Venezuela: 20,000 Andean producers paralyse vegetable shipments

Approximately 20,000 fruit and vegetable producers from the states of Mérida, Táchira and Trujillo started a strike last Friday, resulting in no agricultural products will be shipped to the rest of the country.

The producer Rosalino Quintero informed that 8,000 growers are striking in Mérida alone, and that the halt in activities is initially expected to last for a week.

The measure was adopted after Táchira's small and medium producers expressed their discontent about the murder of one of their colleagues at the hands of organised criminals and the kidnapping of three trucks and their drivers, the whereabouts of which are still unknown.

The Andean front, formed by producers from Táchira, Mérida and Trujillo, stressed that the strike actions will also serve to protest against the unfair competition against imports, due to a lack of essential goods, like seeds; the excessive taxes; the high cost of replacement parts; the lack of construction materials, etc.

"Despite the fact that we ship potatoes, carrots, cabbages and many other vegetables to the rest of the country, we are unable to obtain corn or wheat flour, toilet paper or sugar. The shortages are unbearable; the queues are miles long and it is impossible to find anything," concluded Quintero.

Source: Eluniversal.com