[rafaelm]

Yep, I'm living in Barquisimeto and between me and my wife we are making around $160 per month. We are scraping by.

Plus we've got a 3 month old baby, who luckily is exclusively breastfeeding, because baby formula is practically non-existent.

We had to pool about $60 to buy a sack of sugar in the black market and divide it among a bunch of family members.

Things are starting to look a lot more grim as time passes by and you realize that the government doesn't have the will to fix things and they are not going to go peacefully either. The outcome here is most likely going to be a violent one.

[callalex]

There's something I'm not understanding here: both you and the GP are commenting on a food shortage and Sugar is the food that you both mention as being hard to come by. If there is a food shortage shouldn't sugar be the last food you would care about obtaining? Or are basic necessities (rice, etc) readily available and it's only luxuries like sugar that are hard to find?

[rafaelm]

All the basics are hard to come by: rice, flour, milk, toiletries,etc. I'm just commenting about sugar because GP commented on it. I assume because it's one of the items that has just disapeared lately.

I'm actually not really worried about sugar because I barely consume it. We bought the sack of sugar because a cousin of mine used to make ends meet with a small cupcake business she used to make for parties,etc. and now she can't find flour or sugar.

I wrote a comment about this before: if you have enough money you can go out and eat lobster and whatever fancy food you want. The things that are almost impossible to find are basic things most people need to survive like flour, milk, toiletries, medicine,etc.

[glibgil]

If you've never been poor then you won't understand that coffee and tea (therefore sugar) are not luxuries, but a way to keep your sanity. The alternative is taking to the streets

[jp_sc]

Do you think things are going to improve in time for you and your family to survive?

[rafaelm]

I'm not sure really, the government is not going to leave peacefully, and while they are in power they are not going to do anything to improve the situation.

One important thing to understand is that the government is in the hands of an incredibly corrupt military that are involved in drug trafficking and all sorts of crimes. They know that if they ever leave power, they risk having to face justice sometime.

Right now things are not looking good for the country. My situation is not even that bad compared to most of the country. I mostly worry about my parents who are older and have to survive on their meager pension and whatever my sister and I can help them with.

It looks like the only way out unfortunately is through the airport.