Venezuela is not for lovers.
At least not while condoms are going for $755 per pack, reports Bloomberg.
“The country is so messed up that now we have to wait in line even to have sex,” one 31-year-old man complained to Bloomberg.
Organizations helping the HIV-infected also have problems, as the scarcity prevents them from stopping the spread of the virus. Venezuela has the highest incidence of infection in South America.
This condom problem is one of the many plaguing the country. CNBC reports that Venezuela needs oil at $140 a barrel –- it sat below $50 on Wednesday –- in order to finance its budget. Shortages are happening everywhere due to a lack of liquidity.
The Suffolk Journal reported about people standing in lines for hours each day to get basic commodities likes milk, diapers and bottled water. In order to prevent “hoarding,” people have to show proper ID whenever they purchase and yet shelves lay empty. According to Reuters, officials arrest heads of supermarkets or pharmacy chains or nationalize their stores to stop their “economic warfare..
There also severe shortages in medical coverage. José Perez told The Telegraph his wife died of a heart failure because doctors lacked the materials they needed to save her life. “Things are very bad in this country, and they are getting worse. I feel that we are in a dictatorship,” he said.
Human Rights Watch seems to agree, as its annual report on Venezuela states that police forces attack mostly peaceful protesters, and that “the prospect of reprisals [has] undercut judicial independence, and forced journalists and rights defenders to weigh the consequences of publicizing information and opinions that are critical of the government.”