6 yıl önce

Venezuela's economic crisis strikes rural communities

For Venezuelans living outside the capital Caracas, the economic crisis presents different challenges and in the rural state of Cojedes, farmers, ranchers and local merchants are trying to stay in business.

TRTWorld

Mendoza and her family say they spent more than 10 thousand dollars fixing up the store, the building itself needed work and they bought scales, refrigerators, freezers and shelves. They're determined not to lose the investment and hope to reopen someday.

Venezuela's San Carlos is one of the commercial hub serving ranchers and farmers in this rural valley. Dozens of shops and restaurants have closed in the last year.

It used to be a thriving community of ranchers and farmers‚ where they raised cattle and grew the corn Venezuelans count on as a staple but hyperinflation has made it hard to count on anything for country' citizens.

As many as 1.9 million Venezuelans have emigrated since 2015, according to the United Nations, fleeing an economic crisis that has resulted in shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. That flow has overwhelmed other countries in the region, including Ecuador.

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has said no more than 600,000 Venezuelans left in the past two years, and state television gives daily coverage to a government program offering migrants free flights back to Venezuela.

TRT World's Juan Carlos Lamas reports.