Venezuelas military is trafficking food as the rest of the country goes hungry
Source: Salon
PUERTO CABELLO, Venezuela When hunger drew tens of thousands of Venezuelans to the streets last summer in protest, President Nicolas Maduro turned to the military to manage the countrys diminished food supply, putting generals in charge of everything from butter to rice.
But instead of fighting hunger, the military is making money from it, an Associated Press investigation shows. Thats what grocer Jose Campos found when he ran out of pantry staples this year. In the middle of the night, he would travel to an illegal market run by the military to buy corn flour at 100 times the government-set price.
The military would be watching over whole bags of money, Campos said. They always had what I needed.
With much of the oil country on the verge of starvation and malnourished children dying in pediatric wards, food trafficking has become big business in Venezuela. And the military is at the heart of the graft, according to documents and interviews with more than 60 officials, company owners and workers, including five former generals.
Read more: http://www.salon.com/2016/12/28/venezuela-military-trafficking-food-as-country-goes-hungry-2/
Archae
(46,327 posts)"Maduro can do no wrong!"
Hey, where are the Maduro fan boys, anyway?
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)This was supposed to be the world's showcase country and government.
COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)'Bolivarian Revolition' turned out to be one more kleptocracy headed by idiots and morons.