The Venezuelan military has taken over food supplies and distribution as the country jumps from crisis to crisis. The opposition warned of granting greater powers to the military.
Image: Reuters/C. G. Rawlins
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The Venezuelan military began to take control over food distribution on Tuesday in a desperate government bid to control shortages of basic food and staple goods that threaten to unleash social instability in the oil-rich country.
President Nicolas Maduro issued the decree creating a new Supply Command under broad economic emergency powers that bypass the opposition-controlled Congress seeking to recall him over mismanagement.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, who is in charge of the new body, said the move was "a matter of the nation's security and defense."
The decree gives the military power to force private enterprises to sell goods.
"We have taken some ports and have started to go to some silos, warehouses, and public and private businesses," Padrino said.
Maduro said Monday the program would end the practice of corrupt officials diverting of food deliveries to people who then resell it on the black market.
A combination of low oil prices, mismanagement and currency and price controls have led to triple-digit inflation and a shortage of almost everything in the country.
Nine out of 10 Venezuelans now say they are unable to buy enough to eat as supply shortages drive up prices, according to a study by Simon Bolivar University. The average Venezuelan waits 35 hours a month in long lines to buy subsidized food.
Riots and violence over shortages are on the rise, threatening social stability.
Maduro has blamed the country's multiple crises on an "economic war" and sabotage by the opposition and the United States.
The opposition blames Maduro's socialist policies for the country becoming an economic basket case.
Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble
Lufthansa has canceled service to Caracas as Venezuela's economic turmoil worsens. The country is one of the world's largest oil producers, but plunging prices have brought inflation to 180 percent in the past year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EFE/M. Gutiérrez
Hyperinflation bites into economy
Hyperinflation has made doing business in Venezuela untenable for many domestic and foreign firms. With the currency dropping, the government has made it difficult to convert bolivars into US dollars.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Ismar
Food shortages
Food shortages have become pervasive, spurred on by hyperinflation. Empty store shelves have become all too common across Venezuela.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Barreto
Queuing up to buy food
Food shortages mean that people have to wait in line to buy essential food items at select locations. Here people line up outside a supermarket in the poor neighborhood of Lidice, in Caracas.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Gathering signatures
Opposition leaders launched a petition drive to collect signatures for a recall referendum. They needed 200,000 signatures, or 1 percent of the electorate, but they got 1.8 million voters to sign.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Green light for petition
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles shows journalists that the National Election Council has given permission for the referendum to go ahead. But President Nicolas Maduro's government is trying to delay the vote.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Pushing for referendum
Protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the referendum go forward.
Image: Reuters/M. Bello
Students protest
Students have also taken to the streets to demonstrate. They are protesting both the overall economic stagnation and also the government's efforts to delay the referendum.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Severe drought
A devastating drought has exacerbated Venezuela's problems. What was once a vast reservoir, held back by a hydroelectric dam, is now little more than a series of mud puddles.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Drought wreaks havoc
The country depends on the Guri Dam - one of the world's largest - for a significant portion of its electricity. While the reservoir is turning to desert, citizens endure daily black outs, and government offices open just two days a week to save electricity.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Health care suffers
Oliver Sanchez, 8, holds a sign that reads "I want to heal, peace, health" during a protest against the shortage of medicines in Caracas. Oliver has Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the medicine he needs is no longer available.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Cubillos
Maduro under fire
Venezuela's economic dip is largely the result of oil prices that have plunged more than 50 percent in the past two years. But a severe drought is crimping electricity supplies, and focusing people's ire on Maduro.
