{"id":934,"date":"2019-10-11T01:52:25","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T01:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/?page_id=934"},"modified":"2019-10-11T01:56:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T01:56:05","slug":"a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/","title":{"rendered":"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira – Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
T\u00e1chira is a Western Venezuelan State near to the border with Colombia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is no secret that hunger has hit the Venezuelan\npopulation since many years ago due to several causes like scarcity, inflation,\ncorruption and bad politics. However, populations near the Colombian border\nhave a different dynamic towards food, medicines and other daily supplies that\ngives them the edge on facing the harshest crisis in Venezuela\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In T\u00e1chira, just a few miles away from Colombia, food\nsituation seems less painful than in the rest of the country: shelves are not\nempty, there\u2019s a constant flow of supplies coming from abroad (although\nillegal) that ensures people a possible living. Also, this State produces a lot\nof vegetables and meat not only for its consumption but also nationwide.\nNevertheless, food access is still a great problem because of one important thing:\ninflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All Hail Inflation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bolivar soberano (national currency) is not the main\ncurrency nowadays there: the Colombian Peso has taken its place. Due to the\nhuge inflation in the country, prices of goods increase from once per week to\ntwice per day, depending on the money exchange prices at Colombia and the\nblack-market dollar. Because to this instability, Venezuelans rely on stronger\ncurrencies like dollars or euros to make business ranging from simple food to\neven houses and cars (but pesos are more affordable and easier to get). There\u2019s\nno place in T\u00e1chira where you can\u2019t trade with the Peso: from large warehouses,\nindustries and government places to even fast food stands on the streets. This\nhas favored contraband and imports from Cucuta, helping to stand against\nscarcity. But it must be noted that those importing wares are usually persons\nconnected to the government party or to some political group or the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Informal Sales<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bol\u00edvares are not so often used as paying in normal\nsupermarkets due to lack of cash. Also, the huge volume of bills you must carry\nto buy anything discourages people to do so. Electricity and lack of internet\nconnection and proliferation of informal vendors has rose to great levels in\nthe State. Most people have power plants to combat the constant blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can go to popular zones and see persons with\ntables outside their houses selling rice, pasta, flour and many other products\nin Colombian pesos. Regularly, the profit is not too high as competition is\nwide. Also, small legal businesses are selling Colombian products by sorting\nout all legal importations rulings and accepting pesos or dollars at the\ncurrent exchange price down in C\u00facuta (the nearest Colombian town).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is There Really Hunger in T\u00e1chira?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although you can find supplies everywhere and there\u2019s enough food production in the State, inflation keeps hurting the purchase capacity of citizens: with a salary of less than 3$ per month (legal minimum wage) there\u2019s not too much to do when one 1kg of meat costs roughly US$3.00, 1 kg of tomatoes or potatoes cost US$0.6\u2026and that\u2019s just for food. Also, the usage of peso as commercial currency affects citizens without the capacity to charge their services with it. According to rights defense NGO\u2019s, the basic living index reached US$110.00 by September. Quite a disaster, isn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Posts like these can be found in every popular zone in T\u00e1chira, selling both Venezuelan and Colombian products for pesos and even hoses for extracting fuel from your car. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"

Besides the Retailer\u2019s market you can find these \u201cdistributors\u201d who do wholesales of both local and Colombian products strictly in pesos. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"

Outside the Retailers\u2019 Market you can find these small posts selling both Colombian and Venezuelan products in pesos (Colombian currency). You can find from food to personal care items. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is no secret that hunger has hit the Venezuelan population since many years ago due to several causes like scarcity, inflation, corruption and bad politics. However, populations near the Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":392,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-934","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-disasters","category-venezuela"],"yoast_head":"\nA Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira - Venezuela - Our World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How are the supermarket shelves going in Venezuela? Are people really going hungry from shortage of food? Of course that's true. However, in the Western...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira - Venezuela - Our World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How are the supermarket shelves going in Venezuela? Are people really going hungry from shortage of food? Of course that's true. However, in the Western...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-11T01:56:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/10\/image.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira - Venezuela - Our World\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/image.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-11T01:52:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-11T01:56:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"How are the supermarket shelves going in Venezuela? Are people really going hungry from shortage of food? Of course that's true. However, in the Western...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/image.png?fit=589%2C326&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/image.png?fit=589%2C326&ssl=1\",\"width\":589,\"height\":326},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Venezuelan Collapse\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/the-venezuelan-collapse\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira – Venezuela\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/\",\"name\":\"Our World\",\"description\":\"News, Sports, Technology, History, Crimes, Commentaries...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/our-world\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira - Venezuela - Our World","description":"How are the supermarket shelves going in Venezuela? Are people really going hungry from shortage of food? Of course that's true. However, in the Western...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira - Venezuela - Our World","og_description":"How are the supermarket shelves going in Venezuela? Are people really going hungry from shortage of food? Of course that's true. However, in the Western...","og_url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/","og_site_name":"Our World","article_modified_time":"2019-10-11T01:56:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/10\/image.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/","name":"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira - Venezuela - Our World","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/10\/image.png","datePublished":"2019-10-11T01:52:25+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-11T01:56:05+00:00","description":"How are the supermarket shelves going in Venezuela? Are people really going hungry from shortage of food? Of course that's true. However, in the Western...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/10\/image.png?fit=589%2C326&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2019\/10\/image.png?fit=589%2C326&ssl=1","width":589,"height":326},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/a-peak-at-the-supermarket-shelves-in-tachira\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Venezuelan Collapse","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/the-venezuelan-collapse\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A Peak at the Supermarket Shelves in T\u00e1chira – Venezuela"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/#website","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/","name":"Our World","description":"News, Sports, Technology, History, Crimes, Commentaries...","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PekbB2-f4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":940,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/934\/revisions\/940"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}