Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Venezuela - Out of Stock
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Venezuela - Out of Stock
Despite its massive natural oil wealth, Venezuela is a country sliding into recession, and has one of the highest inflation rates in the world. With prices of some products rising as much as 50% or more annually, the crisis presents a simple human predicament - how to lay your hands on the ever-dwindling supply of price-capped essentials that government shops pledge to provide. The trouble is that many of these basic goods like milk and toilet rolls, are disappearing from the supermarkets within a few minutes of getting there.
Ed Butler explores how gossip and the black market have become a part of the answer for many ordinary citizens. He follows one consumer's quest for goods across the capital, and examines the rumours of smuggling and massive corruption, especially in the west near the border with Colombia.
And he hears how the Socialist legacy of the former President Hugo Chavez still casts a big shadow over the nation. Businesspeople complain that his policies have made it almost impossible to produce anything profitably, and have left a legacy of massive red tape. The housing sector has been hit particularly hard with years of under-investment. Ed meets one retired couple unable to reclaim a rented apartment in their own property, who now are forced to live in their own garage.
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.7
7474 ratings
Despite its massive natural oil wealth, Venezuela is a country sliding into recession, and has one of the highest inflation rates in the world. With prices of some products rising as much as 50% or more annually, the crisis presents a simple human predicament - how to lay your hands on the ever-dwindling supply of price-capped essentials that government shops pledge to provide. The trouble is that many of these basic goods like milk and toilet rolls, are disappearing from the supermarkets within a few minutes of getting there.
Ed Butler explores how gossip and the black market have become a part of the answer for many ordinary citizens. He follows one consumer's quest for goods across the capital, and examines the rumours of smuggling and massive corruption, especially in the west near the border with Colombia.
And he hears how the Socialist legacy of the former President Hugo Chavez still casts a big shadow over the nation. Businesspeople complain that his policies have made it almost impossible to produce anything profitably, and have left a legacy of massive red tape. The housing sector has been hit particularly hard with years of under-investment. Ed meets one retired couple unable to reclaim a rented apartment in their own property, who now are forced to live in their own garage.
More shows like Crossing Continents
View all
In Our Time
5,431 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
368 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,794 Listeners
File on 4 Investigates
40 Listeners
Start the Week
156 Listeners
Global News Podcast
7,647 Listeners
Thinking Allowed
307 Listeners
Profile
101 Listeners
Great Lives
480 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,757 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,078 Listeners
The Bottom Line
36 Listeners
More or Less: Behind the Stats
890 Listeners
Witness History
964 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
2,087 Listeners
Newshour
1,040 Listeners
Last Word
45 Listeners
Moral Maze
70 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
845 Listeners
The Inquiry
757 Listeners
The Briefing Room
83 Listeners
13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle
4,181 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
2,954 Listeners
The Great Post Office Trial
36 Listeners