Book of Jeremiah
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- Nov 3, 2012
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And of course - every good communist takeover needs a food identification card system. So here you are:
Venezuela tackles food shortage with ID card system World news The Guardian
Food shortages are among the problems cited by those who have been protesting against Nicolás Maduro's regime since February. Photograph: Santi Donaire/EPA
Associated Press
Tuesday 1 April 2014 13.28 EDTLast modified on Friday 20 June 2014
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Battling food shortages, the Venezuelan government is rolling out a new ID system that is either a grocery loyalty card with extra muscle or the most dramatic step yet towards rationing in Venezuela, depending on who is describing it.
President Nicolás Maduro's administration says the cards to track families' purchases will foil people who stock up on groceries at subsidised prices and then illegally resell them for several times the amount. Critics say it's another sign the oil-rich Venezuelan economy is headed toward Cuba-style dysfunction.
Registration begins at more than 100 government-run supermarkets across the country on Tuesday and working-class shoppers – who sometimes endure hours-long queues at the stores to buy cut-price groceries – are welcoming the plan.
"The rich people have things all hoarded away, and they pull the strings," said Juan Rodriguez, who waited two hours to enter the government-run Abastos Bicentenario supermarket near downtown Caracas on Monday, then waited three hours more to check out.
Rigid currency controls and a shortage of US dollars make it increasingly difficult for Venezuelans to find imported basic products such as milk, flour, toilet paper and cooking oil.
In January, more than a quarter of basic staples were out of stock in Venezuelan stores, according to the central bank's scarcity index. The shortages are among the problems cited by Maduro's opponents who have been staging protests since mid-February.
Reflecting Maduro's increasingly militarised discourse against opponents he accuses of waging "economic war", the government is calling the new programme the "system of secure supply".
Patrons will register with their fingerprints, and the new ID card will be linked to a computer system that monitors purchases. The food minister, Félix Osorio, said it will sound an alarm when it detects suspicious purchasing patterns, barring people from buying the same goods every day. But he also said the cards would be voluntary, with incentives such as discounts and entry into raffles for homes and cars.
So the grocery stores are now Government run. And they accuse the rich of hoarding food (US already has made laws against hoarding food) while tracking the purchases of the poor? This is control at the extreme people. If you buy more than one of an item it detects suspicious purchasing patterns? Ha! And Political Junky says this is not communism? Au Contraire Monfraire! This is Communism and you know it!
Pretty much following the same pattern seen in Europe post WW1.
What was the history on that, Max?
