Venezuelan shoppers hit by toilet roll shortage

There is so little toillet paper available across the country that the Venezuelan government has promised to import 50 million rolls.

“Even at my age, I’ve never seen this,” said 70-year-old Maria Rojas. She had been looking for toilet paper for two weeks when she finally found it at a supermarket in the capital Caracas.

Shoppers lucky enough to locate toilet rolls are stripping shelves bare, fearing that they may not be fortunate the next time.

“I bought it because it’s hard to find,” said Maria Perez after buying toilet paper. Ms Perez said shortages of butter, sugar and flour were common, but “there always used to be toilet paper”.

Economists say shortages of some consumer products in Venezuela stem from price controls that are meant to make basic goods available to the poorest, along with restrictions on foreign currency.

Anti-government forces

President Nicolas Maduro, who was selected by the dying Hugo Chavez to carry on his “Bolivarian revolution”, claims anti-government forces, including the private sector, are causing the shortages to destabilise the country.

The government this week announced it would import 760,000 tons of food and 50 million rolls of toilet paper.

Commerce Minister Alejandro Fleming said “excessive demand” for tissue had built up due to a “media campaign that has been generated to disrupt the country”.

He said monthly consumption of toilet paper was normally 125 million rolls, but current demand “leads us to think that 40 million more are required”.

He added: “We will bring in 50 million to show those groups that they won’t make us bow down.”

Empty shelves

Several supermarkets visited by the Associated Press in the capital on Wednesday and Thursday were out of toilet paper.

Those that received fresh batches quickly filled up with shoppers as the word spread. “I’ve been looking for it for two weeks,” said Cristina Ramos. “I was told that they had some here and now I’m in line.”

Many Venezuelans vented their frustration on social media, with both bitter and humorous comments on the toilet paper crisis.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles tweeted that the government had “even managed to stop production of toilet paper… it doesn’t even help having the biggest oil reserves on the planet.”