By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelans fear that a new food-card issued by President Hugo Chavez is the first step to the country rationing food.  The card, which President Chavez called the “Good Life Card,” is being implemented to “make shopping easier,” according to President Chavez, but others expect that the card will be used to control where the citizens can shop and what they can buy.

Many suspect that the food card will be similar to the one that rations food in Cuba, but will likely be more technologically advanced so that Venezuelan citizens can only shop at certain places and only buy a certain amount of food.  The Cuban equivalent emerged when goods became scarce in the country, but later became a means to control Cuban citizens ability to buy food because the Cuban food markets were all owned and operated by the Cuban Government.

President Chavez stated that the card is to “purchase what you are going to take and they keep deducting. It’s to buy what you need, not to promote communism, but to buy what just what you need.”  However, the concerns are not unwarranted as it appears the card will only work at government-run markets.

Venezuela is facing a recurring shortage of supply, and many see this card as an effort to resolve the problem without expressly calling it rationing.  This move comes months after the Chavez Government began cracking down on hoarding, which includes police raids on food stores and warehouses.

While many experts think that supply shortages could be curbed by simply finding a sustainable means to get supplies to all markets, the Venezuelan Government seems preoccupied with focusing solely on the supply and consumption in regards to the government-run markets.

Experts are accusing President Chavez of lacking accountability for his own government’s failures.  Rather than admitting that Socialism has not succeeded in Venezuela, Chavez seems content with digging the country into a bigger hole.  In the end, Venezuelan citizens pay the ultimate price because they will not have the right to buy the types of food they want, the amount of food they want, and will have limited shopping options.

For more information, please see:

New American – Venezuela “Good Life Card” comes at a Great Cost – 5 September 2010

RightPundits.com – Hugo Chavez Begins Food Rationing in Venezuela – 5 September 2010

The Miami Herald – Venezuela Introduces Cuba-like Food Card – 3 September 2010