The nation of Venezuela is going through a period of severe economic crisis. The country, though one of the richest in natural resources, has been called the world's worst economy of 2016 by the International Monetary Fund, and its inflation rate could reach 700 percent by the end of the year.
One of the biggest concerns for the people of Venezuela is the food shortage, as well as rampant crime and the lack of medicine or good healthcare.
Every day, the routine for thousands of people is to arrive at supermarkets or shops, sometimes as early as dawn, patiently waiting in long lines just to buy a few basic food items, such as rice or flour, at a government-subsidized rate.
The alternative to "colas" (food lines in Spanish) can be found in expensive supermarkets, where only the wealthy can afford to shop. The others rely on what is called "bachaqueros", or food smugglers who re-sell subsidised goods on the street at much higher prices.
Many families are unable to provide two to three meals a day for their children according to local media. Lunch often consists of a banana or a piece of bread.
As a result of this atmosphere of vulnerability and helplessness, crime is rising fast in Venezuela, especially in Caracas, already ranked in 2015 as the most violent city in the world.
See the videos below:
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| People line up for hours to buy basic products in front of a supermarket in La Candelaria district. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| An old man picks up some tomatoes and fruit discarded at the end of the day by a green grocery store. Inflation has a strong impact on food prices, and a bag of tomatoes can easily reach the equivalent to one day's minimum wage. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| Four siblings eat boiled bananas in the kitchen of their shack in Petare. Many families are unable to provide proper food for their children in Venezuela. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| Alta Guajira looks at one of her children with obvious signs of malnutrition. Last month, she lost two of her five children to malnutrition. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| Jaqueline, 33, sits on her bed with the little Sinay, just four months old. Because of poor nutrition, the mother has no breast milk and artificial substitutes are only available through food smugglers [bachaqueros] that sell a can of milk powder for $7, more than one week's worth of the minimum salary wage. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| A man in a state of malnutrition lying on his bed in a rural area around Maracaibo. He was left unable to move and in extreme poverty after a car accident at work. He is claiming social assistance, which is insufficient to sustain him. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| A starving dog runs in the backyard of his house.The family claims they eat only once a day because of the crisis. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| A man eats a mango for lunch in front of his shack in Petare, the largest slum in Caracas. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| This bakery produces bread at subsidised prices in Barrio Sarria. Hundreds of people line up outside for hours to buy some bread every day. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| Two people eat the food they find amid the rubbish at a district full of restaurants in downtown Caracas. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| People awaiting to receive a free cup of soup, offered by the Evangelical Church in Petare, one of the largest slums in South America. More than 200,000 people lined up for the free meal on this day. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| A little girl searches for food at a garbage dump at La Pulga's Maracaibo market. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| The owner of a small restaurant inside a fruit market counts money. Inflation in prices means the same amount of money is no longer worth what it used to be. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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| A child eats a meal offered by his neighbour. Venezuela is facing a severe economic crisis and a large part of the population has no access to essential food products at a reasonable price due to one of the highest inflation rates in the world. [Alessandro Falco/Al Jazeera] |
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