Posted on 06/01/2016 1:14:42 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
(PHOTOS-AT-LINK)
Agustin Otxotorena, a Basque executive living in Caracas, grew tired of constant calls from friends and relatives in Spain telling him that there was no food in Venezuela, so on May 20 he began publishing photos on Facebook of supermarkets in upscale sectors of Caracas filled with goods.
In addition to showing evidence of an abundance of food stuffs, Otxotorena also analyzed the situation. He concluded that there are two countries in Venezuela—one where "there are many people having a hard time, who don’t have the money to live,” and another where there is "an upper class that has a living standard higher than Europe."
The exclusive Fresh Fish Gourmet Market in the upscale Altamira neighborhood in Caracas has plenty of food.
"If you have money there is champagne … vodka, Belgian chocolates … lobster, brand-name clothes, exclusive restaurants … nightclubs, beaches … yachts, golf clubs—a whole country within a country where there are no poor, women and children are blond, go to exclusive schools, exclusive universities, and vacation, where Blacks or poor are the waiters … ,” he posted on his Facebook page.
In his analysis he stated that the phenomenon stems from corruption in import processes, subsidies by the government, and the existence of buying, re-selling and smuggling of subsidized essential goods by "bachaqueros", linked to Colombian paramilitary groups.
He explained that large retail chains such as Makro, Excelsior Gama or Plaza’s have their own import mechanisms, "They import directly and work with the strongest private importers."
These chains are then able to set their own prices to the value of the dollar, they are not regulated by the government.
All other shops must turn to wholesalers and small importers, which are regulated and distributed by the Bolivarian government and sold at subsidized prices. The basic basket products are regulated in bolivars at very low prices and are accessible to the working class.
Otxotorena explained, "While oil prices held, the Venezuelan government brought and brought food in and everything, and gave dollars to importers, who basically defrauded the government by putting premiums in dollars and a thousand ways and means, corrupting officials to certify, for example, that they had brought in three containers of auto parts ... when they had only brought one in and passed it through customs three times.”
When the Venezuelan government closed the border with Colombia in 2015, the "bachaqueros" began to buy subsidized commodities to re-sell to Venezuelans and to take out of the country.
He adds that these bachaqueros, are directed and controlled by Colombian mafia organizations, with the complacency of the Venezuelan opposition, and have made a career of standing in lines to buy, hoard, re-sell and smuggle goods out of the country.
This is what has lead to the lack of foodstuffs in working class and poor neighborhoods of the country. It is estimated that 40 percent of these products, are taken out of the country.
Colombian paramilitaries earn more money from these Venezuelan goods than from the production and marketing of cocaine, Otxotorena added.
Otxotorena’s conclusion is that indeed there is a war against the Venezuelan people, whose criminal and coup character is encouraged by some international media "that would not bear or endure a 10th of these behaviors if they occurred in their countries.
"Everything goes toward the overthrow of Chavismo. However, whatever, whenever ... The only thing that matters to them (the opposition), even if the country is destroyed, is to get the Blacks, the poor, the Indigenous, the ‘ugly people’ or ‘peasants’ out of power.
"Unfortunately, they are very racist and classist …”
They had special shops in the USSR. There are special hard currency shops in North Korea. But do you want to live like that? Socialism doesn’t get rid of the rich, it concentrates and reserves wealth to a few people with connections to power. It returns a country to a modern day feudalism.
It's fascinating to study. Every commodity is forced into a shortage. Then the shortages increase retail prices which fatten those in charge. Need becomes a weapon for stealing from the people with impunity. Therefore, shortages must be persistent and relentless.
I disagree with people who say that socialism never works... It always works exactly as intended for the oligarchs who set it up. They tempt the poor, lazy, and stupid to allow them to steal from their institutions then give them scapegoats to blame while they are laughing all the way to the bank.
Coming to America if Queen Criminal Clintoon becomes our potus!
Google earth has buildings in the rich neighborhoods of Caracas blocked out, while buildings in the slum areas are not.
Well...you may need something besides tp ....
“Analysis: We need more socialism. Actually, analysis is probably not the right word for what they are doing.”
Precisely. If you eat all the corn, don’t plant any - and take away the incentive from those who use to plant corn, it doesn’t matter if you find that there are still a few fields with corn. You will eventually decimate those too, and unless incentive returns there is no long term solution. This is the fruit of socialism.
People on the right often wonder why leftists continue to push for socialism when eveyone else knows it doesn’t work. This articles gives the answer. It does work. For the socialists. But no one else. Don’t think that things will get so bad that the socialists will give up power. They won’t starve, and they don’t care that you will. They think they can outlast you.
What ? Google earth covering up for the Socialist elites ?
I never would have imagined it .. /s
After all , Google's motto is " to do good" , the question is for whom do they do the good !
+1
These aren’t just ordinary people living in good neighborhoods. These are the ruling class. Typical higher level politician, their minions and the Media.
And no, food isn’t being smuggled to Columbia, that’s patently ridiculous. Venezuela can’t pay for it’s imports and legitimate foreign corporations want nothing to do with Venezuela ... That’s what happens when the government starts confiscating businesses and corporate assets.
This is so true. We lost a friend in Venezuela...gunshot.
Not sure if it’s still like that but probably since not much has changed but in Cuba, everywhere you go there is a woman or man sitting inside the bathroom door at a card table. They are pulling squares off a single row of toilet paper and stacking them on the table. 3 squares for $1.
The hotel rooms have electricity on a timer on the wall. You twist it all the way around and the electricity stays on til the timer runs out.
So do increasingly violent mobs of starving people who wish to eat. There isn’t enough firepower in the region when enough people are rioting.
No surprise.
Google is a massive govermental stooge operation.
In Capitalism, the rich become politically powerful.
In Socialism, the politically powerful become rich.
It was always a conscious lie, designed to gain political power. Karl Marx’s Das Capital has dozens of instances of deliberate fraud.
Marx was a political revolutionary first, and just made up his his cock and bull story economic theory after he had been expelled from Germany for coup plotting - in order to fool enough people to be a more successful in his next attempt to seize power.
The genius of Marx, was to make it seem moral to steal other peoples stuff, by so muddling the process of cause and effect in economics. Pure sophistry.
That is why they say that socialism (communism) is not so much an ideology that you ascribe to, as a conspiracy that you enlist in.
Generational brainwashing.
Many have a hint of how good it is on the outside, but have no clue REALLY how good it can be.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.