Venezuela is running out of just about everything. Food, medicine, electricity, toilet paper, condoms -- you name it.

And over the weekend at least two large international airlines -- Lufthansa and LATAM -- said they will suspend service to Venezuela in the coming months due to the economic crisis.

The widespread scarcities and fleeing businesses reflect a country in crisis.


"There's a shortage of everything at some level," says Ricardo Cusanno, vice president of Venezuela's Chamber of Commerce. Cusanno says 85% of companies in Venezuela have halted production to some extent.

Venezuela's economy is spiraling into extreme recession. It is ironic given that the country sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves of oil. However Venezuela hasn't cut back from expensive government spending even as oil prices have lost half its value in the past two years.

An oppostion-led Congress is pushing for the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro and people have joined rallies and protests calling for his removal.

The country is under the spell of a drought, it's battling the Zika virus and people are struggling to get medicine inequipment-scarce hospitals.

Here's a rundown on Venezuela's crisis and how it's affecting daily life there:

Toilet paper problem


Toiletries are running in short supply across the country. Many Venezuelans say that people wait in lines for several hours to buy basic toiletries, only to sell them at much higher prices on the black market.

Bloomberg reported last year that Trinidad & Tobago had offered to exchange tissue paper for oil with Venezuela. It's unclear if the deal ever came through.

Condoms and birth control are hard to find, Venezuelans say. You won't have any more luck with toothpaste, soap, toilet paper or shampoo. And Maduro has asked women to stop using blow dryers.

Glenda Bolivar lives in Caracas. Blow drying her hair at her favorite salon had been a daily tradition but she recently had to stop.

"Pretty soon, we will only be able to use candles like the old times," Bolivar told CNN in late April.

Food: Butter, bread and sugar shortage


Venezuela's government, running low on revenues and reserves, can't pay for sufficient amounts of imports for basic items like milk, butter, eggs and flour.

The government has also significantly decreased sugar production due to government price controls and inability to pay for imported fertilizer.

On Monday, Coca-Cola announced that it had halted production of Coke and other sweetened beverages due to the sugar shortage.

Alejandro, a 23-year-old resident of Maracaibo, has learned to live without butter for a month. For a few weeks, he and his parents also learned to live without bread. They had arepas, a flour-based food, instead.

On the unofficial exchange rate -- which many Venezuelans use -- Alejandro makes $57 a month working at a law firm during the day and teaching at night. Sometimes, Alejandro pays $2 for a case of butter -- or 4% of his monthly income -- on the black market so he doesn't have to wait in line for several hours.

Despite his struggles, Alejandro says he's among the fortunate in Venezuela.

"Everything here is just awful," says Alejandro (CNNMoney chose to withhold his last name). "There isn't one thing going right in Venezuela right now."

Rolling blackouts in Venezuela

Venezuelans now have rolling blackouts. The country's main source of energy, El Guri dam, is at record low water levels.

To save energy, Maduro has instituted rolling blackouts in cities across Venezuela for at least April and May. He also cut the work week to two days for government employees.

When Alejandro teaches his night class, he uses the flashlight on his cell phone so the students don't have to be sitting in the dark if there's a power cut. Maracaibo has lost electricity for 3 hours a day in May.

A health care crisis

Venezuela lacks roughly 80% of the basic medical supplies needed to treat its population, according to the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela. People are dying in hospitals for lack of sufficient medicines and equipment.

Jose Luis Vazquez experienced the nightmare firsthand. He had just survived a gunshot wound to the chest in a robbery attempt and doctors said all he needed was minor surgery.

But he was still in the hospital days later and he had to pay for all the supplies -- gauges, syringes, peroxide and more.

"There was nothing in this hospital," Vazquez told CNN earlier in May in a hospital in Valencia, a city about 100 miles from the capital.

Shipping gold, low on cash

Venezuela's government has been running out of foreign reserves andliterally shipping gold to help pay for its debt. Venezuela only has $12.1 billion in foreign reserves as of March, according to the most recent central bank figures.

That's down by half from a year ago. In order to get cash loans to pay for its debt, Venezuela has shipped $2.3 billion of gold to Switzerland so far this year as collateral, according to Swiss government import data.

Experts believe Venezuela will likely default on its debt this fall.

"Things continue to devolve in Venezuela," says Russ Dallen, managing partner at LatInvest, a firm in Miami that invests in Latin America.

SOURCE: http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/31/news/economy/venezuela-shortage/index.html?category=economy

Cc: Lalasticlala

Like Venezuela, like Nigeria. While they have ran out of toilet papers, we are running short of tomatoes, courtsey of the 'tomatoe Ebola virus' currently destroying the crops. So, which one is better: absence of tissue or absence of tomatoes? After all, we have been improvising where there is no tissue, using water to watch yanch.

On electricity, have we not been cousins of darkness since Genesis One? So, any much difference here...?

Just wondering..

Appleyard:
Like Venezuela, like Nigeria. While they have ran out of toilet papers, we are running short of tomatoes, courtsey of the 'tomatoe Ebola virus' currently destroying the crops. So, which one is better: absence of tissue or absence of tomatoes? After all, we have been improvising where there is no tissue, using water to watch yanch.

On electricity, have we not been cousins of darkness since Genesis One? So, any much difference here...?

Just wondering..

Gbam.

Lucasbalo:
Gbam.

Dear brother, I don't live in denial. We must call a spade a spade, whether yours or not. The truth demands it.

Appleyard:
Dear brother, I don't live in denial. We must call a spade a spade, whether yours or not. The truth demands it.

Thanks Appleyard. That's the problem I have with some of our friends here. They will critique the West which is their right but will never criticize Nigeria for all the evils the thieflicians and worthless politicians have done to damage what's suppose to be the pride of Africa. I always believe that critiquing your leadership and government is the highest form of patriotism. I criticize America for her worthless wars and foreign interventions. I belong to a Peace Group here and some people make fun of us by calling us Peacenik. Some guys here on Nairaland will rain all kind of abuses and say vile things about America but will never criticize the worthless and corrupt leadership of Nigeria. Isn't that an irony ?. Not criticizing the people that have destroyed millions of lives due to their greed.

Lucasbalo:
Thanks Appleyard. That's the problem I have with some of our friends here. They will critique the West which is their right but will never criticize Nigeria for all the evils the thieflicians and worthless politicians have done to damage what's suppose to be the pride of Africa. I always believe that critiquing your leadership and government is the highest form of patriotism. I criticize America for her worthless wars and foreign interventions. I belong to a Peace Group here and some people make fun of us by calling us Peacenik. Some guys here on Nairaland will rain all kind of abuses and say vile things about America but will never criticize the worthless and corrupt leadership of Nigeria. Isn't that an irony ?. Not criticizing the people that have destroyed millions of lives due to their greed.

Nationalism borne out of the strongest form of Patriotism but solly based on Jingoism, is the worst case of delusion and self-denial; a complete imprisonment of thought and conscience.

My postulations and position on national and global issues are far from such deceptive basics.

The truth as it is, and as it ought to be, is all am ever trying to portray. For conscience is an open wound, only truth can heal it.

Thus, just as America's global intervensionism and foreign policy recklessness is it's achilles heels, so too is corruption and lack of quality leadership the bane of Nigeria as a sovereign entity.

Just as the blood-sucking elites and greedy financials that has taken up the reigns in most parts of the developed world, pushing the world to the brink of extinction by engaging in reckless moves, needless, avoidable and senseless wars upon wars that only killed the innocent but brave soldiers, just to satisfy their lust and diabolic interest, while their own sons and daughters live in extravagant villas and estates; so too the Nigerian political elites have successfully and awesomely destroy the economic and political foundation upon which this country was built.

The corruption madness in Nigeria is such that, one may be right to infer that God has forsaken the country, and Satan has equally rejected it.
Nigeria is the only oil producing nation in the world that still import fuel. You can immagine!
It makes you feel that Nigeria is one hell of a joke on the consciousness of nations under the heavens. No thanks to the political demagogues we have as leaders.

Not withstanding, i can still see a glimmer of light at the end of the political tunnel, but one can only pray that the various elements of rebellion emanating from certain parts of the country now, doesn't get to that feverish stage wherein the various arms of the armed forces would become ethnicised and politically segregated - the recipe for all out civil war. South Sudan quickly comes to mind.


God help the world. God help Nigeria.

Appleyard:


Nationalism borne out of the strongest form of Patriotism but solly based on Jingoism, is the worst case of dulusion and self-denial; a complete imprisonment of thought and conscience.

My postulations and position on national and global issues are far from such deceptive basics.

The truth as it is, and as it ought to be, is all am ever trying to portray. For conscience is an open wound, only truth can heal it.

Thus, just as America's global intervensionism and foreign policy recklessness is it's achilles heels, so too is corruption and lack of quality leadership the bane of Nigeria as a sovereign entity.

Just as the blood-sucking elites and greedy financials that has taken up the reigns in most parts of the developed world, pushing the world to the brink of extinction by engaging in reckless moves, needless, avoidable and senseless wars upon wars that only killed the innocent but brave soldiers, just to satisfy their lust and diabolic interest, while their own sons and daughters live in extravagant villas and estates; so too the Nigerian political elites have successfully and awesomely destroy the economic and political foundation upon which this country was built.

The corruption madness in Nigeria is such that, one may be right to infer that God has forsaken the country, and Satan has equally rejected it.
Nigeria is the only oil producing nation in the world that still import fuel. You can immagine!
It makes you feel that Nigeria is one hell of a joke on the consciousness of nations under the heavens. No thanks to the political demagogues we have as leaders.

Not withstanding, i can still see a glimmer of light at the end of the political tunnel, but one can only pray that the various elements of rebellion emanating from certain parts of the country now, doesn't get to that feverish stage wherein the various arms of the armed forces would become ethnicised and politically segregated - the recipe for all out civil war. South Sudan quickly comes to mind.


God help the world. God help Nigeria.

Amen. I absolutely agree with you. Hopefully things will turn around for Nigeria I love that country to bits but it is saddening to see how the country has been bastardized due to corruption and nepotism. I also agree with you about your other point of America getting involved in foreign problems. Hopefully, the leaders will realize that their citizens deserve better.

Appleyard:
Like Venezuela, like Nigeria. While they have ran out of toilet papers, we are r[b]unning short of tomatoes, courtsey of the 'tomatoe Ebola virus'[/b] currently destroying the crops. So, which one is better: absence of tissue or absence of tomatoes? After all, we have been improvising where there is no tissue, using water to watch yanch.

On electricity, have we not been cousins of darkness since Genesis One? So, any much difference here...?

Just wondering..

i thaught it was boko-harams fault....boko-boys and tomatos....chaiii..that was very funny....

tsdarkside:


i thaught it was boko-harams fault....boko-boys and tomatos....chaiii..that was very funny....

My brother, this country have suffered so much.