Tag Archives: Venezuela

Venezuela economic crisis means fewer meals, more starch

Struggling Venezuelan family

By Carlos Garcia Rawlins and Alexandra Valencia

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s soaring prices and chronic shortages have left 65-year-old homemaker Alida Gonzalez struggling to put meals on the table.

She and her four family members in the Caracas slum of Petare now routinely skip one meal per day and increasingly rely on starches to make up for proteins that are too expensive or simply unavailable.

“With the money we used to spend on breakfast, lunch and dinner, we can now buy only breakfast, and not a very good one,” said Gonzalez in her home, which on a recent day contained just half a kilo of chicken (about a pound), four plantains, some cooking oil, a small packet of rice, and a mango.

The family did not know when they would be able to buy more.

Recession and a dysfunctional state-run economy are forcing many in the South American OPEC country of 30 million to reduce consumption and eat less-balanced meals.

In a recent survey by researchers from three major universities often critical of the government, 87 percent of the respondents said their income was insufficient to purchase food.

The study of nearly 1,500 families found rising percentages of carbohydrates in diets, and found that 12 percent of those interviewed do not eat three meals a day.

Government supporters have long pointed proudly to the improvement in eating under late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, who used oil income to subsidize food for the poor during his 14-year rule and won United Nations plaudits for it.

But President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s successor, has faced a collapse in the price of oil, which provides almost all foreign income. He further has blamed an opposition-led “economic war,” though critics deride that as an excuse.

Either way, Venezuelans are tired and cross.

A minimum wage is now only around 20 percent of the cost of feeding a family of five, according to one monitoring group. Lines snake around state supermarkets from before dawn.

“You have to get into these never ending lines – all day, five in the morning until three in the afternoon – to see if you get a couple of little bags of flour or some butter,” said taxi driver Jhonny Mendez, 58.

“It makes a person want to cry.”

Natalia Guerra, 45, lives in a small home in Petare with eight relatives, only one of whom has a significant salary.

She remembers buying milk for her own kids but now cannot find any for her grandchildren. “We’re a big family, and it’s constantly getting harder for us to eat,” she said.

(Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Toni Reinhold)

IEA says OPEC, Russia oil output freeze deal may be ‘meaningless’

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A deal among some OPEC producers and Russia to freeze production is perhaps “meaningless” as Saudi Arabia is the only country with the ability to increase output, a senior executive from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

Brent crude futures are up more than 50 percent from a 12-year low near $27 a barrel hit early this year, bouncing back after Russia and OPEC’s Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar struck an agreement last month to keep output at January levels.

Qatar has invited all 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and major non-OPEC producers to Doha on April 17 for another round of talks to widen the production freeze deal.

“Amongst the group of countries (participating in the meeting) that we’re aware of, only Saudi Arabia has any ability to increase its production,” said Neil Atkinson, head of the IEA’s oil industry and markets division, at an industry event.

“So a freeze on production is perhaps rather meaningless. It’s more some kind of gesture which perhaps is aimed … to build confidence that there will be stability in oil prices.”

Libya has joined Iran in snubbing the initiative, and the absence of the two OPEC producers – both with ample room to increase output – would limit the impact of any success in broadening the freeze at the April meeting.

The rise in output from Iran in the first quarter post-sanctions has been in line with IEA’s expectation of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), Atkinson said, adding that Tehran’s output could rise again by the same amount by the third quarter.

“Iran has not exactly been flooding the market with lots more oil. It seems to be far more measured,” Atkinson said.

It will take a while for Iran to regain its pre-sanctions share in Europe, where markets have been taken over by Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq, he added.

The IEA, energy watchdog for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), expects the wide gap between supply and demand to narrow later this year, paving the way for an oil price recovery in 2017.

“We think the worst is over for prices … Today’s prices may not be sustainable at exactly $40 a barrel, but in this mid-$30s and upward range, we think there will be some support unless there’s a major change in fundamentals,” Atkinson said.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Venezuela Pet Shops and Supermarkets Struggling to Stock Shelves

Venezuelan shoppers who were already facing long lines for staples like flour and toilet paper are now struggling to even get food or medicine for their pets.

Pet owners are now forced to stretch their food supply and police units are now having to ration food for canine units.

The chronic product shortages for both pets and people are likely caused by the combination of a failing state-led economic model and the falling of oil prices. Factories are also having issues producing pet feed because they cannot receive imported raw ingredients like soy and white corn.

“I only have two or three kilos (of dog food) left,” said Maura Morales, 41, as she searched a local pet store for food for her dog Milo. “If I can’t find more, I’ll give him rice and carrots.”

Pet owners also cannot make homemade food consisting of chicken or beef because those meats are also in short supply.

Venezuela’s division of Purina stated they are continuing to supply the market by offering less varieties of dog and cat food, so it can maximize its rare raw materials.

The pet food shortages have also made it difficult for animal shelters to find families to adopt stray dogs and cats.

“We have around 170 cats and dogs that are seeking homes, said Mariant Lameda of the non-profit Canine Support Network. “The situation with pet food is critical, and obviously this is affecting adoptions.”

Venezuela Food Shortage Leads to Violence

Food shortages in the communist country of Venezuela are causing long lines and significant violence and rioting.

In one recent incident, a mob angered by lack of food stormed a National Guard posting in La Sibucara, looting the offices and burning it before slamming military trucks into the building and reducing it to rubble.

The country’s food situation has degraded to the level that people are standing in line for hours just to obtain basic food staples such as rice and milk.  The country’s economy has undergone triple digit inflation which President Nicolas Maduro blames on food smuggling and price speculation.

A survey of Venezuelans found that 30% have two meals or less each day because of lack of food and 70% say they have stopped buying some basic food staple because of excessive cost or lack of availability.

The worldwide fall in oil prices has significantly hurt the country and the government’s ability to control the populace.  When oil prices hovered around $100 a barrel, the government provided subsidized food and personal items such a diapers.  Residents were able to smuggle items like cheap gasoline to neighboring countries as significant profit.

Since the collapse of the market, the government has been unable to provide the cheap goods and have used soldiers to close the borders and intercept any attempts to smuggle goods.

Venezuelan residents told the Wall Street Journal that they have no choice but to attempt to smuggle goods.

“The people that used to give us work—the private companies, the rich—have all gone,” said a woman who identified herself as Palma in La Sibucara.. “It’s not the greatest business but we don’t have work and we have to find a way to eat.”

“I think we’re going to die of hunger,” Yusleidy Márquez said.

Venezuela Moves Quickly To Eliminate Opposition

Venezuelan leaders have begun to blatantly ignore human rights in squelching protests and opposition to their rule.

President Nicolas Maduro has been warning opposition leaders for weeks that they will be jailed and tortured like opposition hardliner Leopoldo Lopez if they do not stop opposing his plans for the country.

Thursday the government arrested two opposition members of the legislature and had already sentenced one of them to 10 months in jail.  Another congresswoman is jailed and the government is working to strip away her congressional immunity from prosecution because of her opposition to Maduro.

The mayor of San Diego, Enzo Scarano, was removed from his position by the Supreme Court which is loaded with Maduro associates.  He was jailed for not following a court order to remove protester barricades from the city.

Maduro said Thursday he will “neutralize” the “country’s enemies.”

Venezuelan Troops Stop Food Protests

Thousands of Venezuelan citizens attempted to have an “empty pots march” to the country’s food ministry Saturday in protest of chronic food shortages when military troops forced them to disburse at gunpoint.

The move by the military is the latest effort by the Maduro government to stop public opposition to his government.

Activists said over 5,000 people banged pots and blew horns as they marched toward the capital with banners pointing out massive shortages of flour, milk and toilet paper.  In addition to the capital, similar protests were held in five other cities.

“There’s nothing to buy,” one of the marchers told The Guardian newspaper.  “You can only buy what the government lets enter the country because everything is imported.  There is no beef.  There is no chicken.”

The food protests are the latest outcries against the Maduro government, which has allowed 56 percent inflation to remain unchecked and has done little to lower one of the world’s highest murder rates.

Officials with the Maduro government say that no protests are actually started by native Venezuelans, but are rather efforts of the United States, Panama and other nations to undermine the country’s socialist leadership.

Venezuelan Government Threatening Foreign Press

Venezuelan’s government is trying to keep the world from finding out about the degrading conditions in the country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is threatening to throw CNN out of the country if they don’t stop providing truthful coverage of the protests and civil unrest in the nation.

“I’ve asked minister Delcy Rodríguez to tell CNN we have started the administrative process to remove them from Venezuela if they don’t rectify (their coverage),” Maduro said on state TV. “Enough! I won’t accept war propaganda against Venezuela. If they don’t rectify this, they’re out of the country.”

The government has been trying to hide the level of protests in the country since the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on terrorism charges.  Human rights groups around the world have condemned the arrest as purely political.

The government has kept Venezuelan media from reporting on the protests.