Things are getting a lot worse there - from Yahoo/Associated Press:
Venezuela occupies food warehouse of biggest private company
Venezuela's largest food distributor on Thursday denounced the government occupation of a Caracas warehouse amid accusations that the company is hoarding goods.
Soldiers took over the warehouse complex used by Empresas Polar late Wednesday just as Venezuela's federation of brewers announced that Polar's beer manufacturing subsidiary is shutting two of its six plants because of a lack of imported barley.
The South American oil-exporting nation is grappling with chronic shortages of all kinds of staples from sugar to toilet paper, which businesses blame on the socialist government's economic policies.
President Nicolas Maduro has accused Polar of sabotaging the economy by hoarding goods and intentionally creating shortages, a charge the company denies. As December congressional elections approach, Maduro has been levying frequent attacks on sectors that he claims are staging an economic war against Venezuelans.
A bit more:
It has been a rough couple of weeks for Polar.
In addition to the beer plant closures, which the brewers' federation said could affect a quarter of domestic beer production, Polar has also been embroiled in a dispute with union workers demanding pay raises.
Members of some of the dozens of unions representing Polar workers have limited distribution of the small bottles of light beer that are favored in Venezuela. While there are no signs of shortages on shelves so far, the company says it is struggling to get deliveries to the central part of the country.
Earlier this month, the head of Venezuela's liquor store federation warned that the nation was about to run out of beer because brewers had reached "zero hour" amid widespread shortages in raw materials. Days later, he was detained for reasons that remain unclear.
Maduro is claiming sabotage because he will never be able to own up to the fact that it is his own progressive policies that are causing the problem.
Venezuela is rich with oil and the government of Chavez and now Maduro have been squandering this wealth on bread and circuses (social handouts and free stuff) instead of building schools, industries and infrastructure. The result is that. Everything is great for about fifteen years and then, the infrastructure starts crumbling. Chavez at that time nationalized the utilities (power, telephone, water, radio, etc...) and they crumbled even faster.
Now, we are watching the food infrastructure crumble. The farms are run collectively with predictable results. I pity the poor citizens.
