MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela may control food distribution

Control food distribution: an essential public service

President Hugo Chavez's government has drafted a decree allowing it to take control of food distribution chains, possibly including supermarkets and storage depots, if services are interrupted, officials said Sunday.

Industry and Commerce Minister Maria Cristina Iglesias said the decree will help curb supply problems that have caused severe shortages of meats, milk and sugar in recent weeks. The decree will take effect upon its publication in the official gazette this week, she added. Industry officials blame the shortages on price controls that oblige retailers to sell at a loss, while the government points the finger at unscrupulous speculators, including supermarket owners and distributors, who hoard food or boost prices. Iglesias told a news conference the new legislation would give the government, along with municipal authorities and 'communal councils,' or neighborhood assemblies, authority over food distribution and sales if private companies such as supermarket chains halt their operations. The forthcoming decree 'puts ... food commercialization in the hands of the people and the revolutionary government,' she said. Iglesias did not provide specific details of the decree, saying only that the new legislation would 'permit, in extreme cases, the re-establishment of an essential public service.' Venezuela's National Assembly, which is entirely controlled by a coalition of pro-Chavez parties, approved a law last month granting the Venezuelan leader authority to enact sweeping measures by presidential decree as his government steers this poverty-stricken South American country toward socialism. Privately owned supermarkets suspended sales of beef earlier last week after one chain was shut down for 48 hours for pricing meat above government-set levels. Most items can still be found, but only by paying higher prices at grocery stores or on the black market. Authorities have raided warehouses and confiscated tons of food -- mostly beef and sugar -- they say was hoarded by vendors unwilling to sell inventories at the official price. Iglesias urged Venezuelans to provide authorities with information regarding distribution chains or storage facilities where goods are being hoarded so the food could be confiscated and sold directly to consumers. Full-page government ads published in newspapers on Sunday showed a fake mug shot under the title 'The Hoarder Is a Criminal' and warned consumers not to purchase foods at exorbitant prices. 'If you buy from a hoarder, who sells to you at inflated prices from his hideout, he is stealing from you, and at the same time you are turning into a delinquent's accomplice,' said the ad, which was paid for by Venezuela's Information Ministry. Shortages of items ranging from milk to coffee have occurred since early 2003, when Chavez began regulating prices for 400 basic products as a way to counter inflation and protect the poor. Vice President Jorge Rodriguez also announced Sunday the elimination of value-added taxes on beef, cheese and pork -- another new measure aimed at ending shortages. (AP)