The problems in Venezuela in recent years have covered all sectors, with periodic relief that has allowed the population to take occasional breaths. The South American country closed the millennium in a privileged position within the region, but in twenty years it has descended to unimaginable levels, standing out on lists because of the levels of poverty and insecurity in various areas.
COVID-19 did not arrive in Venezuela at the worst moment, because the country has gone through other serious crises in the past, such as the marked shortage of food that forced people to spend hours and even days in queues to buy supplies. But the pandemic did not arrive in the nation’s best moment either: in 2019, international organizations recognized a humanitarian crisis after years of public suffering; before this, there were no investigations, records, analyses or international aid.
The country, which has the largest oil reserves in the world, has spent years with serious problems of gasoline shortages, which increased at the end of 2019. The COVID-19 quarantine, which began in Venezuela in mid-March 2020, helped the Maduro government to cover up the problem minimally. But the shortage is so pronounced that it is evident on an alarming scale, even during a period when a portion of the population remains at home on a daily basis to prevent the spread of the virus.
At gas stations that are filled with gasoline, the queues are immense. People can spend more than 12 hours waiting to fill up their tanks or even days to wait for a turn. There is a rationing that, in theory, places security and medical sectors in a privileged position, but doctors and nurses have reported that they have to spend, on many occasions, more than 10 hours in line to refuel.
The limited amount of gasoline available in the country is not the only problem, as it is tied up in abuse, arbitrariness and illegality. Many users constantly denounce through social networks how certain security officials take advantage of the situation, filling and reselling at a higher price, turning it from the cheapest gasoline in the world to the most expensive, but all in an unofficial way.
In some states, people have been arrested for smuggling or illegal sales, but the discomfort continues in a population that hasn’t had a break in recent years, being forced to jump from one problem to another. In the queues, protection against the further spread of the coronavirus is not guaranteed, people may be required to wear masks, but it is difficult for everyone to maintain proper social distancing during the hours of waiting.
In April, for example, the fuel crisis caused hundreds of motorcycle riders to stand outside a service pump, blocking for hours much of the access to the highway, among them there was no proper distance and many did not use face masks.
Although a lot of activity has ceased in the country, health and food workers continue to go out to work, as they do in the rest of the world. A few days ago, a video of a nurse skateboarding for miles to get to the hospital went viral. Also, on social networks are videos of farmers travelling with donkeys to a city, in the west of Caracas, to carry their merchandise. They walked from the rural areas because they didn’t want to lose their vegetables and increase the losses.
Part of the food distribution system is supplied with diesel and this has been available in the last few days, but it does not stop generating fear in the population about a possible shortage of food in many of the cities. The gasoline problem has been exacerbated by the sanctions imposed on the Maduro administration and the deterioration of the oil industry infrastructure due to the government’s own lack of investment. In addition, concern about food shortages has returned, marked by a new price control imposed by Maduro on more than 20 basic products.
Not long ago, a similar measure caused a serious disruption in the Venezuelans’ purchasing process. Most products such as flour, sugar, coffee, toilet paper, milk, among others, were scarce, and people had to spend long hours in queues to get just one or two packages or even go home empty-handed.
Experts in the area have already warned: companies are unable to withstand price regulation when production costs vary constantly due to inflation and the price of the dollar. As production decreases, the scenario envisaged is not ideal: the shelves could be empty for the next few weeks like they used to be a few years ago. In the meantime, the long queues, the resellers who take advantage of the situation and the desperation for food would return.
The Maduro government announced the measure as an attempt to moderate the constant price increases in food stores; but we already know from past experience that this measure could only relieve the Venezuelan people’s pockets for a few days, and then uncertainty caused by the shortage will come back. Meanwhile, the local protests and lootings continue.
In the midst of a pandemic, the situation could be worse. It is necessary to take into account that companies around the world are going through economic problems and the priority of many countries is to try to help facing the future, to avoid the closure of a large number of companies, which would worsen the economic projection for the coming months.
In Venezuela, there is suffocating inflation, which does not give a moment of peace to the Venezuelans. Products are rising according to the dollar and savings in bolivars are losing value every day. Furthermore, workers who have the minimum wage cannot access the majority of products.
A recent increase puts the monthly minimum wage at around four dollars, at the exchange rate at the end of April. According to the list of regulated prices offered by the Maduro government, a person with merely the minimum wage would only be able to buy a little over two pounds of cornmeal, two pounds of hard white cheese and two pounds of rice.
These workers cannot buy, for example, two pounds of powdered milk, because it exceeds the 800,000 bolivars they earn in the whole month. Older pensioners are paid half, which means that their monthly income is about two dollars. How can anyone survive on this amount of money for a whole month? Many are relieved by the influx of remittances from family members abroad, but in the face of the pandemic it is not known how many people will be in a position to continue sending such aid.
Image credit: Simone Bosotti