In some parts of Venezuela the situation has become virtually apocalyptic. People have reached a tipping point and are seen eating trash for survival.
With more oil wealth than Saudi Arabia, the painful reality in the South American country is worsening every day and, with global oil prices plummeting, it's submerged in one of its worst recessions ever amid an inflation rate of nearly 700 percent.
At the beginning of May, the Venezuelan Chamber of Food (Cavidea) said many businesses only had 15 days-worth of inventory. There’s a shortage of raw materials and national and international supply resources have dwindled to barely anything. Supermarkets have confirmed that food simply isn’t arriving.
Corn flour, a staple in Venezuelan diet, has become scarce, followed by prices on items such as poultry spiking to more than $85.00.
Food shortages have forced the government to send in the National Guard in attempts to quell rioting and violent clashes, as Venezuelan’s wait hours in lines for basics.
President Nicolas Maduro blames food smuggling for the triple digit inflation, but a combination of economic factors has contributed to Venezuela’s dissolution – a lack of foreign capital, declining oil prices, and the country’s economic policies.
The fault of much of Venezuela’s economic downfall has been placed directly on the last two decades of socialism, after Hugo Chavez pledged to bring socialism into the 21st century and, before his death in 2013, hand-picked Maduro as his successor.
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