolas Maduro last week vowed to implement an economic “counter-offensive” to steer the country out of recession, including an overhaul of the foreign exchange system. He has yet to provide details. While the main government-controlled exchange sets a rate of 6.3 bolivars per U.S. dollar, the black market rate is as much as 187 per dollar.

Inside a Plan Suarez grocery store yesterday in eastern Caracas, shelves were mostly bare. Customers struggled and fought for items at times, with many trying to skip lines. The most sought-after products included detergent, with customers waiting in line for two to three hours to buy a maximum of two bags. A security guard asked that photos of empty shelves not be taken.

Police inside a Luvebras supermarket in eastern Caracas intervened to help staff distribute toilet paper and other products.

‘Looming Fear’

“You can’t find anything, I’ve spent 15 days looking for diapers,” Jean Paul Mate, a meat vendor, said outside the Luvebras store. “You have to take off work to look for products. I go to at least five stores a day.”

Venezuelan online news outlet VIVOplay posted a video of government food security regulator Carlos Osorio being interrupted by throngs of shoppers searching for products as he broadcast on state television from a Bicentenario government-run supermarket in central Caracas.

“What we’re seeing is worse than usual, it’s not only a seasonal problem,” Datanalisis’s Leon said. “Companies are not sure how they will restock their inventories or find merchandise, with a looming fear of a devaluation.”

The price for Venezuela’s oil, which accounts for more than 95 percent of the country’s exports, has plunged by more than half from last year’s peak in June to $47 a barrel this month.

“This is the worst it has ever been -- I’ve seen lines thousands of people long,” Greisly Jarpe, a 42-year-old data analyst, said as she waited for dish soap in eastern Caracas. “People are so desperate they’re sleeping in the lines.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-0...ion-order.html

[Zippyjuan]

Falling energy prices are really hitting Venezuela- though Russia is getting most of the headlines on that. They rely on revenues from oil to support all their socialist programs. Mexico does as well.

[Suzanimal]

[Suzanimal]

Robbers target food delivery trucks in shortage-hit Venezuela

SAN CRISTOBAL/CARACAS (Reuters) - Robbers and looters are targeting trucks carrying food across Venezuela in another sign of worsening shortages that have turned basics like flour and chicken into coveted booty.

Crime has long plagued shops and roads in Venezuela, which has one of the world's highest murder rates.

But widespread shortages due to a restriction of dollars for imports have worsened since the New Year.

This has made food delivery increasingly risky even as certain trucks have been fitted with GPS devices and are sometimes protected by private security agents.

"I won't transport food anymore because the streets are too dangerous," said Orlando Garcia, a 37-year-old driver from the western state of Tachira who has been ambushed twice as he crisscrossed the country.

"They put screws on the road (to burst your tires), and when you stop to fix the tire they attack you," said Garcia, who now refuses to work past midnight and will only transport plastics.

Queues that stretch around blocks are now a common sight throughout the OPEC country. Armed National Guard troops have been deployed to maintain order, but frustration mounts quickly during hours-long waits under the Caribbean sun.

"It's become a security problem to bring trucks to big supermarket stores," said Arsenio Manzanares, who heads a Venezuelan truckers' union.

"This wasn't a problem before, but now with these queues, people see a truck and they lunge for it."

Local media have reported several food robberies in Caracas this month, including one by four armed thieves who stole canned tuna, corn flour and refined sugar.
President Nicolas Maduro blames the scarcities on an "economic war" waged by right-wing foes trying to topple his socialist government. This week, he announced yet another crackdown on hoarders and contrabandists who sell price-fixed goods in Colombia for a tidy profit.

Industry leaders and drivers say shortages have been exacerbated by the phasing out of night deliveries for security reasons, lack of truck batteries and tires due to the impact of currency controls, and poor roads.

The government did not reply to a request for comment.

Statistics on deliveries are hard to come by, but Manzanares estimates they have dropped by 30 percent.

But despite mounting risks, some truckers are still hitting the road.

"They've robbed me five times already," said driver Jose Alexander Rincon, 39, also from Tachira. "I'm nervous. It's more dangerous by the day, but I don't have an alternative."

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/robbers-ta...125312857.html

[Lucille]

Just a few more laws and it will be a socialist paradise!