Real Hunger – No Game – Part 2

TimeWatch Editorial
June 21, 2016

Just two days ago on June 19, 2016, Nicholas Casey wrote an article in the New York Times entitled: “Venezuelans Ransack Stores as Hunger Grips the Nation.” In it he describes the horrible situation that exists in the country at present.

“With delivery trucks under constant attack, the nation’s food is now transported under armed guard. Soldiers stand watch over bakeries. The police fire rubber bullets at desperate mobs storming grocery stores, pharmacies and butcher shops. A 4-year-old girl was shot to death as street gangs fought over food. Venezuela is convulsing from hunger. Hundreds of people here in the city of Cumaná, home to one of the region’s independence heroes, marched on a supermarket in recent days, screaming for food. They forced open a large metal gate and poured inside. They snatched water, flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, potatoes, anything they could find, leaving behind only broken freezers and overturned shelves. And they showed that even in a country with the largest oil reserves in the world, it is possible for people to riot because there is not enough food.” Nicholas Casey, “Venezuelans Ransack Stores as Hunger Grips the Nation.” June 19, 2016, the New York Time

Where did all this begin? How did a nation with, as stated above, “The largest oil reserves in the world,” reach the place where there is no food? Girish Gupta, writer for Time Magazine on Feb. 27, 2015 penned an article entitled: “Venezuela Is Slowly Coming Apart—and President Nicolas Maduro May Pay the Price.” He makes the point that Hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods have Venezuelans angry—and looking for new leadership.

“While many in Venezuela have little direct engagement with the dollar—the country’s foreign exchange is strictly controlled—the currency crisis pervades everyday life. It means many doctors and engineers earn the equivalent of just a dollar a day and prefer instead to drive taxis or smuggle pasta or gas across the border to Colombia. It means that those who want to buy basic goods for their families must line up for hours every day due to shortages, and hoping all the time that shelves won’t be empty. It means that stealing is more valuable than working, fueling one of the world’s highest crime rates and the murder of one police officer nearly every day.”Girish Gupta , “Venezuela Is Slowly Coming Apart—and President Nicolas Maduro May Pay the Price.”Time Magazine on Feb. 27, 2015

Patrick Gillespie , writing for CNN Money on January 20, 2016 in his article entitled: 5 reasons why Venezuela's economy is in a 'meltdown' says:

“Venezuela's economy shrank 7.1% in the third quarter of last year, according to the government. It's been shrinking for seven consecutive quarters going back to the start of 2014. Inflation in Venezuela skyrocketed 141% over the year ending in September, the central bank reported. Incredibly, some experts believe even that figure is understating the problem. The IMF projects inflation in Venezuela will increase 204% this year. "The country is in economic meltdown," says Edward Glossop, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, a research firm. "The figures are predictably horrific." Patrick Gillespie , 5 reasons why Venezuela's economy is in a 'meltdown' CNN Money on January 20, 2016

So what are those five reasons laid out by Patrick Gillespie? Let’s take a look.

1. Venezuela's economy depends mostly on oil. That was great when a barrel of oil was worth $100 a barrel in 2013 and 2014. Now oil prices have fallen to as low as $28.36 -- the lowest point in 12 years.
   
   
2. Venezuela's currency, the Bolivar, has plummeted at a breathtaking pace. A year ago, one dollar equaled 175 bolivars. Now a dollar is worth 865 bolivars. Put another way, one Bolivar is worth $0.0011 -- less than a penny, according to the unofficial exchange rate on dolartoday.com.
   
   
3. Some Venezuelans have had enough of Maduro. In January, the opposition party, Democratic Unity, took 109 seats in Congress, far more than the 55 seats Maduro's socialist party won. The opposition now controls 65% of Congress. That's important -- that level allows Democratic Unity to fire Maduro's cabinet members and pass reforms that Maduro can't overturn.
   
   
4. Venezuela has been teetering on the brink of default the past two months. The country is barely making enough money on oil exports to cover its debt payments. This year Venezuela owes over $10 billion in debt payments. Nearly half of that is due in October and November.
   
   
5. Venezuelans are bearing the brunt of the economy's problems. The government can't pay to import basic food items like milk, flour and eggs, leaving many supermarkets with empty shelves. A year ago, McDonalds (MCD) in Venezuela temporarily ran out of French fries. Food shortages -- along with lines lasting several hours in hot weather -- are a major source of the social unrest in the country.
   
   

Patrick Gillespie , 5 reasons why Venezuela's economy is in a 'meltdown' CNN Money on January 20, 2016

Notice where all this began: With the plummeting price of oil. Those who control and manipulate the price, control the world.

Cameron A. Bowen