Photos Of Empty Grocery Shelves Show Dire Situation In Venezuela

Chris McGonigal and Jesselyn Cook
Nearly empty shelves at a store in Caracas, Venezuela. (Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Nearly empty shelves at a store in Caracas, Venezuela. (Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Desperate Venezuelans swarmed supermarkets on Saturday in a rare chance to stock up on basic goods amid a spiraling economic crisis that has resulted in widespread poverty and food shortages.

Embattled President Nicolás Maduro, who has consistently blamed the nation’s financial woes on low oil prices and a U.S.-led plot to topple his regime, ordered grocery stores to reduce their prices in an effort to fight staggering hyperinflation (Venezuela’s inflation rate reportedly soared to 2,616 percent in 2017.)

The slashed prices prompted mobs of shoppers to flock to the stores, leaving strikingly bare shelves behind.

Maduro came under fire late last year when he was filmed eating an empanada during a live TV address, while millions of his citizens languished in hunger.

A customer pushes a shopping cart past an empty meat counter at a grocery store in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 9, 2018. Hordes of desperate shoppers emptied supermarkets and bodegas after the government ordered hundreds of grocery stores slash their prices in the latest attempt to stem hyperinflation.
A customer pushes a shopping cart past an empty meat counter at a grocery store in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 9, 2018. Hordes of desperate shoppers emptied supermarkets and bodegas after the government ordered hundreds of grocery stores slash their prices in the latest attempt to stem hyperinflation.
Employees work behind empty counters in a store's deli section.
Employees work behind empty counters in a store's deli section.
Limited supplies of vegetables were quickly scarfed up.
Limited supplies of vegetables were quickly scarfed up.
An empty refrigerator unit at a grocery store in Caracas.
An empty refrigerator unit at a grocery store in Caracas.
Beauty products sit on otherwise near empty shelves.
Beauty products sit on otherwise near empty shelves.
A woman selects goat cheese from near-empty shelves.
A woman selects goat cheese from near-empty shelves.
A woman walks past empty shelves at a store's fruit and vegetables section.
A woman walks past empty shelves at a store's fruit and vegetables section.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.