The Centro de Divulgacion del Conocimiento Economico [Centre for the Spread of Economic Knowledge] (CDCE) issued a press release today condemning the Maduro regime for engaging in what it considers to be the deliberate fostering of looting events aimed at providing quick bursts of relief to the scarcity crisis in the country to the detriment of private business. The CDCE’s press release comes a day after the regime ordered the lowering of prices at hundreds of supermarkets effective Friday night, resulting in chaos at the affected supermarkets.
From the CDCE’s perspective, the Friday measure to reduce prices at supermarkets was “another step towards perpetuating the economic distortion” in the country by brute-forcing a band-aid solution to the inflation crisis. The press release continues:
On the one hand, the decision from the SUNDDE–an organization that is backed by teh so-called Law of Fair Prices, which is completely disconnected from the economic realities of the country and the free market–ignores realities like increasing hyperinflation which is caused by haphazard monetary and fiscal policies by the national government, which will surely stop the affected businesses from restocking their products, a fact which will cause even more scarcity and shortages in the country.
The same release calls on Venezuelans to ignore the regime’s repeated claims that those responsible for the country’s economic collapse are business owners and producers.
Deputy Garcia: Regime Relies on “Organized Looting” to Survive
In comments to reporters made earlier today, National Assembly deputy Ismael Garcia echoed the CDCE’s sentiments, and also suggested that the regime may be deliberately sparking looting events in order to maintain itself in power for a while longer. Garcia said:
Nicolas Maduro is administrating hunger in his last miserable days with perverse and erroneous measures, as is the looting that is orchestrated at high levels of government against the private supermarkets of the country.
Garcia said that the regime benefits from the food crisis in the country, since it can exchange votes for food and increase its popularity at will by giving away food to hungry Venezuelans. Placing the supermarket interventions of this past weekend into the larger context of Maduro’s reign, Garcia said:
Maduro has turned out to be a curse for Venezuela, and in this final and agonizing stage of his regime he is working to ensure that people can only depend on perverse measures like the CLAP [the state-run subsidized food network] and the carnet de la patria [a PSUV identification card] in order to get food, and to force the migration of millions of Venezuelans who are not willing to kneel before this nefarious and corrupt government.
Hungry Residents Loot Overturned CLAP Truck
A truck carrying boxes of food for the CLAP distribution network overturned on a highway near Cagua, Aragua state earlier this morning. The truck was allegedly carrying 1,600 boxes of food, each containing a variety of basic staples.
Below, a video of the large crowd of people who descended on the overturned truck:
Regime Rolls Out A Praising Maduro
The Ministry of Communication has released an ad praising Maduro as the life force of the country. The campaign was heralded by the launch of a television ad in which a young man exalts Maduro as his source of hope and inspiration in an otherwise dark and violent world. Below, the ad along with my translation:
Young Man: I was born in the early days of the [Bolivarian] revolution. The revolution and I are like brothers. We grew up together. Ever since commander Chavez left us, the enemy has come at us with everything looking to crush our morale with violence, scarcity, the violently-rising dollar, blockades, sabotage, threats and death. But we’ve faced this all together with strength and dignity.
The happiness with which you face these problems is inspiring. You are here [gesturing to heart]. I see you defending a world that is yet to be, and opening up spaces for the future. For me, that means hope, struggle and victory. You’re the reason, Maduro!
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