Editing Hugo Chávez (section)

====Food and products====
In the 1980s and 1990s, health and nutrition indexes in Venezuela were generally low, and social inequality in access to nutrition was high.<ref>George W. Schuyler. 2002. Globalization and Health: Venezuela and Cuba
Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d'études du développement
Vol. 23, Iss. 4,</ref> Chávez made it his stated goal to lower inequality in access to basic nutrition, and to achieve [[food sovereignty]] for Venezuela.<ref>Parker, Dick. 2005. Chávez and the Search for an Alternative to Neoliberalism. Latin American Perspectives 32:39 p. 36</ref> The main strategy for making food available to all economic classes was the controversial policy of creating fixed price ceilings for basic staple foods, which was implemented in 2003.<ref name="bloomberg1">{{cite news |last=Devereux |first=Charlie |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/chavez-activates-price-law-to-end-capitalist-speculation-1-.html |title=Chávez Activates Price Law to End Capitalist Speculation |publisher=Bloomberg.com |date=22 November 2011 |access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Between 1998 and 2006, malnutrition related deaths fell by 50%.<ref>Derham, Michael. 2010 Politics in Venezuela: Explaining Hugo Chávez. Peter Lang. p. 296.</ref> Chávez also [[expropriate]]d and [[Agrarian reform|redistributed]] 5 million acres of farmland from large landowners.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061903400.html In Venezuela, Land 'Rescue' Hopes Unmet], Washington Post, 20 June 2009</ref>
[[File:Escasez en Venezuela, Mercal.JPG|250px|thumbnail|left|Shoppers waiting in line at a government-run [[Mission Mercal|MERCAL]] store]]
Price controls initiated by Chávez created product shortages since merchants could no longer afford to import necessary goods.<ref>{{cite news |title=Venezuelan food shortages bode ill for Chavez's re-election |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-08-12/hugo-chavez-venezuela-food-shortages/57021168/1 |access-date=9 October 2012 |newspaper=USA Today |date=13 August 2012 |archive-date=4 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204020223/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-08-12/hugo-chavez-venezuela-food-shortages/57021168/1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=With Venezuelan Food Shortages, Some Blame Price Controls |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/world/americas/venezuela-faces-shortages-in-grocery-staples.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |access-date=9 October 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 April 2012 |first=William |last=Neuman}}</ref> Chávez blamed "speculators and hoarders" for these scarcities<ref name="CNN Food">{{cite news|last=Romo |first=Rafael |title=Food shortages worry Venezuelans |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-13/americas/world_americas_venezuela-food-shortages_1_food-shortages-traditional-venezuelan-dish-guaicaipuro?_s=PM:AMERICAS |access-date=16 May 2012 |publisher=CNN |date=13 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401204443/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-13/americas/world_americas_venezuela-food-shortages_1_food-shortages-traditional-venezuelan-dish-guaicaipuro?_s=PM%3AAMERICAS |archive-date=1 April 2012 }}</ref> and strictly enforced his price control policy, denouncing anyone who sold food products for higher prices.<ref name="bloomberg1"/> In 2011, [[food prices]] in Caracas were nine times higher than when the price controls were put in place and resulted in shortages of cooking oil, chicken, powdered milk, cheese, sugar and meat.<ref name=ECONfood>{{cite news |title=Venezuela's economy: Medieval policies |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21526365 |access-date=21 April 2014 |newspaper=The Economist|date=20 August 2011}}</ref> The price controls increased the demand for basic foods while making it difficult for Venezuela to import goods, causing increased reliance on domestic production. Economists believe this policy increased shortages.<ref name="CNN Food"/><ref name="NYT Food">{{cite news |last=Neuman |first=William |title=With Venezuelan Food Shortages, Some Blame Price Controls |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/world/americas/venezuela-faces-shortages-in-grocery-staples.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=16 May 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 April 2012}}</ref> Shortages of food then occurred throughout the rest of Chávez's presidency with food shortage rates between 10% and 20% from 2010 to 2013.<ref name="ELUgraph">{{cite news|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/140213/el-ascenso-de-la-escasez|title=El ascenso de la escasez|date=13 February 2014|newspaper=El Universal|access-date=21 April 2014}}</ref> One possible reason for shortages is the relationship between inflation and subsidies, where a lack profitability due to price regulations affects operations. In turn, the lack of dollars made it difficult to purchase more food imports.<ref name="ByNfood">{{cite news|url=http://bancaynegocios.com/los-principales-causas-de-la-escasez-en-venezuela/|title=Las principales causas de la escasez en Venezuela|date=27 March 2014|newspaper=Banca & Negocios|access-date=21 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422232415/http://bancaynegocios.com/los-principales-causas-de-la-escasez-en-venezuela/|archive-date=22 April 2014}}</ref> Chávez's strategy in response to food shortages consisted of attempting to increase domestic production through nationalizing large parts of the food industry,{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} though such nationalizations allegedly did the opposite and caused decreased production instead.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Minaya |first1=Ezequiel |last2=Schaefer Muñoz |first2=Sara |title=Venezuela Confronts Retail Sector |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuela-confronts-retail-sector-1423528705 |access-date=1 March 2015 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=9 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Empty shelves and rhetoric |url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21640395-government-offers-no-solutions-mounting-economic-crisis-empty-shelves-and-rhetoric |access-date=1 March 2015 |agency=[[The Economist]]|date=24 January 2015}}</ref>

As part of his strategy of food security Chávez started a national chain of supermarkets, the [[Mission Mercal|Mercal network]], which had 16,600 outlets and 85,000 employees that distributed food at highly discounted prices, and ran 6,000 soup kitchens throughout the country.<ref name="FoodFight"/> Simultaneously Chávez expropriated many private supermarkets.<ref name="FoodFight">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100314052640/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_12/b4171046603604.htm A Food Fight for Hugo Chávez], Business Week, 11 March 2010</ref> The Mercal network was criticized by some commentators as being a part of Chávez's strategy to brand himself as a provider of cheap food, and the shops feature his picture prominently.{{According to whom|date = May 2015}} The Mercal network was also subject to frequent shortages of basic staples such as meat, milk and sugar—and when scarce products arrived, shoppers had to wait in lines.<ref name="FoodFight"/>