Barely a month ago, Chavez inaugurated, for lack of anything new in eleven years, a store front containing a “socialist arepera” where the Government would sell the Venezuelan staple at Bs. 5 per arepa. I thought in six months they would be failing, even if Mr. Super-Saman was going to work four hours as a volunteer there every week (Has he?).
Well, Tal Cual reports today that the Arepera Socialista is facing supply problems, from lack of flour (no arepas then!), to lack of ingredients, its customers are getting mad at the bad service. Add to this random hours and long lines and as predicted here and by Daniel (He argued a Government that could not run a dry good business in Mercal, would certainly fail at this).
As Tal Cual reminds us today, the Socialist Arepera may be going by another Chavez proposal, the “Empanada Route”, which never got off the ground as a Tourist attraction.
Par for the course for Chavez and his hare brained ideas.
The Devil's Excrement 
July 21, 2011 at 12:53 pm
[…] Government went from trying to “intervene” private areperas, to creating its own revolutionary network of areperas socialistas, then it was not long after that some of the revolutionary workers were caught stealing from the […]
December 14, 2010 at 10:01 am
You’re a little out of touch or you’ve been reading American “news”. Part of the reason for the devaluation was to decrease imports and increase domestic production. In terms of expropriating land, the owners are paid for this. What is actually taking place is that the government is MAKING IT POSSIBLE for landless farmers to obtain their own land.
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VIVA HUGO, VIVA VENEZUELA.
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April 16, 2010 at 10:17 pm
[…] at the other end of the spectrum, the “Arepera Socialista” that started operations barely three and half months ago, is already in trouble: The […]
January 24, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Roger,
The poor eat the food that they sell in Mercal and PDVAL, i.e. high caloric, fattening foods. If anyone has ever gone to a Mercal or PDVAL, all they sell is corn flour (if available), rice, pasta and beans. Once in a while they may have chicken and beef, but one has to be really in the know to see when they are available. It’s a well known nutritional fact that poor people (or those with limited income) in Venezuela are fat because they eat a lot of arepas with cheese and pasta, bread and rice. Beans are nutritionally good and is a source of protein and fiber, but also fattening. In the US, the same phenomenon can be seen also among people of limited income because they eat a lot of bread, potatoes and macaroni and cheese.
January 23, 2010 at 9:58 am
Arturo you little twerp, you show up to talk the wonders of socialist areperas but not a beep about 100% devaluation. What an acomplishment by the robolution. Are you on the side that it was a revaluation? Well, the permuta was above Bs. 6 yesterday Way to go Hugo!
And on your silly areperas, Saman said he would work four hours a week, but no cameras yet, so you can be sure he has failed to work once, as promised.
But that is normal for these fakes.
January 22, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Arturo: why do you come back waste your time here and “selectevely” pick what to comment on, must mean the rest is fine.
But just to make it clear, your infamous and fantastic arepera was inaugurated exatcly one month ago and has been close eight out of tge thirty days and anytime they run out of stuff, they close, you were just lucky and if you think that project is good you are even dumber than I thought.
January 22, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I went to Parque Central this morning and lo and behold the Arepera Socialista was still there selling an arepa with any filling for Bs.F.5,00.
I did not see Teodoro or any of his talented reporters there. If you believe everything you rwad in Tal Cual then youalso believe what Fox News broadcasts.
Octavio – don’t you have anything more serious to report instead of medoicre propagnda from Petkoff?
There are plans to open more of these outlets.
January 21, 2010 at 9:30 pm
IMO, that is part of the “plan” to control everything, and force el pueblo to stand in line at Mercal, PDVal, and now Exito, to buy a cheap, rotten, friggin’ chicken or whatever.. whomever complains moves (is forced) to the back of the line… if you have not been in Venezuela you have a lot to learn about lines and crowd control.. viva la RRRrrobulucion!
January 21, 2010 at 9:41 am
Thank you Miguel.
Roger, the thing is, if people sell them to survive and then the government comes in and corners the market. How do they survive then? There are far more downsides than upsides when the government tries to compete with its own citizens.
January 20, 2010 at 9:22 pm
So when did the Arepa long the staple of the poor become an upscale food like Starbucks? I remember roadside stands and shacks in barrios, everywhere in Venezuela selling them and for good prices.
More interesting was that the people who ran these places were not well educated and running these stands to survive. Its not like oil or electricity, you don’t need an engineering degree or an MBA make the business work!
This brings up an interesting question. What are the poor eating these days?
There eating a lot of something from the pictures I see!
January 20, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Here is a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arepa
January 20, 2010 at 5:37 pm
It is a corn bread, looks like an English Muffin and people fill it with meat, cheese or any other fillings, they can be very good. At a “fancy” place you can get them from Bs. 15-25, medium places 10-15. Arepera Socialista Bs. 5. Did not want to make he line to get one.
January 20, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I do not even know what an arepa is, are they really good? Did you get a hold of one and see if it tasted the same?
I expected they would have supply problems if they tried to run a retail outlet, I wonder how much money they are losing per arepa?
What are the usual prices in the commercial sector?
January 20, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Bois,
That’s easy. Nothing has worked. 0% success, 100% failure.
January 20, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Hugo is always announcing some socialist program or venture, and it’s hard to keep track of what worked and what didn’t.
Is there a chart or graphic showing what was a success/failure? What would the ratio be between successes and failures?
Just wondering??
January 20, 2010 at 12:14 pm
So, this is what socialist hell looks like? Well, it’s not too bad. You see, one day it’s short of coal, the next day the furnace breaks down, the third day the devil in charge of roasting the damned doesn’t show up. By contrast, like Chavez said, the capitalist hell is horrible, you see, it is sooooo efficient.