Even before Corona, Venezuela was plagued by supply shortages and inflation, despite vast oil reserves. But arepas keep morale up.
The cost of living is rising all over the world. It, therefore, comes as little surprise that life is also becoming more expensive in Venezuela, which has been beleaguered for years. But the reasons for the price increases in Venezuela are completely different. While the rest of the world is groaning under the sudden shortage of fossil fuels due to the Ukraine war, oil is not a problem in the OPEC country: It is used generously, even simply to seal house roofs so that it drips from the ceiling. You only have to poke the ground once and it gushes out black, locals mock. But when it comes to turning its treasure into gasoline or diesel, Venezuela’s industry faces enormous technical difficulties in supplying its population. People stand in line for hours, sometimes even days, to fill up. Some even made it their profession to wait in these queues as placeholders for others until it is their turn. In return, they are paid to drive two meters further every time the queue of cars moves on. Refined petroleum products and diesel are in short supply. Food and other necessities are even worse. In recent years, millions of Venezuelans have left their homes. To Colombia or even expensive Argentina.
Some Venezuelans, especially older ones among them, describe President and revolutionary Hugo Chávez, who died in 2013, as an educated and thoughtful man. He would have cared about the welfare of the people and invested in education. Back then, in 2000, Venezuela was admittedly also a developing country. Work would have been adequately paid, the education system would have been open to all and good, and care for the poor would have worked. But over time, Chávez would have lost sight of all that. By grabbing people’s money and nationalizing the oil industry in particular, he had become increasingly corrupt, locals report. But for most of the country’s citizens, corruption hardly plays a role in their lives anymore. Whether it is the socialist mismanagement of their government or the sanctions imposed by imperialist America that cut off the population from oil exports and insulin, even U.S. economists agree on this point. In the wake of the total economic and governmental collapse of 2016 and 2017, the daily supply of necessities became the all-important daily routine. You would think the whole nation has been suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome ever since, according to one local. Wages dropped dramatically, and everyone who could not leave the country is looking for other ways to make ends meet.
Empty refrigerators suddenly became part of everyday life for many Venezuelans with the economic crisis of 2016/2017, leaving a severe break in their wake. (Source: own, 2023).
All at once, wages slid into the basement. The monthly minimum wage is currently six dollars, but in the widespread informal employment relationships it can be even lower; sometimes there is even talk of as little as two dollars. Many accepted an increase in the minimum wage at the end of April 2023 with a shrug and indifference: In the end, inflation would eat it up within a very short time and the shopping basket would remain just as empty as before. The World Bank defines the absolute poverty line at less than $1.90 per day, adjusted for purchasing power. Yet electricity and water are virtually free in Venezuela, with a few cents deducted directly from wages. The boundaries of what one can afford are therefore fluid. But the price for the cheap supply since nationalization is that it regularly breaks down. Some regret this, as they could afford more and want to pay for it. But this is not provided for in Venezuela’s system.
Everyday life revolves around food
A shopping list with basic foodstuffs for two weeks in the capital can cost as much as 60 US dollars. Since the crash of the country’s currency, the Venezuelan bolívar , the US dollar has been the country’s unofficial currency anyway. Hardly any merchants like to accept the local currency. Purchases are paid for in dollars because the same goods are cheaper that way. But even then they are still comparatively high: a kilogram of lentils costs three dollars, a kilogram of chicken or beef also three, a kilo of cheese 4.50, a kilo of potatoes two and a box of 15 eggs 3.50 dollars. The government also supports families with a monthly food package. It includes rice, pasta, cornmeal, and sometimes low-quality powdered milk and cooking oil. The food mostly comes from Venezuelan production, but Gabrielle observes more and more often that Turkish imports are also included. However, the government does not differentiate, every household gets the same, no matter if only one person lives there or four.
The contents of a monthly government aid package. 2 kilograms of poor quality corn flour, 1 kilogram of sugar, 250 grams of powdered milk, 2 kilograms of rice, 1 kilogram of pasta, 1 kilogram of lentils, and oil. (Source: own, 2023)
Gabrielle works for 16 US dollars a month in a cell phone store in the center of Caracas. Her father has already passed away. Her situation is made even more difficult by the fact that she has to take care of her sick mother, who is unable to work. Together they live in a house on the outskirts of Venezuela’s capital. There are days when they stretch the available food to two meals a day, these consist mainly of bread, rice and soups. Sometimes they even have to ration the food over two days until Gabrielle’s next paycheck comes. After scraping together enough money, sometimes there is not enough left over to afford the bus to work.
Life in Venezuela today forces choices on everyone: Food and hygiene products, food and clothing, or food and medicine? These are the questions many ask themselves, every month. Food is the only constant in the distribution of scarce financial resources. However, many Venezuelans are not used to thinking particularly creatively and working with what is available, Gabrielle said. Until 2016, neither was the need to ration food. Today, people have to choose between beef or chicken, cheese or eggs, lentils or black beans – there’s rarely enough money for both at the same time. In the past, people simply bought high-quality Harina Pan brand corn flour. Today, people have no choice but to use lower-quality flour. This lower-quality flour is harder to work with and not as good for thickening the dough for arepas.
Venezuelans’ lives revolve around arepas, the national dish. They are part of every meal and are affordable for everyone, rich or poor. The basis of arepas is a simple dough made from cornmeal and water. This is made into a sandwich and filled with various ingredients such as black beans, cheese, ham or meat. But even here you have to get creative to save money: One buys chicken parts and cooks from it a soup, which is refined with vegetables or herbs. At the same time, the chicken parts are taken out and made into minced meat filling for arepas or, alternatively, a sauce for pasta.
Work or education – investing in the future will have to wait
Like many young Venezuelans, Gabrielle had to abandon her education. University tuition, which runs a few hundred dollars a year, was simply no longer affordable. Universities often made efforts to defer, but at some point the costs overwhelmed one. Even modest career aspirations like flight attendant seemed out of reach for many. You had to pay for your own education, and in the end, employment isn’t even guaranteed. Many therefore find themselves in service jobs, working in cell phone stores or shoe stores, without the opportunity to invest in their education and future. In addition, they often have to commute for several hours from the favorable outskirts to the city center, which lengthens the already long working days and saps their strength.
In addition, the lines are only sparsely served. In the morning, there are only two buses, and it is not even certain whether they will run at all. It depends on whether the drivers were able to find gasoline the day before. A one-way trip costs 30 to 40 cents, so just getting to work doesn’t leave much of a paycheck. People lose a lot of time – and books to pass the time are expensive. Since virtually no one can make a living from their work, people also look for side jobs. In addition to her work at the cell phone store, Gabrielle also takes on simple repair jobs for cell phones, laptops or computers. She has taught herself the skills to repair speakers, buttons, ports and USB inputs. Likewise, she helps customers with software problems and can earn a little on the side. Depending on the task, this can bring in as much as twenty dollars. She needs this income to support herself and her mother. She prefers to work on her own account, because otherwise she would have to give her employer half of the profit if she were to do the repairs for him.
Furnishings at a few dollars a month must remain mostly sparse; priorities, when money is available, lie elsewhere (source: own, 2023).
In this way, almost all Venezuelans try to find such informal jobs. Parallel to the official economy, a labor market has thus developed that is based on U.S. dollars. Gabrielle gets her jobs from roofers or tailors, who are in a similar position and in turn perform repairs and other services to get money, since regular incomes are far from sufficient. The dividing line between entrepreneurs and workers is thus blurred. Every Venezuelan procures his or her own capital, invests and makes a profit from the tasks performed in order to live off them. At the same time, it is hardly worthwhile to expand one’s own operations, at best only through another entrepreneur.
Bus transportation is unreliable and inconvenient. To save time and money, colleagues try to carpool. But the government has also learned some lessons, relying on market incentives to get the economy going again after the crash. So it buys new buses in China, which it leases to private individuals – after a year, they own it. This one belongs to Manuel and Felix. (Source: own, 2023)
Teachers give private tutoring or take over students’ homework altogether. Private institutions, from elementary schools to universities, are booming. Although state institutions are accessible to most Venezuelans, education levels have deteriorated sharply and trust in state services is low. Parents pay between $70 and $250 per month to send their children to private schools. The top priority is learning English, as people hope to eventually leave the country. Those who can afford it often work online for foreign companies.
Credit and finance – It’s expensive to be poor
Even if it is possible to just about make ends meet in this way, unforeseen expenses can throw entire families off track. Health problems, medical bills or illnesses that prevent you from working for several days can mean existential blows. Even a stolen, lost or broken smartphone has recently had this impact. People need them to stay up to date. Most jobs are posted on social media platforms and in online chat groups. But it has become difficult to get loans in Venezuela, even for people who earn well. Given the current conditions, hardly anyone trusts each other to have enough liquid assets to repay debts. For Gabrielle, this was a double blow; on the one hand, she was cut off from new repair jobs that she could have used to save up for a new cell phone, and on the other, she had no collateral to put down to take out a loan.
With her $16 monthly salary, she couldn’t make a down payment on one of those new $90 Xiaomi Redmi devices that the Chinese were already using to connect a large population in the global south. Instead, she borrowed the money from the owner of the cell phone store where she worked. He saw her dependence on her job as security enough. Now, each month he deducts 50 percent of her monthly salary for the rest of the year; Gabrielle is now left with barely more than eight dollars from her wages. She herself found this move so humiliating that she eventually bought the smartphone from another retailer.
One lives with the parents or very often only with the mother in their houses on the outskirts of the city. The local houses are not always legally secured, which again is a cause for concern since one is not the legal owner of the land in the countryside. In addition, there are maintenance and repair costs that one may not be able to afford and therefore have to live constantly in dilapidated houses. (source: own, 2023)
Often it is the women who carry the burden of life. The men and fathers are often absent. Many die early from the jobs they do, for health reasons or accidents, sometimes moving away for work. Some also lose themselves in obscure cults, like the great Commandante Chavez himself, or indulge in alcohol and drugs after they lose their jobs – or already during. This leads to even less money in the household income, but often has to be divided among many heads. They often do not make family life more reliable or stress-free.
Keeping the money together throughout the month requires organizational skills and strength. Such a life tugs at people’s health and capacity. It requires a much higher level of discipline than people in the affluent West are used to. When scarcity and insecurity already surround one for the next week or day, fears and worries about the future rob people of the few hours of sleep they get between long hard days of work. A trip to the movies may eat away at the budget, but the last Mario Bros movie with the family last Gabrielle brought much needed relief and distraction to life.
