A Day Out at the Black Market in Venezuela

https://panampost.com/editor/2016/04/03/a-day-out-at-the-black-market-in-venezuela/

For three years in a row, Venezuela has reported the highest inflation rate in the world. The reported rate is 186 percent, though independent estimates range from 400 percent (by Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke) and 720 percent, a projection by the International Monetary Fund.

Single mom Noslen Ramos queues up daily outside state supermarkets in the western city of Maracaibo, which is two hours from her home. She is a mother of three and sells empanadas on the street for minimum wage.

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“It’s common to sleep in line,” Ramos said. “If we come at five in the morning, there’s already a big line. The people in the front, they probably slept here.”

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“They expropriate the majority of the sugar companies, and you cannot find sugar,” Luis Vicente Leon said. “They expropriate coffee companies in Venezuela, and you cannot find coffee. They expropriate Owens-Illinois, and we cannot find packages.”