- updated 12:58 GMT 05.14.14Fistfights amid long bread lines in VenezuelaBy Rafael Romo, CNNSHARE THIS
- Lines are forming, and fights have broken out outside bakeries as politicians and business leaders point fingers.
In recent days, people have had to wait in line for hours under the scorching sun. Ricardo Rodriguez, a Caracas resident waiting for the chance to buy bread, described the queues as "extraordinary."
"It's like embarking on an odyssey," he said.
The problem stems from labor, social unrest and currency regulation that ties to difficulties importing raw ingredients, according to Tomas Ramos Lopez, president of the Venezuelan Federation of Bread Producers.
Ramos told CNN en Español that the problem started last year when a strike stopped production at a flour mill in Monagas state that supplies 35% of all the flour in Venezuela.
Another problem, Ramos said, is all of Venezuela's wheat is imported from Canada, the United States and Argentina, and tight government-dictated currency controls have left producers in a situation where they don't have the dollars needed to import wheat.
A third problem, according to Ramos, has been social unrest. Violent anti-government protests in the past three months have disrupted distribution of flour. Bakers cannot get the raw ingredient in several cities across the country, especially San Cristobal, Valencia, Barquisimeto and Caracas, the capital.
The government blames the shortage on unscrupulous merchants and bakery owners who hoard their products in order to make a profit by selling at higher prices on the black market.
But Ramos said, "I believe that the national industry and the laws in Venezuela have to be changed. (Government officials) need to know the difference between hoarding and having inventory."
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