委内瑞拉卫生纸稀缺 形成抢购狂潮

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.

据外国媒体5月16日报道，尽管委内瑞拉政府承诺将进口76万吨食品和5000万卷卫生纸，但其国人仍然争相抢购卫生纸，扫空了商场货架。

由于经济机能失调多年，委内瑞拉人已经习惯了医药及牛奶和糖这类基础食品的短缺现象，但是卫生纸的稀缺敲响了不同寻常的警钟。

“就连我这个年纪的人也从来没有遇到过这种事。”70岁的玛丽亚·罗哈斯说，她找卫生纸找了两个星期，终于在加拉加斯市中心的超市找到了。

5月16日早上，消费者们涌进商场，从货架上搜罗走数千卷卫生纸，装进购物车。

玛丽亚·佩雷斯拿着几卷卫生纸说，“我买卫生纸是因为现在很难找到。我们这里什么都缺——黄油、糖、面粉。”最近的卫生纸短缺尤其令人担忧，“因为以前一直没缺过货。”

经济学家认为，是旨在让最贫穷地区也能买到基础商品的价格控制和政府的外汇管制造成委内瑞拉某些消费品的短缺。

总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗声称，包括私营企业在内的反政府力量是造成物资短缺的原因，其目的是动摇国家的稳定。

商务部长亚历杭德罗·弗莱明表示，因为“发生了扰乱国家的媒体活动”，所以形成对卫生纸的“过量需求”。在正常情况下，卫生纸的消耗量为每月1.25亿卷，但是目前的需求“让我们认为还需要4000万卷。”他说，“我们将进口5000万卷，向那些组织证明，他们不会使我们屈服。”

但是，这难以安慰努力寻找厕所用品的消费者。15日和16日，记者去过的首都几家超市都没有卫生纸了。购物者得到商场进货的消息，就会迅速蜂拥而入。

财政部长纳尔逊·梅伦德斯（Nelson Merentes）表示，政府也在解决外汇短缺问题。外汇短缺导致国外暂停向委内瑞拉公司供应原材料、设备和零部件，扰乱了企业的生产秩序。他告诉记者，“我们正在取得进展……我们不得不非常努力地工作。”

外汇管制致使许多工厂难以支付进口零件和材料，因而半负荷运转。商界领袖们透露，有些公司濒临倒闭，因为他们无法扩展与外国供应商的信贷额度。

梅伦德斯说，政府已经满足了约1500个面对供应问题的中小型企业的美元需求，而且正在审核相同数量大公司的申请。

十年前，查维斯开始实施外汇管制，试图在其政府征用大地块和数十家企业时，阻止资本外逃。

查维斯因患癌症去世前，选定马杜罗为继承人，继续进行他的“玻利瓦尔革命”。4月14日，马杜罗在总统选举中击败反对党候选人卡普里莱斯（Henrique Capriles）胜出。卡普罗里莱斯拒绝接受这个结果，宣称马杜罗通过欺诈和恐吓选民获胜，并向最高法院提起诉讼，请求宣布投票作废，但是这不可能，因为法庭里都是亲政府的法官。

面对物品短缺以及超市和药房排起的长队，消费者的耐心消耗殆尽。上个月，委内瑞拉的稀缺性指数达到2009年以来最高水平，同时，12个月的通胀率上升至近30%。如今，购物者寻找基础物品往往需要几天时间，一旦找到就会抢购一些囤积起来。