Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joined with his leftist allies on Wednesday to create a US$100 million program to fight the rising cost of food for the region’s poor.
Chavez and leaders from Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua also promised joint programs for agricultural development in addition to the new Food Security Fund, though they provided no details on how the programs and fund would work.
“This food crisis is the biggest demonstration of the historic failure of the capitalist model,” Chavez told Bolivian President Evo Morales, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage during a summit in Caracas.
Chavez said the countries need to create a distribution network “so we don’t fall into the hands of intermediaries and speculators, which stop millions from receiving food.”
Global food prices, stoked by rising fuel prices, unpredictable weather and increased demand from India and China have sparked sometimes violent protests this year in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.
High prices are expected to persist even though overall food production is rising, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said.
Venezuela has struggled with sporadic shortages that often make it difficult to find staples such as milk, sugar and beef. Chavez has blamed local businesses, saying they hoard products. But critics blame government-imposed price controls, which they say make it difficult for some businesses to turn a profit.
Venezuela continues to import most of the food it consumes despite a nationwide agrarian reform initiative launched by Chavez more than six years ago.
Cuba also imports most of its food — much of it coming from the US. Cuba expects to spend US$1.9 billion on food imports this year — about 20 percent more than last year.
Morales said that soaring prices had prompted his government to grant small producers of corn, rice, wheat and soybeans interest-free loans as incentives for production.
Chavez also accused Washington of conspiring against Morales by encouraging several states in eastern Bolivia to seek greater autonomy from the central government through a May 4 referendum, which Morales has called “illegal.” Chavez said the vote is meant to clear the way for US companies to access Bolivia’s immense natural gas reserves.
“Behind the mask of autonomy is the separatist plan to create a new state that we would never recognize,” Chavez said. “The imperialist strategy is to break Bolivia in half.”
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