Shortages in Venezuela

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Shortages in Venezuela

Part of the Crisis in Venezuela
Top to bottom, left to right: A man eating from garbage; empty shelves in a store; people lining up to enter a store
Date	2008[1] – 2019[2][3]
Location	Venezuela
Cause	Government policies, low oil prices and corruption[4][5][3]
Outcome	Hunger, disease, civil unrest and refugee crisis Maduro government relaxes currency exchange regulations[3]

Crisis in Venezuela
Causes Bolivarian Revolution Chavismo Economic policy under Hugo Chávez Economic policy under Nicolás Maduro
Effects Refugee crisis Energy crisis 2019 blackouts 2024 blackouts Zulia energy collapse Defections International sanctions U.S. sanctions Interventions of political parties Piracy Shortages Venezuela–Colombia migrant crisis Hyperinflation Catatumbo campaign Xenophobic incidents Pemon conflict Siege of the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela
Events Dakazo La Salida Arrest of Antonio Ledezma 2016 recall movement 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis Lima Group 2018 re-election campaign of Nicolás Maduro Venezuelan presidential crisis 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela Venezuela Aid Live COVID-19 pandemic 2022 recall movement 2023 Unitary Platform presidential primaries 2024 Venezuelan political crisis
Elections 2013 presidential election 2015 parliamentary election 2017 referendum 2017 Constituent Assembly election 2018 presidential election 2020 parliamentary election 2023 referendum 2024 presidential election
Protests 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2024
Timeline 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Armed violence Caracas helicopter incident 2017 National Assembly attack Attack on Fort Paramacay El Junquito raid Caracas drone attack 2019 uprising attempt 2020 Barquisimeto shooting Operation Gideon (2020) 2021 Apure clashes 2022 Arauca clashes
Venezuela portal
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Shortages in Venezuela of food staples and basic necessities occurred throughout Venezuela's history.^[6] Scarcity became more widespread following the enactment of price controls and other policies under the government of Hugo Chávez^[7][8] and exacerbated by the policy of withholding United States dollars from importers under the government of Nicolás Maduro.^[9] The severity of the shortages led to the largest refugee crisis ever recorded in the Americas.^[10]

The Maduro administration denied the extent of the crisis^[11] and refused to accept humanitarian aid from Amnesty International, the United Nations, and other groups while conditions worsened.^[12][13] The United Nations and the Organization of American States stated that the shortages resulted in unnecessary deaths in Venezuela and urged the government to accept humanitarian aid.^[14] Though The New York Times asserts that the Maduro administration and its economic irresponsibility directly caused a lack of food,^[15] Maduro stated that the country had adequate access to food.^[16]

During the shortages, milk, meat, coffee, rice, oil, precooked flour, butter, toilet paper, personal hygiene products, and medicines were scarce.^[7][17][18] By January 2017, the shortage of medicines reached 85%, according to the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela (Federación Farmacéutica de Venezuela).^[19] Hours-long lines were common, and those who waited did not always receive service.^{[clarification needed]} Some Venezuelans resorted to eating wild fruit and garbage.^{[20][21][22][23]}

On 9 February 2018, a group of United Nations Special Procedures and the Special Rapporteurs on food, health, adequate housing and extreme poverty issued a joint statement on Venezuela, declaring that much of its population was starving and going without in a situation that they do not believe will end.^[24] A year later in 2019, the Maduro administration relaxed the nation's strict currency exchange regulations and shortages subsided in Venezuela while the economy became unofficially dollarized.^[3][25]