VENEZUELA-SHORTAGES/APPROPRIATION Venezuela takes over supermarket chain accused of hoarding

Record ID: 344648

  • Title: VENEZUELA-SHORTAGES/APPROPRIATION Venezuela takes over supermarket chain accused of hoarding
  • Date: 4th February 2015
  • Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (FEBRUARY 3, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING OUTSIDE A DIA A DIA SUPERMARKET SIGN READING: "DIA A DIA" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING VARIOUS OF FOOD AT THE CASH REGISTER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SHOPPER, MOISES, SAYING: "It is not the same as before when if you needed a product you would go and buy it. Now we have to hunt, like people before had to go out and hunt, now we have to hunt for processed products." PEOPLE QUEUING SIGN INDICATING THAT ONLY PEOPLE WITH A CERTAIN IDENTITY NUMBER ARE PERMITTED TO BUY REGULATED PRODUCTS ON THAT SPECIFIC DAY VARIOUS OF A MAN HAVING HIS BAG CHECKED
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8R94OBWXYOF901LLN3F5ONL0M
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Venezuela said on Tuesday (February 3) it has temporarily taken over 35 stores belonging to the "Dia a Dia" supermarket chain on charges it squirrelled away food to stoke public exasperation over widespread shortages.
    Shortages have led to huge queues outside shops in recent weeks, with systems being established to regulate the sale of particular products to owners of determined identity numbers on certain days.
    A handful of armed National Guards were posted in front of at least two Dia a Dia supermarkets in capital Caracas ON Tuesday morning. Some shelves inside were barren.
    "It is not the same as before when if you needed a product you would go and buy it. Now we have to hunt, like people before had to go out and hunt, now we have to hunt for processed products," frustrated shopper, Moses, told Reuters TV on Tuesday (February 3).
    President Nicolas Maduro has alleged that a greedy business elite is hoarding goods and engineering long queues by closing check-out counters in a bid to sabotage his socialist rule.
    Opponents scoff at this as a ludicrous smokescreen, while economists have long recommended the government ease strict currency controls to increase imports and shore up flailing domestic production.
    But Maduro has appeared to double down on the "economic war" theory on the back of deepening shortages of basic goods this year, and on Sunday (February 1) said an unnamed supermarket chain would be taken over.
    "In loyal compliance with the constitution and food safety laws, (the supermarket) will be occupied early in the morning and have its services regulated for the Venezuelan people. The directors and owners of the company will be detained for investigation for having entered into a war of nutrition against the population, in violation of the laws of the Republic," Maduro announced on Monday (February 2).
    Calls to Dia a Dia, which chiefly caters to the government's traditional base of support in poor neighborhoods, were not answered.
    Authorities are also pressing charges against Venezuelan pharmacy chain Farmatodo for not opening enough check-out counters. Its executives were summoned for questioning over the weekend.
    Outraged government opponents warn the crackdown will merely exacerbate shortages of everything from diapers to chicken and medicines in the recession-hit country.
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