VenEconomy: Wrong Diagnosis, Remedies to Tackle the Venezuelan Crisis 
 From the Editors of VenEconomy
Latin American Herald Tribune
January 20, 2015

The endless queues of eager Venezuelans in their search of diapers for their babies, a single roll of toilet paper, a carton of milk, corn flour, coffee, vegetable oil, among other basic products; the daily protests of citizens in angst are some of the symptoms of an ailing economy suffering an old disease that has killed other nations throughout history: communism, today hiding in Venezuela under the name of "socialism of the 21st century."

Other of the symptoms are the stockouts of companies that have been hit hard for over 15 years by the State’s predatory policies of private property, which have imposed tight controls over the national production, imports and distribution of goods and commodities across the national territory. Policies deepened by Nicolás Maduro since December of 2013, when the official looting of the inventories of retailers began as he gave a nod to the so-called "Dakazo."

According to Fedecámaras, a local business association, inventories of basic products will last 45 days "at most." It will not be easy to handle this lack of inventories in the short term, since Fedecámaras warned that even if the Government makes things right this time (allocates foreign currency to importers, eases controls, brings prices into line, etc.), the missing foodstuffs will not return to shelves before three months, while the term of replenishment should be located in five months’ time so medical equipment and supplies (already scarce by 70%) can reach the general public.

The sad thing is that besides giving a wrong diagnosis on the situation and blaming the Venezuelan "bourgeoisie" and the U.S. "empire" for starting an "economic war" against the country, the government of Maduro is also giving wrong "remedies" that make things worse for the already critical situation of the Venezuelan economy, ranging from banning the overnight stay of people outside supermarkets and pharmacies across several states, the rationing of consumption by limiting the purchasing days based on the last number of the ID cards of consumers (as is already the case of the Government’s food retailers PDVAL and Bicentenario), to applying retail control mechanisms such as fingerprint readers and the control of the amount of sales by consumer "in order to avoid excessive purchases by customers" as Makro announced it would do in some of its Greater Caracas stores, according to a recent statement by this local wholesaler.

After his failed tour across several countries seeking funds for the country, not only Maduro intensified the virulent and offensive message against all who disagree with the process in his outdated political speech, but announced that would summon and give an ultimatum to food distributors and wholesalers, forcing them to sign a pledge to ensure that products reach the population – as if that was not their raison d’être from the beginning.

In order to carry out this task, Vice President Jorge Arreaza had shown a sample of what the ultimatum would be days earlier by arbitrarily occupying the warehouse facilities of company Herrera & Asociados, allegedly for the hoarding of basic products, and issuing an arrest warrant against the owners. It should be noted that workers of this company denied these accusations after displaying images of social networks proving that everything was about a "media show" set up by the national government.

The sensible thing to do would be to declare an agricultural emergency in the country and begin working with the private sector so controls can be removed; restore the legal certainty that will guarantee respect for the private property; and restore investor confidence.

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