Venezuela tackles shortages with controversial food card
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro is introducing a controversial shopping card intended to combat Venezuela's food shortages but decried by critics as a Cuban-style policy illustrating the failure of his socialist policies.
Maduro, the 51-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez, trumpets the new "Secure Food Supply" card, which will set limits on purchases, as a way to stop unscrupulous shoppers stocking up on subsidized groceries and reselling them.
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Hardline opposition sympathizers, though, decry the card as a copy of Cuba's ration books - a depressing sign of economic hardship and what they call "Castro-communist" influence in Venezuela.
"No to the Cuban package!" said one opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, who frequently depicts the Maduro government as being under the influence of Cuban President Raul Castro.
Critics say the card fails to tackle the roots of shortages in Venezuela: a lack of hard currency for imports, dysfunctional ports and absurdly low prices for subsidized goods.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/02/us-venezuela-food-idUSBREA410PJ20140502
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