Bakeries in Venezuela slapped with new regulations
In Venezuela, bread is still difficult to find. Bakers are blaming the government for not importing enough flour and President Nicolas Maduro is accusing bakeries of hoarding flour to destabilise his government.
On a daily basis, queues like these are normal outside bakeries throughout the country.
Long queues outside bakeries are still a daily sight in Venezuela where people are facing shortages of bread.
The shortage persists despite the government's imposition of new regulations which require bakeries to use 90 percent of the flour they get at subsidised rates for making bread and the remaining 10 percent for other products.
The bakers have blamed the country's socialist government for not importing enough flour to meet the basic needs of its people.
But, President Nicolas Maduro has accused bakeries of hoarding flour to destabilise his government.
He said bakeries are using flour in expensive cakes and pastries rather than cheap, subsidised bread.
Maduro, whose popularity plummeted amid a crushing three-year recession, has launched a crackdown on "greedy bakers."
Even with subsidised flour, bakers say the official bread price does not cover the cost of production.
TRT World 's Juan Carlos Lamas is following the developments from Caracas.
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