A food shortage continues to plague residents in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. скачать в хорошем качестве

A food shortage continues to plague residents in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

(9 Jan 2015) A food shortage continues to plague residents in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Hundreds are being forced to queue for basic necessities, despite efforts from the government to combat the shortages and rising prices during the holidays. "You go to the supermarket and there is nothing (left)," said Rosalba Rojas, a housewife queueing outside a grocery store in downtown Caracas. Since 2006, Venezuelans have faced shortages, but in the last year stocks of basic goods in supermarkets have deteriorated, which economic experts believe is caused by limitations imposed on the purchase of foreign currencies. Many local and international companies operating in Venezuela have not been able to buy raw materials overseas, affecting their production activities. "They (people) know that the economy is running out of inventory, is running out of goods, and therefore they go to the markets to try to stock up," said Angel Garcia Banchs from Econometrica Director, an economic consulting firm. In December, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that he was deploying hundreds of inspectors to enforce the government's price regulations, which set the cost of everything - from milk to toothbrushes - artificially low. The Maduro administration blames the shortages on black-market vendors who buy groceries at government-regulated prices and illegally resell them for high profits. Critics say the problems are the result of excessive government intervention in the economy and smuggling that is tacitly endorsed by security forces. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...