Against the backdrop of the disclosure that Venezuela will no longer be acquiring rice from Guyana under the PetroCaribe Agreement after November this year, it has been disclosed that as part of the alternative arrangements being made by the Maduro administration to fill the demand gap, rice farmers in the economically challenged Bolivarian Republic will be required to sell between 30% and 100% of their output to official state outlets.
According to a report in the Telegraph, producers of milk, pasta, oil, sugar and flour have also been asked to sell their output to the state.
Sustained food shortages in Venezuela are unlikely to be helped by a precipitate decision by the Maduro administration to jettison