Venezuela's farmers forced to sell their produce to the Socialist state

Harriet Alexander reports for the Telegraph,

Venezuela's embattled government has taken the drastic step of forcing food producers to sell their produce to the state, in a bid to counter the ever-worsening shortages.

Farmers and manufacturers who produce milk, pasta, oil, rice, sugar and flour have been told to supply between 30 per cent and 100 per cent of their products to the state stores. Shortages, rationing and queues outside supermarkets have become a way of life for Venezuelans, as their isolated country battles against rigid currency controls and a shortage of US dollars – making it difficult for Venezuelans to find imported goods.

...Venezuela’s official rate of inflation hit 64 per cent last year – the highest in the world. The government hides the scale of shortages, but angry consumers regularly post photos of empty shelves on social media.

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