CARACAS: The Venezuelan government has taken over supermarket chain Dia a Dia and ordered the detention of its owners, as socialist president Nicolás Maduro intensifies a crackdown on private businesses.
It is the latest salvo in what Mr Maduro calls an “economic war” in which he has accused groups of trying to destabilise the country by creating a shortage of basic goods.
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On Tuesday armed national guardsmen were placed at some Dia a Dia (Day to Day) convenience stores in the capital, Caracas.
Charges are also being pressed against pharmacy chain Farmatodo, for not opening enough check-outs, in what the government claims is a “guerrilla tactic” to spur discontent. “Those who use their stores to hurt the people will pay with prison time,” Mr Maduro said.
Critics says the Maduro government is attempting to make the private sector the scapegoat for Venezuela’s deteriorating economy. Under policies introduced by the late president Hugo Chávez, much of the economy has been nationalised and manufacturing has declined, leaving the Opec nation heavily dependent on imported goods.
“It is the state control that gives the precarious economic results,” Jorge Roig, president of the business chamber Fedecámaras, said.
The dearth of economic reform under Chávez’s successor, Mr Maduro, has led to galloping inflation of 64 per cent and an economy forecast by the IMF to contract by as much as 7 per cent this year.
Economists say price controls and strict currency exchange restrictions have generated a lack of dollars in the economy. This has in turn has caused widespread scarcity of basic goods, including toilet paper and powdered milk, and dragged Mr Maduro’s approval rating down to 22 per cent.
Instead of relaxing controls to boost supply, the president blames the crisis on rightwing forces backed by the US. So far Mr Maduro has been reluctant to implement austerity measures to help his cash-strapped government boost its finances.
