Thursday, August 20, 2015

Line forms at 'an atrocity wallpapered in propaganda'

In Maduroland, it's only possible thanks to the fearsome leaders;
On Saturday morning, my sister-in-law decided to go to one of these events [Community Provision Days] in a poor neighborhood in the heart of Caracas. She did it because organizers had announced that meat, fish, deli meats, and chicken would be available. She arrived at 6 in the morning, was given number 250, and waited in line for seven hours.
And there was no meat, deli meats or chicken. And only some inferior--mackerel and sardines--fish, because, the meat truck did not come, since it overturned on the way here, according to the organizers of the event. Nor were the vegetables anything to savor;
...ugly, green potatoes (one kilo per person, hand picked by the person handing them to you); carrots (about the same); some tomatoes that cause a reaction somewhere between repulsion and shame — while boxes of beautiful red tomatoes remain stacked against a wall.

“When will you sell those?” I ask. “Later,” they reply. I suspect they’ll sell those on the side, on the black market, and I’m not alone in my suspicion. The peppers are shamefully small. I get three micro-peppers, no more.
What they do have aplenty;
Placards with photos of presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro posted at the entrance say: “If it wasn’t for them, this sale would not have been possible.”  

The same is going on inside. There is not a single square meter in the crumbling warehouse that doesn’t show either a picture of Chávez and Maduro, a quote from Chávez, or a picture of Chávez with Fidel Castro. 
This firsthand report from Venezuela was posted at the PanAm Post. Which had to promise anonymity to the author, since complaining about socialism is construed as treason by Nick Maduro.

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