Venezuela is one of the principal oil-exporting countries of the world. However, petroleum is not edible and, lamentably, Venezuela's national food industry is not able to feed its population. So Venezuela is, since its economy stopped having an agricultural focus at the beginning of the 20th century, a country that imports almost everything it consumes, with the exception of a few internal industries producing basic necessities. The lack of understanding of how these commercial channels operate means that periodically citizens find themselves with a shortage of some products. From 2006 onward, the shelves of Venezuelan markets and supermarkets have been seasonally empty of things like coffee, sugar, milk, chicken, beef, pork, cheese, sardines, oil, beans, caraotas (black beans, the base of our typical dish), and rice, among others. Other products such as the spare parts of vehicles or some medicines are also scarcely available, as Mario Concha reveals in his article Anorexic Revolutionary. At the moment, the paradox of a “rich country” without the internal production of basic foodstuffs is highlighted by the increase in the consumption of whiskey. Scottish whiskey is available, and in a tour of the liquor stores of the capital, salesmen report higher sales of luxury items. The problem of not finding something as basic as sugar, was recounted to the Venezuelan blogosfera months back by Consuelo, who blogs about a cafe he has managed for some time. Señores NO HAY azúcar y como es eso? … hace poco lei en el blog de takeshi su problema con el azúcar y yo recordé el mío con las caraotas y recuerdo haber mencionado que por doquier en Barquisimeto hay cañaverales…ujum pero ahora no hay azucar… A greater crisis came to life with the shortage of beef. It was a problem that dominated the front pages of newspapers and street-side conversations, because it directly impacts consumers and thousands of meat markets across the country. The official declarations of a minister who denied the shortage of supplies, were satirized by RomRod in a brief post [ES]: No hay desabastecimiento. Tampoco hay carne, ni pollo, ni azúcar. Y leche de vez en cuando. The official measures by the government were to regulate prices of some products, an action regarded by Yosmary as “social justice for all Venezuelans.” It was thought then that the cause of the shortage of basic foodstuffs was due to the fight to control prices and, furthermore, because it caused economic losses to the business class. That was seen as monopolizing and speculation by the production capitals of the country. In order to end the situation then, the government announced two policies simultaneously: that the organized communities control the salesmen so that they respect the stipulated prices, and to fine, expropriate, or close the meat markets before they themselves, operating at a loss, close down. And so, the country advances towards a process of nationalization of the meat industry. The priest Arturo Peraza denounced in his parish blog the notion that the general population should serve as a “social police” of their own neighbors, or, in this case, local retailers. La lectura del decreto ley contra el acaparamiento genera la sensación de que la sociedad civil se ha vuelto enemiga del Estado y éste le ha declarado la guerra. Tal sociedad civil no son los grandes propietarios del capital, sino el bodeguero, los dueños de camioncitos, los carniceros, los pescadores, los agricultores, etc. The “persecution announcement” also caused discomfort at the neighborhood watch association “Radar de los Barrios”, which declared to the communities that they would not be made “to do the work dirty of the Government [ES].” The act of asking the community to denounce the shop owners and causing anxiety in the streets was written about, almost jokingly, by Jeanfreddy who reminds us that many retailers are foreign-born. One Venezuelan characteristic is to turn all news into a joke, but it can quickly become classist persecution with elements of xenophobia. If previously people complained to shop owners saying, “You do not know who you're messing with, you don't know who I am. I am going to close down this joint, Mr. Portuguese. I know the owner of this building and I am going to have them kick you out,” Jeanfreddy writes on his blog Irresponsibility that: Ahora se dirá boina roja en mano: te voy a echar paja con el Consejo Comunal, portu coño e tu madre!” That conflict with the meat markets, without understanding the production chain behind it, continues generating chaos with regards to meat consumption. There have also been problems in other sectors like poultry, whose “flight” from the supermarkets caught the attention once again of RomRod.