Venezuela: government and communities organize to ensure food distribution

Over the course of last week, the Venezuelan government's subsidized food system, Mercal, along with the new PDVAL markets run by the state oil company PDVSA, which sell products at nationally regulated prices, distributed 3,300 tons of basic foods through 666 special operations in 20 of Venezuela's 23 states, according to National Food Minister Félix Osorio. Last Saturday alone, 454 small-scale, mobile food markets distributed 1,647 tons of food to local communities with the intention of serving 'only those most in need,' Osorio reported.