Widespread looting in Venezuela: 'A carton of eggs costs €87!'

Dozens of shops have been ransacked this year in Venezuela as the country wrestles with a crippling shortage of basic goods. A man was even killed at the end of July when looting spiralled out of control in the north-eastern city of Ciudad Guyana. Our Observers say the violent turn of events testify to the population's growing anger.

For two years, Venezuela's shortage of basic necessities has been getting steadily worse. Sugar, flour, milk, oil, toilet paper, nappies, medicine and soap are among the products lacking on supermarket shelves. The scarcity has gotten even more severe in the last few months, forcing people to queue for hours in front of supermarkets and pharmacies.

During the first half of 2015, 56 lootings and 76 looting attempts were recorded by the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflicts. The group also noted a staggering 2,836 protests against the crippling shortages across the same timeframe. That's roughly 16 demonstrations per day on average.

Looting of a Makro supermarket in Valencia, in northern Venezuela, on August 4, 2015.

On July 31, looting spread for the first time to Ciudad Guyana, a city in the state of Bolivar. An angry crowd broke into several shops in the working-class neighbourhood of San Felix. One 21-year-old died in the chaos after receiving bullet wounds, while another 30 or so people were injured and more than 80 arrested.

Looting on Manuel Piar avenue in San Felix on July 31, 2015. Video uploaded to Twitter by Dimas Reyna.

"It got out of control when people found out that the price of a bus ticket had gone up by five times"

Dimas Reyna is a student and the member of an NGO called 'Voto Joven' who lives in Ciudad Guyana. He described the anger sparked by public transport price hikes that he believes led to widespread looting on July 31, 2015.

"I was driving in my car in San Felix when things took a turn for the worse. A large crowd of people were waiting at a bus stop. When one of the buses belonging to a company called TransBolivar pulled up, the driver announced that the price of a ticket had gone up from 10 to 50 Bolivars [Editor's note: From 1.44 euros to 7.18 euros]. The state of Bolivar formed the company back in 2007, but they don't really control the prices, which fluctuate depending on the time of day and the driver's mood. People started getting angry. After making the bus driver get off they smashed the windows. I subsequently left the area, but everything descended into chaos and the looting began shortly afterwards [Editor's note: The rumour that a Chinese supermarket called Uniferia had been resupplied may have also thrown oil on the fire].

People are at the end of their tether. Locals in San Felix often have to wake up early to wait for the bus, sometimes at 5am, to get themselves ferried to Puerto Ordas where most of the city's shopping centres, companies and universities are located. Because there are so few buses, they often have to wait for a very long time. When a bus finally does turn up, the passengers are often squashed inside like tinned sardines.

"The price of an egg carton has tripled since the start of the year"

To give an example of how the situation affects foodstuffs, a box of around 40 eggs currently costs 600 Bolivars [Editor's note: 87 euros]. At the start of the year it cost 200 Bolivars [Editor's note: 29 euros]. You've got to take into account the fact that the minimum wage here is around 7,000 Bolivars [Editor's note: 1,014 euros]."…

An internet user writes "The price of a carton of eggs continues to rise: now 670 Bolivars. What isn't rising are people's salaries! More poverty and hunger!" Photo posted on Twitter by @camichelangeli.

Early on the morning of July 31, the crowd began attacking resellers - known as 'bachaqueros' in Venezuela - who buy products then resell them at higher prices on the black market to those who want to avoid queuing up. The crowd then looted the Chinese supermarket Uniferia, as well as another store.

The police and the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB} were on the scene at around 8:30am and began shooting in order to disperse the crowd. According to testimonies gathered by a local NGO, a young man was killed after receiving a bullet wound.

The crowd then began looting a truck carrying grains, two more shops and the Chirica marketplace, home to dozens of small shops. It wasn't until early afternoon that security forces had finally gotten a handle on the situation.

"The area where looting took place in San Felix under the control of soldiers" Video taken by Wilson Castro on the afternoon of July 31, 2015 and uploaded to Twitter."

#31Jl Así dejaron área d víveres y charcuterías del Mercado Chirica luego de saquearlos #SanFelix pic.twitter.com/GmFC2A9mmG

— cheo0607 (@cheo070777) 31 Juillet 2015

Chirica marketplace, in San Felix, after being looted. Photo uploaded to Twitter on July 31, 2015 by @JesusMHD.

"People queue in front of shops without even knowing if the things they need are going to be delivered"

Wilson Castro also lives in Ciudad Guyana where he presents a community TV programme.

On July 31st, at around 1pm, I headed to the area where the looting was taking place. Once there, everyone said to me the same thing: "The people are hungry." This looting is the outward expression of a growing tide of anger felt by ordinary people, who feel powerless in the face of such crippling shortages.

Looters often take their anger out on Asian shopkeepers, because they often stock up on products to sell them on to 'bachaqueros' instead of 'normal' customers [Editor's note: The practice is reportedly fairly common in the city]. 'Bachaqueros' then resell them at five or six times the going rate, which leads to speculation on basic necessities.

There are poor 'bachaqueros' who do that just to survive because it's a profitable activity. But some are also members of organised networks that have been around for roughly two years. In areas along the border, these networks can sometimes operate under the control of genuine mafias that buy products in Colombia or Brazil [Editor's note: Although this phenomenon is nothing new, it appears to be on the rise and affecting an ever-larger range of products].

The middle classes generally resort to buying from these resellers to avoid queuing up. But the poorest people don't have that choice: they're forced to wait in front of shops, sometimes without even knowing if the products they need are going to be delivered. Sometimes, nothing arrives."

A never-ending queue made up of people trying to get to the Costa Azul shopping centre in Margarita, a Venezuelan island. Video uploaded to Twitter by @wilsonmorenoa.

Following the events of San Felix, Bolivar's state governor - who hails from the ruling party - claimed that the incident wasn't spontaneous and that a group of armed men had encouraged people to loot. With five months to go until legislative elections take place, President Nicholas Maduro once again accused the United States and the country's opposition of stirring things up. For its part, Venezuela's opposition slammed the police crackdown, the ongoing shortages and what it sees as a government trying to shirk its responsibilities.

According to its national bank, Venezuela has been in recession since 2014, when a sudden drop in the price of oil sent the country's economy into free fall. At 60% over the course of one year, Venezuela's inflation rate is the highest in Latin America. The fall in the price of oil - which makes up around 90% of Venezuelan exports - slashed by half Caracas's foreign currency returns in 2014, enough to jeopardize imports in a country where more than 70% of goods come from abroad.

This article was written with France 24 journalist Chloé Lauvergnier (@clauvergnier).