Socialist State Of Venezuela Has A Plan To Beat Hunger: Breed Rabbits – And Eat Them

As the chronic food shortage in Venezuela intensifies, the county’s socialist government has come up with another bizarre, comic idea to prevent a looming humanitarian crisis. As a part of its latest plan, the government has asked people to stop treating rabbits just as ‘cute pets’, saying they should breed and eat them. This comes even as it continues to eliminate political opponents and crush agitators on the streets protesting against President Nicolas Maduro Moros - the man responsible for Venezuela’s rapid descend into chaos.

“There is a cultural problem because we have been taught that rabbits are cute pets,” the country’s urban agriculture minister, Freddy Bernal, said during a televised broadcast with Maduro this week, according to The Guardian.

“A rabbit is not a pet; it’s two and a half kilos of meat that is high in protein, with no cholesterol,” the minister added as he addressed the nation.

Critics of the government have lampooned the idea, but they hardly have any say in how the government responds to the crisis.

Crisis worsened after Maduro’s oil-financed socialism failed to survive the collapse of the crude oil markets. Crashing oil prices have left the government with little foreign currency to buy goods. Imports are down 50 per cent from a year ago, pushing the country deeper into a hunger crisis.

To deal with the crisis, thieves in Venezuela have resorted to stealing animals from zoo, The Guardian had reported in August. According to the World Health Organization, hospitals there lack 95 per cent of necessary medicines. At least 75 per cent of the population has lost an average of at least 19 pounds in 2016 due to a lack of proper nutrition amid the ongoing crisis.

In response to high inflation, the government has raised the minimum wage by 60 per cent to 200,021 bolivares a month, including food stamps. However, this has been of little help. Food prices in the markets around the country have skyrocketed. In March, a basket of basic grocery items which includes eggs, milk and fruits cost 772,614 bolivares, close to four times the monthly minimum wage, according to the Venezuela-based Center of Social Analysis and Documentation.