![]() But in a country of 25 million people the move was more gesture than long-term solution.įor Alayon, scarcity obeys simple market rules. ![]() The minister of commerce, Alejandro Fleming, announced that a shipment of 50m toilet rolls was on its way. Last week Maduro signed deals with Argentina, Brazil and China designed to boost agricultural collaboration. The corporate sector insists scarcity is the result of ill-managed state-run companies producing at less than half their capacity. Maduro has accused businesses of hoarding products to force the government to lift price controls designed to make goods affordable for the poor. President Nicolás Maduro, who was elected last month by a 1.5% margin in a still-disputed poll, has blamed food shortages and power cuts on his political enemies, saying they are part of broader sabotage aimed at creating discontent. "This is the cumulative effect of a decade of economic controls – both currency and price controls that drove the productive sector to the ground." "Food shortages appear like the problem, but they are really just a symptom of the graver ill," said Angel Alayon, an economist and editor of the news magazine ProDavinci. This time, however, shortages have been coupled with power cuts, making daily life a growing challenge that many predict will only get worse. In 2007 milk all but disappeared from supermarket shelves. There were shortages in 2003 after the then president, Hugo Chávez, imposed currency controls to prevent capital flowing rapidly out of Venezuela amid widespread distrust in the private sector following a series of land expropriations and corporate nationalisations. It's not the first wave of shortages to hit the oil-rich nation in the last decade. "I phoned my son and told him to come, but not everyone can walk out of their job and cross the city to stand in line for hours," she added. Like many people here, she will try to stock up. "What am I supposed to substitute with? It's hard to live without it," Aquino said. Toilet paper is the latest item to join the list of unobtainable goods – last week the government announced it was organising an emergency shipment to boost supplies – but it has heightened the sense of urgency and indignation felt by many. By the time I left it had doubled," Aquino said, as a guard outside the upscale shop stamped her hand with the mark used to prevent people returning to buy more than the two packages allotted.įor the past four months Venezuelans have had to struggle to find basic food staples. "By the time I got there, the line outside was a block long.
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