委內瑞拉衛生紙稀缺 形成搶購狂潮

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls.

After years of economic dysfunction, the country has gotten used to shortages of medicines and basic food items like milk and sugar but the scarcity of bathroom tissue has caused unusual alarm.

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

Thousands of rolls flew off the store's shelves as consumers streamed in and loaded up shopping carts Thursday morning.

"I bought it because it's hard to find," said Maria Perez, walking out with several rolls of paper.

"Here there's a shortage of everything — butter, sugar, flour," she said. But the latest shortage is particularly worrisome "because there always used to be toilet paper."

Economists say Venezuela's shortages of some consumer products stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.

President Nicolas Maduro, who was selected by the dying Hugo Chavez to carry on his "Bolivarian revolution," claims that anti-government forces, including the private sector, are causing the shortages in an effort to destabilize 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."

"We will bring in 50 million to show those groups that they won't make us bow down," he said.

That was little comfort to consumers struggling to find bathroom supplies. 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," Cristina Ramos said at a store on Wednesday. "I was told that they had some here and now I'm in line."

Finance Minister Nelson Merentes said the government was also addressing the lack of foreign currency, which has resulted in the suspension of foreign supplies of raw materials, equipment and spare parts to Venezuelan companies, disrupting their production.

"We are making progress ... we have to work very hard," Merentes told reporters Wednesday.

Many factories operate at half capacity because the currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies verge on bankruptcy because they cannot extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers.

Merentes said the government had met the U.S. dollar requests of some 1,500 small- and medium-sized companies facing supply problems, and was reviewing requests from a similar number of larger companies.

Chavez imposed currency controls a decade ago trying to stem capital flight as his government expropriated large land parcels and dozens of businesses.

Anointed by Chavez as his successor before the president died from cancer, Maduro won a close presidential election April 14 against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who refused to accept the result, claiming Maduro won through fraud and voter intimidation. He filed a complaint to the Supreme Court, asking for the vote to be annulled, though that's highly unlikely to happen since the court is packed with government-friendly justices.

Patience is wearing thin among consumers who face shortages and long lines at supermarkets and pharmacies. Last month, Venezuela's scarcity index reached its highest level since 2009, while the 12-month inflation rate has risen to nearly 30 percent. Shoppers often spend several days looking for basic items, and stock up when they find them.據外國媒體5月16日報道，儘管委內瑞拉政府承諾將進口76萬噸食品和5000萬卷衛生紙，但其國人仍然爭相搶購衛生紙，掃空了商場貨架。

由於經濟機能失調多年，委內瑞拉人已經習慣了醫藥及牛奶和糖這類基礎食品的短缺現象，但是衛生紙的稀缺敲響了不同尋常的警鐘。

“就連我這個年紀的人也從來沒有遇到過這種事。”70歲的瑪麗亞·羅哈斯說，她找衛生紙找了兩個星期，終於在加拉加斯市中心的超市找到了。

5月16日早上，消費者們涌進商場，從貨架上搜羅走數千卷衛生紙，裝進購物車。

瑪麗亞·佩雷斯拿着幾卷衛生紙說，“我買衛生紙是因爲現在很難找到。我們這裏什麼都缺——黃油、糖、麪粉。”最近的衛生紙短缺尤其令人擔憂，“因爲以前一直沒缺過貨。”

經濟學家認爲，是旨在讓最貧窮地區也能買到基礎商品的價格控制和政府的外匯管制造成委內瑞拉某些消費品的短缺。

總統尼古拉斯·馬杜羅聲稱，包括私營企業在內的反政府力量是造成物資短缺的原因，其目的是動搖國家的穩定。

商務部長亞歷杭德羅·弗萊明表示，因爲“發生了擾亂國家的媒體活動”，所以形成對衛生紙的“過量需求”。在正常情況下，衛生紙的消耗量爲每月1.25億卷，但是目前的需求“讓我們認爲還需要4000萬卷。”他說，“我們將進口5000萬卷，向那些組織證明，他們不會使我們屈服。”

但是，這難以安慰努力尋找廁所用品的消費者。15日和16日，記者去過的首都幾家超市都沒有衛生紙了。購物者得到商場進貨的消息，就會迅速蜂擁而入。

財政部長納爾遜·梅倫德斯（Nelson Merentes）表示，政府也在解決外匯短缺問題。外匯短缺導致國外暫停向委內瑞拉公司供應原材料、設備和零部件，擾亂了企業的生產秩序。他告訴記者，“我們正在取得進展……我們不得不非常努力地工作。”

外匯管制致使許多工廠難以支付進口零件和材料，因而半負荷運轉。商界領袖們透露，有些公司瀕臨倒閉，因爲他們無法擴展與外國供應商的信貸額度。

梅倫德斯說，政府已經滿足了約1500個面對供應問題的中小型企業的美元需求，而且正在審覈相同數量大公司的申請。

十年前，查維斯開始實施外匯管制，試圖在其政府徵用大地塊和數十家企業時，阻止資本外逃。

查維斯因患癌症去世前，選定馬杜羅爲繼承人，繼續進行他的“玻利瓦爾革命”。4月14日，馬杜羅在總統選舉中擊敗反對黨候選人卡普里萊斯（Henrique Capriles）勝出。卡普羅裏萊斯拒絕接受這個結果，宣稱馬杜羅通過欺詐和恐嚇選民獲勝，並向最高法院提起訴訟，請求宣佈投票作廢，但是這不可能，因爲法庭裏都是親政府的法官。

面對物品短缺以及超市和藥房排起的長隊，消費者的耐心消耗殆盡。上個月，委內瑞拉的稀缺性指數達到2009年以來最高水平，同時，12個月的通脹率上升至近30%。如今，購物者尋找基礎物品往往需要幾天時間，一旦找到就會搶購一些囤積起來。