Venezuela's Maduro halts restricted food sale plan [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Venezuela's Maduro halts restricted food sale plan
By JORGE RUEDA / Associated Press / June 8, 2013

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that he has put a halt to a plan to restrict sales of 20 basic food products in Venezuela’s most populous state, a scheme critics had deemed rationing in disguise.

Officials in western Zulia state had said the plan to limit sales of items such as cooking oil, flour, chicken and toilet paper — all of which are subject to price controls — could begin as early as Monday at 65 supermarkets. But they never explained exactly how it would work.

Data on purchases would reside on computer servers to guarantee that individuals did not make multiple purchases of the same item in different supermarkets, they said.

‘‘It’s insane this idea, whoever got into their head, of a computer chip for purchases,’’ Maduro said in a speech televised on state TV.

Maduro said he asked Gov. Francisco Arias Cardenas, a socialist ally and former military officer, to scrap the planned restrictions on food sales and Arias agreed.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/latin-america/2013/06/08/venezuela-maduro-halts-restricted-food-sale-plan/mD7qj2yvQHpzaMMFP2xEeK/story.html