Chavez Has Trouble

Daniel Drezner notes that the Venezuelan economy is hitting a rough patch.

Entering a supermarket here is a bizarre experience. Shelves are fully stocked with Scotch whiskey, Argentine wines and imported cheeses like brie and Camembert, but basic staples like black beans and desirable cuts of beef like sirloin are often absent. Customers, even those in the government’s own Mercal chain of subsidized grocery stores, are left with choices like pork neck bones, rabbit and unusual cuts of lamb.

Indigenously produced dietary staples are undergoing shortages? If only someone had seen this coming.