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February 10, 2007
Hey Mom! What's for Dinner?
In the socialist paradise known as Venezuela... Chicken Feet.
CARACAS, Venezuela - Meat cuts vanished from Venezuelan supermarkets this week, leaving only unsavory bits like chicken feet, while costly artificial sweeteners have increasingly replaced sugar, and many staples sell far above government-fixed prices.
President Hugo Chavez's administration blames the food supply problems on unscrupulous speculators, but industry officials say government price controls that strangle profits are responsible.
Shortages have sporadically appeared with items from milk to coffee since early 2003, when Chavez began regulating prices for 400 basic products as a way to counter inflation and protect the poor.
Yet inflation has soared to an accumulated 78 percent in the last four years in an economy awash in petrodollars, and food prices have increased particularly swiftly, creating a widening discrepancy between official prices and the true cost of getting goods to market in Venezuela.
"Shortages have increased significantly as well as violations of price controls," Central Bank director Domingo Maza Zavala told the Venezuelan broadcaster Union Radio on Thursday. "The difference between real market prices and controlled prices is very high."
Gonzalo Asuaje, president of the meat processors association Afrigo, said that costs and demand have surged but in four years the government has barely raised the price of beef, which now stands at $1.82 per pound. Simply getting beef to retailers now costs $2.41 per pound without including any markup, he said.
Now why do I get the feeling that hugo ain't dining on chicken feet? He looks like he hasn't missed a meal in years:
"They say there are no shortages, but I'm not finding anything in the stores," grumbled Ana Diaz, a 70-year-old housewife who after eight hours, had managed to fill a bag with chicken, milk, vegetable oil and sugar bought at official prices. "There's a problem somewhere, and it needs to be fixed."
Yeah, the problem is... you voted for socialism Ana, and you got it! So, quit complaining and start looking for some chicken feet recipes.
Posted by LindaSoG at February 10, 2007 09:29 PM
Comments
I thought Cuba proved the economic disaster of Socialism/Communism in Latin America 40 years ago. As did the Sandinistas in Nicaragua 20 years ago. Venezuela will now become another civil war/revolution.
Ah, but dictators relish their power. Like some of the dictators we have in the US Congress.
Posted by: TomR at February 11, 2007 02:48 PM