Massive shortages of corn flour in Venezuela

Line at a La32, a Chinese everything joint

This week we have seen dramatic shortages of the Venezuelan basic staple, at least outside of Caracas and in low income social classes: corn flour.  Newspapers in Caracas are strangely silent about it but other papers like El Impulso of Barquisimeto are more vocal.  Yesterday and today driving around San Felipe I saw long lines of people. But today was top: in a single short errand I saw three, 3, long lines of people waiting for a single thing: Harina P.A.N., the most basic, well known staple of the Venezuelan kitchen, now available world wide except in Venezuela. I managed to take two pics for you, but that is not all.

El Impulso earlier this week was showing front page the ridiculous long line in a Barquisimeto location, but also, way more damming, how people were branded for their turn in line!!!  I am also putting these pictures at the end of this entry.

Line at MAKRO San Felipe, coming from INSIDE the store out.

What can we make out of this?

First, that ration cards are not far in the future. Though in Venezuela it may be easier for the regime to be highly unjust and limit itself to branding people as an easier way to "manage" the food shortage.

Branding people, El Pueblo, in line.

Second, it is clear, crudely clear, that the regime has been so focused on its political survival since last year opposition primaries that it has simply neglected to attend to economic matters, has not taken previsions for a diminished corn crop, has no money to buy corn at world price, not to mention that corn meal for Venezuelan Arepa is different than the one used for Tacos and Tamales in Mexico. Venezuelan Corn meal is pre cooked in a process that allows for preparation of an arepa. Thus you cannot make tacos with Harina PAN just as you cannot make arepas with any brand of Mexican corn flour you may find.

And to make this even worse, Venezuelans like their corn meal from white corn, not yellow corn. So finding white corn overseas is not easy because Venezuela is the main consumer of white corn, and used to be the biggest producer probably  But even the few eccentrics like yours truly who much prefer yellow corn meal for their arepas cannot find it anyway. In San Felipe or Caracas it has been more than one year since last time I saw yellow corn meal. I have been told that it can be found only in Oriente where people have a liking for that more flavored variety of corn but even there it is in short supply so the regime does not allow it to be sent to other states. Or something like that since no one in the government is willing to fess up to their incompetence and Polar is certainly not going to make a fuss about it, so harassed it is already by governmental abuse.

Line for Harina PAN in Barquisimeto, across the highway through the on foot pass.

Speaking of Polar. This food manufacturing giant of Venezuela is always under threat but produces more than ever the bulk of corn flour in Venezuela. All the attempts by the government at producing their own brand of corn flour have failed because of its inherent incompetence or simply because they produce a sub par product and lower classes are willing, if allowed to, to pay a surplus for Harina PAN. Meanwhile long ago Polar has set shop in Colombia from where it can export to the world Harina PAN, found in specialty stores from Sidney to Paris.  This, of course  underlines that if Polar were left to work on its own in Venezuela and were not harassed by the regime as it is, there would not be a corn meal crisis today. Period.

Fascist branding? Or is that Commie branding? I get confused sometimes....

I invite you to read the post before this one on why Venezuela's agribusiness is under such stress, to help you to understand better why do we have to brand people in line in the hope of avoiding a riot....