Protests spread in poor neighborhoods in Venezuela. No food. No medicine. No gasoline. No currency

[GatoGordo]

translated from Spanish

Protests for the pernil spread in Caracas until dawn #28Dic
DolarToday / Dec 28, 2017 @ 12:00 pm

Hundreds of Venezuelans protested in Caracas on Wednesday night because they did not receive pork from the government, the main dish of the Christmas and New Year's dinner, whose shortage President Nicolás Maduro attributed to "international sabotage".

The protests were registered in the poor neighborhoods of Antímano and La Vega, in western Caracas, local media reported. Members of the National Guard, with anti-riot equipment, watched the demonstrations.

Pictures of blocked roads and burned garbage bags were disseminated on social networks, where several users irked calling the protests as the "revolution of the pernil".

Other minor protests have been recorded in recent days in Caracas and other cities for the absence of the pork promised by the government for the Christmas holidays, through a system of sale at subsidized prices in poor areas.

Maduro referred to this situation earlier in an act broadcast on the radio and television. "What happened to the (pernil)? They sabotaged us! I can say it of a country: Portugal!" he said.

He added that his government bought "all the pork that was in Venezuela" and, in addition, ordered the import of more pieces from Portugal. "But the bank accounts pursued us, the two giant ships that came to us left us," he added.

"The Portuguese committed themselves, they scared the gringos and they did not send the pernil (pork legs)," said Diosdado Cabello, number two of Chavismo, on his program on state television VTV.

-snip-

https://dolartoday.com/videos-protestas-por-el-pernil-se-extendieron-en-caracas-hasta-la-madrugada-28dic/

Backstory: Maduro promised "good Chavistas" toys and food for Christmas, if they voted "correctly" in the recent mayoral elections. If they did, they got a voucher for these government freebies to be delivered before Christmas.

[Eugene]

1. Venezuelans protest over pork shortage, Maduro blames Portugal

Source: Reuters

#WORLD NEWS DECEMBER 28, 2017 / 10:15 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Venezuelans protest over pork shortage, Maduro blames Portugal

Corina Pons, Girish Gupta
3 MIN READ

CARACAS (Reuters) - Hundreds of Venezuelans took to the streets in poor parts of Caracas overnight to protest a shortage of pork for traditional Christmas meals in the latest symptom of social discontent during a brutal economic crisis.

President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government had promised to provide subsidized meat to Venezuelans at the end of a fourth year of recession in the OPEC nation - but in many parts it did not materialize and frustration has boiled over.

Local media and Twitter users posted images of hundreds of people standing on streets and burning trash in Caracas late on Wednesday complaining about the failed pork deliveries.

-snip-

Maduro, who has been alleging a foreign-led “economic war” against his government, went on state TV to blame Portugal for failing to deliver pork imports in time for Christmas.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics/venezuelans-protest-over-pork-shortage-maduro-blames-portugal-idUSKBN1EM1E9

[Sophia4]

2. Chavez did not support or institute the rule of law but rather the rule of

himself. Thus, Venezuela has a very tough time dealing with the reality of debt and its financial situation. An oil-rich country, it is a sad example of what happens when a country falls in love with a "leader" with a strong personality who does not support the rule of law.

Sound familiar, anyone?

We have to be careful that Trump does not destroy what remains of our government not by personality but by the rule of law.

So far, we are not doing a good job on this issue.