Dirty Tricks in Venezuela

The moneyed interests in Venezuela will not cease until they bring down the present regime. Unable to win the elections -- though they claim to have won the last one -- they now resort to making trouble on the economic front, so that they can prove that the government is to blame for all its difficulties in this regard. Thus, all of a sudden, there are suspicious shortages of basic goods, from meat to toilet paper.

Though the government may have made ill-advised decisions on the economy -- which government has not -- there is now proof that, at least, there is hoarding of some products by businessmen and, you can bet your bottom bolívar, other people in the opposition. The police have seized 2,500 rolls of toilet paper, along with 7,000 liters of juice and 400 diapers at a warehouse. This way, they kill two birds with one stone: they get to sell the "scarce" products at a much-higher price, and discredit the government's economic policies.

 Something tells me that this strategy has Washington's blessing. 

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