Shortages in Venezuela
Shortages in Venezuela of food staples and basic necessities occurred throughout Venezuela's history.[6] Scarcity became more widespread following the enactment of price controls and other policies under the government of Hugo Chávez[7][8] and exacerbated by the policy of withholding United States dollars from importers under the government of Nicolás Maduro.[9] The severity of the shortages led to the largest refugee crisis ever recorded in the Americas.[10]
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#0__call_to_action.textDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$Date
- Hunger, disease, civil unrest and refugee crisis
- Maduro government relaxes currency exchange regulations[3]
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--4DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--5DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--6DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--7DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--8DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--9DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--10DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--11DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--12DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--13DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#0__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#0__subtitleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
The Maduro administration denied the extent of the crisis;[11] and refused to accept humanitarian aid from Amnesty International, the United Nations, and other groups while conditions worsened.[12][13] The United Nations and the Organization of American States stated that the shortages resulted in unnecessary deaths in Venezuela and urged the government to accept humanitarian aid.[14] Though The New York Times asserts that the Maduro administration and its economic irresponsibility directly caused a lack of food,[15] Maduro stated that the country had adequate access to food.[16]
During the shortages, milk, meat, coffee, rice, oil, precooked flour, butter, toilet paper, personal hygiene products and medicines were scarce.[7][17][18] By January 2017, the shortage of medicines reached 85%, according to the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela (Federación Farmacéutica de Venezuela).[19] Hours-long lines were common, and those who waited did always receive service. Some Venezuelans resorted to eating wild fruit and garbage.[20][21][22][23]
On 9 February 2018, a group of United Nations Special Procedures and the Special Rapporteurs on food, health, adequate housing and extreme poverty issued a joint statement on Venezuela, declaring that much of its population was starving and going without in a situation that they do not believe will end.[24] A year later in 2019, the Maduro administration relaxed the nation's strict currency exchange regulations and shortages subsided in Venezuela while the economy became unofficially dollarized.[3][25]
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#2__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#2__descriptionDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#3__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
Censorship and denial[edit]
The Venezuelan government often censored and denied health information and statistics surrounding the crisis. Doctors received threats not to release malnutrition data. In one case in "the Ministry of Health's 2015 annual report, the mortality rate for children under 4 weeks old had increased a hundredfold, from 0.02 percent in 2012 to just over 2 percent". The government responded to the release of this information on the Ministry's website saying had been hacked. The information was taken down from the Internet, the health minister was fired, and the military was put in charge of Venezuela's health ministry.[85] The Maduro government focused on providing goods to the capital city, Caracas, while outlying regions of Venezuela experienced more shortages.[86]
President Maduro said he recognized there is hunger in Venezuela, though he blamed it on an economic war.[85] Yván Gil, Venezuela's vice minister of relations to the European Union, denied a "humanitarian crisis". Instead he stated there was simply "a decrease in the availability of food", saying an "economic war" had affected "the availability of food, but we are still within the thresholds set by the UN".[53] In an Al Jazeera interview with president of the Constituent Assembly Delcy Rodríguez, she stated, "I have denied and continue denying that Venezuela has a humanitarian crisis". As a result, international intervention in Venezuela would not be justified. She also described statements by Venezuelans calling for international assistance as "treasonous".[87]
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#5__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#5__descriptionDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#6__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#6__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#7__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#7__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#8__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#8__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#4__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#4__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#9__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#9__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--0DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--1DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--2DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--3DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$