As Venezuela goes hungry, its military makes money by trafficking food - Polidicks

[quote]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 country’s 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. That’s 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. As a result, food is not reaching those who most need it. The U.S. government has taken notice. Prosecutors have opened investigations against senior Venezuelan officials for laundering riches from food contracts through the U.S. financial system, according to several people with direct knowledge of the probes. No charges have been brought. “Lately, food is a better business than drugs,” said retired Gen. Cliver Alcala, who helped oversee border security. The late President Hugo Chavez created a Food Ministry in 2004. His socialist government nationalized and then neglected farms and factories, and domestic production dried up. When the price of oil collapsed in 2014, the government no longer could afford to import all the country needed. Hungry Venezuelans began rioting, and so Maduro handed the generals complete power over food. The government now imports nearly all the country’s food, and corruption drives prices sky-high, said Werner Gutierrez, agronomy professor at the University of Zulia. “If Venezuela paid market prices, we’d be able to double our imports,” Gutierrez said. “Instead, people are starving.” In large part due to concerns of graft, the three largest global food traders, all based in the U.S., have stopped selling directly to the Venezuelan government. [/quote] [url]http://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-goes-hungry-military-makes-money-by-trafficking-food/[/url]

People had been arguing before that nationalizing natural resources, and then making the economy dependent on it like Venezuela did with oil, makes said government more susceptible to corruption because its economy isn't diversified enough. Could someone who knows how this works explain it to me?

[QUOTE=archangel125;51613799]People had been arguing before that nationalizing natural resources, and then making the economy dependent on it like Venezuela did with oil, makes said government more susceptible to corruption because its economy isn't diversified enough. Could someone who knows how this works explain it to me?[/QUOTE] Basically it's putting all your eggs in one basket. They relied so much on the oil economy that because it fell through, the country didn't have anything else worth bringing money to their economy. In this case, it would seem that a huge portion of food is outsourced. They don't create any of it. So having to import it, anyone who brings it into the country gets to control the price of it. they put the military in charge of handling food so while the government said hey, sell this case of eggs at 5 bucks per dozen, the guys handing it out get corrupt and greedy selling it at 10 bucks per dozen to make some extra money, and no one can fight it because it's the only way to get it.

[QUOTE=FrankPetrov;51614081]Basically it's putting all your eggs in one basket. They relied so much on the oil economy that because it fell through, the country didn't have anything else worth bringing money to their economy. In this case, it would seem that a huge portion of food is outsourced. They don't create any of it. So having to import it, anyone who brings it into the country gets to control the price of it. they put the military in charge of handling food so while the government said hey, sell this case of eggs at 5 bucks per dozen, the guys handing it out get corrupt and greedy selling it at 10 bucks per dozen to make some extra money, and no one can fight it because it's the only way to get it.[/QUOTE] Furthermore, when the national government took over the oil industry, they decided to fire any worker and manager that had voted against the government. Then, the government decided to spend a lot of money into social programs. Which isn't a bad thing usually, except that these programs were all give and no take. They didn't generate any additional income. Not only was the government literally throwing money into a furnace, they were also neglecting to train new personnel for their oil facilities, or acquiring spare parts in case things got rough. As a result, when the oil prices tanked, they thought they could make up for the lower prices by increasing production. Only to find that their refineries were barely keeping up with the demand before the prices' collapse, because they lacked maintenance, replacement parts and the people required to properly run said places.

[QUOTE=T553412;51614390]Then, the government decided to spend a lot of money into social programs. Which isn't a bad thing usually, except that these programs were all give and no take.[/QUOTE] Well yeah, that's what social programs do. I'm not sure what kind of statement you're trying to make with that one. You give people money because they're poor, what is there to take?

Honestly surprised that this country hasn't imploded yet. It's just a matter of time before it tears itself apart in civil strife and possibly civil war. The government is on borrowed time and instead of utilizing this extra peaceful time to try and fix it, they just go and twist the knife some more.

[QUOTE=T553412;51614390]Furthermore, when the national government took over the oil industry, they decided to fire any worker and manager that had voted against the government. Then, the government decided to spend a lot of money into social programs. Which isn't a bad thing usually, except that these programs were all give and no take. They didn't generate any additional income. Not only was the government literally throwing money into a furnace, they were also neglecting to train new personnel for their oil facilities, or acquiring spare parts in case things got rough. As a result, when the oil prices tanked, they thought they could make up for the lower prices by increasing production. Only to find that their refineries were barely keeping up with the demand before the prices' collapse, because they lacked maintenance, replacement parts and the people required to properly run said places.[/QUOTE] There's also grotesque corruption that's basically at 100% saturation. I've seen evidence that when building their crucial economic linchpin of an oil industry they have, they'd bring in foreign engineers to design it all. And they'd warn the officials that "so and so pipeline needs to be replaced once every so and so span of time because the oil breaks down the pipeline. If you don't it'll fail, here's your schedule, i'm out". Then the officials will simply take all the money set aside for replacing the pipeline, pocket it themselves, ship it out of country to a foreign bank account and fail to maintain the pipeline. Then when the pipeline inevitably fails, the government just explains it as "foreign saboteurs", and the whole cycle starts anew. These people are so delusional/corrupt/etc that they basically tried to install soviet time again to save on power bills for the country. They're so far up their own ass they think they can control goddamn time. Fun fact, outside the political/military class, the richest and most financially fluid people are the prostitutes at ports, who can bring in foreign currency from sailors. The local currency is just sitting at rock bottom, so even a few american dollars is a huge windfall. It's not Zimbabwe tier, but only just. Not to keep banging on about communism's failings, but this is an inevitable outcome when you apply those ideas in the real world. A particularly bad one, sure, but it's not an anomaly

[QUOTE=Trilby Harlow;51614621]There's also grotesque corruption that's basically at 100% saturation. I've seen evidence that when building their crucial economic linchpin of an oil industry they have, they'd bring in foreign engineers to design it all. And they'd warn the officials that "so and so pipeline needs to be replaced once every so and so span of time because the oil breaks down the pipeline. If you don't it'll fail, here's your schedule, i'm out". Then the officials will simply take all the money set aside for replacing the pipeline, pocket it themselves, ship it out of country to a foreign bank account and fail to maintain the pipeline. Then when the pipeline inevitably fails, the government just explains it as "foreign saboteurs", and the whole cycle starts anew. These people are so delusional/corrupt/etc that they basically tried to install soviet time again to save on power bills for the country. They're so far up their own ass they think they can control goddamn time. Fun fact, outside the political/military class, the richest and most financially fluid people are the prostitutes at ports, who can bring in foreign currency from sailors. The local currency is just sitting at rock bottom, so even a few american dollars is a huge windfall. It's not Zimbabwe tier, but only just. [B]Not to keep banging on about communism's failings[/B], but this is an inevitable outcome when you apply those ideas in the real world. A particularly bad one, sure, but it's not an anomaly[/QUOTE] Venezuela policy-wise is like Norway. Unless you're planning to argue that norway is communist, and then I would proceed to call you silly. What they have is horrible corruption, incompetence, and a few economic events coming down in the precise way to cause this catastrophe.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;51614424]Well yeah, that's what social programs do. I'm not sure what kind of statement you're trying to make with that one. You give people money because they're poor, what is there to take?[/QUOTE] Social programs are not limited to handing out money to poor people. Soup kitchens, free public education, accesible healthcare, the list goes on and on. My point is that social programs should [B]not[/B] be designed to keep people in a perpetual state of poverty. They must be designed to [I]support[/I] the poor, so they can focus their energy and money into improving their lives, to the point that they no longer need to depend on said programs. That's what the government "takes". They give you free, or so-cheap-it-might-as-well-be-free, essential items and services. In exchange, when your situation improves and you no longer need to survive on its programs, they take your taxes so the cycle can begin again elsewhere.

Jesus Christ what a shitter.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;51614659]Venezuela policy-wise is like Norway. Unless you're planning to argue that norway is communist, and then I would proceed to call you silly. What they have is horrible corruption, incompetence, and a few economic events coming down in the precise way to cause this catastrophe.[/QUOTE] The state has taken control of most if not all industry, and basically all of the economic landscape. And i'm pretty sure norway never forcefully took over and nationalized all food supplies, raiding any privately owned warehouses and repossessing all it's stock. Let alone industry, healthcare and all large scale private business. The state has a nearly absolute control over all facets of society, and asserts more control by the day. I understand i should've clarified, but in reality Venezuela is communist in all but name

It's astounding that the whole thing hasn't collapsed into flames yet. Though it likely will very soon. All it'll take is a single spark.