Venezuela Is Out Of Food: Here’s What An Economic Collapse Really Looks Like
There's a booming new profession in Venezuela: standing in line.
The job usually
involves starting before dawn, enduring long hours under the Caribbean sun,
dodging or bribing police, and then selling a coveted spot at the front of huge
shopping lines.As Venezuela's ailing
economy spawns unprecedented shortages of basic goods, panic-buying and a rush
to snap up subsidized food, demand is high and the pay is reasonable.
"It's boring but
not a bad way to make a living," said a 23-year-old man, who only gave his
first name Luis, as he held a spot near the front of a line of hundreds outside
a state supermarket just after sunrise in Caracas.
Unemployed until he
tried his new career late last year, Luis earns about 600 bolivars, a whopping
$95 at Venezuela's lowest official exchange rate but just $3.50 on the black
market, for a spot. He can do that two or three times a day.
"There's a lady
coming at 8 a.m for this place. She's paid in advance," Luis said, patting
his wallet despite nods of disapproval around him. "I'll have a break and
then maybe start again. I chat to people to pass the time, the conversation can
be fun. If it's not, I play on my phone."
The phenomenon began
about two years ago but accelerated suddenly this month as a Christmas and New
Year distribution slowdown exacerbated existing shortages of basics from milk
and meat to toilet paper and diapers.
Foes of President
Nicolas Maduro, and his predecessor Hugo Chavez who ruled from 1999-2013, say
the lines symbolize the economic incompetence and inevitable scarcities of
socialism.
Nationalizations have
crimped private production while imports have fallen due to restrictive
currency controls.
The government says
panic-buying driven by unfounded rumors of chaos, price-gouging and hoarding by
unscrupulous store owners, and media exaggeration of shortages, are behind
chaotic scenes at supermarkets and pharmacies around the nation.
"If there was no
food, you wouldn't be seeing lines!" said Carlos Osorio, the
vice-president for food, adding that in 15 years of socialism per capita annual
meat consumption rose from 11 to 26 kg.
CHEAP CHICKEN
That statistic is no
consolation for Alcira Garcia, a retired 60-year-old from the poor Caracas
suburb of Macarao, who rose at 4 a.m. to stand in line at a downtown state
supermarket to find cheap food for her household of five.
Despite her efforts,
she left sweating and harried at 11 a.m. - without red meat. "But I did
get chicken, rice, oil and toilet paper, so it was worth it!" she said
before starting the slog home with her bags.
Chicken that day was
selling in the state-run Bicentenario supermarket for 43 bolivars per kg - four
times cheaper than in private stores and a prime illustration of why so many
Venezuelans are prepared to wait hours in line for bargains.
Subsidized food and
other basic products have made a huge difference in Venezuelans' lives and long
been a mainstay of the government's support among the poor. Maduro's challenge
is to maintain such welfare generosity in an economy already in recession even
before a recent crash in oil revenues.
The shortages have
already weighed heavily on his popularity, at its lowest point of 22 percent
according to one prominent local pollster, and augur badly for the ruling
Socialist Party in legislative elections later this year.
Bearing out a constant
government complaint, some people leaving supermarkets on a recent morning with
far more products than one family could need acknowledged they were for
re-sale. Many goods turn up at twice the price in the huge Petare slum.
The local Datanalisis
pollster estimated that 65 percent of pharmacy customers could be re-selling,
while the average consumer spends eight hours a week shopping.There have been scores
of arrests of people hawking goods across Venezuela's borders with Colombia and
Brazil, where they are sold for a large mark-up.
"What else am I
supposed to do? If I can't feed my family working honestly, then I'm forced to
try other things," said a Colombian immigrant who gave his name but asked
for it not be published, just out of jail where he spent a month after police
caught him smuggling across the border.
There is a heavy police
presence at many shops and increasing restrictions on sales, with some people
receiving stamps on their arms or only allowed to shop on a certain day
depending on the number of their ID card.
Some families send
elderly relatives to hold spots for them, while others take babies and use them
as an excuse to jump to the front.
Other services have
quickly sprung up outside stores, from chair-renters to bag-sellers and
juice-makers. An opposition columnist has started an interactive map showing
locations and photos of the worst lines around Venezuela.
"I've had
enough," said housewife Saray Linares, 27, who is pregnant with her fourth
child and was outraged at being pushed during a crush at a supermarket counter.
"It's horrible, savage, people running everywhere."
State TV has begun a
campaign urging Venezuelans to show confidence in their country and reduce the
panic-buying. Maduro said at the weekend that in just four days last week, 18
million people - out of a population of 30 million - had been supermarket
shopping, three times more than normal.
(Additional reporting
by Diego Ore; Editing by Alexandra Ulmer and Kieran Murray)
Source -www.reuters.com
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