Venezuela’s Crisis Is No Small Potatoes
Caridad
HAVANA TIMES — Back when potatoes were cheap thanks to good harvests and we had these with every meal, people in Cuba used to jokingly say that “potatoes are life savers.” I’ve already been informed that potatoes haven’t exactly been abundant on the island in recent times.
Here in Venezuela, like everything else you buy, potatoes are increasingly beyond hand’s (or pocket’s) reach.
The last time I went to a market, a kilo was being sold at 600 bolivars***. You may find it for less – or more – at other markets.
A few months ago I visited the state of Trujillo, the towns of Tuñame and Jajo, to be more precise.
There, I noticed potato harvests have diminished considerably. The reason? The government only delivered half of the seeds that farmers needed. Another reason is the high price of fertilizers. Many farmers have opted to grow strawberries, which prove more profitable. Lastly, we have another, more than publicized issue: criminals have taken control of the state of Trujillo.
What this means is that those who work the land, grow crops and transport the produce are threatened into paying fixed quotas to armed men, so that these will protect them from other armed men, or quite simply allow them to travel down the road safely.
Given this situation, it comes as no surprise that the price of potatoes – and all other greens and root vegetables – should now be astronomical. Also, the government isn’t seriously incentivizing farming and there’s a long list of complaints regarding its Agro Patria agricultural program.
Venezuela imports over 70% of the food it consumes. Now that the price of oil is down in the dumps and more than 24 billion dollars have been swallowed up by the portfolios of who knows how many ministers and government officials, it will be long before the general public can access food and other essential products with a modicum of dignity.
(***) The value of the US dollar in Venezuela: There are numerous different exchange rates.
Cencoex: 6.30 Bs
SICAD (for travelers): 12.80 Bs
SIMADI: 198.29 Bs
Parallel: 700 Bs
The government insists that food and medication are sold at the Cencoex exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars per dollar.
Minimum wage is around 7.000 Bs a month.
At this exchange rate, the kilo of potatoes is sold at around 90 US dollars
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Two years? Last year you said by the end of the year. Changing your tune a little? There may be hope for you yet.
The piece of land called “Venezuela” will survive, but the country is in rapid collapse. Hyper-inflation has hit, shortages of basic staples are growing everyday, crime is soaring, capital flight is increasing as the wealthy elite connected to the ruling PSUV and the Maduro regime are fleeing with everything they can carry.
The US has many well developed sectors in their economy. If the current low oil prices shut down the more expensive oil extraction projects, the rest of the economy will continue to function. However, 90% of Venezuela’s economy is based on the oil industry. When the prices dropped, it hit Venezuela especially hard. Other oil producing countries have been hurt by the low prices too, but it has been worse for Venezuela because of the rampant corruption and economic mismanagement.
When the price of oil rises again (and you are correct, it will, but precisely when we don’t know), the US shale oil producers will be back in business driving the US to become the largest oil producer in the world.
Meanwhile in Venezuela, the Bolivarian Bandits will have long departed, leaving the poor to clean up the mess they made and try to rebuild their country.
…then there’s the issue of the missing $24 billion in oil revenues. Very suspicious. http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0NF28I20150424
Oil is a finite resource.
With a growing planetary demand for oil, with the remaining oil becoming more expensive to extract and with no ready alternative expected for about five years, logic dictates that the price has to go up fairly soon.
Give it a couple of years
I can’t believe this. I have been trying to purchase jet fuel and regular gas from the Venezuela Oil Company for three months. I can’t even get a simply price quotation from them.
If the US wanted to finish Venezuela off, we could simply stop buying their oil. What we purchase from Venezuela does not exceed 5% of the total oil we import, yet it amounts to slightly more than 40% of the market rate crude Venezuela sales abroad. This adds up to about 25% of total oil revenue to Venezuela. We could easily replace Venezuelan oil with Saudi oil. Venezuela could not easily replace the US as a customer. Venezuela needs that “ugly head” more than the ugly head needs Venezuela.
The rulers in Caracas are robbing the country blind while fools like you bleat on about “completing the socialist revolution”. Venezuela is not a capitalist country: there are no free markets, the government interferes in the economy, screwing up exchange rates, price controls & creating shortages. It’s Hugo Chavez’s “Socialism for Dummies” in action.
When has a socialist revolution ever helped the poor? Never.
When Maduro & the ruling clique have squeezed the last drops of wealth out of Venezuela and fled the country, the people will be stuck with the mess. Do them a favour: stop playing revolutionary tourist and stay in Britain.
Why is it that I have this feeling of American Hegemony sticking its ugly head again ?
OIL !!
….complete the socialist revolution? We call that putting a stake in country’s heart. Tell me where else socialism as you envision it has worked? The world economic crisis has caused slowdowns in many countries. But what Venezuela and Greece are experiencing is substantially worse than economic slowdowns. Structurally, these are two very different economies with one thing in common……socialism.
I am in Venezuela again for the second time this year. Our writer forgets that Venezuela is still a capitalist country and the world economic crisis affecting all countries worldwide and about the economic war being waged by the national and international bourgeoisie that has increased for the last 3 years since the death of president Chavez. To her these things don’t exist.
Also the para military and mafias roaming the country from Colombia and the counter revolutionary grouping in-country that has been causing havoc for over 14 years.
Granted the present government has made many mistakes by trying to halt and throw road blocks up to the revolution, not fighting corruption better, there appeasement to the reformists and to the national and international capitalists by having discussions, offering loans, dollars and favors, thinking that it would stop the hoarding by them, the disruption of the economy by them and the counter revolution against the people.
As many have said ,you can’t make half a revolution, the only way forward out of this mess is to socialize the means of production, expropriate the bourgeoisie and complete the socialist revolution.
Exactly what does “survive” mean to you? By the end of the year, Maduro will have more than 150% inflation. The black market exchange is really closer to 800 bolivars for smaller exchange amounts. By the way, in an earlier post you prognosticated that the price of oil would bounce back soon. If I need to I can find the comment. Or are you ready to admit that you were wrong?
As ye sow…………….. Socialism reaping the rewards.
The current extremely low price of oil is throwing the Venezuelan economy and Chavismo social programs into a spin.
Shale oil producers in the U.S. will have trouble staying in business given that low price but I expect Venezuela to survive the crisis.
Venezuela imports 70% of the food they consume. Cuba imports 80%. Hmmm, what else do these countries have in common? La respuesta. ….Fidel Castro.