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Venezuelan gov't aims for disciplined food distribution

Xinhua, July 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Venezuelan government is calling for food distribution with "discipline" to tackle food shortages affecting the country, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez announced Tuesday.

This mission will face "an unconventional situation, in which all the rules have been broken" in order to produce, distribute and sell food items, Padrino Lopez, the commander of the Great Mission of Sovereign Supply, said at a press conference.

"We need a bit of discipline", the minister said, adding that the mission needs to "centralize all the information" to make the right decisions.

Venezuela's armed forces have been deployed since Tuesday morning in agricultural areas to "facilitate, supervise, and assist" this mission.

Padrino Lopez stressed that this was simply a supervision process and "a matter of the security of the nation" rather than "a matter of militarizing..."

The country, whose economy has been hard-hit by the plunging oil prices and soaring inflation, is suffering from shortages of goods.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Monday the Great Mission of Sovereign Supply to combat food shortages leading hundreds of Venezuelans to pour across the border into Colombia in search of essential items. Enditem