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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Venezuelans Turn to Homemade Products as Shortages Drag On |
| 2015-09-16 |
| From makeup to insect repellent, Venezuelans are looking to natural and homemade products in response to the chronic shortages resulting from a deepening economic crisis in the socialist-ruled country. Falling oil prices and a collapsing state-led sector have left the OPEC nation struggling to keep shelves stocked. Venezuelans with a knack for crafts and a flare for do-it-yourself projects are filling in the gaps with their own wares that they promote via the country's viral social networks. Popular homemade substitutes for scarce personal hygiene products now include cloves mixed with alcohol as insect repellent or a mixture of lemon and vinegar instead of acetone. "This year I started production of cosmetics and have been making more and more as a result of the positive response," said Mimi Ossorio, who sells organic skin products made from raw materials including essential oils, honey, and cocoa under the brand "Beauty Mimi." Economists believe Venezuelan inflation is in the triple digits and the economy in a steep recession, though the central bank this year stopped publishing that data. President Nicolas Maduro says the situation is the result of an "economic war" led by political adversaries. Price controls on staple goods have spurred a lucrative contraband business in which smugglers buy subsidized corn flour, soap or toothpaste and resell the products for a profit on the domestic black market or across the border in Colombia. Small start-up businesses can attract clients by offering an escape from supermarket lines, where fights and attempted looting are increasingly common. "Clearly our sales have grown," said Carlos Gil whose online vegetable market delivers organic produce that he and his family harvest outside Caracas. "People don't like going to the supermarket. No one wants to be stuck in line." But home businesses also struggle to overcome shortages.Ossorio says some beauty products require raw materials not available in Venezuela. She frequently asks family and friends who travel abroad to set aside space in their suitcases. Gil, however, does not suffer from the increasing shortages of fertilizers and pesticides that plague the industrial farming sector. He does not use them. "I think we're covering a niche. Maybe it was luck, call it that," he said. "But obviously the country's situation is not good for anyone." |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #9 if you're not importing anything, where stuff supposed to come from? You go out in the woods and grub for it, just like we did back in the 18th century. Here, let's put some honey and spider webs on that open wound. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2015-09-16 15:26 |
| #8 They have Sears catalogs down there? |
| Posted by: KBK 2015-09-16 15:20 |
| #7 Here's an idea - depose or whack the prick with the huge 'stache and all of his butt sniffers, then you can start to fix things. Now... now... Lets leave Obama and the Congressional leadeshit out of this - besides the Secret Service don't like such talk. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2015-09-16 13:17 |
| #6 Well, if you're not importing anything, where stuff supposed to come from? They've just reduced their economy to a zero-sum equation. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2015-09-16 12:16 |
| #5 After you whack Nick the Mad, make sure to go get Hugo's daughter and the billion-plus dollars she's stashed away... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2015-09-16 11:47 |
| #4 Clearly Maduro needs to study the Zero's policies on regulations of food and medicine and anything else. An armed EPA, FDA, BLM, et. al. can put these revanchists back where they belong. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-09-16 08:23 |
| #3 Cause socialist central planning has got to work sometime, anytime? Someone at least wins the lotto, right? (do I need to put a /sarc there?) |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-09-16 07:58 |
| #2 The Hugo Chavez legacy--much like the Obama legacy. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2015-09-16 07:32 |
| #1 Here's an idea - depose or whack the prick with the huge 'stache and all of his butt sniffers, then you can start to fix things. |
| Posted by: Raj 2015-09-16 00:30 |