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Venezuelans in the city of Guarenas spend hours waiting in line for food, as social tensions rise after President Nicolas Maduro declared a 60-day state of emergency to tackle what he says are threats to domestic and external security, as well as fo Newslook
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a news conference on May 17, 2016.(Photo: Miguel Gutierrez, European Pressphoto Agency)
LA VICTORIA, Venezuela — Unemployed construction worker Roberto Sanchez<span style="color: Red;">*</span>could hear a time bomb ticking as he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>waited in line with 300 people outside a grocery store this week, hoping that corn meal or rice might<span style="color: Red;">*</span>be delivered later in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>afternoon.
He fears that Venezuela could explode at any minute<span style="color: Red;">*</span>into political and economic chaos.
“We have no food. They are cutting power four hours a day. Crime is soaring. And (President Nicolás) Maduro blames everyone but himself for the mess we find ourselves in,” said Sanchez, 36. “We can’t go on like this forever. Something has to give.”
The question is what will give first. As the economy spirals into deeper disarray, protests aimed at driving the unpopular president<span style="color: Red;">*</span>out of office are growing. Maduro responded over the weekend<span style="color: Red;">*</span>by declaring a 60-day state of emergency to combat what he said are U.S.-sponsored<span style="color: Red;">*</span>efforts to overthrow his socialist government.
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The confrontation has spilled into the streets. On Wednesday, riot police in Caracas fired tear gas as they clashed with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>thousands of protesters seeking a recall referendum against Maduro.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The anti-government protest was the third in a week.
The unrest mounts as the country faces continuing shortages of essential food, medicine and toiletries. All the bakeries here in La Victoria, 55 miles southwest<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of Caracas,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stopped producing bread last week because there is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>no flour.
"People are hunting dogs and cats in the streets, and pigeons in the plazas to eat,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ramon Muchacho, mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, said this month in a tweet that was reported in many newspapers.
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Although Venezuela<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has the world's largest petroleum<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reserves, the country has suffered from a combination of lower oil prices and tight limits on dollar purchases that have cut off vital food and most other<span style="color: Red;">*</span>imports. The result has been a plunging economy and the world's highest inflation rate —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>above<span style="color: Red;">*</span>700%.
Because<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Venezuela imports 70% of the goods it consumes, including most medicine, growing shortages of medicines<span style="color: Red;">*</span>for such ailments as cancer, diabetes, hypertension and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>HIV has created dire situations for many.
“My 4-year-old daughter is dying of cancer, and there’s no medicine here to treat her,” said Luis Avila, 42, a farm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>worker outside this industrial city.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“What am I supposed to do? What can I do? Maduro has destroyed this country.”
An epic drought has also gripped this<span style="color: Red;">*</span>nation that relies mostly on hydroelectric dams,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>sparking rolling blackouts<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and water shortages. Hospitals have had to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>postpone<span style="color: Red;">*</span>operations and procedures<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>power outages. And<span style="color: Red;">*</span>government employees now<span style="color: Red;">*</span>work<span style="color: Red;">*</span>only two days a week to conserve electricity.
“Shortages are just going to get worse in the coming weeks and months, and the government's bet that they can keep the protests and looting ...<span style="color: Red;">*</span>small-scale seems risky,” said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. “Venezuelans are not used to hunger and do not have a lot of respect for Maduro as their leader.”
Voters in Venezuela gave the opposition a landslide victory in December's congressional elections, and polls now show a majority of the country wants Maduro out as president. His term expires in 2019.
“Venezuela is a bomb that could explode at any moment,” opposition leader<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Henrique Capriles warned during a Saturday rally.
Maduro, the handpicked successor of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the late Hugo Chávez,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>discounted the chances of a recall referendum being held this year.
“They don’t want a referendum,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>they want a coup,” Maduro said this week during meeting with foreign journalists.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“We have no obligations to hold any type of referendum in this country.”
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that "reports of excessive use of force and violence against protesters obviously is troubling to us ... We don’t believe that that response to peaceful protest about real difficulties facing the Venezuelan people is the appropriate response."
He called Wednesday for "all Venezuelans to try to work together peacefully" to solve the country's problems.
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