(At first I was going to put this in Laffs...but I've checked it with several reputable sources; it's not made up)
Venezuela toilet paper shortage an anti-Bolivarian conspiracy, gov't claims
ARACAS, Venezuela First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities — toilet paper.
Blaming political opponents for the shortfall, as it does for other shortages, the embattled socialist government says it will import 50 million rolls to boost supplies.
That was little comfort to consumers struggling to find toilet paper on Wednesday.
"This is the last straw," said Manuel Fagundes, a shopper hunting for tissue in downtown Caracas. "I'm 71 years old and this is the first time I've seen this."
One supermarket visited by The Associated Press in the capital on Wednesday was out of toilet paper. Another had just received a fresh batch, and it quickly filled up with shoppers as the word spread.
"I've been looking for it for two weeks," said Cristina Ramos. "I was told that they had some here and now I'm in line."
Economists say Venezuela's shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.
"State-controlled prices — prices that are set below market-clearing price — always result in shortages. The shortage problem will only get worse, as it did over the years in the Soviet Union," said Steve Hanke, professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University.
President Nicolas Maduro, who was selected by the dying Hugo Chavez to carry on his "Bolivarian revolution," claims that anti-government forces, including the private sector, are causing the shortages in an effort to destabilize the country.
The government this week announced it would import 760,000 tons of food and 50 million rolls of toilet paper.
Commerce Minister Alejandro Fleming blamed the shortage of toilet tissue on "excessive demand"[/b]["Excessive demand" ] built up as a result of "a media campaign that has been generated to disrupt the country."
"The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper," he was quoted as saying Tuesday by state news agency AVN. "We are going to saturate the market so that our people calm down."
Finance Minister Nelson Merentes said the government was also addressing the lack of foreign currency, which has resulted in the suspension of foreign supplies of raw materials, equipment and spare parts to Venezuelan companies, disrupting their production.
"We are making progress ... we have to work very hard," Merentes told reporters Wednesday.
Many factories operate at half capacity because the currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies verge on bankruptcy because they cannot extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers.
Merentes said the government had met the U.S. dollar requests of some 1,500 small- and medium-sized companies facing supply problems, and was reviewing requests from a similar number of larger companies.
Chavez imposed currency controls a decade ago trying to stem capital flight as his government expropriated large land parcels and dozens of businesses.
Anointed by Chavez as his successor before the president died from cancer, Maduro won a close presidential election April 14 against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who refused to accept the result, claiming Maduro won through fraud and voter intimidation. He filed a complaint to the Supreme Court, asking for the vote to be annulled, though that's highly unlikely to happen since the court is packed with government-friendly justices.
Patience is wearing thin among consumers who face shortages and long lines at supermarkets and pharmacies. Last month, Venezuela's scarcity index reached its highest level since 2009, while the 12-month inflation rate has risen to nearly 30 percent. Shoppers often spend several days looking for basic items, and stock up when they find them.
Fleming, the commerce minister, said monthly consumption of toilet paper was normally 125 million rolls, but that current demand "leads us to think that 40 million more are required."
"We will bring in 50 million to show those groups that they won't make us bow down,"[or squat down] he said.
A conspiracy blog has just reported that in a clandestine operation, (code named: Operation Down the Crapper) CIA "Shit Squads" have been operating secretly in Venezuela for months contaminating food and water supplies with a genetically enhanced, weaponized strain of Ex-Lax....
Lord Jim wrote:
"This is the last straw," said Manuel Fagundes, a shopper hunting for tissue in downtown Caracas.
He's using straw, and he's down to the last one!! :
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Of course it is/was; after all the shit spewed by W et al., US had an unprecedented run on toilet paper and this demand meant the market paper had to fail somewhere. Factor in the shit Chavez heaped on his own people, and Venezuela was a no brainer.
This is obviously a conspiracy undertaken by the MOTU.
Our government is being influenced by the wealthy executives at the Scott Paper Company to allow it to flood the Venezuelan market with Scott Toilet Paper at inflated prices and to eventually dominate the South American toilet paper market.
Once the U.S. has achieved South American dominance in the toilet paper market it will give our government the ability to control that entire continent's economy.
The MOTU has always known the best strategy for success is to start at the bottom and work your way up.
State-controlled prices — prices that are set below market-clearing price — always result in shortages.
True, but simplistic. The question that needs to be answered is whether more goods can be purchased with price controls than without. In Venezuela it is clear that price controls have enabled huge swaths of the population to purchase staple goods that were previously unaffordable. The total volume of staple goods sold has increased dramatically and has had tangible results - the caloric intake of the average Venezuelan has almost doubled. Bizarro revolutionary rhetoric aside, that is an impressive accomplishment.
"Hang on while I log in to the James Webb telescope to search the known universe for who the fuck asked you." -- James Fell
] built up as a result of "a media campaign that has been generated to disrupt the country."
