Popularity of State-Run Food Markets on the Rise
By EDWARD ELLIS - CORREO DEL ORINOCO INTERNATIONAL
One of Venezuela’s state-run food supply networks saw an increase of 70% in its sales last month, according to Commerce Minister Richard Canan.
Appearing on the television program “Desperto Venezuela,” Canan reported a record income for the Bicentennial Markets, which took in a total of 260 million Bolivars ($56.5 million USD) in the month of July.
According to the Minister, 2.1 million people visited the markets last month, an increase of 35%.
The Bicentennial food markets are the result of the government’s nationalization of two private supermarket chains, Exito and Cada.
Food Sovereignty
The now state-run markets form part of the Venezuelan government’s food sovereignty strategy intended to secure a steady supply of basic food items for the nation’s population at affordable prices.
In conjunction with other initiatives such as the social programs Mission Mercal, PDVAL, and CVAL, the Bicentennial Markets protect consumers from inflated prices and contrived shortages, problems that have plagued the private sector over the years.
According to Canan, “Venezuela is no longer subject to the monopoly of private businesses.”
“We guarantee the distribution and existence of all basic food products”, the Minister affirmed. “We have a center which permanently oversees the distribution of products coming from the state sector and the private sector alike.”
In total, government run food outlets now number more than 19,000 throughout the country, distributing some 8 thousand tons of food daily and employing 37 thousand workers.
The Bicentennail Markets now number 41, thirty-five of which are small distribution points and six of which are large supermarket-sized stores.
An additional supermarket branch is currently under construction in the Plaza Venezuela district of Caracas.
Affordable Prices
The lower prices of the Bicentennial markets are perhaps their greatest advantage for consumers. As Canan observed, the savings for residents can be considerable.
“The average for the basic food bundle is around 30%. There are some products, for example cheese and meat, which reach a savings of 50 to 60% compared with capitalist markets.”(MORE)
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5587--------------------------------------
The creation of state-run food markets and the policy of "food sovereignty" are one of the key initiatives of the Chavez government for reducing poverty. They have cut the poverty rate in half and extreme poverty by 70%. These kinds of policies are WHY the Chavez government wins elections by big margins. But you won't read a word about it from the Associated Pukes or the New York Slimes or any of our corpo-fascist media horns. Rightwing DUers are flooding the Latin America forum with rightwing "talking points" (echoed recently by publications like the Slimes). So I thought I'd provide some real information. This is one of the reasons that the Chavez government is so popular--it actually serves the people of Venezuela. It doesn't cruelly write off the poor like our corpo-fascist elite does, as the rich get richer. It
solves problems like poverty in practical and material ways. It faces problems. It thinks hard about them. It tackles the roots of problems like endemic poverty.
Food sovereignty is also a national security issue, which prior governments utterly neglected, with enormous harm to Venezuela (making it dependent on imported food). The Chavez government has had to re-invent Venezuelan agriculture--which will be the topic of my next post.
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