While Venezuelans Can’t Buy Fries, Potato Seeds Rot in State Silos

Venezuela’s National Seed Service (Senasem) has been asleep at the switch, and let 175,000 metric tons of potato seeds go rotten in state silos. When locals discovered the magnitude of waste on July 8 — in excess of all potatoes produced in 2014 — they took to social media and could hardly contain their outrage, describing it as the “official self-imposed economic war.” “Now this! They’ve found 175,000 tons of damaged potato seed; who will take the blame? The [economic] war is within, and they’re pissing me off with their damned revolution.” A delegation from the National Federation of Potato and Vegetable Producers of Venezuela made the discovery in the state of Mérida, 700 kilometers southeast of Caracas. More…