"People live humbly but they have food — especially because the government distributes a monthly food package, for the equivalent of a few pennies — to everyone who needs it and even some who don’t."
A monthly food package? I guess for Ken, monthly in spanish translates to every 90 days or so. I know this. I see it. I live in a town of about 5,000 people or so. My woman sells food when she can find it at her bodega so we know what's available on the market and what's not.
The clap boxes DO NOT arrive monthly. And in the surrounding small towns it's the same story. The clap boxes typically arrive when the townspeople get so pissed off and hungry they shut down the national highway for a full day by burning tires. Then, and only then do the clap boxes show up. Well, that's not totally true, when there's an "election" they somehow miraculously show up to pay for chavismo votes.
"Furthermore, food — fruits, vegetable, meat, bread, for example — is available everywhere. You have to be a blind liar like Dreier to miss it since street markets overflow with abundance. It’s not cheap but it’s available."
Overflowing with abundance? Laugh the fuck out loud.
Vegetables here in town TODAY consist of yuca, tomatoes, and green onions. That's it. I know, I shopped for veggies this AM here in town.
ZERO fruits, zero. Fruits don't make it here. Bread? LOL Meat? Today, yes, tomorrow who the fuck knows. I bought 2 kilos of lagarto, which is the lower leg of the animal and traditionally used in soups, for 12,000 bs Soberano. The minimum wage is 18,000 bs Soberano.............PER MONTH. Better cuts of meat cost 8,000 bs S per kilo, today, tomorrow, who knows?
Every once in a while the national guard and the mayor (whose office is over an hour from here) come to town and confiscate meat that they say is overpriced. You can about imagine what happens to meat sales for a couple of weeks afterwards. Chicken? Zero. Pork? Zero. Haven't seen the latter sold here for more months than I can recall.....not even for Christmas and New Years when Venezuelans make their traditional hallacas that require chicken and pork. But we do have plenty of horses getting stolen and slaughtered, so there's that.
If I want to find something in the way of fruits, or exotic vegetables like potatoes, carrots, or even oinons most times, I have to drive 45 miles to do so and there's no guarantee that I'll find what I need. You guys think the average Venezuelan here has a car? Or that the average Venezuelan here can afford to pay for transportation to make a 45 mile trip to buy what he needs to feed his family?
What people eat here, and I suspect in many small towns in this part of Venezuela are arepas, assuming they can find the corn to make them, yuca, and casave. That's it. Most don't eat meat, and canned sardines as a source of protein are no longer to be found here. If they are, they cost way more than one can afford. Chicken and pork are no longer part of the Venezuelan diet, at least not in the rural areas unless produced at home. BTW, my wife and I produce here at the house chickens for meat and eggs and hogs as well. We also have a garden. We eat well because we hustle and have the means to find most of what we need. Most Venezuelans don't have the means so they do without.
As suspected, after reading the article, Mr. Silverstein visited Caracas. He may not be aware of this, but a lot of Venezuelans don't live in Caracas. He may not also be aware that if Maduro is going to make sure ONE PART of Venezuela is relatively well-stocked with food, it's Caracas. Why you might ask? Because the last thing the Maduro regime needs is for the barrios on the hills surrounding Miraflores to empty into Caracas at night with pitchforks and torches calling for his head.
Don't believe everything you read. You can choose not to believe what I've said here. But I have no reason to lie about what I live every day.
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