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Venezuela reaches the final stage of socialism: no toilet paper
DAVID BOAZ, The Cato Institute
In 1990 I went to a Cato Institute conference in what was then still the Soviet Union. We were told to bring our own toilet paper, which was in fact useful advice.
Now, after only 16 years of Chavista rule, Venezuela has demonstrated that "Socialism of the 21st Century" is pretty much like socialism in the 20th century. Fusion reports:
Shortages, queues, black markets, and official theft. And blaming the CIA. Yes, Venezuela has truly achieved socialism.
But what I never understood is this: Why toilet paper? How hard is it to make toilet paper? I can understand a socialist economy having trouble producing decent cars or computers. But toilet paper? And soap? And matches?
Sure, it's been said that if you tried communism in the Sahara, you'd get a shortage of sand. Still, a shortage of paper seems like a real achievement.
DAVID BOAZ, The Cato Institute
In 1990 I went to a Cato Institute conference in what was then still the Soviet Union. We were told to bring our own toilet paper, which was in fact useful advice.
Now, after only 16 years of Chavista rule, Venezuela has demonstrated that "Socialism of the 21st Century" is pretty much like socialism in the 20th century. Fusion reports:
Venezuela's product shortages have become so severe that some hotels in that country are asking guests to bring their own toilet paper and soap, a local tourism industry spokesman said on Wednesday….
"It's an extreme situation," says Xinia Camacho, owner of a 20-room boutique hotel in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada national park. "For over a year we haven't had toilet paper, soap, any kind of milk, coffee or sugar. So we have to tell our guests to come prepared."…
Montilla says bigger hotels can circumvent product shortages by buying toilet paper and other basic supplies from black market smugglers who charge up to 6-times the regular price. But smaller, family-run hotels can't always afford to pay such steep prices, which means that sometimes they have to make do without.
Camacho says she refuses to buy toilet paper from the black market on principle. "In the black market you have to pay 110 bolivares [$0.50] for a roll of toilet paper that usually costs 17 bolivares [$ 0.08] in the supermarket," Camacho told Fusion. "We don't want to participate in the corruption of the black market, and I don't have four hours a day to line up for toilet paper" at a supermarket….
Recently, Venezuelan officials have been stopping people from transporting essential goods across the country in an effort to stem the flow of contraband. So now Camacho's guests could potentially have their toilet paper confiscated before they even make it to the hotel.
"It's an extreme situation," says Xinia Camacho, owner of a 20-room boutique hotel in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada national park. "For over a year we haven't had toilet paper, soap, any kind of milk, coffee or sugar. So we have to tell our guests to come prepared."…
Montilla says bigger hotels can circumvent product shortages by buying toilet paper and other basic supplies from black market smugglers who charge up to 6-times the regular price. But smaller, family-run hotels can't always afford to pay such steep prices, which means that sometimes they have to make do without.
Camacho says she refuses to buy toilet paper from the black market on principle. "In the black market you have to pay 110 bolivares [$0.50] for a roll of toilet paper that usually costs 17 bolivares [$ 0.08] in the supermarket," Camacho told Fusion. "We don't want to participate in the corruption of the black market, and I don't have four hours a day to line up for toilet paper" at a supermarket….
Recently, Venezuelan officials have been stopping people from transporting essential goods across the country in an effort to stem the flow of contraband. So now Camacho's guests could potentially have their toilet paper confiscated before they even make it to the hotel.
But what I never understood is this: Why toilet paper? How hard is it to make toilet paper? I can understand a socialist economy having trouble producing decent cars or computers. But toilet paper? And soap? And matches?
Sure, it's been said that if you tried communism in the Sahara, you'd get a shortage of sand. Still, a shortage of paper seems like a real achievement.
Tissue Paper-for-Venezuelan Oil Swap Offered by Trinidad
Venezuela, plagued with shortages of basic goods, was offered a reprieve by the Prime Minister of neighboring Trinidad & Tobago: exchange oil for tissue paper.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar suggested an oil-for-tissue swap in a news conference Tuesday following a meeting in Port of Spain with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. She said the deal would benefit both countries.
“The concept of commodity sharing is simple -– the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will purchase goods identified by the Government of Venezuela from T&T’s manufacturers, such as tissue paper, gasoline, and parts for machinery,” Persad-Bissessar said.
In Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, citizens line up outside supermarkets for hours seeking a bag of clothing detergent, toilet paper or cooking oil. Price controls and a lack of dollars for importers have emptied stores of many basic goods, a situation Maduro blames on hoarders conducting an “economic war” against his socialist government.
Officials at Venezuela’s Information Ministry declined to comment.
Buffeted by plunging oil prices, Venezuela’s economy will contract 7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, while inflation, which accelerated to 69 percent in December, is already the fastest in the world. According to the constitution, Maduro must call legislative elections by the end of the year.
“Economic recession, high inflation, and growing shortages have weakened public support for the government, likely reducing its political room to introduce difficult corrective economic measures that would improve its external liquidity position,” Standard & Poor’s said in a Feb. 9 report.
While in Trinidad, Latin America’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, Maduro and Persad-Bissessar discussed the commercialization of cross-border natural gas reserves.
Persad-Bissessar presented the swap proposal as a win-win opportunity for the two nations, separated by an 11-kilometer (6.8-mile) strait off Venezuela’s northeast coast.
Tissue paper and other goods “would then be traded for commodities that are needed for our industries –- in particular bitumen and crude oil -– which can be supplied by Venezuela,” she said, adding that “this proposal is at an planning stages, and we recognize that a monitoring mechanism would be key to its success.”
Venezuela, plagued with shortages of basic goods, was offered a reprieve by the Prime Minister of neighboring Trinidad & Tobago: exchange oil for tissue paper.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar suggested an oil-for-tissue swap in a news conference Tuesday following a meeting in Port of Spain with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. She said the deal would benefit both countries.
“The concept of commodity sharing is simple -– the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will purchase goods identified by the Government of Venezuela from T&T’s manufacturers, such as tissue paper, gasoline, and parts for machinery,” Persad-Bissessar said.
In Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, citizens line up outside supermarkets for hours seeking a bag of clothing detergent, toilet paper or cooking oil. Price controls and a lack of dollars for importers have emptied stores of many basic goods, a situation Maduro blames on hoarders conducting an “economic war” against his socialist government.
Officials at Venezuela’s Information Ministry declined to comment.
Buffeted by plunging oil prices, Venezuela’s economy will contract 7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, while inflation, which accelerated to 69 percent in December, is already the fastest in the world. According to the constitution, Maduro must call legislative elections by the end of the year.
“Economic recession, high inflation, and growing shortages have weakened public support for the government, likely reducing its political room to introduce difficult corrective economic measures that would improve its external liquidity position,” Standard & Poor’s said in a Feb. 9 report.
While in Trinidad, Latin America’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, Maduro and Persad-Bissessar discussed the commercialization of cross-border natural gas reserves.
Persad-Bissessar presented the swap proposal as a win-win opportunity for the two nations, separated by an 11-kilometer (6.8-mile) strait off Venezuela’s northeast coast.
Tissue paper and other goods “would then be traded for commodities that are needed for our industries –- in particular bitumen and crude oil -– which can be supplied by Venezuela,” she said, adding that “this proposal is at an planning stages, and we recognize that a monitoring mechanism would be key to its success.”
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